Caribou Gear Tarp

What is with the hype around Coues deer?

Coues deer are like hunting grey jackalopes in 3 foot tall grass. Plus its on the side of a steep mountain, while running through a rose bush with bare skin...

You often question your own sanity chasing these creatures....
 
Coues deer are like hunting grey jackalopes in 3 foot tall grass. Plus its on the side of a steep mountain, while running through a rose bush with bare skin...

You often question your own sanity chasing these creatures....

Sounds like a god time all around! I've never been accused of being all that sane.
 
They are almost as hard as Blacktails to hunt....only way smaller & harder to see........lol
 
Hunting coues deer gets in your blood, almost like sheep hunting. Trying to figure out how to hunt them and how to find them is the hard part. took me many years to figure the little buggers out and i still get schooled every year. There are a LOT more of them than what most people think, they are just difficult to locate. Most of the southern units have great populations and it is not uncommon to see 20+ a day with a handful of bucks. I think what draws people towards them is the fact that you can hunt them every year with a rifle or bow. so many nonresidents shell out the license fee every year for a chance t draw a premium tag and they are starting to realize that to get the most out of their investment, they can either pick up a leftover rifle tag without losing their BP's or an OTC archery tag. yeah, it can be hot and yes the desert can be unforgiving but i think those two challenge add to the excitement when you finally get one knocked down. i have grown very fond of early season archery hunts for coues. it does get VERY hot in a ground blind but they are very patternable in the early season. To top it off, they are just awesome little animals that can grow some very neat looking antlers.
 
Yeah, Coues deer hunting sucks, plus you hardly get any meat off the tiny things. Mule deer and elk are way cooler and folks should definitely stay away from the southern units with the leftover tags, it's dangerous down there ;)
 
What do you contribute the higher success rates of the late season tags to? Is it just less hunting pressure?

I've been building points for a while planning on a late coues tag, and had always assumed they were rut hunts, but have read this same thing a couple times lately.


Yeah less tags and less people. There are some units where the bucks will start searching but its not like they are normally sticking with a doe group. The late tag I had, in a unit farther north so the rut in theory is earlier, the only bucks I saw that cared about does were spikes, even on Dec 31
 
Are you spotting any border crossers on these hunts? I mean that would be pretty exciting seeing some trophy drug mules or ICE shooting it out with some coyotes.

I'm gonna fire up some No Country For Old Men to get ready for coues deer hunting.
 
I really don’t know why people waste their time with Coues. It’s not worth the trouble for 30 lbs of meat.
 
30 lbs? Try like 40 if you get a big one haha. I enjoy the challenge to hunt these little elusive deer on public land with hunting pressure. I have been hunting them for the past ten years and I look forward to that hunt every year.
I agree with what Blackcats said about the late hunts, just less tags and pressure but dont count on any rut activity. Just more time for the hunt and cooler weather. Maybe. I have had several late tags and I shot a buck on Dec 31 and it was 75 degrees.
You occasionally see illegal aliens on these hunts but they want nothing to do with you. They dont want attention, just to make it to closest city. The mules that I have seen are just hiking with burlap sacks as backpacks. They make their drop and head back across the border. We called border patrol and talked em into where the drop was made.
 
As others have stated hunting these little fellows can be tough hunts, very challenging, but additive --love hunting them. Granted the amount of meat you get is less than with other animals, but SO good!

But I enjoy hunting Steenbok, Turkey, Duiker, Capercaillie, etc and not because they provide a lot of meat. If the amount of meat you get is your reason for hunting, wood bison and moose, in North America, would be good options.

being an Arizona native, I like and agree with how sneakem and azbridger described hunting the Coues

p.s. fattybinz. I wanted to add the following. In the 1940's Mule Deer were plentiful in Arizona. We could easily harvest one on the farm or at the very least, grab a horse ( and a pack mule) and ride a bit to harvest one. And yet, even then, my father and grandfather hunted the elusive Coues. once you hunt them, you will understand, plus --although you get less meat, every ounce of it is delicious LOL. Also this is going to shock several here, we harvested them even before the 6.5 creed---but of course it was a lot harder LOL ( sorry, could not resist )
 
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Europe. do not know what state your are in. But you need to take your granddaughter on a hunt and shoot something. Make her process the animal.
Love your posts!

Better yet, go hunting and do not shoot something. Just as much fun.
 
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Are you spotting any border crossers on these hunts? I mean that would be pretty exciting seeing some trophy drug mules or ICE shooting it out with some coyotes.

I'm gonna fire up some No Country For Old Men to get ready for coues deer hunting.

Yes, there are border crossers. Lots of empty gallon jugs abandoned plus clothes and stuff that overwhelm the ecosystem. Looks like a tornado tore through a Walmart and dropped things along every ravine and under shade trees on the southern units. You will encounter checkpoints on roads, see agents on foot and horseback and ATV and in SUV, drones and planes circling above, etc. Most movement by border crossers is at night. Most are just wanting to steer wide of you unless they are hungry or thirsty but mixed in with someone hoping to find a better life are a few on the clock carrying drugs so those are more likely to create issues. If you leave anything in camp then might lose to locals or to border crossers. Some guys leave a cooler with ice and water bottles at camp.

I am much more nervous being alone in a grizzly unit than a border crosser unit. Perhaps that is naïve on my part.
 
I believe most border crossings are honest people wanting a better life. But and a big but, if they are drug mules, extreme danger. How do you know?
 
I believe most border crossings are honest people wanting a better life. But and a big but, if they are drug mules, extreme danger. How do you know?
AR style rifles and bales of drugs on their backs from what I saw on Nat Geo. Some hide drugs in their rectums, but I'm not looking that hard.
 
Good hunts! Druggies run from you not toward you.
Javelina and Coatis in the mix also.Europe are you an
Az. resident?:cool:
 
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