One of the
most exciting times of the year for most hunters in Arizona is the end of
July. Most of you know this is when the
results for deer and sheep come out.
Like most of you the excitement was building and when the day arrived it
was a great one for us. All five of the
family had drawn tags. Two on the early
coues deer hunt and three of the luckier ones had drawn the late rifle
hunt. The talk of what size and when we
could go began. Little did we know it
was going to turn out to be a long season.
The desire
to hunt the ghost of the desert started about six years ago. I know many of you have known how awesome it
is to hunt these little deer for years now, however six years ago my great
uncle introduced me and my family to them and it has become one of if not our
favorite hunt each year. I drew my first
tag back in 2007 in a good unit. That
hunt was great. Due to some unfortunate
circumstances I was unable to tag a deer that year. Over the next five seasons I waited and
waited and waited for my second chance.
I watched as each of my brothers and dad harvested nice bucks, not
mention the few other friends that I helped each year. Each year we became better and learned about
the grey ghost and just how fun they are hunt.
I work in
the cotton industry and due to harvest starting in October, and running till
the end of November and sometimes into December, my only chance is a late rifle
tag, or late archery hunt. Finally in
2012 my second chance came. I had drawn
a late rifle tag in what I considered a great unit to hunt coues deer. Work and family obligations limited our
scouting efforts this year but we know the deer were there and December
couldn’t get here fast enough.
December
arrived hot, and dry. I kept waiting for
the cold snap to come and change the weather.
It came alright but not until the first weekend of the hunt. With the start of the hunt came snow and
rain. These conditions forced us to
change the area we had been scouting and hunting and move down a bit lower in
elevation. With five days of hunting
down, only one nice buck having been spotted and the rut not really doing
anything Christmas came. My wife
informed me that if I missed Christmas to go hunting that I probably shouldn’t
even bother to come home. So I took four
days off from hunting and went home for the holidays.
December 26th
TC said he could come out and go hunting with me. That morning found us on the top of giant
knob looking over some great country. We
spotted deer immediately. We say lots of
does and a group of muleys with a decent buck chasing does. Finally about 9 am TC spotted some deer about
1.5 miles away, as the crow flys. As we
started watching them we spotted what we thought was a great buck. The decision was made and I grabbed my gear
and headed out. Well the only way to get
to where the deer were was across two giant canyons and a good 2 mile
hike. An hour and twenty minutes later
found me on the opposite ridge of the deer looking for the deer. We had forgotten our two way radios so our
only communication was with our cell phones with spotty service. TC helped me locate the deer again and I
started looking for a spot I could shoot from.
Looking around I found a sweet flat rock I could lay my pack across and
shoot lying down. However it was right
out in the wide open. I decided to
chance it and snuck over. After getting
set up I took out my binos and tried to look the deer over to be sure I wanted
to take a shot. I was breathing so hard
from my stalk that I just sat there for probably for what felt like an eternity
trying to catch my breath. It probably
ended up being about 2 minutes. After
looking over the deer I almost decided to pass.
He had long beams and was wide, but lacked a bit of mass and long
points. TC said I think he will go mid
80s. After my long stalk and knowing the
rut wasn’t going that great I just said I’m shootin. With my phone on speaker lying on the ground
next to me I ranged the buck, 503 yds came back. I ranged again just to be sure I was seeing
correctly. Yep 503 yds. I know where my .300 Ultra shoots at that
range so I settled in and got ready. The
buck walked right out in the open quartering away and I let lead fly. The recoil of the gun knocked me of the buck
in the scope, as I was trying to figure out where he went, I hear TC, you
nailed him. Hurriedly I prepared to
shoot again but couldn’t find the buck.
I kept asking TC where is he, where is he. He comes back with he is dead, go pick him
up. The excitement and realization
finally set in that I had finally taken my first coues deer. After five years of waiting I just sat there
and took it all in. It was
fantastic. Finally I got up and walked
down the canyon and up the other side to my deer. He’s not a giant, but man I was excited. TC made it over and we took lots of
pictures. After we had the deer boned
and caped my dad and sister showed up and helped us with the pack out. I had a great time out in the mountains with
my family doing what I love. Thanks to
TC, Dustin, Larissa, Dad and all those who came out with me on this hunt. It is one that I won’t soon forget.
Just a side
note, the other two family members who will remain anonymous that had this tag
didn’t shoot any deer. We had fun and
got some shooting in but were unable to tag any other deer.
Enjoy the Pics!!
