A Trip to Old Mexico

[actionshooter]

 About a year and half ago A couple buddies and I started talking about doing a Coues trip to Mexico. We talked about a DIY hunt with one of the guys who expedite the crossings and ranch access but at the end of the day, going into Mexico with firearms seemed best with an outfitter. Also one of the guys went several years ago, so he already had a contact for a ranch and outfitter.
 We met up in Pheonix where one buddy lives and were able to take his truck which was a huge help. The outfitter met us at the border, paperwork was filled out prior, getting through was a little tense, as none of us speaking the language (but the outfitter) and the Mexican military really went through our guns/gear.
 A couple hours of rough road and driving through Sonora, we made it to the ranch. I've been to Mexico but only tourist areas and coastal towns for fishing... the areas we drove through were downright poor and the amount of garbage along the roads was unreal.
  The ranch was at a nice place, very clean, great food and great people. The daily program was to be up before daylight, eat breakfast and we would split up and go out with one of the ranch hands. The guy I went out with had worked the ranch for years and knew it inside out, the only problem was a lack of communication, he spoke no english and the only spanish I know is useful at a mexican restaurant. It was a week of playing charades, which both of us actually got pretty good at  .  We climbed one of the high peaks before daylight and would glass until dark.
 

[Caseknife]

Pretty remote looking country.  Would be daunting with the language barrier, just waiting for "Muy Grande".

[actionshooter]

  The higher hills we were glassing from were at 7000ft and it was fairly cold almost the whole trip and actually got snow for a couple hours one day, which I took from the ranch hand, is extremely uncommon. Saw way more deer than I expected with the exception of one day that the wind blew nonstop, we saw 16-25 doe a day and 8-16 bucks a day. The windy day, I think we saw 5 deer total. The hunting reminded me somewhat of hunting mule deer with more glassing and less walking. 

I was told by the outfitter to glass until you see a buck you want to put a stalk on, don't take your eyes off of it (or you will never see it again), wait for it to bed down, then put together a plan and hustle.

The picture of this buck is through the spotter using a phonescope at 300yds, 15 minutes into the 1st morning.... SERIOUSLY hard to pass this one up, but wasn't ready to be done.

[actionshooter]

Pretty remote looking country.  Would be daunting with the language barrier, just waiting for "Muy Grande".

Pequeno and grande were the 1st words he taught me  LOL

[elkboy]

Looks like an awesome adventure! More installments of the story (and pictures) to come?

[actionshooter]

 My buddies were seeing quite a few deer also, but nothing to chase yet. I was seeing probably 2-3 bucks a day that really caught my interest but the ranch hand had shown me some pictures of bucks that he had seen that were crazy huge... I didn't really know what a good coues was going in, I just hopeful that I was going to come across a good representation buck, but the pictures he was showing me were turning me into a trophy hunter  At the same time, I was seeing so many deer, it was getting hard to keep passing them up.

 At about noon of the 3rd day, we saw a really good buck at about 1800yds on the rangefinder and decided wait for him to bed down for a closer look, well that only took about 15 minutes. He laid down and we packed up and took off, it took about 45 minutes to get to the closest ridge to where he was bedded. We set up the glass, found him but couldn't get a good look because he was behind some brush. I set up my rifle, just in case and waited........... for like 10 minutes and he stood up. Took one look and couldn't take it anymore, decided this was the one. 365yds shooting uphill (at 26* angle) dialed and then    took him w/ my 7RM... yes a little over gunned, but my favorite rifle   

 Got up to him and was shocked... this trip was the first time I have actually ever seen a coues. They are TINY, I knew they were small, but when you are actually put your hands on one... maybe a 100#?  My dogs are bigger than these guys.

 A couple pics of other bucks that were passed up..

[Dan-o]

Wow, that first one you passed looks like a GREAT Coues buck!

Enjoy!!!!

[jackelope]

That last buck you posted would be really tough to walk away from.

[Timberstalker]

 

[actionshooter]

That last buck you posted would be really tough to walk away from.

I do second guess passing on that one, but am happy with the one that I took. There is a learning curve for judging these guys, just their size threw everything off for me.    By the end of the 3rd day, my buddies had not gone after anything yet.

 

[actionshooter]

 On the 4th and 5th days I hunted with one of my buddies to try and find his buck, he was holding out for a good and we saw many more, but not the one he was looking for. The outfitter did tell us that if we saw any javelina or coyotes that they were a go... so there was a little more shooting even if it weren't at deer
 
 My other buddy had an opportunity at an absolute monster (my opinion) that didn't work out and he ended up coming home empty handed also.

 All in all, I am not a guided/outfitter kind of guy, but I will say this was a pretty awesome trip, got to hang with some great guys, experience a different culture... it was like stepping back 50 years, and the terrain and animals were a new experience. A couple of us are already talking about going back 2024.

[actionshooter]

Picture of the buck that my buddy went after before they made a move on it... wished this one would have worked out.
And a pic of some great guys.

[grundy53]

Looks like a fun time! Dream trip. Thanks for sharing!

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[bearhunter99]

Good looking buck you got but that last picture was a monster!   

I would have had a hard time passing that first buck.   Been after them twice with archery gear in AZ. Close numerous times but never connected.  We never saw anything of the caliber you posted. 


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[zwickeyman]

Looks like a great trip. Im hoping to go down next year

Did they cook up some Javelina for you? I heard the locals know how to cook it up good