USA: Coues Deer Hunting In Arizona

[Green Chile]

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!

 

[WAB]

I am totally addicted to Coues and the borderlands they live in! I hate to think how much money I’ve invested in the specialty gear I use for this hunt.

 

[Green Chile]

We will get into that subject for sure!

 

[Altitude sickness]

The Coues deer is named after Dr Elliot Coues, a naturalist and Army surgeon who was the first to scientifically describe the species in the late 1800s:

Coues was stationed at Fort Whipple in Arizona Territory from 1865–1866. He pronounced his name "cows", which is the correct pronunciation of the species' name. However, "cooz" is more commonly used today.

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

I've gone twice, DIY right on the border in 36b back when you could even get leftover tags.
Diving a little Chevy cobalt and camped in a tent right on the side of the road. Lol
Border patrol and others in high numbers every day.
Successful both times albeit with bucks most would pass up.
Had a great time and super happy with the experience.

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

Beautiful country

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I've gone twice, DIY right on the border in 36b back when you could even get leftover tags.
Diving a little Chevy cobalt and camped in a tent right on the side of the road. Lol
Border patrol and others in high numbers every day.
Successful both times albeit with bucks most would pass up.
Had a great time and super happy with the experience.

I used to hunt 36B. Took a deer or two down there. Tons of mountain lions. Unfortunately tons of illegal immigrants too, amongst them a few bad actors. I quit hunting there as it just became a bit too dangerous in my opinion.

Driving a Chevy cobalt in that country? That was brave. Get much past Pena Blanca lake and those roads get rough.

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

I used to hunt 36B. Took a deer or two down there. Tons of mountain lions. Unfortunately tons of illegal immigrants too, amongst them a few bad actors. I quit hunting there as it just became a bit too dangerous in my opinion.

Driving a Chevy cobalt in that country? That was brave. Get much past Pena Blanca lake and those roads get rough.

I don't even remember the names of places but I was right outside of Nogales. Something motorway? Always thought strange as it was a dirt road.
I drove over 14 hours to get there

 

[WAB]

Swaro SLC 15x56 on a Peak 44 tripod. Just a small sampling of the investment.

 

[JimP]

I found that hunting coues deer can roll all the emotions of hunting all up into one and all in the same hunt.

I have gone after them twice. The first time I used a bunch of points for a late hunt in 36c for the late December hunt. Hunted hard and got rained out but did manage a shot at a nice buck.

The next year I just put in for the draw on a whim, thinking that I'd never draw the tag with just a loyalty point, to my surprise I drew the late December hunt again for the second time in a row.

I missed a buck on the first day but we hiked into the same canyon that I had taken a shot at the previous year. My buddy asked me what kind of buck I would settle for and I said a respectable one. A few minutes later he came back to me and said that he had found my buck. After a hour or so of trying to get closer I got off a 420 yard shot with my .25-06 and I had my coues.

He was shot in the same canyon where I had missed the year before and is possibly the same buck

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

The Coues deer is named after Dr Elliot Coues, a naturalist and Army surgeon who was the first to scientifically describe the species in the late 1800s:

Coues was stationed at Fort Whipple in Arizona Territory from 1865–1866. He pronounced his name "cows", which is the correct pronunciation of the species' name. However, "cooz" is more commonly used today.

The correct pronunciation, "cows", has lead to some unintended and sad consequences. Like the time a dairy herd, just outside of Tucson, was decimated after a guide said, "shoot the cows!" The newer pronunciation, "cooz" was implemented to avoid confusion and another bovine tragedy.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I found that hunting coues deer can roll all the emotions of hunting all up into one and all in the same hunt.

I have gone after them twice. The first time I used a bunch of points for a late hunt in 36c for the late December hunt. Hunted hard and got rained out but did manage a shot at a nice buck.

The next year I just put in for the draw on a whim, thinking that I'd never draw the tag with just a loyalty point, to my surprise I drew the late December hunt again for the second time in a row.

I missed a buck on the first day but we hiked into the same canyon that I had taken a shot at the previous year. My buddy asked me what kind of buck I would settle for and I said a respectable one. A few minutes later he came back to me and said that he had found my buck. After a hour or so of trying to get closer I got off a 420 yard shot with my .25-06 and I had my coues.

He was shot in the same canyon where I had missed the year before and is possibly the same buck

Wow that's a nice Coues!

 

[Altitude sickness]

It sure is

 

[JimP]

I did a write up on my hunt just after when I was at a motel on my trip home. After driving for 8 hours I felt like I had a cold or something coming on so when I hit Moab, Ut I stopped and got a room for the night.

Here is the write up.

Thread 'USA: Arizona Coues Deer Hunt'

Dec 31, 2017

Well folks here it is.

This was the hunt that almost wasn't.

Last year on this exact day December 30th we had spotted a very nice coues deer buck about 2 miles away and the stalk was started. We had crawled the last 50 or so yards to get into position and had set the rifle up to bag me a trophy. Just as I got the cross hairs onto the vitals at 400 yards a ATV came past us on a road over a mile away, this deer heard it and was off like a shot. A 2 ? hour stalk ruined, but...

• JimP
• Replies: 15
• Forum: Hunting reports USA & Canada

• 

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I do recall now.

 

[Green Chile]

Great to see so much interest in the subject. I welcome others adding to the topic and in my typical fashion, I will be sharing lessons learned, equipment discussion, etc.

A lot has happened since I posted the topic last night...a nasty 8 hour flu bug hit me and I just returned from a quick road trip to visit @One Day...what a great visit we had! Ok, now on to more posting on this topic.

 

[Green Chile]

Coues...(and by the way, most people I know in the industry say cooz not cows) are truly polarizing species. They are addictive but maddening when you can't find them. They are tiny but will dominate your thoughts and dreams when you begin to understand them. I agree with Boddington who told me he cringes when someone says what's the story on why you mounted your little whitetail buck. Ugh.

Coues are straight up awesome and deserve a ton of respect. They tend to bring out a lot of superlatives in our language. Just listen to guys around the campfire on a Coues hunt...it feels like my eyes are bleeding....I've got so many thorns I don't even know where to start dealing with them...or even worse, I am so pissed that I missed that shot after busting my ass all week!

Coues deer have really challenged me on so many levels. I thought I was good at glassing...I wasn't. I thought I was comfortable on longer shots...I needed more work. I thought my gear was good enough...until I hunted them and sold most of it afterwards to upgrade!

 

[Green Chile]

This hunt report is going to deal more with what I learned than what I did. Unlike a lot of my reports, I will tell you up front that I took a nice buck at the end of the hunt but this report isn't focused on the trophy but on the learning I experienced. There were so many things I learned that changed the way I approached hunting open spaces and glassing big country. That's the main purpose of this report from me. I will tell the story of the longest hunting shot I've taken on game but follow me as we learn from the Grey Ghost.

 

[JimP]

On my hunt above my buddy saved me with is glass. I have a pair of Swaro 10x42 EL's and while I could spot those little buggers I had a heck of a time putting horns on them. My buddy had some 15x Swaro's plus a Swaro spotter. If either one of us spotted a deer we would get onto it with the spotter to make a decision.

One thing that a lot of hunters don't realize is that these deer are spooky. Even a loud fart a mile away and they will be alert and trying to figure out what it was.

Don't expect a close shot if you want a trophy buck. My first shot at a coues was 520 yards away, we could get no closer for those who say to just get closer. My bullet went right over the bucks back and smacked a rock. That buck left the country. That was the trip where we got rained out.

Hunting these desert ghost will tax your every idea of deer hunting. Everything out there wants to eat them and they act that way. While archery hunters get close enough to them to stick them with a arrow don't expect that on a rifle hunt, even the late December hunts like I was on. Most of the bucks were by themselves with only the does, fawns, and smaller bucks hanging together.

 

[Green Chile]

Coues hunting is a glassing game of the highest order. I've never heard of anyone just randomly running into a great buck with no effort made....like happens sometimes with whitetails. They are just too canny...too skittish...what's the phrase you would say? You're not likely to find them in easily accessible places, certainly not mature trophy examples. Most Coues stories go something like this...we drove a long freaking way...then we hiked even further, while glassing every sunny exposure along the way...then we saw ONE doe...then we saw a little buck the next day...and so on.

Here are some examples of the type of terrain that is typical of Coues habitat. You rarely see them on the flats. One of the problems is that the difference between glassing sunny exposures vs shaded areas is a real issue to sort through. You are going to have to get really good at moving your eyes to the areas that are getting sun but not losing track of the movement of shade. Coues need both sun and shade depending on the weather, time of day, etc. They can be anywhere BUT they are more likely to move a few feet than they are to move to a different hill. They rarely stand around in the open and they have a unique ability to blend into the cover with their small bodies and neutral colors. More on that aspect to come!

These examples of habitat are large pieces and you have to be able to cover what's in front of your boots but also the far mountains/cuts/folds that are 1-3 miles distant. Every time I glass for Coues I have to remind myself...patience! Don't be in a hurry. Don't get frustrated. Create a grid and peel the hills and terrain apart systematically. It's very mental.