Who's a serious Coues deer hunters

[realunlucky]

Would love to pick the brains of some serious Coues deer hunters. Never hunted them and curious what makes these desert ghosts so special?

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[Tullis94]

Idk if you would call me "serious" but I've been to Mexico twice and try to hunt arizona OTC archery in January. My favorite deer to hunt!

 

[BBob]

My #1 favorite animal to hunt for near 45 years now

 

[Steve O]

If you are not sniping them at long range, they are very wary and spooky. I’ve stalked mix herds of mule and Coues deer in AZ in January and always the Coues deer are the ones to pick me off.

 

[svivian]

I’ve been stalking them on and off with a bow for a few years. Nothing more fun to do in January imo.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

If you draw a tag down in Arizona shoot me a message. They are a special and unique little deer in a really cool part of the county to hunt! I scout them year round and hunt/help on hunts for them every year.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

They live in awesome places, rut harder than just about anything else I’ve seen, and are extremely elusive…. What more could you ask for! Love chasing them

 

[JohnJohnson]

I'm definitely new to coues hunting so probably not in the "serious" category yet especially since they're a destination hunt for me since I don't live in coues country. I've only done one AZ rifle coues hunt last year but loved it enough I'm going back in 2025 and plan to do more past that. I was in a pretty steep/thick spot where shooting stuff on the hill you're on wasn't an option. So it was cross-canyon sort of deal when it came to visibility and shot opportunities. It's a very glass/gear centric style of hunting in that sort of terrain at least and I liked it a lot. In that steep stuff I was in, prone shots were a pipe dream. Oddly enough it's the hunt that's had the most crossover with NRL Hunter style gear/guns I have.

That coues hunt has driven a couple of scope choices for me. From the time the deer I shot was spotted with binos by someone with me, it took me a solid 10 minutes to find it in my scope with a Vortex LHT 4.5-22x50 which isn't primo glass but it's also no slouch. I didn't really have many issues seeing coues deer as long as the sun was on them but when they were in the shade it was very tough. The deer I shot was in a shaded steep/rocky hillside 380 yards across from me and the sun was low on the horizon at about my 1:30 o'clock direction. That was near worst case scenario for how hard it made finding the thing in my scope.

 

[WormSportsman]

The country they live in and how they can disappear for hours at a time to just stand up on a hillside 300-400 yards from you that you have been glassing the whole time. One of the most challenging hunts to kill a big one in my opinion.

 

[TrackerG]

Only the best deer hunt in the world. Coues deer are the bomb

 

[TrackerG]

This year

 

[Tanner W]

All of the USA coues died, they’re only left in old Mexico. So keep putting in for the strip or kaibab and leave us coues hunters alone lol

 

[TrackerG]

All of the USA coues died, they’re only left in old Mexico. So keep putting in for the strip or kaibab and leave us coues hunters alone lol

Of course, everyone knows all the US coues deer units are way over pressured and the deer don’t get bigger than 54”

 

[IChaseCoues]

I have a thing for Coues you could say. I've hunted them every chance I've had for 25 years but that doesn't mean I'm an expert.
Learn to glass in a slow and methodic way to be sure you have seen everything on a hillside before moving. And then I will cover that hillside again just because.

Full disclosure though... I've killed 3 good ones but the biggest was spotted from a moving blue ram pickup! It took probably 30 minutes to find him after spotting him across a canyon and then a trick shot through a tree at 375 yards to kill him.
Moving from NM to MT 6 years ago has slowed down my chances of going after them since now I'm an NR in NM and AZ odds have gotten a lot worse

@realunlucky There are a few people in this thread that can probably answer a lot of questions.
Lets hear them!

 

[100%DIYazCOUES]

I can answer questions on coues too

 

[Sneaker]

They are very different from mule deer. Very wired. They can rut pretty hard. The glassing to hunt them is the fun part and will test your skills, and boy can they disappear. And you need to know how to reach out with some longer shots.

 

[TrackerG]

They are very different from mule deer. Very wired. They can rut pretty hard. The glassing to hunt them is the fun part and will test your skills, and boy can they disappear. And you need to know how to reach out with some longer shots.
View attachment 797766View attachment 797769

That’s an absolute monster. Congratulations

 

[Bubblehide]

It's been a long time since I've hunted them, much to long. But I'd say hunting them is much more like hunting mule deer than whitetail. They can damn near hide behind a single blade of grass. Many of the bucks bed alone until the rut, but typically reasonable close to other deer. They typically do not move to the next county once spooked; so they can be relocated. But, relocating one is typically not an easy task.

Unlike most, I took a pretty aggressive approach with the bucks I was after, as mature cows deer bucks tend to hold to their beds, even to archery range.

But alas a word of warning, one good taste and you will be addicted. Don't believe me? Just look to the lifetime addicts that posted in this thread.

 

[Sierra Hunter]

Impressive spot

 

[justin davis]

Eddie Claypool They are such neat deer