After a day of waiting in airports, flying coach, and renting a compact for a three-hour drive, my 11-year-old daughter, Anna, and I were met with a warm welcome by the Ward’s Outfitters crew in Willcox, Arizona. Steven Ward led an introductory conversation as five eager clients dreamed of the following day’s hunt and their chance at a big Coues. Steven asked what each person’s expectations were. I replied that Anna and I were looking for a couple of triple-digit Coues. Steven said it was going to require a lot of patience and time behind the glass, but triple-digit bucks were out there if we could muster both.
Paired up with guide John Hedges and his oldest son, LJ, we set out before daylight the following morning. We were hunting public ground and were told openly that other hunters would just be another factor in the hunt. We glassed a large drainage for a little over two hours, spotting both mule deer and Coues deer, but couldn’t put eyes on anything of size. Then a white T-shirt caught our eyes as we watched another hunter hike up the gut of a distant drainage we were glassing. We watched him successfully harvest a smaller buck we were previously watching. As we whispered congratulations the unknown hunter would never hear, I panned down the opposing ridge and said, “John, there’s a good buck on that south face.”
I struggled to direct John to the location, and before he could get glass on the buck, the “grey ghost” had disappeared. John started asking questions about his size and mass. I told him I only had the buck in the scope twice for a total of 20-30 seconds, but at 1,600+ yards, I could see that his beams were out over his nose, he was a solid 3x3 with decent brows, and he looked to be about just under ears wide with decent mass. John said it sounded like a buck we needed to go after. I asked Anna if she was ready, and she said that was going to be her buck.
John figured the buck was looking to bed as the sun was starting to warm things up. We made a large loop that allowed us to glass the backside of the ridge where the buck had crossed out of sight. Although we glassed until dark, we never picked him up again.
We returned to the same area the next morning and glassed all day without ever seeing “Anna’s Buck.” The third morning, my own doubt was bearing weight and I wasn’t sure what to do. Anna brought back wise words when she parroted Steven’s first night speech, “Dad, Steven said we’d have to be patient and put a lot of time in behind glass.” With that, we headed back to watch the sun rise over the same ridge.
Twenty minutes in to another beautiful pink sunrise, John whispered, “I’ve got him.”
I quickly shuffled my scope and Anna’s attention to the ridgetop John was glassing. Sure enough, the buck hadn’t gone far. However, a coyote popped out of nowhere and spooked the buck over the ridge.
John said we would need to drive to the backside of these mountains and hike a big loop to see if we could get across from where he thought the buck was going to bed. An hour and a half later, we were staring at the backside of the rugged ridge we had watched the buck cross. Measuring up the climb ahead, I looked at Anna with a questioning stare. She surprised me again when she just shrugged her shoulders and cinched the straps on her backpack, “Let’s go get my buck!”
By 11:00 a.m., we were huddled under the shade of a single mesquite on the point of two converging ridges opposite of where John figured the buck would bed. Layne, another Ward’s Outfitter guide, had finished with his client’s hunt earlier. Hearing we were after a good buck and making a move, he joined up to help with Anna’s hunt. The silence broke as John whispered that he had the buck. It lay across the draw from us, hunkered in brush just over 400 yards away. We prepared Anna for the shot.
After six hours of Anna lying in rocks and thorns with the gun on her shoulder and her eye in the scope, the buck stood. Boom! Whop! She hit the buck square but a touch back. He staggered into a mesquite patch, stumbled, and fell. An hour after dark, we reached Anna’s buck, a solid 90s Coues after three hard days.
The next day, we ventured to a different area. We glassed some lower elevation hills at first light, but I could tell John was anxious to get up higher. Not more than a minute after we got to our second spot, I caught a glimpse of two bucks headed out over the ridge. One was at least four points on both sides, heavy, tall, and had good brows.
Just then, John got a call from Steven Ward asking how things were going. After a short conversation, Steven was busting country to get on the backside of the ridge to see if he could spot the buck again. We waited to see if the two bucks crossed back to our side. An hour later, John’s phone buzzed, “I’ve got him.” I could hear Steven’s voice through the phone. Off we went, back down and around the ridge to meet up with Steven. We found him sitting behind his binos with Erin Throckmorton of Outdoors International and founder of Giving Back TV. Erin had harvested a huge 109" Coues buck the day before with Steven and just wanted to be a part of another hunt.
As we set up our glass, Steven oriented us to five bucks within the drainage. The larger three bucks worked their way around a steep upper bowl and finally bedded just as the sun caught up to them. From there, John and Steven openly worked scenarios back and forth as to the best way to get inside of 500-600 yards for a shot. We started up the gut of a dry creek bed, but 10 minutes into our hike, Steven called John and said, “They’re up again. Hold tight.”
The bucks headed straight up the face of the ridge they were on and up on top of a rock lip. Backtracking, we went away from and completely around the ridge opposite the bucks and then crawled up the backside. Just under 700 yards from the bedded bucks, we stuck to the shadows.
It took almost half an hour to find them, but the glint of antler in mesquite brush gave away the buck’s location. At 678 yards, we waited for the buck to stand. John said, “He’s up!” and I scrambled to the gun. However, before I could get him in the scope, the deer stood, turned 180 degrees, and bedded again. My heart sank. Now we were in for the long haul.
An hour later, the two smaller bucks stood and started to feed above the larger buck. In the shade of large mesquites, they started sparring. The clink of their antlers spun the head of the larger buck, and his body language went from relaxed to piqued interest. A few moments later, he couldn’t take it. He stood, and I scrambled for the shot. As I steadied, he took off up the hill toward the engaged bucks. I reached for my rangefinder, trying to hold my G7 steady. Readings bounced around 728, 717, and 731. It was tough to hold, trying to elevate my prone body up over the gun. Quickly, I reached forward and spun the VX6’s elevation dial three more clicks. Getting back into the scope, I watched the bigger buck bristle. One of the other bucks turned to engage, and the dance was on. Back and forth, John and I confirmed exchanges to each other of he’s on the left, and then now right, he’s on the right.
“Left, he’s clear. He’s on the left!” John exclaimed.
My CT-Edge barked. Sun and dust filled my scope.
“You got him! Flipped him over. He’s down right there!” John shouted.
Celebration ensued. We had just downed a double-sticker, brow-tined 5x5, 121 4/8" Coues buck on public ground. It was an amazing team effort. What a great bunch of guys! I’ve been on other hunts, and most commonly when an individual guide fulfills their obligation to their client they can’t wait to get to town and spend their tip money. The guys at Ward’s Outfitters look at things completely different. When one client fills their tag, these guides jump on board to help the next client be successful. I can’t thank the guys from Ward’s enough. What an amazing trip to share with my daughter. No doubt, we’ll be back!
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