We don’t hear a lot on this forum about Coues deer hunting so I wanted to share some thoughts from a hunt that took place back in November 2018. There are 2 main areas that you can hunt Coues deer from…old Mexico or the border states. Coues deer in old Mexico are a different subject, which I don’t have experience with yet. When you hear about Coues deer hunting in the US, the main area will be Arizona. Yes there are some Coues in New Mexico and very few in Texas but the majority of the US hunts take place in Arizona. While there are some over the counter non-resident Coues tags available for archery, you will have to apply for the draw to use firearms for Coues as a non-resident.
I worked with Tim Winslow who owns Arizona Trophy Outfitters to apply for a tag. Tim is a Coues deer nut and has a LOT of experience with them as well as lots of experience with elk, bears in Alaska, etc. When I followed Tim’s advice, I was able to draw a tag the second year of trying. Some areas will require many years (20+) to draw but Tim knows the units and has some serious scouting time invested to get clients into good areas sooner than later. I know some guys love the DIY approach but it is a challenging hunt regardless and I was really glad to go with Tim.
Tim is an interesting guide in that he grew up playing competitive baseball with his dad as the coach. His dad got him into hunting and now Tim hires his dad to run the tent camp and cook and then hires a lot of his dad’s baseball players as his guides. These guys are already in great shape but then in their off-time, they love scouting for Coues deer year around. We had 4 hunters in camp with individual guides but as clients became successful, those guides would jump in to glass for the other clients until everyone was successful. It is so helpful to have numerous guides glassing all over the area and covering different mountain ranges. Then when we would find some interesting bucks, several guides would focus on that general area and pick it apart looking for those trophy bucks. With that kind of effort, it’s just a matter of putting in the time and you will eventually get to stalk a nice buck. However, seeing them doesn’t mean you are taking them home!
Camp was in comfortable tents with cots and then a cook tent and a simple portable shower. Simple but comfortable and besides, we never really saw camp in the daytime. We would leave camp at least 2 hours before light and I never got back to camp before 10pm. There might be a way to base out of a hotel but you would lose so much time every day getting to glassing locations that it wasn't really feasible for our area.
This is big country!
I worked with Tim Winslow who owns Arizona Trophy Outfitters to apply for a tag. Tim is a Coues deer nut and has a LOT of experience with them as well as lots of experience with elk, bears in Alaska, etc. When I followed Tim’s advice, I was able to draw a tag the second year of trying. Some areas will require many years (20+) to draw but Tim knows the units and has some serious scouting time invested to get clients into good areas sooner than later. I know some guys love the DIY approach but it is a challenging hunt regardless and I was really glad to go with Tim.
Tim is an interesting guide in that he grew up playing competitive baseball with his dad as the coach. His dad got him into hunting and now Tim hires his dad to run the tent camp and cook and then hires a lot of his dad’s baseball players as his guides. These guys are already in great shape but then in their off-time, they love scouting for Coues deer year around. We had 4 hunters in camp with individual guides but as clients became successful, those guides would jump in to glass for the other clients until everyone was successful. It is so helpful to have numerous guides glassing all over the area and covering different mountain ranges. Then when we would find some interesting bucks, several guides would focus on that general area and pick it apart looking for those trophy bucks. With that kind of effort, it’s just a matter of putting in the time and you will eventually get to stalk a nice buck. However, seeing them doesn’t mean you are taking them home!
Camp was in comfortable tents with cots and then a cook tent and a simple portable shower. Simple but comfortable and besides, we never really saw camp in the daytime. We would leave camp at least 2 hours before light and I never got back to camp before 10pm. There might be a way to base out of a hotel but you would lose so much time every day getting to glassing locations that it wasn't really feasible for our area.
This is big country!
