The Coues hunt was in the mountains above Tucson. The ride to camp was a couple of miles on a quad. "There were only very basic amenities tent, cots, camp stove and folding chairs. Meals were either freeze-dried or basic campfire fare," he says. "The hunting was on foot out of camp."
Swasey says of the Coues deer, "I'm not sure I would ever have seen one if the guide had not shown me where to look. Most of the hunt was spent glassing. As Dryden says, his guides get hired for their eyes, and boy do they have eyes!" Swasey had been advised to be prepared to shoot out to 500 yards or more. He says, "I made it pretty clear I was not comfortable at that distance, but they regularly do it." Rincon has special rifles available, if the hunter wants to go for a long-range shot. As it turned out, Swasey says he took his first shot at 340 yards, missed, then brought his buck down with two shots at 300 and 200 yards. His deer scored 83 5/8 SCI. He says he took the first decent deer he saw, and that of five hunters in camp, only two deer were taken, although "not for lack of trying."
On the first day of the Coues hunt Swasey and his guide saw no deer, but spent nearly three hours watching two mountain lions........(continued)
