Story By: Travis Harper
My daughter and her two friends drew youth deer tags in Southern Arizona. We had never set foot in the unit, but through some scouting, we were able to target an area that was holding some bucks. On the second day, I spotted a nice buck about 600 yards away, bedded out of the wind. My daughter Raegan, her friend Reid, Reid’s dad, and I took off to make a stalk and get closer while Grandpa stayed back, keeping an eye on the deer. We got to a perfect perch about 250 yards across from the snoozing buck and worked to get my daughter set up and comfortable. I told my friend Nate and his son Reid to come up behind us after Raegan shot in case there were other bucks there that we couldn’t currently see.
After about fifteen minutes of working to get Raegan comfortable and setup on many packs and Phoenix Shooting Bags to allow her to see over the tall grass, the buck stood up. As he was taking a long post-nap stretch, I told my daughter to put the crosshairs right behind his shoulder—BANG! The shot took me by surprise! As I watched through my binos, the buck reared on his hind legs, did a quick circle, and then somersaulted about three times down the hill. He was down after a perfect shot!
Nate and Reid quickly came up behind us, but we didn’t see any other deer get up through the commotion. I told them, “Let’s just glass this ridge for ten minutes to see if we can find anything else before going to Raegan’s buck.” After about ten minutes, my daughter said, “My buck is alive. He’s on his feet right where I shot him!” I put my binos on her buck, who lay motionless on the desert floor, then panned up to where she’d shot. There was another buck standing in the exact same spot! We quickly got Reid set up on the gun, as the buck was staring right at us. This buck was very confused about what had happened to his running mate; he did circles around his less fortunate friend and did not want to leave him. We were thankful, because it took Reid a few minutes to get comfortable and find the buck in the rifle scope. After what felt like an eternity of the buck just doing laps around his buddy, Reid got him in the crosshairs. He stopped broadside and—BANG. The buck crumpled right where he stood! What had just happened? These two eleven-year-olds had just killed two nice Coues bucks within ten yards of each other! There was a ton of group hugs and high fives! Grandpa had been able to watch it all from the hill behind us and gave us a big shout on the radio!
I had always seen pictures of people doubling up and thought how cool it would be to have such an unforgettable memory, and it had just happened to us! After waiting for Grandpa to meet us, we made our way over to the deer, and we were in disbelief at what had just unfolded. My dad, who is sixty-six years old, had been hunting in Arizona since he was old enough and had never been a part of a double. It was truly a remarkable experience and one we will never forget the rest of our lives.
The next day, we were all able to help Merrill, who had the last tag. We eventually found a group of six bucks running together, and we made a stalk. We were able to cut the distance to 290 yards and get Merrill set up. The first shot went right over his back. The next shot smacked him a little low on the front shoulder, and the buck limped off out of sight. We had a journey in front of us, trying to track this deer down. Nate saw the buck as he crested a ridge, and we took off: two dads and two kids trailing an injured buck over the ridge. We finally made it to where he’d disappeared, and, suddenly, we saw him limping in the bottom of a cut. He bedded down about 150 yards across from us. We got Merrill set up on a rock, and he made a perfect shot on the buck!
Three kids, three youth tags, and three Coues deer down in a new unit—I was shocked. These kids worked their butts off through wind, rain, and miles of hiking and had nothing but positive attitudes and the will to fill their tags. I have been hunting for thirty-plus years, and this was the most memorable and cool experience I’ve been a part of. I am so thankful to “pass the torch” to the next generation.