2018 Coues Deer / Finally Broke 100"

Just wanted to do a quick share of the buck I killed this year. I was lucky enough to harvest my first 100"+ coues buck. The area I hunted this year had a lot of people hunting it, which made it tough. In fact the morning I killed this buck 2 other groups of hunters were sitting just above this buck, and a bigger one. I sat patiently hoping they hadn't seen them. At roughly 8:30 am, they got up and left. I couldn't believe it. I got my stuff together, and hiked almost 2 miles around to a better vantage point, and got set up. I glassed the bowl I had seen them disappear into until 4:45 pm. I hadn't been able to find them the entire day. Just when I thought they had given me the slip, I saw them sneaking out. The big one slipped out with no shot opportunity, but the smaller buck decided to pause for one last look. I ranged him at 502 yards, dropped my bag on the ground, dialed my drop, and held for 8 mph for wind. I settled in, exhaled, squeezed the trigger, and the shot went off. I watched the cross hairs come back, never leaving his vitals. He dropped dead before he hit the ground. The old 7mm Rem Mag still lives up to its history of one shot, one kill. I quartered him, and packed him out that night. Although he wasn't the biggest of the two, I'm still proud to say that I finally killed a truly mature coues buck, and I broke the 100" mark. He was scored by a friend of mine, that scored him at 102 7/8" (16 7/8" and 17 1/8" main beams, a 14 4/8" spread, and 27" of mass). He didn't quite make book, but he still made it over to the taxidermist. Lol. You can see by his teeth, that he was an older buck. I'm not sure exactly how old he was, but we're guessing 7-8 years old. Any ways, thanks for looking. Hopefully I can draw a tag again next year. I can't wait to go back.

Nice deer, congratulations. Coues hunting looks like a blast.

great hunt and a pretty lucky break. too bad the big one got away. just remember for next year, maybe he'll make it.

bsfl said:

Nice deer, congratulations. Coues hunting looks like a blast.

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It's pretty fun. Not too hard for a non res to draw in AZ either, as long as you choose the october or november hunts. The december hunts are impossible to draw even for me.

86alaskan said:

great hunt and a pretty lucky break. too bad the big one got away. just remember for next year, maybe he'll make it.

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I sure hope he makes it. My fingers are crossed. He should be close to where I saw him this year. Coues don't move very much in their lifetime.

What's incredible about coues, is their ability to hide. I sat down around 10 am, and glassed for almost 7 hours. I looked over that hillside that was 600-700 yards long, and 500 yards from the top to the bottom. I sat there and glassed and glassed and glassed. I knew they were there, and in 7 hours I could not find them. It wasn't until they decided to get and leave, that I finally busted them. They are sneaky little buggers.

Congrats Very nice buck, and good shooting. A 100 in buck on public land is no easy task. I killed a 103 in 2008 and it took me until 2016 to get another 106. Now looking for the 110. Coues hunting is very addictive, it's what got me into longer range hunting and shooting.

Congrats

Beautiful deer. They are absolutely stunning. Coues deer, mearns quail and goulds turkey are just fascinating. All of us that get to chase them are truly blessed. It maybe just my opinion but I believe coues are some of the finest table fare out there. I have been chasing them with a bow for a couple years, couple close calls but no luck. This year I have a rifle tag that starts 12/1 and goes through 12/9, and I plan on using every day of the hunt. Hopefully I can find something 80 plus to hang my tag on. Thanks for sharing!