Posted on: January 31st, 2012 Lucky Number 7
Jim Walton Coues’ 2012
He did it again! Every year Dad goes to Arizona and every year before he goes, he says, “I would really like to take a nice desert muley this year.” But every year, he can’t help himself and he ends up shooting a nice Coues’ deer. This year was no exception.
My parents have been going to Arizona every winter for more years than I can remember. Because of a delay on one of Dad’s jobs this fall, he was afraid a trip to the desert was out of the question this year. But after working hard to catch up, he found a week in his schedule and Mom and Dad were on their way.
They arrived a few days after I had to return home and started scouting the area. A couple days into the hunt, Dad went and set up a ground blind in the same spot I shot my buck about a week earlier. The first day he sat the waterhole, a coyote was his only visitor. One arrow from Dad’s Mathews made sure that coyote would harass any more deer.
The second day Dad sat the blind, he had a slow morning, with only a cow coming to drink. Then at about 12:30 p.m., he caught a glimpse of a deer heading down the bank. Dad grabbed his bow and saw the buck was a shooter. With the deer quartering to him, Dad settled his pin between the buck’s shoulders and touched the release.
The arrow crashed through the buck’s mid-section, as he catapulted himself into the middle of the pond. With a couple leaps, the deer crossed the water and stopped on the opposite bank. From there, Dad watched the buck fall within a few seconds and his seventh Coues’ buck with a bow was on the ground.
The following day, Dad scored the buck at 91″. What a deer! Congratulations Dad on another great Coues’. Someday you will get your big desert muley, until then, a string of great Coues’ deer will be a nice consolation prize 
91″ Gross Green Pope & Young
Zack Walton Coues’ Deer 2012
What can I say? It has been an unbelievable season. After arrowing two big Columbian blacktails with my California tags, I had been hoping to get away for at least a few days during January to chase bucks in Arizona.
I have made the trip to the southwestern desert almost every year for most of my life. Last winter, after changing positions in my career, I was not able to get away for the hunt. Needless to say, I have been thinking about it all year long. After very limited time away from work this year, and a 2012 work calendar that was quickly filling up, I doubted I’d be able to make it work.
But I found a string of a few days that I could sneak away and I quickly hit the road. I left after working on Thursday and drove 15 hours, getting to my hunting spot just in time to squeeze in a 30-minute nap and go hunting at daybreak. I saw only a few does and no bucks that morning.
Midday I met up with good friend Troy Elam and we scoured the area, checking every bit of water we could find for deer sign. After looking at a dozen spots without much luck, Troy and his dad, Bruce, thought of one more waterhole we should check. It was a long way off—more than an hour by quad—so we headed toward it hoping to arrive before the nightfall.
We made it just as the sun was dropping below the mountains to the west. I circled the water and found a decent amount of tracks. Figuring this was the best spot we had found, we quickly set up a ground blind and brushed it in with nearby foliage. We finished at dark and headed back.
I finally got a couple hours of sleep before my alarm went off ridiculously early. I wanted to be in the blind by early morning and knew it would take a while to get there. After packing a lunch, a good book, some water and other items, I drove away in the dark for what I figured would be an all-day sit.
The road, if you could call it that, was pretty nasty and it took me until sunrise to reach my parking spot. From there, I made the ¾ mile hike into the ground blind. I took my time setting up my blind openings and clearing shooting lanes, until it was just right. By 8 a.m., I settled in and tried not to start “watch watching.”
The weather report was calling for temps in the low 70s and I knew deer would be very tempted to visit the water hole. At about 9:15, I got movement and saw a deer moving toward the water. I picked up my binos and saw two 4-inch daggers poking from the skull of the small buck. For those of you who have not hunted Coues’ deer, they are a beautiful deer to watch. Especially up close.
The spike dropped his head and spent about 10 or 15 seconds slurping away before turning and trotting back to cover. In my experience, Coues’ deer rarely spend much time at water and he was no exception. However, before he left, I snapped a couple pictures of him.
Just as fast as I had company, I was again alone. I went back to watching birds play at the water’s edge and consistently checking for movement. After about an hour, I peeked out the window’s corner and saw legs moving through the mesquite trees. I leaned forward and picked up antlers. A quick peak through my binos showed a wide frame with eight points. A definite shooter!
By this time, the buck was already drinking water and I clicked the button on the rangefinder and saw 35. I hunkered down, drew and slowly rose to the point I could clearly loose an arrow without hitting the blind. The buck was quartering to me and I picked a spot on the point of the shoulder to focus my aim.
Suddenly, the three dozen birds that were bathing themselves flew from the water’s edge back to the nearby trees. That caused the buck to jerk his head up and focus his black eyes on the commotion. Perfect! I took advantage of the opportunity and aim low on the buck’s chest, anticipating him to drop at the sound of the bow, until the tension on the string disappeared.
I don’t know if I hit exactly where I was aiming or if he dropped and I shot a little low, but at the point of contact, instant blood spray dominated my eyes’ attention as the arrow centered the heart. The buck whirled and struggled to keep his front legs under him.
From the blind, I could see bright red blotches with my naked eye more than 40 yards away. I knew he wouldn’t make it far, but forced myself to wait 30 minutes before getting out. I spent most of that time standing. Have you ever tried to pace in a Double Bull blind? It’s tough.
Finally, I allowed myself to check the blood trail. It was thick, constant and short. Merely 40 yards later I found him piled into a bush. It wasn’t until and grabbed ahold of his antlers and yanked to free him from the thorny bush that I saw the giant eye guards. I knew the buck was pretty wide, with a nice frame, but I didn’t look close enough to see how impressive his browtines were.
I sat down, most of me overwhelmed with excitement, a small part of me exhausted from sleep deprivation, and the rest of me in disbelief that everything came together as planned. I also reflected on a hunting season that gave me two great blacktails and now a great Coues’ deer.
It took me most the day to take pictures, clean, pack and skin the buck. By nightfall, I was drained and hit my pillow with a heavy thud. I think a lot of people would not have tried to squeeze in a three-day hunt when they have to drive 1,000 miles each way, but it worked this time for me. And even if I didn’t shoot a buck, it still would have been worth it.
Special thanks to everyone in Arizona who helped out and made me feel as welcomed as family. It was, and is, greatly appreciated. Look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Here are some interesting numbers about my archery season:
- 101 = Hours from the time I left my driveway until I returned on my Arizona trip.
- 30 = Number of hours spent on the freeway that trip.
- 2,724 = Miles driven on three trips (not including during the hunt)
- 6 = Total number of days bowhunted this season.
- 3 = Number of bucks at which I shot.
- 6 = Total number of arrows shot.
- 3 = Number of Pope & Young animals.
- 5 = Inches of each eyeguard on my Coues’
- 240 = Total inches of Columbian blacktail antlers
- 86 2/8 = Inches of Coues’ antlers
- 1 = Lucky Hunter!
Good luck everyone this year in 2012. I hope it is a great one for you!
I hope everyone had a great 2011! Each year, after the calendar changes, I put together a review of all the bucks, bears, bulls, birds, and more, that everyone has taken and post them together. Click on the “Read the rest of the entry” below and scroll through the 2011 season on the Weekend Bowhunter website.
Personally, this was a great year for me. But there were some great animals taken this year by friends and family: Troy Elam’s 367″ elk, Dad’s 342″ elk, Shawn Wood’s 170″ mule deer, Paul Schultheis’ and Darin Ball’s 160+” California muleys, just to name a few. Thanks everyone for sending your photos and making this a wonderful year! Enjoy the Pics below…
Read the rest of this entry »
Photo of the Year 2011
Congratulations to the Reece Family on capturing the Photo of the Year for 2011. This is Adeline “Bucket” Reece drawing a bead on her first deer in the Reece Family living room.
There were tons of great photos sent in throughout the year and I greatly appreciate everyone who took the time to send them. Without all of you, there is very little to this website. I hope everyone continues to send pictures in this year!
Photos can be sent to zwalton5@hotmail.com where each month a new picture would be selected as photo contest winner. Good luck to everyone and happy hunting!
Shawn Wood Mule Deer 2011
Congratulations to Shawn Wood for winning the Photo of the Month Contest for December 2011. Shawn took this beautiful mule deer in Nevada with a great shot. The 170″ buck is Shawn’s best buck to date.
Keep those photos coming everyone, as every month there is a new photo contest winner. Also, at the end of the year, a Photo of the Year is chosen. Send your archery, hunting or wildlife photos to zwalton5@hotmail.com.
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