gunslinger
New member
Fellas heres a non typical coues deer i was able to harvest a month ago in sonora, i hope i am allowed to post my pics, just a very nice deer. double main beam on him
THE BIRTHDAY BUCK
As the winter months crept up on me I found myself thinking more and more about the upcoming hunts I had booked, one was a Coues deer in Sonora Mexico that I was extremely excited about.
The weather here in Alberta had turned for the worse and temperatures dropped to the -40 range in the middle of December.
January 4 arrived and it was time to leave work and head home to sight in my 30-06 or old meat in the pot as I like to call it.
We worked our way south through Arizona to the Mexican border where I would clear us into Mexico with my rifles which were surprisingly easy.
With the cactus and mesquite trees in sight we knew it wasn’t long before we would be at our destination of caborca Mexico where the outfitter lived. He picked us up some last minute food and water and off to the ranch house we went, 3.5 hours later we were finally there. The Zacaton Ranch in Sonora Mexico.
Raul, s mom and dad were the owners and they would be running the operation for the next week along with Ronald their son as my guide.
Raul Sr gave us a run down on the hunt and I couldn’t have been happier to jump into bed after a 17 hour day of flying and travelling into the heart of Sonora Mexico.
Morning brought a crisp chill to the air until the sun peaked over the mountains, it is winter months in Mexico and I knew the rut had to be getting going good especially with the cool weather.
On this particular hunt with the high cactus and trees covering the sandy bottom of the Sonora desert we were going to be hunting out the high rack they had built in the back of their truck. I personally had never hunted this style before so I was very excited to see the country and be able to try something new. We slung a skinny rope through the window of the truck and this was our brakes, when we wanted to stop and glass we would slightly pull on the rope and Raul Sr would stop the truck for us.
I knew before we went on this trip that we were going to be the first ever hunters with this outfitter but what I didn’t know was that they didn’t have any binoculars or any experience guiding clients, but what they knew was that they had great Coues deer on the ranch and just wanted a couple guys that had all the equipment and gear to have a fun and positive hunt.
That night was spent celebrating around the open fire and reminiscing about the day’s events, there wasn’t one of us that didn’t have a smile as wide as the grand canyon that night, but what we also knew was that it was my turn for my opportunity at my first ever Coues deer. And what was about to happen no one could have ever predicted.
Day 3 started out like the last two with a very good Mexican breakfast and then it was off to the very eastern part of the 10000 acre ranch this morning where one of the guides had spotted a very nice Coues that he thought deserved a better look. It was last seen going into some very thick cover and then of course never seen again so we were going to do some glassing and try to locate the buck.
I couldn’t help but repeat over and over that I would love a buck as big as Jakes but a very good representative was going to be my first priority.
We crested devils hill and began glassing for what seemed like hours, and of course without the Mexican guides having binoculars me and Jake were on our own glassing and trying to pick the little deer out of huge cactus and mesquite trees. Finally I spotted a flicker of a ear in the bushed not 300 yards out, Jake there a buck, Where he says,300 yards in front of us behind that big green tree, oh yea I see him Pat , oh he’s a good buck Jake says.
We didn’t know if this was the buck that Ronald had seen or not but I wasn’t taking any chances, with old meat in the pot beside me and got ready in the prone position where I was solid as a rock.
After what seemed like an eternity the buck finally relaxed and fed out from behind the trees, and what a beauty of a buck he was, wide, high and big 4x4.
Jake you have the camera rolling I’m going to take a shot at him; you bet whenever you’re ready go ahead. I knew I had to aim high to make a good shot so with the 300 yard reticule on top of the bucks horns I slowly squeezed the trigger, Booooom, The dust flew right in front of the bucks face and he was gone like a flash of lightning, You missed him Pat, I said no way I think I did miss him Jake. I said there’s no way I missed him I was solid on him. I seen lots of dust fly in front of him Pat and I think you missed him.
The scenario rolled over and over in my mind what could have happened on such a true trophy, after rolling the tape back I had clearly missed the buck directly below his chin. You believe I put the crosshairs on top of his horns for the drop in the bullet but forgot to move over to his shoulder, I had just made a huge mistake and it costed me a miss on a big Mexican Coues deer.
I paced back and forth mad at myself for the mistake but knew I had to stay positive as there was 2 days left in the hunt. What I didn’t know was that the good lord was looking down on me that day and had a huge surprise waiting for me 20 minutes later.
We collected all our spotting scopes and cameras off the ground and made the decision to go back to the house for some lunch as it was already 1.00 o’clock in the afternoon.
I sat hunkered down in my chair as Jake and I talked about what just happened when all of a sudden Ronald spotted a doe laying underneath a big tree in the shade. I quickly pulled up my binos to have a look as I knew if there was a doe around there had to be a buck around also. I couldn’t find the buck anywhere so I slowly crept ahead when out of the blue there he was, hidden in the tree where I could only see 6 inches of his horn on one side. Quickly up with the gun, crosshairs on his shoulder I slowly squeezed the trigger and with one thwack on the bullet I seen the deer was hit solid.
This all happened so fast that no one knew if he was a good buck or not but what I did know is that I had my first ever Sonoran Coues deer.
After some high fives and a few laughs it was time to go and recover my deer, as I crept ahead slowly following the blood trail I couldn’t help but wonder what I had just shot as all I could see was a little bit of horn when I shot him.
50 yards later I could what I thought was a branch sticking up out of the cactus little floor of the desert and there was my deer. I quickly ran over to the deer and when I looked down it wasn’t in fact a branch this deer was a serious non typical with two main beams. I stood there in disbelief of what I was looking at, I have never shot a non typical deer in 20 years of deer hunting and here I am looking down at a monster non typical Mexican Coues deer.
Jake oh my god Jake come and look at this, Oh goodness Jake he’s huge, he’s non typical Jake, Wow Pat what a monster he’s got two main beams on him.
I bent down and finally put my hands on the buck and immediately knew we had something special here. Not only is a non typical Coues deer extremely rare but to take one this big and with two main beams is unheard of.
Excitement, screams, yells, woohoos and high fives echoed the valley once again, and the Mexican guides and outfitters hadn’t even seen the buck yet.
I ran as fast as I could over to them and told them they had to come and see what we just shot, Raul Sr took one look at the buck and just stared in awe, I could see the gears were turning in his head as he had never in his 58 years young seen a buck like this one and never on his own ranches.
I was of course still like a kid in a candy store with my huge trophy on the ground. Finally reality set in with the Mexicans and the cheering really started hugs and high fives all around.
I soaked up the moment for 2 hours in the very spot I found this buck without even one picture taken. After pictures and a ton of video Jake walked up to me and says, guess what Pat, I said what’s that; he says it’s all on video. He says I was rolling from the minute we seen the doe.
Jake says his back is still out of place I hugged him so hard.
The buck will be officially scored after 60 days of drying but the experience and adventure is truly what this hunt was all about.
Later that evening I found out it was my guide’s birthday so we named this buck the birthday buck.
I especially want to thank my hunting partner Jake for the hunt but more importantly I want to thank my wife Brandie and my Kids Darien and Shelby for allowing me to do what I love most next to them. PAT GARRETT.
THE BIRTHDAY BUCK
As the winter months crept up on me I found myself thinking more and more about the upcoming hunts I had booked, one was a Coues deer in Sonora Mexico that I was extremely excited about.
The weather here in Alberta had turned for the worse and temperatures dropped to the -40 range in the middle of December.
January 4 arrived and it was time to leave work and head home to sight in my 30-06 or old meat in the pot as I like to call it.
We worked our way south through Arizona to the Mexican border where I would clear us into Mexico with my rifles which were surprisingly easy.
With the cactus and mesquite trees in sight we knew it wasn’t long before we would be at our destination of caborca Mexico where the outfitter lived. He picked us up some last minute food and water and off to the ranch house we went, 3.5 hours later we were finally there. The Zacaton Ranch in Sonora Mexico.
Raul, s mom and dad were the owners and they would be running the operation for the next week along with Ronald their son as my guide.
Raul Sr gave us a run down on the hunt and I couldn’t have been happier to jump into bed after a 17 hour day of flying and travelling into the heart of Sonora Mexico.
Morning brought a crisp chill to the air until the sun peaked over the mountains, it is winter months in Mexico and I knew the rut had to be getting going good especially with the cool weather.
On this particular hunt with the high cactus and trees covering the sandy bottom of the Sonora desert we were going to be hunting out the high rack they had built in the back of their truck. I personally had never hunted this style before so I was very excited to see the country and be able to try something new. We slung a skinny rope through the window of the truck and this was our brakes, when we wanted to stop and glass we would slightly pull on the rope and Raul Sr would stop the truck for us.
I knew before we went on this trip that we were going to be the first ever hunters with this outfitter but what I didn’t know was that they didn’t have any binoculars or any experience guiding clients, but what they knew was that they had great Coues deer on the ranch and just wanted a couple guys that had all the equipment and gear to have a fun and positive hunt.
That night was spent celebrating around the open fire and reminiscing about the day’s events, there wasn’t one of us that didn’t have a smile as wide as the grand canyon that night, but what we also knew was that it was my turn for my opportunity at my first ever Coues deer. And what was about to happen no one could have ever predicted.
Day 3 started out like the last two with a very good Mexican breakfast and then it was off to the very eastern part of the 10000 acre ranch this morning where one of the guides had spotted a very nice Coues that he thought deserved a better look. It was last seen going into some very thick cover and then of course never seen again so we were going to do some glassing and try to locate the buck.
I couldn’t help but repeat over and over that I would love a buck as big as Jakes but a very good representative was going to be my first priority.
We crested devils hill and began glassing for what seemed like hours, and of course without the Mexican guides having binoculars me and Jake were on our own glassing and trying to pick the little deer out of huge cactus and mesquite trees. Finally I spotted a flicker of a ear in the bushed not 300 yards out, Jake there a buck, Where he says,300 yards in front of us behind that big green tree, oh yea I see him Pat , oh he’s a good buck Jake says.
We didn’t know if this was the buck that Ronald had seen or not but I wasn’t taking any chances, with old meat in the pot beside me and got ready in the prone position where I was solid as a rock.
After what seemed like an eternity the buck finally relaxed and fed out from behind the trees, and what a beauty of a buck he was, wide, high and big 4x4.
Jake you have the camera rolling I’m going to take a shot at him; you bet whenever you’re ready go ahead. I knew I had to aim high to make a good shot so with the 300 yard reticule on top of the bucks horns I slowly squeezed the trigger, Booooom, The dust flew right in front of the bucks face and he was gone like a flash of lightning, You missed him Pat, I said no way I think I did miss him Jake. I said there’s no way I missed him I was solid on him. I seen lots of dust fly in front of him Pat and I think you missed him.
The scenario rolled over and over in my mind what could have happened on such a true trophy, after rolling the tape back I had clearly missed the buck directly below his chin. You believe I put the crosshairs on top of his horns for the drop in the bullet but forgot to move over to his shoulder, I had just made a huge mistake and it costed me a miss on a big Mexican Coues deer.
I paced back and forth mad at myself for the mistake but knew I had to stay positive as there was 2 days left in the hunt. What I didn’t know was that the good lord was looking down on me that day and had a huge surprise waiting for me 20 minutes later.
We collected all our spotting scopes and cameras off the ground and made the decision to go back to the house for some lunch as it was already 1.00 o’clock in the afternoon.
I sat hunkered down in my chair as Jake and I talked about what just happened when all of a sudden Ronald spotted a doe laying underneath a big tree in the shade. I quickly pulled up my binos to have a look as I knew if there was a doe around there had to be a buck around also. I couldn’t find the buck anywhere so I slowly crept ahead when out of the blue there he was, hidden in the tree where I could only see 6 inches of his horn on one side. Quickly up with the gun, crosshairs on his shoulder I slowly squeezed the trigger and with one thwack on the bullet I seen the deer was hit solid.
This all happened so fast that no one knew if he was a good buck or not but what I did know is that I had my first ever Sonoran Coues deer.
After some high fives and a few laughs it was time to go and recover my deer, as I crept ahead slowly following the blood trail I couldn’t help but wonder what I had just shot as all I could see was a little bit of horn when I shot him.
50 yards later I could what I thought was a branch sticking up out of the cactus little floor of the desert and there was my deer. I quickly ran over to the deer and when I looked down it wasn’t in fact a branch this deer was a serious non typical with two main beams. I stood there in disbelief of what I was looking at, I have never shot a non typical deer in 20 years of deer hunting and here I am looking down at a monster non typical Mexican Coues deer.
Jake oh my god Jake come and look at this, Oh goodness Jake he’s huge, he’s non typical Jake, Wow Pat what a monster he’s got two main beams on him.
I bent down and finally put my hands on the buck and immediately knew we had something special here. Not only is a non typical Coues deer extremely rare but to take one this big and with two main beams is unheard of.
Excitement, screams, yells, woohoos and high fives echoed the valley once again, and the Mexican guides and outfitters hadn’t even seen the buck yet.
I ran as fast as I could over to them and told them they had to come and see what we just shot, Raul Sr took one look at the buck and just stared in awe, I could see the gears were turning in his head as he had never in his 58 years young seen a buck like this one and never on his own ranches.
I was of course still like a kid in a candy store with my huge trophy on the ground. Finally reality set in with the Mexicans and the cheering really started hugs and high fives all around.
I soaked up the moment for 2 hours in the very spot I found this buck without even one picture taken. After pictures and a ton of video Jake walked up to me and says, guess what Pat, I said what’s that; he says it’s all on video. He says I was rolling from the minute we seen the doe.
Jake says his back is still out of place I hugged him so hard.
The buck will be officially scored after 60 days of drying but the experience and adventure is truly what this hunt was all about.
Later that evening I found out it was my guide’s birthday so we named this buck the birthday buck.
I especially want to thank my hunting partner Jake for the hunt but more importantly I want to thank my wife Brandie and my Kids Darien and Shelby for allowing me to do what I love most next to them. PAT GARRETT.
