# Arizona 2017 Coues Hunt



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Well folks here it is.

This was the hunt that almost wasn't.

Last year on this exact day December 30th we had spotted a very nice coues deer buck about 2 miles away and the stalk was started. We had crawled the last 50 or so yards to get into position and had set the rifle up to bag me a trophy. Just as I got the cross hairs onto the vitals at 400 yards a ATV came past us on a road over a mile away, this deer heard it and was off like a shot. A 2 ½ hour stalk ruined, but then what do you expect on public land.

I had cashed in 8 points in Arizona for a chance at this buck in unit 36c down on the Arizona/Mexico border and my partner had cashed in 7 so to say that we were disappointed really didn't say how we felt. We thought that we would have a good day on the last day of the hunt but woke up to cloud cover in the canyons that we had planned on hunting. So much for 8 years of hope and payers.

This year's draw came around for Arizona and I was wondering what to do. I thought about just picking up a bonus point and not worry about the draw but on just a whim I put back in for a December coues deer hunt with on one loyalaty point and not worry about it. You should of seen my surprise when I saw a $300 charge on my CC. I went back into my AZG&F portal account and checked my application, yes it was the right hunt number. I then went to the guide book and checked out the hunt number and yes it was for unit 36c, could I of been so lucky to of drawn this tag 2 years in a row? This isn't the way that my luck usually goes.

Then the official notification came and I was like a kid on Christmas Day with a new train set under the tree. You older members will know what I mean by that. I was going coues deer hunting in December again.

I called my friend and told him the good news, but he was unable to get any time off during December so I would be on my own. I then contacted an outfitter that . I then contacted an outfitter that we had met down there in 2016 but all of his hunts were full, what am I going to do? I was going to go hunting by myself if I needed to.

I spent the summer getting my rifle ready for 500-600 yards shots I loaded ammo and shot ammo at all different ranges. I also got mad at Leopold due to the fact that they didn't tell me that my VX3 4.5-14 didn't qualify for the free CDS dial until it was too late to do anything about it. So onward I charged. Come Thanksgiving things started to look up. My friend called and said that he could get the last week of the year off and he was ready to be my spotter. A week later the outfitter called and said that one of his clients was getting iffy on his hunt, I was ecstatic. I told the outfitter that I would work with him out in the unit if needed and he was quite happy to tell me that he would help out. The hunt was on.

I drove to Arizona the day before Christmas and spent the night ¾'s of the way down. I then spent Christmas day with a friend in his home just north of Tucson with plans of meeting my friend in a small town of Three Points at 7am and then drive into the unit and start hunting. We met up and headed out to the unit and unloaded his side by side. We then headed down to the area that we had the blown stalk the year before to start glassing. Once there we spotted a nice buck with two smaller ones, the stalk was on for a mile. We came up over a small ridge just to the south of the bucks but didn't see them. After a hour we spotted a spike but the larger buck was gone. It was now noon so we headed back to camp to set it up. That night we were back glassing for the larger buck and found him, only now he was around 2 miles away, so off we went. We finally got as close as we dared, 542 yards and set up. He was laying in some brush with another buck and some does. We watched him for over 3 hours until it got dark and him never moving. I think that he knew that we were there.

The next day we went back in in the dark and started to glass. This time we were only 450 yards from him but he was hidden by cactus and never did offer a good shot. Then a couple other hunters came along the hillside and spooked him. The last we saw of him he was headed strong in the wrong direction never to be seen again.

The next day we went to a new spot, a 7 mile hike up a dry wash to glass some bowls. All this accomplished was some sore muscles and tired feet. That night we went back to what we were now calling buck heaven. The problem was that we were not seeing any bucks and very few does.

Friday morning came and we decided to take it a little bit easy and only go for a 3 mile hike. When we got up onto the knob to start to glass my friend asked what kind of buck I would be happy with? I told him I wanted a respectable one and not a dink. He went back to glassing. A half hour he came running around the hill telling me to pack up, he had found the buck and that he was only a mile away, so off we went. An hour later found us on a small saddle with the buck only 418 yards away so I very quickly and quietly got set up. The buck was working though some high grass and what I call the devils walking stick with no shot possible but as he moved I moved the cross hairs. He finally stopped and my friend said "shoot". The word wasn't even out of his mouth when I pulled the trigger. He said that the buck was down, but then back up as I gathered myself for the second shot, then the buck was down and rolling down the hill. I had my coues.

It took us a 1 ½ hours to get up and over to him through all the cat claw and other cactuses that were up there. My arm looked like Edward Scissors Hand had gone to work one me, but I had my buck

After the handshakes and hugging we took some photos and started to quarter him up to get him off of that hill. 4 hours later we were back at camp drinking a cold soda and planning our next adventure.

I have no idea of what he scores and could care less. He had 5 points on one side and 4 on the other counting the eye guards. He is a toad of a coues.
















The exit hole from my .25-06 100 grain Barnes TTSX at 3200 fps


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Woah! 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk


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## dumafotch1 (Nov 8, 2010)

Great job, and congratulations on a great buck.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Congrats on the gorgeous buck - great story!


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## brendo (Sep 10, 2013)

That's awesome! He's a stud. I would love to do a coues hunt at some point.I used the 25-06 on my muley hunt this year and was happy! I tried those ttsx and as much as I wanted to shoot them my gun didn't really like them.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Totally Awesome! Mega congrats to you man! That is a beautiful buck.———-SS


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

I’d say he’s around 115” which would be in the hog category! Beautiful deer! 
We only turned up a 98” buck this year on our trip..

Awesome deer!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I'll tell you one thing about this hunt, I have been on some that I came home totally spent with not enough energy to even watch TV. That is how this one felt every day. My knees hurt, my hips hurt, my eyes feel like they are bugged out of their sockets and I have bleed out of more places than I thought that I had. Every time that I run one of my hands over my skin I find another thorn that is trying to work itself out. This doesn't count the ones that I'll have to wait for them to fester up to figure out where they are located at. 

But just to let you know that I would go back tomorrow if I could.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Whoa, I'm impressed! I've never shot a Coues but I can tell a bigun when I see it. That's a bigun! Congrats Critter.



Critter said:


> I'll tell you one thing about this hunt, I have been on some that I came home totally spent with not enough energy to even watch TV. That is how this one felt every day. My knees hurt, my hips hurt, my eyes feel like they are bugged out of their sockets and I have bleed out of more places than I thought that I had.


That's because you're old. :grin: (Come on man, since I'm older than you I can rib you younger guys).


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

longbow said:


> Whoa, I'm impressed! I've never shot a Coues but I can tell a bigun when I see it. That's a bigun! Congrats Critter.
> 
> That's because you're old. :grin: (Come on man, since I'm older than you I can rib you younger guys).


We could be close to the same age. I'll pick up my medicare card next May.

But go ahead and rub it in, it feel so good to of accomplished this one that I can take anything.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Thats cool. Congrats!


.


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## silentstalker (Feb 19, 2008)

Beauty! Congrats!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Good grief, I'd run the other way if I seen that big SOB!

.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Dam* nice deers. 
Thorns and sore muscles...long hot soak in an Epson Salt tub...fix you right up, extract all those thorns and make you feel like you're 64 again. Just remember what they say, 70 is the new 50...Not!


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

Nice Coues! There's a chance I may be moving to Tucson in June - Nice to know there's some good ones to chase down there!


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

VERY NICE and Congratulations! 

A Coues is number four on my NA Deer Slam list and one like that would totally fit the bill. Seriously nice, mass, frame, ect. Beauty!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I hadn't considered trying for a slam but since I now have the hardest one on the list to get I just might reconsider it. 

Waspocrew, I got this guy in 32c south of Tucson 15 miles off of the border. I had considered unit 33 but went south. I also head down there every winter to hunt javelina in 37b just north of Oricle.


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## Little Creek Calls (Feb 23, 2015)

Nice coues. They sure are fun to hunt. The terrain is a lot more difficult then it looks at first. I hate cat claw, nice camo that normally last a very long time wears out after hunt or two. 
Also I think you meant 36C not 32C, there is no 32C only 32.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Yep, 36c thanks for correcting me, or was I trying to throw a curve ball to whoever read this post? :mrgreen:

My right arm is finally starting to heal after the hike to get to my buck. My partner looked at it and I think he saw more blood on my arm than the deer had on him. Later I noticed that the underside of my arm was even worse than the top part. Then once I got to where I could take a shower I looked my legs over, they look like one massive scratch from the ocotillo or the devils walking stick. It got me real good. 

The strange thing is that I would do it all over again tomorrow if I could.


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## Little Creek Calls (Feb 23, 2015)

36C Isn’t any real big secret. The first three hunts are a guarantee with a few leftovers for each hunt and with 125 tags for the fourth hunt it is a fairly easy late December draw. You just have to be willing to hunt close to the border and be ready for encounters with immigrants and drug runners. Did you see many on this years hunt?


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

We found orange peels in very strange places along with finding a couple of hides complete with water jugs and throwaway cell phones. Along with tennis shoe prints in the sand. The last day after bagging my buck we saw a ultra-lite flying low hugging the ground which we reported to the Border Patrol, but I am sure that 5 minutes later when the Border Patrol helicopter showed up he was long gone. 

Last year we saw a coyote guide coming down a dry wash and a few garbage bags rain slickers.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Nice job!
Must be lots of fun in that area.


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## 300 Wby (Aug 14, 2008)

Way to go Critter, one nice buck! Congrats!!!!!


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

that is an awesome coues! congratulations


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