How were your Coues' deer hunts,Mr. Petersen?

[strait-aero]

#5886

I was wondering how your Coues’ deer hunts turned out,Dave. Any morsels you can share with us here on TBM site?

Wayne:)

[strait-aero]

#53211

Still in progress, evidently…

[David Petersen]

#53359

Wayne — Just home yesterday with a nice 4×5 buck and massive bruises from falling out a tree on the first day of a 12-day hunt. Too stupid to live, but I’m still kicking. I’ll post a pic or two when I get caught up. Thanks, Dave

[Don Thomas]

#53598

I’ve seen those pica, and you all have a treat in store for you! (I’ve also seen the pics of Dave’s bruised butt–not nearly as pretty as his buck.) Don

[Raymond Coffman]

#53786

Dave –

Congrats! Taking any Coues Buck with a tradbow is a great achievement {like you did last year} and now a nice one! Well done! I know, — I’am still trying —- Can’t wait to hear the story. When you did not answer this post for awhile, I figured you were out after em [Coues rut]

Scout

[David Petersen]

#54461

Here you go, Wayne …

[CareyE]

#54531

Congratulations.

[Idabow]

#54553

Very nice! Looks like you’ve mastered this species, what’s next:wink:

[strait-aero]

#54631

Wow! You’ve really outdone yourself,Dave…..nice buck! Sorry, to hear about your fall. I’ve had a few over the years myself. Glad nothing worse than some bruises.Congratulations,Mr.P!

Wayne

[Vintage Archer]

#54671

David,congratulations on your nice buck. Glad to hesr not more than yor pride was hurt on the fall,

Welcome back!:)

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#54854

Strong work, Dave!!

[William Warren]

#54924

Must have been wearing them lucky britches. 😀

Congratulations Dave, good job!

Duncan

[Stephen Graf]

#55305

Picture is suspiciously close cropped. hmmm. Glad your ars ain’t broke!

[David Petersen]

#55553

Thanks, all. Steve — I have pics of the whole buck, which I’ll post soon in an “Ashby discussion” thread. Reason for the close “crop” is that’s as long as my arm would reach holding the camera. New cam but the time-delay wouldn’t work for some reason … maybe low battery. So no hero shot of me with full-body buck, and I tried and tried but couldn’t fit the entire buck’s head and my own conk into a shot at arm’s length. And accidental as it is, I sort of like the composition with the buck’s eye in the foreground. Also, the muzzle is covered with blood, very messy and not pretty. So, no subterfuge involved but just equipment (or user) malfunction. A 4×5 Coues is uncommon, making him a nice buck. But he’s still quite small compared to a true trophy, probably 2.5 years old. He was the first buck I had seen in 10 days of hard hunting and, already on overtime with my hunting widow back home, I would have shot him had he been a forky, like last year. Luck of the draw.

[T Downing]

#55595

Love the humility, but the buck is a true trophy in my eyes…

Not only that, but to continue hunting for 10 days after such a bad fall, Mountain Tough! Well done bro…T

[Troy Breeding]

#55738

Dave sounds like you got two bangs for your buck. A bang up Coues and a bang on the body.:D:roll:

Troy

[Brennan Herr]

#55745

Congrats on a very nice buck Dave! Wondering what caused the fall?

[David Petersen]

#55764

Thanks again for all the kind congrats. Duncan — nope, those woolies I inherited from you are my heaviest so no need on the Mex border with highs in the mid-70s daily. Come this fall they’ll be soaked in elk blood “for sure.” I did wear some thinner woolies a couple of days and what a mistake. That’s all tall-grass cattle country down there, and wool is like Velcro to dead grass. Like so …

The fall — All big trees down there have bifurcate, or double trunks: alligator juniper and oak. And those split trunks lean heavily. So using a safety line while climbing

is a feat of engineering beyond me. I had the tree steps in and was clearing limbs for a shooting lane when a foot slipped off the limb I was standing on — 15′ to ground, so my head was about 21′. I blame this partly on my beloved LL Bean boots which are great for ground hunting but have zip for tree-bark traction. So my foot goes out and the “sturdy” limb I was holding on to with one hand broke. I wound up hitting the ground flat on my back and it took a while before I realized I could move. Then I did something so dumb it makes the fall seem like brilliance — I recalled the old cowboy saying, “Get right back on the horse what throwed you.” Without examining the veracity of that advice, somewhat stunned and with only one operable leg at the time, I — yep 😯 — hobbled back up the tree and finished hanging the stand. Then I found a stick to use for a crutch (sure wish I’d had your staff about then, Steve) and hobbled back up the steep hill, then on back to the truck. Took the next day off to rehab and was back to hunting, with the aid of lots of ibuprofen, the next day. Maybe I can figure a way to crop a pic of my backside to it won’t be too offensive, but really no need — it’s a blue-black bruise/contusion about a foot wide and two feet long. The real lucky part is that I broke no ribs and the rock under my skull apparently was softer than my head.

OK, before I get timed-out I’ll start a new thread to talk about the Ashby arrow set-up performance, which once again was beyond merely remarkable. Call me Mr. Lucky.

[William Warren]

#55806

Dave,

You are one tough Hombre! And as Coues deer go that looks like a trophy to me. Hope to see the rest of the story in TBM soon.

PS – Does the Missus know about your tumble?

Duncan

[Stephen Graf]

#56410

I would guess that landing flat on your back is what saved you from worse injury. I know how you feel about the trappings of money, but you might aught to have bought a lottery ticket that day!

All I can think is, wow.

Now lets see if you have the cunning to match… If you do tell the missus, I expect that you will use that story telling skill of yours to turn it into an opportunity to maybe get a little somthin’ somethin’ 😆

[David Petersen]

#56569

Steve — Happily, I had cell coverage at camp, so was able to call my doctor — Dave Sigurslid, my other half in the Campfire Philosopher column — and he ran me through various movement tests to determine nothing, probably, was broken. But I was unsure, barely able to move, and feared I’d have to canx the hunt and go for x-rays. That nite I told Caroline “I’m tired and sore from the day, going to hit the sack early.” Didn’t want to worry her. Each day as I improved I revealed a little more about how banged up I really was and how lucky to be alive. So she knows all. Ironically, I had the current issue of TBM along and the day after the fall read Clay Hayes’ article on tree stand safety. 😛

[RickH]

#56718

Dave,

Congratulations on another coues, definitely a trophy in my eyes.

As I know you realize you are super lucky in that your injuries were not way worse. In 2007 in Nebraska while clearing some shooting lanes for a treestand I stepped on a rotten branch and took a hard 15′ fall. I ended up fracturing my left femur. Now when tree hunting I use a tree saddle that is pretty much impossible to fall out of.

[JodyS]

#59186

Dave

Great Coues buck! Congratulations on a wonderful deer.

I don’t know if you will post the bruised back end picture, but for the record, as a medical professional I can state that the bruise is “remarkable and impressive.” Strangely, the bruise looks the same size as Carolyn’s shoe size stamped four times across your rear. 😳

Glad you are ok and had a successful hunt. If only the whitetails has been so cooperative this year….

Jody

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