Posts
114 Velvet Coues taxidermy
Sponsor Wild Heritage Taxidermy did this custom wall pedestal form with custom wall habitat. It’s a 114 inch velvet coues buck, gorgeous!
Mike Way Oct 2011 San Carlos buck
Mike sent this one in and said he got it in the Mescal Mtns in 2011 on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Congratulations Mike!
A few San Carlos Bucks
Here are a few Coues Bucks that my family has killed here in San Carlos. Enjoy!
Nice Coues Buck
This is my Bro. Raymond Boni’s Coues Buck from San Carlos. Scores 109″ as measured by Amanda. 
“THE LEGEND” Danny Pusher Jr April 2012 WMAT pickup
Danny Pusher Jr found this amazing rack on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. He believes it’s a lion kill and that it’s been out there for about a year and a half. Danny says that person that scored it got over 161, but he wasn’t an official measurer. Hopefully we can get this buck officially measured. No matter what the final score, this thing is a GIANT. WOW! What a find!! Congratulations Danny and thanks for sharing it with us!
They call this buck “THE LEGEND”!
My December Coues
I was 16 in December of 2002. My Dad, myself and my oldest brother, Justin, had been drawn for a coveted unit 22 coues whitetail rifle tag. Dad and Justin enjoyed hunting the first two weekends of the hunt seeing lots of deer and having the chance at a 108 inch type buck. I was unable to join them until the third and final weekend due to school and other prior commitments. To say I was excited as we began to glass early in the morning on the 26th of December would be a huge understatement.
We were in an area that in years past a friend of ours had hunted a buck that he swears would score in the 130’s. It was awesome country and we new we were going to see something good. Well, after 30 minutes or so Dad finally glassed up a buck. He was a smaller 2 point and he was moving fast towards the top of a ridge close to half a mile away. Dad jokingly asked if we wanted to go after him but Justin and I were already packing up our gear to head that way. Dad was saying things like, “he’s way out there” and “he’s moving fast, probably already topped over that ridge.”, but we didn’t care we were pumped and thought we could catch up to him.
Justin and I took off almost at a run as Dad finished putting his equipment away. As we paused to catch our breath we could see Dad coming up the trail so we let him catch up. We made good time and paused again to catch our breath before creeping over the ridge line and into the saddle to look for the small buck. We glassed for a bit but had no luck in finding him. We looked around at the country we were in and decided on our next move. There was another larger saddle about 150 yards to the northwest and beyond that a large bowl that looked promising.
We made our way to the saddle, crept below the ridge line, sat down in front of a big juniper, dropped our packs, and begin to set up the binos and tripods. As I strapped my binoculars to my tripod I scanned the bowl with my naked eye to get a feel for what we would be glassing. Something caught my eye. Movement. I remember thinking to myself, “there’s no way that could be a deer”. I swung my binos up to my eyes and in the direction of the movement and sure enough two coues deer were in my view. I steadied the binos. “I got some deer”, I whispered. “Where?” came the reply. “One is a buck….a good buck”, I offered. “WHERE??”, they really wanted to know now. I told them where to look. Two does and a nice buck. My dad asked if I was going to shoot him and I said of course I was. We ranged the buck at 450 yards. I got into a prone position and adjusted my elevation turret on my scope for the distance. Justin would spot and Dad would get the second shot. I settled the cross hairs on the bucks shoulder. I knew that if I missed, Dad would not, so I made sure I was rock steady. I let half my breath out, held it and began to squeeze until…BOOOMMM…WHOP! The 130 grain nosler ballistic tip from my .270 had found its mark. I racked another bullet into the chamber and got the buck back in my scope. Just as I did, his front legs gave out and he started to go down. “Put one more in him.”, Dad advised. I had held my composure for the first shot but I had come unglued and was really shaking. I put the cross hairs on the downed buck and tried to hold them steady…BOOOMMM…WHOP! “That did it! He’s done.” Dad assured me.
Now the celebration began! We were guessing scores, planning what kind of mount,etc. This was by far a bigger buck than my first and we were pumped. The buck ended up being a real young buck, probably around three years old and scores right at 94 inches. My second coues buck was a very exciting, memorable hunt and perfect late Christmas present.
My first coues deer
I was 14 years old in October of 2000. This would be my fourth time hunting the elusive coues deer and I had yet to harvest a deer. In fact, I hadn’t even had the opportunity of getting a buck in my scope. We were hunting down south in unit 30A. It was the late October hunt and it was warm. On opening morning Dad glassed up some does in some thick cover on a ridge across the road. After a closer look he could tell that one was a small 2 point. We packed up and headed over to try and get into position. Because of the location of the deer we were going to have to get on the same hill side that they were on to try and get a shot. We made it to a rocky out cropping that we thought would provide the correct angle to be able to see the deer and get a shot. Dad sat down and started to comb the thicket with his binoculars. After a few minutes he could see the legs of several deer as they fed in the thick brush. He had me start setting up for a shot while he tried to locate the buck. I settled into a sitting position using the bi pod legs on my rifle to get steady. By now Dad had located the buck and was trying to tell me where he was. As I searched for the buck through my scope all I could see was the thick brush. My dad directed me to a burnt bush that was all black and stood out from the all the green brush around it…I found it in the scope. He then directed me to the grey spot just above and to the right of the black bush…I found it in the scope. He told me that was the buck and that he was facing to the left with his head in the bush feeding. I found the bucks shoulder and put the cross hairs on him. I was shaking. The adrenaline was pulsing through me and I could not keep the cross hairs steady on the buck’s shoulder. I remember all the times we had practiced for this very moment and my Dad’s council to never shoot unless I was steady. My dad urged me to take the shot, because if the buck took one step he would be out of the small clearing and back into the thick brush. I concentrated on my breathing and focused on settling the cross hairs on the buck’s shoulder. As the cross hairs steadied I began to squeeze the trigger until…BOOOOMMMM…WHOP! I came down fast off the recoil of the shot searching frantically for the buck with my scope. “You got him!”, Dad exclaimed. “Dropped him like a sack of rocks.” I was shaking again, even worse than before. I had just harvested my first coues deer. My dad ranged the black bush the buck had been feeding near at 217 yards. We headed over to collect my prize. The 90 grain nosler ballistic tip from my .243 had worked perfectly. There was no blood trail to follow, he had dropped in his tracks. What a memorable experience and the realization that I was addicted to hunting these little deer. Well, that was 12 years ago and I have since harvested 5 more coues bucks. I will try to get those posted as well.
Josh Weeks Archery August 2012
Well my 2012 archery hunt came and went this year on opening day.
It all started this summer with a load of scouting. I have been into this area dozens of times in the last year knowing there were some good bucks in there. I had a couple of nice bucks on camera this summer, but had only seen this guy once before a distance and only for a second. I new he was a good one but not sure how good.
fast-forward to the week of the hunt. I went up weds morning to start looking. Of course with all the weather the prior week, and raining weds my springs had a slim possibility of producing so I decided to head out to my glassing point and set up and do some glassing. Right away I spotted a group of 4 bucks one of them being a 100+ 3 point that I was considering shooting if the big guy didn’t show.
With a heck of a storm moving in I new conditions were gunna get tough. Wow what a long night of sleeping on a cot with a tarp over me. I couldn’t scout for most of the morning Thursday due to the rain, However when the storm broke a bit in the afternoon I went back out to glass. Just before dark I glassed up the big dude I was looking for.
After contemplating how to approach him in the morning I was in a toss up. He was on a bench in between two huge canyons. I decided I better get to the glassing spot early, locate him and plan from there. At daylight on Friday when the sun came out enough to see I was not a happy camper. I couldn’t even see the bench they were on, wouldn’t you know it, FOG. It was the longest two hours of my life. Finally I got a little break in the fog and put some glass on the bench. Instantly I saw the two little bucks that were with him. I new he was there. I then decided to boogie over there and see what I could do. After nearly 2 hours of crossing two canyons and scaling up to the bench where he was, I was to my dead juniper that was my goal.
At this point my buck fever was setting in hard. I had an arrow knocked and slowly slipped my way in to what I thought was fifty yards from where I thought they would be. When I got to my next tree I looked through the bush and saw a deer feeding its way into an opening. With having stocked in of tons of deer in my day the scenario usually goes, “when I got there the little bucks were in the way of the big buck not offering me a shot, or the big one wouldn’t step out”. Not this time. When the deer cleared the brush I was pleasantly surprised to see I t was him. As soon as I saw the rack I drew back figuring the yardage at 45. As soon as he cleared the tree I let it fly. The shot was tru and I nailed him perfect. I watched him disappear into the brush. At that point I was a wreck. Heart pounding, shaking, then doubt on the hit all start playing tricks on me. I waited about 20 minutes and the slipped up to the shot location. I looked above where he was standing and saw the arrow. Pass through, but no blood, I walked down the trail through the brush twenty yards and started seeing blood and a lot of it THANK GOD I was thinking to myself. After fifty yards of trailing there he was.
Wow what a hunt and what a buck, defiantly was worth all the scouting and hard work. He has a 19″ inside spread and 21″+ main beams. Was defiantly happy with him and there was no ground shrinkage on this guy.
Thanks for reading: Josh Weeks
2011 Archery Coues
2011 Archery Coues taken by abovethecoues
2010 Velvet Coues
2010 Opening Day Velvet Coues taken by abovethecoues
2012 Archery Bobcat
2012 Archery Bobcat taken by abovethecoues
144″ Coues Buck – STOLEN!
From Jim Mullins:
Howdy guys and gals, I’ve been sittin’ on this since last January but now decided to post it up.
This is a buck that was found on one of our ranches in Mexico. It was several years ago that I aquired it and and I’ve kept it in my friends ranch house ever since. I had put an old archery tag on it which had my name and address so just in case somebody visited the ranch they wouldn’t take it. It was great to take hunters every year to this ranch and show them the rack, but then it disappeared!!!
My friend had let another outfitter hunt his ranch early last season for Mule Deer while we were hunting Coues on a different ranch nearby. After that hunt was over and that outfitter had left, we showed up to find this skull missing and the tag I had on it cut off and in the trash!
My friend has been trying to track this guy and this skull down and get it back but hasn’t been able to. I know who this outfitter is and he’s always at the big shows in the states. I’ve recently been told by several of his past clients that he uses racks and pictures at his booths of bucks that weren’t killed on his ranches or he had nothing to do with, but he claims they’re his and books hunts using them.
Because I have no hard facts, I won’t say his name, not even in PM’s so please don’t ask. He is NOT a sponsor of CWT.com either! I have heard that he may have already got the rack across the border and is intending to use it in his booth at the shows and may have already displayed it this past show season.
I’m posting this in hopes that if any of you see this rack you’ll please let me know! The guy that took it knew exactly what he was doing and by cutting my tag off and taking it he blatently stole it, and that just pisses me off! If it is on this side of the border I won’t be able to get it back, but I can definitely make sure this dude regrets cutting my tag off and taking it! Thanks! JIM>
Join the Discussion in the forum:
http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/34516-stolen-giant-144-mexico-coues/
Bull Elk Contest 2011 RESULTS
If you are a winner, please email Amanda to receive your prize.
Thank you to our many sponsors who donated items as prizes for this contest! Please remember to support those who support your passion!
There is a link to each hunt story under the photo by the winners name. Feel free to click on those to read about each person’s hunt.
|
Youth Largest |
Score |
Prize |
|
1st place – Trevor Call, son of Kevin Call
|
383 |
$100 Sportsmans WarehouseGift Certificate |
|
Archery Bull |
Score |
Prize |
|
1st Josh Epperson
|
394 6/8 |
Covert Red40 Trail Cameradonated by CouesWhitetail.com |
|
2nd Sam Heffelinger
|
365 |
$500 Elk Mount Discount donated by Dan Lee of Artist Touch Taxidermy |
|
3rd Aaron Davis
|
358 1/8 |
10 day Optics Rental donated by Optics 4 Rent |
|
4th Mike Gootegoed
|
351 4/8 |
Guard Dog BinoCover donated by ProGear Outdoors |
|
5th Lance Lines
|
343 |
$100 Gift Certificate to Gila Outdoors |
|
6th Ron Green
|
287 4/8 |
Guard Dog BinoCover donated by ProGear Outdoors |
|
Rifle Typical
|
Score |
Prize |
|
1st – Colton Bolanger, Coues n Sheep’s son
|
382 6/8 |
$100 Sportsmans Warehouse, donated bySportsmans Warehouse |
|
2nd – Mason Davis
|
351 4/8 |
Vortex Scope donated byCameraland
|
|
3rd – Stevi Connolly, Santana Outdoors’ daughter
|
340 |
$50 Meat Processing donated by Browning’s Custom Meat |
|
4th – Pat Whelton Hunt Story
|
335 7/8 |
Zeiss Knife donated byOutdoor Experience 4 All |
|
5th Mathew Young
|
330 1/8 |
Havalon Knife donated by CouesWhitetail.com |
|
6th John Scaife
|
324 2/8
|
Havalon Knife donated by CouesWhitetail.com |
| Best Field Photo | Prize |
| 1st – Ron Green
|
$50 off any item in theCouesWhitetail.com store |
| Best Spirit of the Hunt Photo | Prize |
1st – Rob MatthewsRob’s Hunt Story |
Camping Pad which can range in size from a cot to a RV size bed, up to 60×75 donated by A-1 Mattress |
CouesWhitetail.com ad in CEI Outdoorsmans Resource Guide
What makes CouesWhitetail.com different from other sites? I think it’s the family friendly nature of the site. CouesWhitetail.com provides a place where the hunting community can gather and share their many successes as well as ask questions and share advice. And CouesWhitetail.com isn’t just for Coues Deer hunters. If you check out the discussion forum you will see people posting hunt stories about all kinds of species (bear, javelina, bighorn sheep, elk and much more). So when creating an advertisement to go into the CEI Outdoorsmans Resource Guide, we focused on spreading the idea that CouesWhitetail.com is about more than Coues and it’s a very family friendly community. I think you will agree that the following ad does a great job of that. Many thanks to Lance Crowther, Jody and Chris Beck, Jay Woods and Josh Epperson for allowing me use of their outstanding photos.
If you haven’t checked out the CEI Outdoorsman’s Resource Guide, you are really missing out. This guide will give you all kinds of information about everything an outdoorsman might want to know while in the field. “Where is the closest archery shop?” “where is the nearest gas station?” “how to a properly cape a trophy?” “where are the AGFD offices located?” are just a sample of the type of questions this guide will answer for you. And it has some great hunt stories mixed in as well. So check out :
http://www.outdoorsmansresourceguide.com/
CouesWhitetail.com was voted Top Hunting Forum for the 2nd year in a row!
125″ + change – Here’s my story
This hunt started a long time ago. In 1993 an antler buyer stopped in my home town. I had a few to sell so I stopped. After selling to him we got in a conversation and he showed me a few photos of a little deer with more mass than I had ever seen on any deer. He called the little deer a Coues. I had never heard of them. We talk and ended up making a swap. I would take him on a lion hunt and he would take me on a Coues hunt.
I applied that same year and got a tag. We went hunting and I saw one buck for just a glimpse.
That hunt started a long time friendship that has led me on many hunts with him and my brother. After that hunt, I could see that the fire power I had wasn’t going to get it done. So for the last 18 years I have spent most of my free time looking for better optics, better rifles and that one little deer. From 1993 until now my brother and I have had a few tags and have taken some nice deer but those are for another time.
Friday morning found my brother and me setting on one of our spots we had glassed from many times in the past. We spent all day at that spot seeing a few does and a small buck. We headed back to the house to plan the hunt for Saturday. After lots of BS talks and looking at the many nice mounts on the wall it was set, we would hunt a spot that my brother and I had both taken bucks from in the past.
As we got close to where we wanted to hunt I could see a camp. I couldn’t believe that someone was camping there. We walked over to the two young men and talked with them. Nice fellows, but I knew there was no way we could hunt that canyon and feel right so we decided to go to a spot close by. As we got close to the parking place I could see someone was in front of us. I couldn’t believe it. We took the other road and ended up where we had hunted the day before.
I just got to my rock, took off my pack and put my binos up and there was a buck 850 yards. We hurried and got the spotting scope up. The buck looked like a 95″ buck as we sized up the buck another buck showed up. It was a big high horned 2 point with long main beams that turned down on the ends. We talked about the two bucks and watched them go in the thick brush. We knew a shot from there was not possible as the wind was blowing 20-25. We decided to just set on the bucks. After a while, the 2 point buck left going down the canyon leaving the other buck. We looked for most of the day but the 95″ didn’t show. About 4 pm I told my brother let’s move around to the back side of the hill we were setting on. We glassed for a while not seeing much I moved to another point just 30 yards over to glass a little basin. I spotted a buck and called my brother over to look. It was another 2 point with brow tines. Not what we were looking for. All of a sudden I hear,” got one”. I looked to see where he was looking. As I put my binos up, I could see a big bodied deer with its head in a tree. I scrambled to get the spotting scope on him. It’s a shooter. Maybe 120″ we need to kill this buck. My brother and I had talked. The deal was the one that spots it shoots it. I ranged it and he set his turret. He said I can’t find a good spot to get a rest. I told him my bipod was in my pack. Use it. I watched the buck while he got ready for the shot. It seemed like a lifetime went by. I watched the buck rake the tree and getting bigger by the second. I didn’t say much I didn’t want to pump things up any more that they were. I was hoping the buck wouldn’t move. “Are you ready”, I asked? Yes, just about he said. I can’t see him the sun is in my scope.
He said, “Ok I’m on him”. “Ok”, I said I am on him. He shoots, I see the bullet hit just in front of the buck. I told him the elevations are good 12″ to the left. I told him hold on his flank, there must be more wind than we think. He shoots 2′ to the right. I told him, hold where you want to hit. About then the 2 point goes over near the big buck. I watched as the bigger buck turns and drives the 2 point out of the basin in to the thick trees. Man now what? We glassed the spot I last seen the buck for what seem like hours. There he is in the one small opening in the trees. Ok I got him. My brother shoots. Just behind the buck. My brother said,” what is going on, I can’t get it done”. My brother then did the thing that only a person of his quality would do. He turned to me and said why don’t you shoot? I was humbled by what he said. I moved away from the spotting scope to my rifle knowing that this was a buck of a lifetime and my brother was giving me a chance to kill a buck that anyone would die for. I know that he really didn’t know just how big this buck was. After trading spots and my brother looking though the spotting scope he really saw what this buck was. I am sure if he would have shot a few more times the story would have a different happy ending.
As the sun crept down to the skyline I knew that we were getting short on time. The buck was not showing himself. We glassed until we found him. I ranged him at 707 Yards. I told myself you have to get it done. I was thinking, all the time at the range and all the time working up loads. The rifle is ready you, know how to shoot. This is your chance. I put the cross hairs in the middle of him and let it fly. My brother said just in front of him. Hold on his penis. “Penis?” I asked. “Yes penis” was the reply. “Ok”, I said you on him? He said yes. I knew this would probably be the last shot as it was getting late and if the buck moved again I would have a hard time finding him in my scope. I placed the cross hairs as I was instructed to do. I took a deep breath and put my finger on the 1 pound trigger and sent the bullet the buck’s way. The recoil took me off the buck but I didn’t need to see. I heard a big howl and my brother told me he is down right there. He is stone dead.
It may be hard to believe, but no high fives, no celebrating, just a long silence from me and the same from my brother. We looked at the buck though the scope. He was dead. We looked at each other and I said “we can’t go down there tonight”. The route we would have to take would be tough and nasty. We decided to leave the spotting scope on the buck return in the morning and get the buck out.
Saturday night December 10th, 2011 was the longest night of my life. Did I stun him? Could he get up and be gone, will the coyotes get him? These thoughts kept going through my mind. We returned to the spotting scope the next morning. I looked down where the buck was and I was able to put a big smile on my face.
I believe that things happen for a reason and the events that day led us back to the spot we needed to be.
I need to thank my hunting partner, best friend and brother for giving me the chance to shoot this buck. I wasn’t the one that spotted the buck. He had the right to shoot until he had no more bullets and use my gun to keep shooting, but that’s just not him. There may only be one bullet in this buck but two brothers killed a trophy of a life time from that rocky point.
Gosar Sheds!
San Carlos Reservation 2012
Nate Boni and Ted Aday got together when they realized they each had a giant shed off the same buck!
Check these out!
Pair of Monster Coues bucks!
These bucks were mounted by sponsor Arizona Widlife Designs and he sent in this photo of the pedestal mount they did for the hunter.
Both bucks measured right at 127 SCI!!! Bottom one is from Mexico, the top one is from Arizona and was an Archery Buck!!!
Jerry Hathcock
Unit 27, Arizona
Jerry found this rack in Unit 27. The buck was apparently killed by a lion.
Jim Reynolds locked coues sets
Southern AZ
This is a locked set of antlers. The larger buck has 8 pts and grosses about 100 inches. The smaller is a 90 inch 10 point.
This is another set of locked antlers. Both bucks gross about 110 inches. The one on the left is a 12 point while the one on the right is an 8 point.
2nd Annual AZ Antlerfest! WOW!
Well, what a weekend it was! I spent Fri-Sunday (May 11-13, 2012) up at the Arizona AntlerFest and WOW!! I have seen that collection before, but there are always new additions and it’s impossible to take it all in! It’s just the most amazing collection of antler I have ever seen!! Over 12,000 pounds of antler including over 50 coues bucks over 115 and over 50 elk that score 380 or better.
Thank you to Alan and Shelly Ellsworth for opening their home for this great event! They are great hosts and what a privilege to be able to view this collection.
As if Alan’s collection wasn’t enough, Jim Reynolds also brought many of his best bucks and great coues sheds. UNBELIEVEABLE! His collection is mind-numbingly awesome. Most people would think that the coues sheds that he offered for sale are awesome, but the ones he keeps are just world-class! Thanks to Jim and Susan for taking the time bring all those great antlers up to the event! I never get tired of seeing those coues.
The combination of Alan and Jim’s collection means this was by far the world’s greatest collection of Coues bucks ever assembled!!! I felt blessed to be there!
Anyway, words don’t do this event much justice so I will just start posting some pics. I met lots of CW.com members up there, so if you took any pics while there, feel free to add them into this thread……
Most, but not all, of Alan’s collection comes from elk and coues sheds and racks he has bought from the White Mtn Apache Reservation.
442″ elk:
One of my favorite things about collections like this is the series of sheds they have from the same buck or bull. I just love watching how the racks change over time….very interesting to me!
Alan already owned several sheds from this bull, but a guy brought in a shed he found that was from this bull. He found it a long time ago and never expected to see anymore from this bull and was thrilled to see it at Alan’s! The shed he found is the brown one on the right and the others are Alan’s. The bases on this bull are amazing!
some great coues sets:
Some great sets from Jim Reynolds’ collection
Taxidermist Dan Lee (of Artist Touch Taxidermy) holding a giant coues owned by Alan that Dan colored and will be mounting for Alan. WOW!! Dan was up there to promote the amazing fake rocks with lichens that he makes which can be used to display sheds and racks! I think the rocks are an awesome idea and they look great! I came home with a few small ones to display my sheds from my puzzlerock buck. (sorry Dan I didn’t get a pic of your rocks while I was there…doh!)
View from above in the barn:
and just some pictures from around the barn and outside:
And this GIANT set is from a game farm in Canada and I believe Josh scored it at 430 without a spread!!
Saw several CW.com stickers up there, but here is a new one! Thanks Alan! Hope it makes you smile 
Andy Knowlton 2012
Spent most the month chasing the dogs around, but was able to get out a few days and hunt some “lion food” myself. Found a pretty well used rub and scrape line one day while trailing a lion. I had a few free days coming up, so I decided to give this area a try. Got lucky and shot this buck at 28 yards on the 3rd morning.
What a deer. He scores……….113 plus 
Jeff Hough in Iraq
from Jeff:
Here is a picture of your truck just before we crossed into Iraq from Kuwait to pick up a 30 up armored vehicles to be taken to Afghanistan.
When we took this picture we were only about 300 yards from Iraq in the staging lanes at the boarder. The mission took 11 days without incident we traveled 1072 miles with 5 of these trucks ,4 Gun trucks for security and 25 civilian trucks to pick up our load and return to Kuwait to ship them out.
So far the 1404th Transportation Company out of Show Low has traveled 1.5 million miles in only 10 months and have been up and down Iraq picking up and delivering all types of freight from Tanks to food and water.
Thanks for the sticker it made it all the way north before they made me take it off , none of our trucks have any markings or numbers on them, they don’t them to stand out or to be recognize in any way but I did get a few comments on what kind of deer that was and I told them to go to the web site and check it out.
You might have to re size the pictures.
And the good thing is that we only have 48 days left.
I have a few other pictures if you would like them.
Thank you
Jeff Hough
eagarcoues
