Coues Deer anyone??

[actionshooter]

Thinking about a Coues deer hunt and looking for any experienced input...  Which states should be pursued? I would consider Mexico but haven't started looking yet. Would that be advisable? 

Anyone who would want to post pics of their bucks would be great too.

[Bango skank]

Guy i know has taken some great coues bucks in az.

[ctwiggs1]

Use the search feature.  There are a few guys on here who post up pics every few years.  I’d like to try that some day as well. Best of luck to you.

[jbanich]

Pm me and I can give you an outfitter that you will kill a 100 inch caliber deer and have a great hunt and be treated well. About 4500 bucks buy in Mexico.  Been there multiple times and had a blast.  Let me know

[WAcoueshunter]

Which states should be pursued?

Only two States have coues, NM and AZ.  AZ has considerably more, and is generally considered the better coues state - more and bigger coues deer in AZ.  Archery in AZ is OTC - super fun hunts, but success rates are very low.  All rifle and muzzy hunts are draw only, although you can draw fairly good hunts (October and November hunts) with only a couple points.  The best AZ hunts - the rifle rut tags in late December - will generally take 5 to 12 points to draw.  NM has no point system. 

I would consider Mexico but haven't started looking yet. Would that be advisable? 

Tons of big coues in Mexico, just south of AZ and NM.  But you have to go through an outfitter.  Jay Scott does a DIY coues operation in Mexico.  Follow him on Instagram and you'll see new coues pics every day right now.   

[WAcoueshunter]

Also, there's an AZ based website/forum like Hunt-Wa called coueswhitetail.com.  You might check that out, lots of resources there. 

[lamrith]

They are a really neat deer.  Tricky little buggers.  The guys that have already posted have given you great info to start.

One recommendation I will say is to have decent glass.  I am not saying go out and spending a fortune on new top tier glass, but definitely do not use wallmart glass either.  Get something in the 12x50 or the new hotness is 15x56 range, plus a solid tripod.  I went with a set of Vortex Vulture HD 15x56 and loved them.  The typical hunt involves lots of time behind glass to spot them so you can then make a gameplan to get in range.  They are wicked hard to spot unless they are moving.  You can scan a hillside for hours seeing nothing at all, then all of a sudden you have deer everywhere.

[WAcoueshunter]

Also, if you want to see what it's like with the terrain, glassing, etc., Western Hunter and Meat Eater have both done coues TV episodes that you can find on Netflix.  Western Hunter is based in AZ and the main guy (Chris Denham) is first and foremost a coues hunter.  He does coues episodes every year.  Randy Newberg has some on YouTube as well. 

I'm headed to coues country in about two weeks for a javelina hunt with my kid.  Can't wait!

[WAcoueshunter]

Some misc coues photos...all from southern AZ.

[actionshooter]

Which states should be pursued?

Only two States have coues, NM and AZ.  AZ has considerably more, and is generally considered the better coues state - more and bigger coues deer in AZ.  Archery in AZ is OTC - super fun hunts, but success rates are very low.  All rifle and muzzy hunts are draw only, although you can draw fairly good hunts (October and November hunts) with only a couple points.  The best AZ hunts - the rifle rut tags in late December - will generally take 5 to 12 points to draw.  NM has no point system. 

I would consider Mexico but haven't started looking yet. Would that be advisable? 

Tons of big coues in Mexico, just south of AZ and NM.  But you have to go through an outfitter.  Jay Scott does a DIY coues operation in Mexico.  Follow him on Instagram and you'll see new coues pics every day right now.   

Thanks! I was hoping you would see this and jump in... Great info..

[huntnnw]

Randy newberg does this hunt every year in AZ. they are on youtube and his newest one went up yesterday.

[Cowboy15]

You might want to look into a guided hunt on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Pretty sure there have been some record coues deer shot down there. There is a list of guides available on the tribe's website.