It was the second day of a two-day hunt in the mountains North of Tucson, AZ when the accident happened. They were after the diminutive Coues Whitetail Deer that inhabits this part of Arizona. Named for Elliott Coues (1842 -1899), one of America's most renowned ornithologists and historians, the little Whitetails are found only in the South-Eastern parts of Arizona and on down into Mexico. Mr. Coues was the first person to catalog them as a distinct and separate species of deer.
While most people pronounce the name "coos" it is actually pronounced "kouz" (sort of like "house") according to The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2001, the name being of French and Norman descent. But no matter how you pronounce it, these little deer are one tough customer. Called "the gray ghosts of the desert” by some, they are very adept at sneaking, crawling, and even hiding while in plain sight.
The Old Man and the Kid were doing a horseback hunt in the hills and canyons near Oracle, AZ, trying to get the Old Man a nice deer. They had packed up an old gentle five-gaited mare named Stardust for the Old Man. The Kid was breaking in a new horse, an Appaloosa named Hud. Hud was a cantankerous character with a number of bad habits. He had run wild in the cienega's along the San Pedro River until being caught and gelded at about the age of five. They got him from Jack Kelly - a rancher on the San Pedro - to break for him and to use for Deer Hunting this particular year. All told they had taken six hunters out over the Mule Deer season and needed an extra nag for the string. Hud provided the extra... as well as some comic relief.
The Appaloosa was very sure-footed in bad ground, but had the annoying habit of running backwards at odd times... but only when you were leading him. If you got seated securely you were OK for the rest of the day. He might test you a bit when you first got started, but it wasn't serious and he settled down to the job quickly. But if you got off to lead him you could have troubles. The Kid supposed if he had run wild that long before being gelded it might do something to his personality also, so he put up with it.
The area where the Kid lived had both the Coues Whitetail and Mule Deer in abundance. Arizona had several Deer Seasons and one could get tags for both the Whitetail and the Mule Deer hunts. He had taken a nice Mule Deer buck during the Mule Deer Hunt a month or so earlier using his old beat-up Ruger Blackhawk .45. He had whacked a nice buck at about eighty yards. The Old Man had not hunted Mulie's but did have a Whitetail tag. The Kid figured it was a good time to load up the horses and spend a couple days in the hills. And he made another decision ... He decided to hunt with a single-shot handgun!
The gun in question was a Pachmyr Dominator which is a single shot barrel and action mounted on the Colt 1911 auto frame. It was an extremely strong setup, being chambered in many rifle calibers. Hal Swiggett had loaned the Kid his 7mm-08 Dominator and it was something in the accuracy department. The 12" barrel gave about the same ballistics as the 270 Winchester in a rifle. A Kleingunther Muzzle Brake dampened recoil, but the noise was horrendous! Hal had at least ten loads that would shoot around one half inch at one hundred yards from the scoped gun.
However the Kid was not using that gun. A good friend had won the particular Dominator he was carrying at an Outstanding American Handgunner’s Banquet in Reno, Nevada. It was a door prize and he walked away with it. Built in .44 Magnum it proved to be very accurate. He had it set up on an Essex frame with a Bushnell 3X scope on it. The Kid figured he might as well kill a deer with it. His handloads pushed the 300 grain Freedom Arms Heavy Jacket Hard Core bullets at over 1600 fps from the Dominator. An SSK Muzzle Brake that JD Jones had installed handled recoil.
And so the Old Man and the Kid rode off into the hills in search of game. The first day they rode the canyons and worked their way down into lower ground. They saw Mule Deer and some Whitetail at a distance, but never anything within stalking range. Both of them fell asleep that night tired and sore but eager for the next day.
The morning of the next day they worked around some large hills and climbed up back toward the high country. They were riding up a small valley and the Kid was in the lead when he spotted deer moving up the hillside in front of us on our right. There were at least four bucks. Whitetail! He signaled the Old Man and jumped off his horse, slipping his right arm through the reins as he unlimbered the Dominator.
He found the deer in the scope at about the time the horse snorted, though the Kid did not pay him any mind, concentrating on the deer. He pushed the frame safety off and unknowingly wiped the Dominator safety on (it worked in the opposite direction of the Colt-type safety). Lining up on a deer the Kid pulled the trigger and was rewarded with a CLICK! Fumbling and mumbling he got the safety off, lined up on the now-moving deer and jerked the trigger, missing the deer. And suddenly realized that he was standing there with an empty gun! He had violated his own rule.. Never Hunt With An Unfamiliar Gun!
If the Kid had his sixgun he would have just eared the hammer back and tried again. As it was he had to think "How do I unload this sucker?" and "Where is the ammo?"... and while fumbling and jerking around he accidentally smacked Hud in the nose with his elbow. The Appaloosa was some upset already and at that indignity went to running backwards, dragging the Kid along. He distinctly remembered the cactus... that stayed with him. And he faintly heard the Old Man's gun go off. The Kid had his hands full for a few minutes and was not paying a lot of attention to what was going on any place else.
When things settled down the Kid worked his way back up to where the Old Man was. He was standing there with his old Marlin.30-30 in his hands. The Kid asked him if he got one and the Old Man said he had shot one just after the horse dragged the Kid past him. Hearing that, the Kid tied up the nag to a tree and climbed up the mountain. About ninety yards up lay one of the nicest Coues Deer to ever come out of this part of the hills. The Old Man had nailed him with one shot - ofhand - at over one hundred yards.
The Kid cleaned the deer and then tied it on the gentle old mare for the trip home. He was tired of fighting the Appaloosa and figured he would lose if he continued. Instead he led the mare with the deer on her and the Old Man rode Hud. After they got back to the corral and unloaded the horses the Old Man remarked that riding Hud was like driving an old wore out truck that had no shock absorbers.
This was the last Deer Hunt for the Old Man. He never got out to hunt the mountains again. Life sometimes throws things at us that we have not planned on. But they had some great memories to draw on. The Kid was forever thankful for the great Coues Deer the Old Man took. It made the hunt all the more memorable.
