I had dreamed of my own “poor man’s sheep hunt” since I started reading Jack O’Connor in the 70s. My first year applying for Coues deer in Arizona was 2017. I picked a few units that had the best draw odds according to Huntin’ Fool and sent in my application.
After leaving my home and traveling 1,200 miles and 20 hours, I was in Arizona and looking for deer (along with 699 other hunters). Opening day found me on top of a mountain, glassing every spot I could see within two miles. I found a bachelor group of eight bucks and made a stalk to within 400 yards of them. The largest buck in the group never showed himself, but the second largest buck fed on an open hillside in front of me at 327 yards for an hour. One shot from my late father’s .243 ended my first successful Coues deer hunt. I will definitely be applying again.
A big thank you to Scott Adams for helping me find this buck!
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