Sergio Orozco’s story of his world record Coues deer started in August of 2000. Orozco had spent the morning glassing the southern Arizona landscape. His main goal was to find a nice-sized Coues buck. As the morning passed into mid-day Sergio decided to make his way back to his pickup truck. Sergio found himself walking down a cattle trail. Suddenly a buck jumped up that was bedded nearby. As the buck crossed over the nearby ridge all Sergio could notice was the buck’s big, velvet-covered antlers. For the rest of the August archery season, Orozco scouted and hunted the area looking for the buck. However, he was never able to turn up the giant Coues deer.
Locating a World Record Buck
Over the next few months, Orozco did his best to keep tabs on the buck, but unfortunately, he had trouble locating the Coues buck. During October and November, Sergio worried that a firearm hunter may find the large Coues buck.
“October went by. November passed. Finally, on the weekend before the December archery hunt began, I found him feeding in a small clearing in the middle of a bunch of mesquite trees. He had moved a bit farther north from the first place I had seen him. Even though the velvet was gone by now, the height of his antlers and a distinct drop tine convinced me it was the same deer. Naturally, I was thankful a gun hunter hadn’t already killed him.” – Sergio Orozco
Over the next two weeks, Sergio hunted the buck almost exclusively. During that time he was able to stalk the buck twice. The first stalk came to an abrupt end when a nearby doe winded him and took the buck with her. The second stalk nearly worked out for Orozco. However, the big Coues saw him move as he tried to work his way through a patch of ocotillos. As the December archery season came to an end Sergio was still chasing the buck.
Luckily for Orozco, Arizona had a January archery season coming up next. However, due to work and weather, Sergio wasn’t able to look for the big Coues again until January 10th, 2001.
“He was maybe 200 to 300 yards away across the canyon. There was only about a half-hour left before it got dark, so I decided to leave him alone until the following morning. As I continued watching the buck, I heard a noise on the ridge above me, looked up, and saw my friend, Pete Mendoza. I signaled him to come down. While waiting for him, I kept my attention on the deer. It was the biggest whitetail either of us had ever seen in the wild. Jokingly, I told him to have his camera ready because the buck would be mine tomorrow.” – Sergio Orozco
Arrowing a Giant Coues
The next morning found Orozco trailing behind the buck and a few does as they crossed over a ridge. Once reaching the ridge top, Sergio spent about 15 minutes locating the Coues buck again. Soon after, Sergio watched the buck bedded down near some mesquite trees.
Orozco stalked down a small canyon that eventually brought him to about 80 yards from the bedded buck. At that point, Sergio dropped his daypack and took off his boots to finish the stalk. He inched up the wash, slowly working his way closer and closer to the monster Coues buck. Then disaster almost struck! While Sergio was moving in he sent a small rock tumbling down the wash. He heard the small rock “click” as it fell and he froze. The buck’s head spun around and stared in his direction for 30-45 seconds before slowly turning away from the sound.
“Not wanting to wait any longer, I nocked an arrow, took a few steps so I could see his vitals, and drew my bow just as the buck’s head had turned toward me again. By then it was too late for him to react. I heard the arrow thump as it connected with something… “He jumped up, wheeled around, and raced toward the spot where my shoes and pack were laying. After running about 40 yards, he stopped and looked back at me. Although his tail was moving sort of funny, I couldn’t see any blood. Now I began doubting whether I had hit him at all. I shot again. He jumped when the arrow hit him in the neck, and with four great leaps, he disappeared over a hill. – Sergio Orozco
Finally Holding the Giant
Sergio retrieved his daypack and boots and drank a little water why he waiting for his arrows to do their work. He inspected both locations of each shot. Both locations showed signs of deadly shots. After trailing the blood trail for a bit Orozco found the giant buck dead under a mesquite tree.
“When I got down to him, I jumped and yelled, even though no one was around to hear me. For me, killing that buck was the greatest thrill of my life.” – Sergio Orozco
Sergio knew that the buck was big but he had no idea how big the buck really was. He told friends that he figured it would score around 115. Then a friend of his scored it and came up with a score of around 150 gross! At that point, Sergio contacted Pope & Young scorer Jimmie Engelmann. After the 60-day mandatory drying period, the buck scored an incredible 132 6/8 net! That score blows past the previous record by more than 10 points.
If you’d like to read more about this amazing buck you can click here. Likewise, you can check out our Coues deer page by clicking here. Special thanks to the Pope & Young and CouesWhitetail.com for providing information regarding this awesome buck.
