A Desert Adventure
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I originally had no intention of doing a write up on this hunt, but after all of this craziness in the last week, I thought I would share my recent Coues’ hunt in southern Arizona over my Christmas break this year to give you guys something to read besides all of this Corona virus madness. I hope you enjoy!
This hunt came together unexpectedly. I am in my first year of physical therapy school, and to be honest, by the time late November rolled around, I was feeling a bit burned out. I had filled all of my tags, and not being able to spend time in the woods was absolutely killing me. My good buddy Josh Pflasterer and I had briefly talked about taking a trip together a few months prior, but with the hectic schedule of my first year of PT school, it was looking like that trip would have to wait. That all changed one Friday in late November, Josh sent me a text asking if I’d still consider a trip to Arizona over break, considering we had talked about it a while back. Ironically, my mom kept prodding me about the Christmas list I had yet to give her. “How about a plane ticket to Arizona?”
I figured it would be a battle I couldn’t win, but after a day of convincing, and the promise that I would use this in replacement of a spring break, Josh and I found ourselves making plans for the first week of January! I spent the next several weeks looking at maps, making phone calls, and getting in shots between all of my school work. My motivation was through the roof.
I returned home for the first part of my Christmas break at home. I spent time with family, hunted does, and put together final plans as our departure day was closing in. Josh had work commitments for the first couple of days after New Years, so the plan was to leave the night of January 5 and drive through the night and arrive during the day on Monday. I had classes starting again the following Monday, so we would hunt through Saturday and spend Sunday driving. As I said, I spent some time hunting at home before leaving, I nearly took this Prairie Chicken’s head of at 40 walking into my stand one afternoon a few days before leaving. If I remember right, I sent the picture to HUNT, and his reply was “That is not a coues!! But hell of a shot!! Now get down south and make us proud!!!”
Roger that HUNT, its time to get out of this Nebraska snow and go see what this desert hunting hype is all about.
I returned to Kearney a couple of days early to line up gear and pack the car. Josh had to make a 2 hour drive to my place, where we would leave from, so I told him I would take the first shift of driving. Time seemed to trickle by that day, I was itching to get on the road. Finally, I heard a knock at the door towards late evening. We made quick work at loading the rig, and before we knew it, we were on the road prepared for a 17+ hour drive. Josh caught some shuteye after a long day of work while I drove the first shift through the late night.
Somewhere in New Mexico, we stopped and grabbed a bite to eat and took a bathroom break. Josh took over driving, and he was bummed when I informed him he missed seeing a 200” muley in the ditch back in Colorado. That image of that thing is still in my head. He told me I needed some shuteye, must’ve thought I was starting to hallucinate. Maybe he was right, I leaned my seat back and shut my eyes with thoughts of Coues’ running wild in my head.
I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and asked Josh how he was doing. After talking for a few minutes, he informed me I had slept a whole 27 minutes. You gotta be kidding me. I was far too excited to go back to sleep now. I looked out the window to this view. We can sleep when we are home. I’m milking every minute of this I can. Time to drink some coffee and take in some new scenery!
We arrived in at a local Walmart in the early afternoon that Monday. The lady at the register told us that we had got there just in time, that they had just got in a booklet of new tags and were out everywhere else. Talk about perfect timing, had we left earlier as we were hoping, we would’ve spend the entire first day bouncing between towns trying to find a tag. Everything works out for a reason! We also ran into a couple of older folks by our vehicle in the parking lot, turns out they were a couple of fellow Nebraskans, and they informed us we must be true Nebraskans, because we are the only ones who talk when we see each other! They wished us luck, and we hit the road to our first spot.
We loaded our packs, picked out a high glassing point, and started hiking that way. Let me tell you, when they say that everything in the desert either wants to grab, stab, or bite you, they don’t lie. It didn’t take us long to find out that walking in the desert is a little different than walking the Sandhills back home. It also didn’t take us long to find a lot of deer sign. We were stoked!
We made it to the first glassing point, and each took a side of the high hill. Josh spotted 4 does down in the creek bottom, and considering the amount of time that we actually had to glass that evening, we were optimistic. We didn’t know for sure if we would have time to actually get in a lot of scouting that first day. We made plans to return to the same glassing point in the morning. I watched the sun sink over the western sky as I continued to glass, and a beautiful desert southwest sunset just like everyone talks about unfolded in front of me. I try to take time to thank God every day for making me a bowhunter, and I couldn’t help but to do so in that moment, and be so thankful I had been blessed with this opportunity. I wish pictures could do it justice!
We slept like rocks that night. I don’t know if either of us moved. We ate a quick breakfast and hiked up the mountain to our glassing point. It was a windy day, a great day for a stalk. However, we failed to lay our eyes on a deer. Looking back, I honestly believe that this spot was one of the best, we just weren’t looking high enough. We picked apart the country as best as we could, and even hiked out a valley below us that looked golden. Sign everywhere, no deer. Again, I believe we were just looking in the wrong spot. We ultimately determined that we would travel to our next spot, and make the most of our time. We packed up camp, and headed North to a new spot. Completely different country than we had been in, a theme that would be common in this trip.
I sat down, and put the binos on the tripod as we settled into the glassing point. 4 does bounded through the valley below me. I glassed the opposite mountainside and after a couple of minutes movement caught my eye. Bingo. I had my eyes on my first Coues’ buck, in fact, two of them. I whistled Josh over, and we watched the bucks just as the sun began to set. He moved back over to the other side of the glassing hill and glassed to the west. Bingo again, he got eyes on a handful of deer on another mountainside, one that we would later name “Buck Mountain.” Deer everywhere, and two very excited guys. We packed down off of the mountain at dark and drove to our new campsite and set up camp. We developed a plan for morning to go to the same glassing point to see if we could get eyes on the two bucks I spotted on the near mountain and hit the hay. Tomorrow would be a big day.
The climb in elevation made for some cold morning temps. It became a race to see how fast you could layer up after crawling out of your sleeping bag, man I’m glad I brought plenty of gear! We ate a quick breakfast and drove to the trailhead. As light began to crack, Josh moved to the other side while I kept my eyes peeled and glued to the mountain side I had spotted the bucks the night before. It wasn’t too much longer and he whistled me over. He had eyes on a handful of deer on Buck mountain, the peak above our campsite. We wasted no time, and descended down the mountain and drove back to camp. We bailed out of the car, grabbed our stuff, and made quick work of hiking to a new glassing point above camp that gave us a vantage to Buck mountain.
We were like little kids, as a few minutes after setting up our tripods we were watching a 4x3 dog a doe and chase a handful of other little bucks around. We were in shock at how these deer were in full rut, yet hung around in groups while the does were continually pestered and the little bucks would challenge the dominant buck every so often. Little critters, big attitude, they were putting on quite the show. After some time, they started to work their way down towards the bottom of the mountain, where there was plenty of cover and a creek that cut through it. It was go time. We had been on an opposite hill of the mountain and grabbed out gear, got the wind in our favor, and picked out a ridge just parallel to where the deer were going. On the move!
We got to the ridge we had picked out, and dropped the packs. We had seen where the deer had disappeared and there was a rock pile at the edge of a ridge that was within 150 yards or so of where they had gone down into the creek bottom. It was dead quiet, but we picked our way over to the rock pile as quietly as we could. I peek up over the ledge and see a spike bedded with a doe under a tree. 94 yards. Josh is behind me and I’m giving him hand signals trying to explain. I was trying to pick out a route where we could drop down and circle back around to get closer, not a chance we were coming at them from this direction. The doe didn’t like something and stood up. After a couple of minutes she bounds off, and just runs out there and stares. Finally she beds back down, another weird thing we observed about these deer. If they don’t like something, they usually didn’t run too far. We had no way of getting to the spike, and finally he follows where the other deer were and we lose sight of him.
I crawl back over to Josh and we decide to drop back and get to another vantage point to try and get a better view of the valley below us where the deer disappeared.
After picking apart the entire valley, we failed to get an eye on them. I guess that’s why they call them the Gray Ghost. It wouldn’t be the first time of this trip that they completely just disappear. We decide to hike up Buck mountain so we can see the whole thing. We go back, grab our packs and start climbing. We get near the top of the mountain, and were as high as we could climb. The mountain turned into a 90 degree rock face at the top. Just as we start to work our way around the side of the mountain, we catch a glimpse of a nice buck hot on a doe’s tail as they both disappear around the side of the mountain. We scramble around the side of the mountain and have our backs to the rock face as we come around the corner. We watched as a doe fed down in the valley below us, with the buck nowhere to be found.
We watched the doe feed into some thick cover and get out of sight before we discuss moving. As she gets out of sight, I stand up, and Josh snaps this picture of me to capture the moment. It was short lived, and Josh’s eyes get big and whispers “GRAB YOUR BOW!!” I crouch down, and Josh explains to me there is a buck right behind a stack of rocks below us. I slip off my pack and inch my way to the edge of a steep drop off. Then I see him, he pops out broadside at 75. I draw and settle my pin as the wind blasts me. We both see that it isn’t a good decision to take the shot. At home, I would be comfortable taking that shot any day on antelope, but these aren’t antelope Zach. Any closer, or no wind and it might’ve been taken into consideration.
The buck is rutted out, looking for his lover. I try grunting at him, and get his attention, but I guess this buck is a lover not a fighter. He goes clear down the valley looking for his doe, and we get up and move.
As we descend and drop back around to the north side of the mountain to get the wind right, we walk right up on a group of 4 bucks that we had no idea were there. Looking back, we should’ve been more cautious and not focused so much on the 1 buck below us, especially considering the fact that we rarely saw these deer alone. Josh scrambles for the range finder and I nock and arrow and come to full draw in a blink. “64” he says as I draw back on a nice buck and settle on him. Just as I am getting ready to let one fly, he bolts and disappears before I even had time to think. So close! We decided to descend and let the hillside settle and go back to the original glassing point as evening approached to try and see if we can see the other deer from the night before.
With the wind in favor for our new plan, I go to the mountainside that I had spotted the deer on the night before. The plan was so that I could descend down on them if we spot them. Josh would spot from where I was the night before to glass the hillside I was on, and I would keep an eye on the hillside below him in case the does from the night before had a buck with them. Though we didn’t see any bucks, we saw a handful of does, including a group of 4 that walked within 20 yards of me directly behind me. With all of the does around, we knew the bucks were there, they just needed to show themselves :). I watch another gorgeous sunset and look back towards Buck mountain as darkness sets in. We go back to camp and grill up some of the biggest deer steaks you’ve ever seen. We eat them next to the creek and tell stories as it babbles in the background. This is living my friends.
The pic shows my glassing position, the does were just behind me, if only they had bone on their head! Exciting stuff.
I love Nebraska, but man, the desert might have us beat in sunsets.
The next morning we glass Buck mountain, and only spot a spike and a few does. The spike disappeared around the back side of the mountain, and we never did get eyes on him. We make a plan to head south into some new area and give this some time to rest. We head back and pack up camp in a flash, and are once again on the road. We traveled to some new area, absolutely gorgeous. We spend some time looking at some maps and pick out a high glassing point and make our way towards it. We spotted some does, and that was about it. We picked a spot to hunt in the morning and began our hike back to the car at dark. We had to make a little bit of a drive to get to our new spot, and had to drop clear south to get around the other side of this mountain range. We had to go through a border patrol checkpoint on our way, and he definitely could tell it was our first time. “You boys have a good night.” He said with a smile trying not to laugh as I try to hand him my ID and he looks to see we are in full camo with my Ford escape filled to the brim with gear.
I have to apologize to Lou at this point. He told me “Screw the muleys!” as I talked with him on the phone before this hunt. I’m sorry Lou, word has it there are some chocolate horned giants in this new place and one is getting an arrow if I see him.
Found an old gold pan in this creek bottom!
We arrived in camp at dark that night, and really didn’t have a feel for the terrain around us. It was flat, and would drop into deep cuts, it looked like muley country if I’ve ever seen it. We put on a lot of miles that morning. Almost 8 before noon if I remember right. Lou, you were right, screw the muleys. We pick out a spot up in the mountains that are in the background and had heard it was pretty thick with deer. We hike out and make our way back to the car to climb higher to find Coues’. We told hunting stories on the way out, being interrupted from time to time by an antelope Jack that would send us on a wild goose chase for a couple minutes before we could continue our story.
We make it to the new spot and almost immediately Josh spots a herd on this mountainside. He’s up to bat. He wastes no time and drops down below us, gets the wind in his favor, and makes a move on a beautiful bedded buck. His does are feeding to his left and he’s looking sleepy. This is perfect. Josh is a killer, and I have a feeling this buck is in trouble. I send him texts, giving him an idea of where the deer are as I watch him come up through the bottom right in line with the deer. Everything was going just perfect until a doe busts up out of the bottom in front of Josh, she makes a B-line right for the bedded buck and though the buck didn’t spook, he must’ve had love on his mind as well, as he starts dogging her and chases her further up the mountain.
He adjusts, and makes several moves on them and gets dang close a few times. 40 from the does at one point, and the buck just out of shooting range a couple of times. From my point, I lose sight of the deer after his second move. With the ever changing winds, Josh just isn’t able to get into shooting range. He hikes back to me as the sun sets, and the deer disappear. He returns to me with a Coues’ shed, something we had been talking about several times about finding!
We start making a plan for our final day. We discussed that if we had spend more time in this area, that we no doubt should stay here, but we had only been here a few hours. We nearly said at the exact same time “Let’s go back to Buck mountain.” It seemed meant to be, and we felt that it was our best plan. We opted for some authentic Mexican over mountain house on our way through Tucson. We set up camp and crash hard. We would need the rest for the final push.
A pic of the infamous Buck Mountain
A pic of the infamous Buck Mountain
In the morning, Josh climbs to the high glassing point overlooking buck mountain. I tuck in along a deer trail we had seen several deer use over the span of the time we had been there. The plan was he would signal me over if he spotted a deer where we had seen our first bucks, or would direct me if he saw another deer on Buck mountain, where I was. After sitting for a while, he sent me a text that he had eyes on a buck, and to get over there as quick as I could. I dropped down, and made my way to the car. I drove to the trailhead that lead to Josh’s glassing point, left my pack and only took the necessities: my bow, my rangefinder, and my binos. This was all or nothing.
I get to the glassing point and get eyes on the buck. Josh and I look at our options, and after his does split off, I decide it’s time to move. The clock is ticking, and the cards are on the table. I make my way around the valley and get on the buck’s side of the mountain using a hiking trail. Josh stays behind and keeps eyes on the buck with the binos. I start picking my way west, staying high above the buck. Thermals were rising, the wind was blowing from the bottom of the mountain up, and this buck was alone. It was as good as you could have hoped.
I had picked out a vertical rock face where the buck was feeding towards. I get in line with the rock face, and start descending towards it. Josh is texting me as I go, telling me what the deer is doing. As I descend, I am picking out solid rocks to step on, I am nearly dead silent as I close the distance. My heart begins to pound out of my chest as each step is bringing me closer to the buck. “Stop right there..” I get the text. I am on top of the vertical rock face and Josh informs me that the buck is right below it, feeding to my left towards a draw that is right alongside the rock face. I look over to my left and I see a shade tree, just perfect size that I can fit under. Josh is asking me if I can shoot to the draw. I start ranging. 47 is the furthest possible shot that I would have, more than likely, he’s going to be under 40. I nock and arrow, range several places, and settle in. My heart is going absolutely wild.
He was right there, so close!
He was right there, so close!
The next sound I hear is one that will sink any hunter’s heart. The snort made my heart drop and I don’t move a muscle. I sit for a few moments and look at my phone. Josh tells me that he must’ve smelled me. How? The wind was absolutely perfect, blowing up hill, and what I could have only hoped for. It turns out, the wind must have hit the rock face, and swirled around it, ultimately catching my scent (the scent of a guy who hasn’t showered since Sunday), and blown it right to the deer. Josh tells me the buck simply disappears and he’s trying to get an eye on him. I walk up to the rock face and do the same. I look everywhere, Josh looks everywhere, we glass for some time and no buck. I range the spot to where Josh tells me the buck was. He was within 40… and within a few seconds of popping into view before he blew. Some things aren’t meant to be. I call my dad, and start hiking back to the rig with a smile on my face, thankful for the opportunity. “Thank you God for making me a bowhunter.” That was fun!!
We spend the rest of the time glassing, only seeing a coyote up by Buck mountain. We decide to call it, and pack up camp. We decide to not drive straight through, and get a hotel part way on the way back to break up the trip. On our way through Tucson, we decided it’s time for a beer at a local brewery. We walk in and I look towards the bar, “what’s that?” Josh asks me as the points towards a sheet of paper on a table just inside the door. Vegan Chili Festival signup sheet. You’ve gotta be kidding me. We walk up to the bar in full camo, smelling like two young guys who haven’t showered in 6 days. After a couple, we decide its time to grab some authentic Mexican food one last time and hit the road.
We shower for the first time, and call our families as we prepare for bed. We get up early the next day and travel the rest of the way back to Nebraska. As I layed down for bed that night, I knew the next day would be the start of another semester. Though we didn’t fill any tags the last week, we had our chances, and that was more than I could have asked for. I learned more about bowhunting in that week than I did in the season as a whole, and not to mention I made memories that will last a lifetime.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have had writing it! I can’t wait to get back after these things again!
Great write up! Congrats on "given'er"!
Awesome! Congrats on what I call a successful hunt.
Awesome, thanks for sharing man. Looks like a blast!
—Jim
Awesome recap...great adventure!
Bucket list...
Great job guys. Real good write up.
Great story Zach - appreciate you taking the time to share this adventure. Well done.
Great story Zach! Was glad to see you & Josh last weekend.
Great write up Zach! Sounds like a successful trip even if no tags were filled!
Great story Zak. Can’t wait until the next one. See you soon. Hunt
Great write-up and pictures. Thanks for sharing!
Hell ya Zak. Thanks for the diversion from our crazy world. Way to go getting out there and making an adventure. You get it! Thanks for sharing with us.
Glad you had a good time and thanks for posting it. Coues hunting is tough.
An adventure of a lifetime and fabulous memories that you and Josh will have burned into your memories for ever!
Thank you for sharing this great adventure Zack! Brings back many great memories from many years of tromping the Southwest...
Those Coues are in trouble the next time you guys head south;-)
Ya got me wanting to go now!!
Great reading,
Robb
Great write up Zak. Thanks for taking the time to share. Good luck w school!
I commend you for taking the time to write about it and take pictures. Sure wish I would have done that when I was younger as all I have now are the fading memories in my head. What you experienced, is the good stuff in life.
Proud dad here! Zach gets what it is all about! I have no doubt that a Coues kill is in his future.
Great trip. Thanks for sharing the story. Definitely a bucket list item for me.
Thanks for the story buddy! Cya in a few weeks
Yep. Great job. Good to see some young guys getting after it!
Good story and photos! That license is still good for the last half of December. Go fill it! Good luck!
Good on you Harlin! Ya did good with that one.....
Thanks for sharing that Zak!! Heck of an adventure. felt like I was right there with you guys!!
Great job and thanks for taking the time to write it up.
Those Coues get can under your skin for sure. It just makes it that much sweeter when it comes together. Enjoyed the story, congrats on a fun trip!
Just out of curiosity....Arizona is OK with using cell phone / texting to direct a stalk?
Stubbleduck, yes we didn't see in the regs where it wasn't allowed, so I called the Fish and Game to double check and they assured me that it was legal. It definitely makes a huge difference being able to have your partner give you an idea what's going on when you go on a stalk!
Nice write up Zach! Thanks for sharing.
Great job, Zach, and great story you shared! Remember, if you're hunting Coues, hunt Coues. Screw the muleys! ;-)
Look forward to hooking up next month, buddy!
Great writeup Zach,glad you enjoyed your adventure in Az. I'll be out again in Jan. of 2021' for Muleys and Javelina. hope you guys make it back soon. dirtclod Az.
Great story Zach, thanks for sharing it!
Great story Zach...............
Awesome write-up! Thanks.
Thanks for sharing, Zach! Fun times for sure! Glad your dad (and grandpa) got that bug in you.
Coues Bucks are special
Coues Bucks are special
Awesome story and adventure Zach! Nothing beats adventures like this with a good buddy. They are among my very best memories with more to come! Thanks for sharing a great write-up!
Thanks young man for making my night at work a lot better it's always nice to see our young people who get it. Beav did a great job raising you as a hunter and I enjoyed this story every bit as much as your previous hunts. I will click on your threads anytime! Good luck with school! John B
Thanks for doing the write up, it was great. Coues are a blast and at the top of my list!
Great effort and great story Zach!! You’re just that much more experienced for next time.
And no wonder we couldn’t schedule time to make our paths cross. You were pedal to the medal the whole time!!
Nice write up, Zach! I enjoyed it.