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2009-2010 Coues Buck Contest

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CouesWhitetail.com Store - Books

Only a few of the books here are sold directly through CouesWhitetail.com.  For those books you will see the paypal cart that you can click on for purchase.  Paypal does not require you to have an account with them in order to pay for these items.  Other books on this page are offered through Amazon.com with a percentage of the purchase price coming back to this website.  For those books click on the image of the book for information on how to purchase.

How to Hunt Coues Deer  by Duwane Adams and Tony Mandile.

If you are interested in Coues deer hunting, then this book is a must.  Duwane and Tony have used their decades of experience to put together an outstanding book. It contains information about the biology of the Coues deer, hunting tactics, hunting gear, field judging, scoring, and unit-by-unit hunting information for AZ and New Mexico.  There are also many hunter photos and hunt stories.  Click on the back cover image to read more about the book.

$20.00 plus tax and $4.00 shipping and handling

Coues White-tailed Deer - An Annotated Bibliography   by Richard A. Ockenfels

This book provides a comprehensive review of close to a hundred of research articles published about Coues deer.  Each article/book is summarized by Mr. Ockenfels and indexed by category that it covers (habitat, reproduction, disease, distribution and much more).  If you are serious about learning about Coues deer, this is a must have.  It is published and sold by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.  You can buy it for $10 from some of the regional AGFD offices or by contacting Richard Ockenfels.

   
    Deer Quest by Lance Stapleton

  This book chronicles the author's attempt to take six exceptional bucks of the six varieties of deer in North America all in the same year!  There are three major species of deer (the triple) and each of those species has two subspecies (the double).  This "triple-double" had never been attempted before.  Lance is an outstanding writer and really brings his adventures alive in this book.  Among the many hunts he writes about, two are Coues deer hunts in Mexico.  Any deer hunter will enjoy this book!

Read more about this book below.

From the back cover of Deer Quest (click to enlarge):
 :

Deer Quest is $12.95 plus tax and $4.00 shipping/handling.  The original retail price on this book was $19.95, but it is now on sale for quite a bit less.

Elk Books

Greatest Elk by Roger Selner

Here is the book all elk hunters have been waiting for! This oversized book holds the stories and statistics of the biggest bulls ever killed in North America. Stunning, full-color photographs highlight over 40 world-class heads, including the former world records! See the new world-record non-typical, with an amazing score of 465 plus. View the new world-record typical from Arizona that scores 442 plus, beating the famous Plute bull shot in Colorado in 1899. All heads appear with Boone & Crockett gross and net scores, and even the great heads missing from Boone & Crockett appear in full color with their scores. Discover which elk had the most points, the widest spread, the biggest sheds, and much more.

The stories are as amazing as the photographs. Follow the hunters as they stayed on the track of a monster bull for days on end. Read about how some of the biggest heads ever produced were found in garages and barns where they had been lying for decades, unrecognized! Enjoy the intrigue as historic heads change hands. Learn how one of the biggest bull of all time was found drowned! Lavishly illustrated, expertly researched, this is the greatest elk book ever produced.

"Anyone who loves reading about hunting elk, especially trophy elk, will be delighted with this book. Roger Selner has left no stone unturned in seeking the stories and photos of the biggest bulls ever taken. The bulls pictured here defy the imagination, and this book is a work of art that deserves to be treasured in every elk hunter’s library"

$39.95 plus sales tax and $4.00 shipping and handling  (this hardcover book is 209 pages with full color photos)

Sorry I am out of stock of this and don't think I will be getting anymore in anytime soon.

A new mule deer book called "Mule Deer Conservation:  Issues and Management Strategies" has just been published by the Mule Deer Working Group (sponsored by the Western Assoc. of Fish and Wildlife Agencies).  This 240-page book is the latest information on mule deer biology and management and is written by the western states' and provinces' leading mule deer biologists.  It is written primarily for the  working biologist so you have the latest information at hand on issues like diseases, predation, habitat changes, nutrition, elk/deer competition, weather, etc.  It will also appeal to many hunters.

I am not selling this book directly, but you can click here to get an order form.  The cost is $22.00, including shipping, each unless you buy more than 5 copies. 

If you have any further questions about ordering, contact Todd Black or Nevelyn Headrick (435) 797-8876.

Books about wildlife in the Southwest

    The Wolf in the Southwest: the Making of an Endangered Species   by David E. Brown, Harley Shaw
The premier predatory animal in the Southwest, and certainly the most controversial, the wolf came to grips with European settlement, particularly the livestock industry, and lost. First in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, and finally in Old Mexico, the southwestern wolf was driven to extirpation; ironically, the last wolves were hunted down not long before the advent of laws—and a conservation ethic—that could have saved them. Drawing on reports of the U.S. government’s former Office of Predatory Animal and Rodent Control (PARC), and from accounts of wolf hunters themselves, David E. Brown has compiled the history of the wolf’s elimination. Included is a complete documentation of the eradication program, fascinating stories of the last few wolves that eluded hunters, and information on wolf biology from those who best knew its habits.

Since its first publication in 1983, The Wolf in the Southwest has proven itself as the single most valuable and informative reference to Canis lupus of the Mexican borderlands. Now, the descendents of the last wolves captured in Mexico once again roam portions of wilderness in New Mexico and Arizona. With reintroduction, this second edition contains a new Preface and Epilogue by David E. Brown, and a new Foreword by author and biologist Harley Shaw. Once again there are wolves in the woods, and just as in the days of the pioneers, people are taking sides. Love him or hate him, the wolf is again making history, and The Wolf in the Southwest is back in print.

  Soul Among Lions: The cougar as peaceful adversary   by Harley Shaw
Skilled predators prized by hunters and cursed by ranchers, mountain lions are the wild soul of the American West. Now a wildlife biologist brings you nose to nose with the elusive cougar. Harley Shaw shares dramatic stories culled from his years of studying mountain lions, separating fact from myth regarding their habits while raising serious questions about mankind's relationship with this commanding creature.
 

Elliot Coues

 This is the definitive book about Elliot Coues, a great naturalist of the 1800's.  Coues is primarily known as an ornithologist, but he described many of the species in the Southwest, which were then named for him.  One of those species is the Coues White-tailed Deer. 

From the Inside Flap
"[A] lively and informative account of one of the great ornithologists of the nineteenth century. . . . [The] authors not only portray the life of a fascinating, inquisitive, and exacting scientist but also give a vivid account of American life from 1840 to the turn of the century. . . . Superbly written, this book should be on the required reading list of anyone interested in the development of science and natural history of America." – Jeffrey L. Malter, Science Books and Films

Arizona Game Birds   Arizona Gamebirds   by David E. Brown
Brown discusses the various aspects of these birds from his viewpoint as a hunter and as a biologist involved with the management of wildlife in the Southwest. Distribution maps and photos of habitats are included. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

 

Adventure books

  Cabeza De Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America

A review by Scott Swindle: Cabeza de Vaca and some of his fellow Spaniards went through some incredible hardships as some of the first Europeans in the New World. They first set out on an ill-advised voyage from Cuba to Florida, where they lost their ships. They built primitive boats which they intended to sail around the coast to Mexico. They went past Mobile Bay, then cut across the Gulf to Texas, where they were captured by the local tribe. Of the 300 Spaniards who left out on the voyage, only 4 survived to tell the tale. De Vaca spent years as a slave to the Indians. He was half-starved (as were his hosts), regularly beaten, and naked. He eventualy linked up with some of his surviving comrades, including a Moorish slave, and they began an epic journey across what is now the Southwest United States and Northern Mexico. He gained a reputation as a medicine man, and soon had an entourage of thousands that travelled with him from village to village. When he finally reached Spanish settlements on the Pacific, the only thing his fellow 'civilized' men were interested in were his followers, which they saw as easy prey for slaves. De Vaca tried in vain to stop the slavers. This was a man who never lost his faith in God or his faith in man. It is simly an incredible journey, and one that does not get enough attention. Though this account is nearly half a millenium old, the translation is easy to read and not at all boring.
 

   Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster     by Jon Krakauer

Amazon.com review
Into Thin Air is a riveting first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape. As the journey up the mountain progresses, Krakauer puts it in context by recalling the triumphs and perils of other Everest trips throughout history. The author's own anguish over what happened on the mountain is palpable as he leads readers to ponder timeless questions.
 

Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and...   Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains   by Jon Krakauer

Amazon.com review
No matter what the actual temperature may be, several pages into Eiger Dreams you will begin to shiver. Halfway through you will acquire a new appreciation for your fingers, toes, and the fact that you still have a nose. And by the end of this collection, you'll define some commonly used phrases in an entirely different way. The understated "catch some air" and the whimsical "log some flight time" are climbers' euphemisms for falling, while "crater" refers to what happens when you log some flight time all the way to the ground. "Summiting," the term for reaching the top of a mountain, seems almost colorless in comparison. The various heroes, risk-takers, incompetents, and individualists Krakauer captures are more than colorful, whether they summit or not. The author is more interested in exploring the addiction of risk--the intensity of effort--than mere triumph. There's the mythical minimalist climber, John Gill, whose fame "rests entirely on assents less than thirty feet high," and the Burgess brothers--freewheeling, free-floating English twins who seem to make all the right decisions when it counts, and hence most often fail to reach the top. Of course, they are alive. Over these and other talented climbers hangs a malignant, endlessly creative nature--its foehn winds can make people crazy and its avalanches do far worse. Eiger Dreams is an adrenaline fest for the weary, an overdue examination of a stylish, brave subculture. As one of the heroes Krakauer outlines says of his occupation, "It's sort of like having fun, only different."

Epic: Stories of Survival from the World's Highest Peaks

A word of advice if you sit down to enjoy this book: bundle up. Like climbers, you'll begin to experience the overriding sensation of bitter cold mixed with jubilation at reaching the summit (and in some cases, reaching the bottom safely). With the success of Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air and other accounts of Everest expeditions, the time is ripe for a collection of epics. An "epic" means the climb went wrong: the party got lost, an avalanche destroyed the camp, climbers got frostbitten, etc. All those disasters and more are here; in fact, one of the most harrowing passages recounts a climber watching helplessly as a colleague slides off a cliff into 4,000 feet of thin air. Editor Willis has chosen the contributions wisely: these men are writers as well as climbers, and despite the numbing cold throughout, the action never stops, even when Art Davidson and crew are stuck in a tent on Mt. McKinley for days in minus-148 degree wind chills. All the stories here are celebrations of the good and the bad about one of the most dangerous things humans try simply because they can. Joe Collins

  Into the Wild   by Jon Krakauer

Amazon.com review
"God, he was a smart kid..." So why did Christopher McCandless trade a bright future--a college education, material comfort, uncommon ability and charm--for death by starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods of Alaska? This is the question that Jon Krakauer's book tries to answer. While it doesn't—cannot—answer the question with certainty, Into the Wild does shed considerable light along the way. Not only about McCandless's "Alaskan odyssey," but also the forces that drive people to drop out of society and test themselves in other ways. Krakauer quotes Wallace Stegner's writing on a young man who similarly disappeared in the Utah desert in the 1930s: "At 18, in a dream, he saw himself ... wandering through the romantic waste places of the world. No man with any of the juices of boyhood in him has forgotten those dreams." Into the Wild shows that McCandless, while extreme, was hardly unique; the author makes the hermit into one of us, something McCandless himself could never pull off. By book's end, McCandless isn't merely a newspaper clipping, but a sympathetic, oddly magnetic personality. Whether he was "a courageous idealist, or a reckless idiot," you won't soon forget Christopher McCandless.
 

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