28 February 2015, 01:53
twilli420 Coues Buck
My Coues deer hunt started at an SCI dinner where fellow AR member Mike Bryant was talking about going to Mexico to hunt these elusive little whitetail deer. This piqued my interest and I got ahold of Mark Young from Mark's Excusive Adventures. Mark got me booked with Matt Woodward of Borderland Adventures. Matt runs an operation for Coues deer and Mule deer south of the border. I booked my hunt for January of 2015 at the peak of the rut. I met fellow AR member Pat Gregory who also would be hunting the same time as me. Pat and I met up in Tucson and he was gracious enough to give me a lift to the border. While in Tucson we went out for some beers with Lance Mitchell another AR member to swap some lies and hunting stories. Lance unfortunately was not able to accompany us on out trip down South of the border. We crossed at Sasabe,AZ and had no difficulty getting our guns through the military check point. I would be hunting with a custom made 6BR from Herb Coates. I topped my rifle off with a Night Force 5X5-22X56 and I hand loaded some .95 grain Berger hunting bullets. I shot the gun all summer and was dialed out to 600 yards. The trip into the ranch was uneventful and there was numerous roadside novenas.
The ranch was quite large and the hacienda was very comfortable. Pat and I each had our own bedroom and bathroom. The hacienda also had numerous fireplaces which were lit for the cool nights.
Pat relaxing by the fire with one of the guides dogs
Coues deer hunting requires big glass. I felt inadequate with my Swarovski 10x42's. The guides carried tripod mounted binoculars and comfortable sitting stools for those long days glassing. The more eyes the better!
Matt glassing with the big boys. He was picking up deer 2 miles away with the Kowas
Glassing up some deer on the hillside
Some times the stars are aligned and everything comes together such the title of the article the 420 Coues buck. My guide Steve and Vince spotted a nice buck that fit my criteria. He had to be heavy and have some junk. I can't say enough about my two guides ability to pick deer up out of the desert country. They located my buck 420 yards on this side hill with his harem of does and a smaller buck that was bedded down.
Hillside where my buck was located.
It took me some time to get the buck located and set up for the shot. They don't call them the gray ghost for nothing. I settled the crosshairs on the buck and let a round fly. The distinctive sound of a hit was heard and the buck hunched up. I had a hard time relocating him after the shot. The buck had only taken a couple of steps and I let another round fly. The buck was down and all four legs were in the air !! After some war whoops and back slaps it was time to go check my buck out .
The buck was everything that I was looking for. A old heavy buck with kickers coming off the back. I paid my respects to this old warrior and gave him his last meal. He had died a warriors death. Call it karma or whatever but I shot the buck at 420 yards and on my ballistics chart I had marked 420 yards at 22 clicks. I also shot the buck at 4:20 P.M. Call it coincidence I think not.
I harvested my buck on my first day of the hunt. I have a saying don't pass a buck up on the first day that you would shoot on the last day of the hunt. Now it was time to turn my endeavors to the desert pig "Javelina" The ranch has quite a few javelina running around and they are great to spot and stalk. The 6BR also proved formidable and 2 Javelina fell to the .95 grain bullet.
With my deer and a couple pigs out of the way the rest of the hunt was spent relaxing or calling coyotes or helping others glass.
Pat and me with out bucks.
Vince skinning my javelina
Boiling the skulls and getting the paperwork ready to cross the border with our trophies
Had a great time on the hunt and saw lots of bucks. Matt runs a good outfit and I would share camp with Pat again anytime. I hope to make it south of border again in the near future to try for desert mule deer, which I did see a few.
Adios from Ole Mexico
Very nice!