coues deer

[greenhead_killer]

i dont know why, but i am really wanting to do a coues whitetail hunt in arizona or somewhere down south there. anyone ever do this before? recommend a guide service or go diy? any info is appreciated. thanks

[CAMPMEAT]

I live in Tubac Arizona. I talked to a hunter 2 days ago from Chino California. He sad he was on deer everyday in the 10 days he was here, His buddy shot a 4x4  ( a little one ) with his bow and a Javelina the same day. They are really had to spot, so you'd need to sit and look at the brush where they hide under. I've actually seen quite a few riding my RZR in the desert.

[redi]

A buddy and I hunted Arizona a dozen years ago. We usually put in for the December rut hunt in the southwest units 34 or 36? We got unit 32 in southeast by Wilcox. November 10 to 20. Locals warned us about going too far south and encountering illegals and smugglers. We glassed and hiked seeing 55 deer 11 bucks in 5 days. We shot average bucks at longer range. Send me a pm for any questions.

[CAMPMEAT]

A buddy and I hunted Arizona a dozen years ago. We usually put in for the December rut hunt in the southwest units 34 or 36? We got unit 32 in southeast by Wilcox. November 10 to 20. Locals warned us about going to far south and encountering illegals and smugglers. We glassed and hiked seeing 55 deer 11 bucks in 5 days. We shot average bucks at longer range. Send me a pm for any questions.

We've put on 100's of miles in the Tubac/Border areas on or ORV's and have only seen 1 illegal near Tubac on the RR tacks.

[WAcoueshunter]

I hunted the border one time near Sasabe.  Never again.  Saw 100+ illegals in a weekend, including one that woke me up in the tent as he was raiding our cooler.  I've heard it's better now, but I'm happy to just hunt further north and not worry about it. 

I've hunted them pretty much every year since about 2000, mostly with archery but I've also had two late rifle tags and two muzzy tags.  Tons of fun, sure is nice to go on a hunt in the desert in the winter.  As mentioned, they are difficult to see, takes some getting used to.  Each year it takes me a day or so to get my eyes dialed in on them again.

Take a look at the number of tags, draw odds and harvest data for the different units and go from there.  It's all available through the AZGFD website. There are a handful of units that run successive hunts pretty much from the beginning of October through the end of December and give out a ton of tags (plus there's OTC archery before and after those seasons).  Generally speaking, those units can support that many tags because they have a ton of deer in them.  Like anywhere, that much pressure hammers the mature bucks, but there are lots of deer around.

[greenhead_killer]

Thanks wacoueshunter. I’ll start looking into that.

[CAMPMEAT]

Trump has slowed down the activity at the border here. There's a ranch in Sasabe that allows hunter to hunt their land too, from the owner of the bar said. $$$$ I bet.

[WAcoueshunter]

For most of those units, there are three main rifle seasons, one in late October, one in mid-November, and then one around Thanksgiving or early December.  Each has its pros and cons.  The October hunts can be really hot and buggy, but you get first crack at the deer.  The November/early December hunts are better in terms of weather, but the deer have already been hunted pretty hard - in addition to the October rifle hunt, there's also archery, muzzy and youth hunts in there.  Personally, if I were to choose one of the three rifle seasons, I'd go with the Thanksgiving/early December hunt.  Looks like the dates for that are now 12/1 - 12/10.   Better weather for hunting, and shorter days means they spend more of the daylight feeding instead of bedded.  They bed under trees or bushes and can be nearly impossible to see, so you can spend hours and hours in the hot sun without seeing a thing, just waiting for the first and last hours of daylight when they get up.  There's also a limited late tag in late December that coincides with the rut (rut goes from about mid-December through January), but with very few tags and the NR cap, you'll need some points to draw that one.  Depending on the particular unit and which of the three earlier hunts you choose, you can usually draw these with 0 - 2 points. 

[lamrith]

A buddy and I hunted Arizona a dozen years ago. We usually put in for the December rut hunt in the southwest units 34 or 36? We got unit 32 in southeast by Wilcox. November 10 to 20. Locals warned us about going to far south and encountering illegals and smugglers. We glassed and hiked seeing 55 deer 11 bucks in 5 days. We shot average bucks at longer range. Send me a pm for any questions.

I hunted there a few miles south of Tubac a few years ago, 2?  We saw a spike on day 1 and my stepdad took it (thankfully) and that was it, heard shots sup high in hills to the north opening morning, then it was quiet the rest of the week.  Once the shots do off the just disappear.



We've put on 100's of miles in the Tubac/Border areas on or ORV's and have only seen 1 illegal near Tubac on the RR tacks.

[Fozzie Bear]

I hunted Javelina in Unit 33 for several days a couple weeks ago. I was into Coues every day. I saw a few bucks but no trophies were noted. PM me if you like.


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[WAcoueshunter]

I hunted Javelina in Unit 33 for several days a couple weeks ago. I was into Coues every day. I saw a few bucks but no trophies were noted. PM me if you like.


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Did you see any pigs?

[Fozzie Bear]

Yikes, just now getting back to you WAcoushunter.
My sister-in-law tagged her pig within hours on opening morning.
The rest of us this did not see hide nor hair of the little rascals with one fabulous exception. My wife and I set up for a varmint calling session one evening, and we were swarmed by a dozen or so Javelina acting like they were trying to haze us off of a baby pig in distress. They were running at high-speed and coming in really close. Between our surprise and their constant running, we never got a shot. But it was very cool.


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[Shooting Stix]

Here are some Mexico Coues deer