For years, the elusive 120"+ mark had been the ultimate goal in my pursuit of the infamous grey ghost. I’ve been fortunate to be part of a few hunts that reached this milestone, but it always seemed like the dream was filled with the success of others. This year, however, the spotlight turned to my daughter, Khloe Jane Holder, who drew a unit 23 New Mexico youth deer tag.
Khloe, at age 13, has already built an impressive collection of trophy animals. Her latest ambition was to add a Coues whitetail to her achievements. I had my sights set on one particular buck since 2022, and after relocating him in 2023, I hoped that 2024 would be the year Khloe could claim this prize.
Our early season scouting paid off as we located our target buck. The anticipation for Khloe’s hunt seemed endless, but on November 23, 2024, with my good buddy Mike Pompeo by our side, we found the buck within minutes of the hunt’s start. It took us a couple of hours to get into position, but once we had the 284 Winchester set up, Khloe made a remarkable 450-yard shot to take her first Coues deer.
This hunt was not just about the trophy but about the journey, the anticipation, and the shared experience. Khloe’s success is a testament to her skill and determination, and it marks a proud moment in our family’s hunting legacy.
To the amazement of Mike and myself, we did not realize how big this buck actually was with the 12 scoreable points and the mass that this buck possessed. Unofficially, Khloe’s buck scored 123 4/8". This is truly a buck of a lifetime, and I was grateful to share one of my dreams with my daughter.
Fast forward to December 3, 2024 when I was riding high from Khloe’s success. I received a call from Spencer Berns, co-owner of G3 Outfitters, whom I have been guiding with for years. Spencer let me know that he and Jay Platt, owner of G3 Outfitters, wanted to gift me a special tag they had purchased called the Governor’s Special Event Deer License for Coues whitetail. This tag could be used in any of the Southern New Mexico units. I was driving at the time, and I told Spencer that I needed to pull over to gather myself with the news that he gave me. I asked Spencer to tell me again what he was giving me because I could not believe they were giving me this opportunity. Spencer and Jay both told me to go and dig up another big one, and they both thanked me for my dedication to the G3 family that we all support. I had originally planned on helping my buddy Mike Pompeo’s son Troy on a unit 23 Coues tag. I had to let them know that we would now be trying to fill two tags during this hunt with the agreement that I would be holding out for a 120"+ buck because of the special tag.
Opening morning with my son Tommy, Mike, and Troy, we packed into an area, planning to stay the long haul. Within minutes of the hunt, we were spotting bucks. After Troy passed the first five bucks, something kept drawing my attention to a certain spot. My son Tommy said we needed to move to our original game plan that would eventually take us over an hour to get to our destination. I told Tommy we needed to wait a second as I wanted to continue to look at the ridge that kept drawing my attention. To my surprise, I spotted a buck that had a really heavy frame. I told Troy to get his gun and get ready as I might have a possible shooter for him. Tommy grabbed the spotting scope and told me that I better get my gun. My reply was that I was not going to shoot unless it was 120"+. Once I looked through the Swarovski STX spotter, I looked at Troy and said, “I’m going to have to shoot this buck.” The adrenaline hit my bloodstream, and everybody knew this was a lifelong dream that could possibly come true. There was not a second thought in anyone’s mind that they wanted me to take this buck.
Once we moved into position and Tommy was able to relocate this buck, we dialed into 480 yards with the 28 Nosler. With a well-placed shot, I fulfilled my lifelong dream. My buck unofficially scored 121 1/8".
We continued to hunt the next day, trying to locate a nice buck for Troy. With the weather turning on us, the winds kept the deer held down tight. We walked into an area where I had another buck that was on our radar. While we were looking in the canyon, the winds were so bad that my son said he would cross the canyon and start working down the thick terrain to see if he could get a buck to stand up. While Tommy was moving down, I was watching him, and much to my surprise, I saw movement right under him. I thought it was deer. However, it was a mountain lion at approximately 10 yards walking straight to him. I called Tommy on the radio and told him to stop as there was a mountain lion right in front of him. At that point, Tommy had made eye contact with the mountain lion. As a father, fear struck me! I told him, “Do not move.” It seemed like an eternity, but after a minute, I had him start to back up and move out to try and get away from the lion. Once Tommy was in the clear, I used Troy’s 7PRC to send a perfectly-placed shot at 380 yards. The lion tumbled down the mountain to his death. Every year, I purchase a lion tag in the hopes that one day I will be able to kill a big tom. In this case, I was grateful to have that tag in my pocket and to also complete another bucket list item on a giant tom.
On day eight, we were able to find Troy a nice buck and he was able to make a 735-yard shot with his Western Precision 7PRC to complete our Coues hunt.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined my daughter and me taking over 240" of Coues within 15 days. One of my greatest enjoyments is being able to hunt with my family and friends and guide for G3 Outfitters. My lifelong dream would have never been possible this year if it wasn’t for the phone call that I received from Spencer Berns and Jay Platt gifting me the Governor’s tag.