04 February 2010, 05:25
Tim Herald2 B&C Coue's Deer
Just returned from a great Coue's deer hunt in Sonora, Mexico with my buddy Brad Fulk and Rio Sonora Outfitters.The terrain was very rugged and we were hunting 5000-8000 feet. It snowed the first day, and the mountains had snow on top the whole time.
This was a very physical hunt, and it was as optics intense as anything I have ever done. We glassed hours a day and saw lots of deer and plenty of bucks.
Brad really targets 110" bucks. We saw a few just over 100", but on the 3rd morning, we finally found a good buck about 8am. He disappeared in a canyon, and we eventually made a mile circle around him, and found him fighting another big buck.
After the fight (which he won) he fed a little and bedded down. We slowly made our final stalk and got to exactly 300 yards, where a cliff dropped off about 200 feet.
I got set up in a big gnarly juniper and settled in. After a half hour, the buck finally stood up (it was 1:30PM), and I put a bullet right behind his shoulder. He went less than 10 yards.
The beautiful 9 point Coue's scored 116 3/8 gross and right at 111 net. It took us forever to pack him out, and we arrived at the closest road at 6PM.
The next day, another hunter in camp, Chris Ayers, killed an absolutely incredible buck. Chris's deer scored an unbelievable 132 4/8" with 3" of G-4 broken. It was the 2nd largest buck Fulk's operation has ever taken. It was an honor just to see the big deer, not to mention getting to go on the follow up/recovery.
This was definitely a real hunt. The deer aren't huge animals, but they are special creatures in a special place. I want to add that all border crossings and the whole week in Mexico was completely safe.