Search the Community

I thought I'd post a pic of some old finds-sorry, no ATL's. The elk shed is not only my first brown ever, but found on my first day of my first-ever turkey hunt, in 2004, unit 27. It's unique, it's just the eye guard. There was obviously some trauma to this bull early in the growing season. The antelope shed (sheath) was found (among others) on my first antelope hunt, in Wyoming, 2005. The Coues shed was found on my first Coues hunt in the Chiriquahua's, 2004. It's the smallest 3 point shed I've ever found.

Got it done down south on a 115 with serious mass at 350 yards and my brother smoked a 120 inch with double main beam at 600 yards. Be back next year.

A buddy and I went looking for coues deer and sheds Saturday. The weather was perfect and so was the day, we saw 7 bucks, 15 doe's and picked up 8 coues sheds. I picked up 5 which is the most I have ever found in one day, my buddy found the big one of the day.

Peaking past the rock I had snuck towards for the last couple hours I knew it was a matter of time before an opportunity presented itself. Knowing the buck was truly of the maturity I go into primitive country for and a rare find, my nerves were frazzled with anticipation. Held up in a shallow pocket hiding from the intense wind he was being harassed by a little buck constantly pestering his wishes for seclusion with the prize doe. Little did he know that young buck was the lesser of nearby problems. Another ripple in his plans was patiently waiting at the edge of shooting range amongst the boulders down wind. With an arrow knocked and range finder being gripped with cold white knuckles I watched this impressive show of nature at its finest. The Coues whitetail rut in the desert sky island mountains where the best deer on earth fight to pass on their genes and survive a rough world covered with adverse habitat and predators. That's my place in this equation, a predator. Doing everything I can within law and ethics to tilt success in my direction. All I needed was a break in the wind or for the deer to close the gap between us. Rain was coming down sideways directly into my freezing face. An especially violent burst of wind ripped the hat off my head and launched it straight up into the air while the buck was facing me. The movement caught his eyes that were now drilling holes in me with suspicion. Suddenly action was necessary and I was drawn trying to settle my pin on the target as my accuracy was being tugged at by a fierce wind. I squeezed off the shot and immediately knew it was over. I had mixed emotions watching as an arrow I'd worked so hard to deliver zinged past the trophy leaving what I'd been dreaming of unscathed. At the last instant a gust of side wind altered my form just enough to send the arrow a few inches from driving my broadhead into the kill zone. On one hand I felt utterly hopeless and letdown that I could drop the ball in such a critical moment. Although, on the other hand this defeat was countered by relief of knowing it was a clean miss. There's nothing worse than wasting an animal with a bad hit that may kill it but not quickly enough to recover it for the dinner table or the wall of memories and accomplishments. This episode would replay in my head many times and haunt me for the rest of he season or longer. It's a far and difficult walk in the dark back to the truck after such a thing. It's funny somehow, with an extra 80 pounds or so the walk is no big deal, if it goes differently in that moment of truth. Archery spot and stalk hunting coues deer on public land wouldn't be what it is without much disappointment to elevate the rare success. This was only January 1st and I knew it couldn't be that easy. At least one close call was out of the way in order to get to my buck! Unable to relocate that deer I moved on to other plans I had for the one month long season. Giving myself a chance to walk, and see, over new ridge lines is part of this addiction so I did my best to put that missed opportunity behind me to pursue another. A week later with several spots checked off the list my hunting partner Creed and I decided to execute a three day backpack hunt we've been discussing for quite some time. Creed had already tagged out, harvesting an impressive mule deer but was generous enough to lend me a hand as a spotter for this trip. Many miles, two and half days and about 180 coues deer later we were running out of coues country near the flats at our pickup location. We saw only one buck we thought was over four years old and wouldn't you know it was one of the only deer that saw us before we saw him. All I had to show for another weekend was a wrecked bow. Walking to our next designated camp spot on the last night I lost my footing, like so many times before, but this time my reflex to protect my bow wasn't fast enough causing it to crash into rocks. The next day surprisingly it was still functional and accurate, I thought. Then something I never expected occurred, I decided to stalk a mule deer. Creed had spotted a nice one over a mile away out in the flats. Once I had crawled within 45 yards I drew back and grunted to stand him up. I took careful aim and felt great, with basically no wind or obstacles to worry about. He stood broadside as I watched my arrow sail past him. As it turned out my bow and site were more damaged than I thought and it was shooting all over the place. This discovery ended our trip a half day early. A big thanks to Creed's wife for taking the time to come pick us up and give us a ride back to our vehicles. That next week she harvested her first deer with a bow! A really cool coues buck at close range, spot and stalk, with Creed at her side, so awesome! As soon as I got home I started getting things tightened and tuned back up on my bow. After several shots, I reached full draw and it exploded as a limb went flying and the string smacked my arm. I couldn't believe my eyes, looking at what was left in my hands. Even more, I could imagine January slipping away before it was repaired. I had apparently damaged the string when I fell, is my best guess, and it finally snapped. I started the process with Bull Basin Archery Shop in Tucson and they did everything they could for a prompt solution, as always. In the meantime I pulled out my old bow I had kept as my backup and wiped the dust off of it. I've done just fine with this bow in the past and felt a little spark of excitement to give it another chance to shine! My dad and his hounds are a mountain lions worst enemy wreaking havoc on their population with unforgiving pursuit which benefits us both. Occasionally receiving a tip from the other as to the location of sign, or in this case "Cody I found your buck"! With careful reference and explanation we were confident I could get into where he saw "the kind of buck your after". Earlier in the month I had spent two days looking for this buck but couldn't seem to turn him up. Now a few weeks later I returned with a new plan to glass it all again. Coming in from a different angle and to look at a lot of new country further in too. This turned out to be one of the least eventful mornings I've ever had so I just kept moving, dissecting pocket after canyon after hillside of beautiful coues paradise. Unfortunately I came to the conclusion I either forgot how to spot deer or they all died. As I looked around while hiking I glanced over at a distant ridge that brought back a welcomed memory of my daughter finding her first shed, from the back of a trustworthy mule. It was a couple years prior while we were lion hunting with the old man. She about fell off her mule with excitement and I was ecstatic from her reaction. The same day I narrowly escaped the strike of a rattler as I was on foot and to this day she asks me if I remember when it happened , saying that I "screamed like a girl"! Words she conveniently got from her Papa, thanks a lot Dad. Then I was brought back to the present with burning muscles and sore feet wondering what was going on today with the lack of deer. Times like these always confuse me but after some encouragement through text from my brother Caleb and friend Creed, I continued my search for what had to be somewhere in front of me. Caleb also advised me not to fall and break my bow so that was helpful. I used to hike insane distances while hunting but over the years I've learned the trick is in glassing. For me anyways what has done me well is to hike quite a bit still but usually mostly before daylight to get where I wanna hunt and then glass most of the day, just changing vantage points periodically. Regardless, nothing seamed to be panning out deer and before I knew it I was near the top of those gigantic mountains. It was about noon so I decided to glass real quick one more time before eating lunch. The wind had come in hard so I put my nose straight at it and started picking apart the amazing real estate. Everything out to about 1000 yards. Within a short time my count for the day rapidly hit nearly 20 deer and I spotted a bedded buck on the furthest hill! I watched him a bit and took some video through my brothers spotter that he was nice enough to lend me. I looked around a while longer partially due to initially under judging him. Nothing else surfaced so I decided to cut the distance by moving through the first canyon between the buck and I, getting on the low ridge between us. After hustling to the new lookout, it had been about 30 minutes. I found the buck still bedded, now at 350 yards. Two deer I spooked during my approach were running right towards him. He got up and some semi serious rutting action started up with him lip curling after a doe, a spike was in the mix increasing commotion as well. I watched them long enough to decide they weren't going anywhere while coming up with a new plan. Initially coming from below him would have worked but once he started chasing the doe, all three deer ended up near the top of the ridge. Between the several options I had now the best one was of course, the most difficult and the most time consuming. I needed to circle way around the high point to my right and down along the backside of the ridge the deer were on. This would put everything needed for a successful stalk in my favor. Having the wind from that angle I wouldn't have to worry about his nose at all. His ears wound be a minimal threat and his eyes wouldn't be a problem until I was about 60 yards away. Noting a handful of landmarks I would need during my advance on the ridge line and the group of trees where he had now re bedded, I took off. This half loop was steep and rough but needed to be knocked out quick considering I wouldn't be able to see the deer for about 45 minutes. By the time I got to the high point I crept to the edge of a cliff with burning legs and lungs, for an update on his location. He was bedded a little different now but in the same thicket indicating he had probably jumped up to chase the spike away from the bedded doe. The spike was standing about 20 yards away staring at his own predicament. I eased out of sight and carefully continued my circle to a specific rock that still looked like a good place to wait for a shot. Angling across the ridge now I peaked over every 30 yards or so to make sure they weren't coming towards me. The wind was coming from my right more than I had hoped, if they started my way without me knowing all would be lost. Finally I eased up to my final land mark. My view was different now into the thicket and I thought he was gone at first. I ranged where he should be, 60 yards. I slowly focused through the branches with my binos trying to pick him out. There it was, the tip of an antler, unmoving. I looked closer and realized I could see patches of fur through the vegetation. He hadn't moved and was clueless at 60 yards. The wind was whipping past me and almost took my hat off! I quickly grabbed it and flipped it around backwards shaking my head, thinking "you shouldn't have to learn that one twice"! I lowered to a crawl and inched around the boulder and started forward. I made it to the next low rock and ranged again, 46 yards. I prepared an arrow and did a quick scan over my gear; release, broadhead, sights, peep site, etc. I waited a few minutes and was having deja vu. A big buck with a doe and a tormenting youngster hiding from the weather. With me on the sidelines behind a rock shaking in my boots. I realized my mouth felt like I had just munched on chalk, regretting not taking a drink before leaving my pack. I tried to figure out what might cost me this deer and recalled three weeks earlier when I rushed a shot in high winds. The rock I was behind was more like a shelf overlooking the inhabited pocket below. The rock shelf ran down hill and away from the deer to my left. I would have to move further away back out to 50 yards but I could stay undetected by sliding along behind it to get below this deafening wind. In examination of this idea I believe I lifted my head too high. I heard rustling and hooves pounding. Darting my eyes toward the noise I saw the spike only 15 feet away sprinting away from me. Oh no, flagging his tail he ran right past the bigger buck. I saw grey bodies race away in multiple directions. As deer disappeared over the crest of the hill I didn't notice a mass of antlers on any of them. I glanced all around and my eyes locked on the big buck staring in my direction, he had stood up and takin a few steps. Standing slightly quartered away, his vitals were at the ends of branches but there was a shot. I drew back in a low position out of sight. As I raised above the rock just enough to clear a shot his head jolted in recognition. I hadn't had time to move out of the wind and now it was costing me once again. My pin was wobbling in no less than a four foot pattern in and out of the grey shape in the background. I held it for I think about 15 seconds when the occasional break in the wind came just in time. I felt a relaxing moment replace rigidness throughout my body and time stood still. Pressure had started beneath my trigger finger. The bow sprang with energy sending the arrow on course. The buck became unglued with a desperate jump and was gone an instant later. I saw a flash of fletchings somewhere in the confusion and was unsure. I jumped up on the rock and held my breath in study of the bowl below me. A glimpse of movement caught my eye around 150 yards away. I noticed immediately it was the buck crashing to the ground, out of sight into tall yellow grass! My body was in pain from stress and I about fell off the rock face! Yardage updates had gone into a group text all along and now I sent "I just shot him", "saw him drop". This is sort of foolish to do during a stalk but I've learned it helps keep me calm. I called my wife to share the news who also told some excited kids. While talking to Creed and Caleb and my Dad I returned along my path to retrieve my pack a short ways. Twenty minutes went by and I decided that was long enough considering what I witnessed moments after the shot. I went to the bucks bed and right away noticed blood everywhere on the off side of where he had been standing when shot. Within ten feet on the blood trail was a deer shed sprayed with blood, that's a first and maybe last for me. I was giggling like a child with satisfaction of the evidence before me. I worked my way along, straight down hill in disbelief of the sheer drop off leaps this deer made. Fairly soon I could see a main beam sticking up a short ways off. I could hardly contain myself as I finally laid my hands on this elusive critter I can't get enough of. Examining my shot I couldn't have been more pleased, the entrance was in the rib cage and the exit was directly behind the opposite shoulder, double lung! Soaking in these moments is what it's all about. Unfortunately I was in a hurry to take decent pictures with my phone, using the timer, because it was dying fast. Time for the real work. I hung him from an oak branch and removed the meat into my pack and loaded everything else. It was just getting dark once I finished. I struggling for a minute to get my pack on and get stood up. The trip down would be on a ridge I'd never been on and now I know why. Negotiating myself with this load down through dozens of cliffs in the dark for the next few hours was quite a chore. By the time I reached my truck I thought I would collapse. Then it started raining and snowing, just in time, headed for home. I'd like to thank Caleb and Creed for all the support that goes back and forth, it's nice to share such a passion with great friends and family. Big thanks to my dad who gave me the tip to look for a different deer that led me to finding my latest trophy. Hopefully I find the deer he saw, next year, according to his description it's one worth dedicated time to locate. Also, growing up in the outdoors and working hard under his watch made my success at harvesting wildlife more possible. Above all I'd like to recognize my wife for being awesome mostly but also for her support in life. I couldn't imagine blundering through it without her and our amazing kids. Well, at least I only have to wait another 342 days for the next January 1st..!

So after seeing some of the latest big "Coues" deer in various threads and other places, I was wondering what GnF and the record books use for the definitive call on these. If a nice 175lb buck clearly has a big forked Mule deer rack and a "white tail" tail, can you hang either tag on him? Even if you saw them both prior to shooting, which way does it go? Or do you just wait for archery season and not worry about it? (Doesn't help with the record books though) I just searched the 2017 Main Regs and couldn't find anything about it. Some of the F1 hybrids may be easy to spot but as time goes by, it's going to get harder and harder to distinguish the differences between the two. Makes you wonder how many F2's, F3's etc will end up in the books.

Excited to get out this weekend for my first coues hunt. Does anybody know were I can find (internet or store) a map of San Carlos, specifically unit D? We'll have a guide but I like to know where we are at/going... Anybody have any luck in this area?

This looks like a really old deer to me... thoughts?

Me and a couple buddies from here had an awesome season chasing these bucks. We couldnt quite close the distance enough, but we did manage to get some good footage of these bruisers! Enjoy

Here's a collection of some of my favorite video clips from the last 5 rutting seasons. I've been thinking about doing something like this for a while now and even though a lot of you have seen most(not all) of this footage I feel the layout of the video is different enough from the originals to make it worth watching. Hope this gets you coues nuts out there pumped for the upcoming season. Good luck everyone and enjoy!

Here's a little something to help past the time while we wait for the draw results to come out. Hopefully they'll be out within the next couple weeks but until then we might as well watch some coues footage while we wait. On a side note the footage looks noticeably better in 4K/1440 this is if your computer can handle it. Also I don't know if it's just my PC or not but to get the video to play in 4K/1440 I have to restart the video after selecting one of these two settings. I don't know why this is but for me the video will not start playing after I select 4k/1440 unless I slide the red timeline bar back to the start of the video.

Game Planner Maps is an official sponsor of CouesWhitetail.com. Please check out our Sponsor Spotlight to learn more about the resources and products we provide. Be sure to Register and try the free interactive Map Viewer. Game Planner Maps provides a vast catalog of spatial data for researching your unit and tools for printing your own hunting maps. After you register be sure to check your email inbox/spam folder for your confirmation email. Click here for tutorials on printing your own maps and importing maps to your mobile device. Thanks Ed

Going back through some pics, I noticed the white splotches all over this guy's legs.

Every year I do one trip with some old friends to hunt whitetail in Sonora. This year was especially good since I harvested probably the second largest Coues deer I have ever gotten. My friend also got a huge deer that unfortunately had one whole side knocked off due to fighting. I grew up in Sonora and hunting Coues was a large part of my childhood. My dad thought me the ins and outs of these animals and every year they still amaze me with something I had never seen before. This year the level of rut activity was off the charts. Broken antlers, deer oblivious to our presence or gun shots, scrapes and rubs everywhere, etc. The first photo is the buck I got. It would have been a nice typical 10 point, but the back point was broken off probably during a fight. I got him just about 100 yards from the road. I usually don’t like taking running shots but I took the split second decision to take a shot while he was darting between some mesquites and ocotillos. After I got off the truck, I had probably a 6 feet clearing between some ocotillos and some dense mesquites. Took the shot and the deer turned from broadside to a straight run. Luckily the bullet went in middle of the ribs and exited through the neck. It was only 7:30am and one of my friends still hadn’t taken a shot at one, so we decided to go on search of another buck. After a few hours of hiking we got to an area we knew would probably be fruitful. We spotted a buck following a doe on the same hillside we were hiking. After three shots, my buddy had downed that buck. He was hypnotized with the doe he was following and did not even flinch when my friend narrowly missed on the first two shots. By 11:00am he had his buck and we were on our way back to the truck. Not a bad Sunday morning!!! The second photo is the buck my friend got along with the same one from the first photo. It has awesome mass and the deer itself was huge; unfortunately it had almost a whole side of antlers broken. It had hoofs as large as many mule deer I have seen! The third picture is an old one of my old man with the best buck he ever got in 50 plus years of hunting down there. I believe it was between 2008 and 2010. We haven't scored it yet, but given that it is a typical 10 point buck, it will do pretty well.

After drawing late tags last year I didn't have very high hopes going into the 2015 draw but was pleasantly surprised when the results came out as my cousin and I drew our second choice for another late hunt. Fortunately it was for a unit that I know pretty good and have spent a lot of time in over the years. Without waisting any time we got out to some of my old favorite spots and got cameras hung. I was a little disappointed in the lack of sign we found but wasn't to concerned as it was a late hunt! We had some pretty cool bucks on camera but nothing that got me really fired up, we had 21 days to hunt after all. Fast forward to the end of November and our plans changed significantly. My other hunting partner had drawn a unit 22 desert tag so I committed to helping him and the company we worked for picked up a job in Missouri so I sent my cousin to run it. We both thought no problem, get the sheep hunt over with quick and knock the job out in a hurry and we'd be in camp before opening day. As these things normally go neither happened and we got to hunt a total of 1.5 days before Christmas. We did pass up a mid nineties buck during that time though but we had both agreed to hold out for a giant until the last couple days of the hunt. While we were home for Christmas I spent some time discussing areas and strategies with another forum member (thank you by the way) and I had high hopes heading to camp at 3:00 am the next morning. I met up with John and we hiked into an area I had been wanting to look at for a while. It was perfect, snow on the ground and the air was still. Unfortunately that didn't last long and we got hammered with a blizzard. Another day lost. That evening John came down with the crud and headed home as he was in bad shape. That left me solo during the days and my dad in camp at night as he was hunting muley's in the flats with his bow. The next couple days were uneventful with a few bucks spotted and passed in some gorgeous country. The next morning I woke up to some fresh snow and decided I'd load up in the side by side and head over to retrieve our last camera we had out. As I was pulling out of camp John rolled in. I asked how he was feeling and he replied good enough since there were only three days left. We bundled up and headed out. After glassing our way in we finally made it to where we'd hike in to get the camera. John glassed the ridge above our camera and spots a buck rutting a doe. We look him over and recognize him from our pictures as a buck we named the barrel buck due to his large body. I told John to pack his gear and go kill the buck, he however was still felling under the weather and didn't think he could make it up the ridge so off I went. The rest was pretty uneventful. After a long cold ride back to camp that night we looked at our pictures and knew where we would hunt the last two days of the year. After a pretty uncomfortable trip back to where we were a few short hours previously we set up our glass and got to work. Not long after John says those magic words, "I've got a buck, a big buck". He was buried in a jungle chasing a doe hard and I knew this would be a little bit tricky to make happen. We set up some landmarks and agreed on some distinguishing names and off John went to stalk the giant. The next 4.5 hours were some of the longest of my life. The snow would move in and I'd lose all visibility, it would clear and I'd get lucky and re-spot the buck, I'd walk John into him and sometimes he'd get a shot and sometimes it would be so thick he couldn't see the buck which was less than 20 yards from him. We some how kept it all together and John was able to seal the deal on the buck we named Yeti. It was an incredible hunt and got even better when my dad was able to seal the deal with only minutes to spare on this nice archery muley! In tense situations emotions can get pretty hot but having good hunting partners like I do we always come away smiling. Most of these pictures are in this video but I had some live footage as well that I wanted to share. Hope you all enjoy. https://vimeo.com/150602643

Drew a December Coues rifle tag for the 2nd time in 3 years. Am a non-resident and my point total provided the 2013 tag during the 20% pass. I drew the tag this year in the random pass which took lots of luck since very few tags and lots of applicants. Used a local guide for the 2013 hunt and enjoyed the experience so much was very happy the same guide was available for this hunt as well. This guy knows Coues and you can tell he enjoys being out glassing even when he does not hold the tag. Attached is a close up of the horns. Question: Is that the eye guard that resembles a third beam? Shares a base with the normal main beam so do not think is actually another beam. Not sure. You can even see a small point which may be the eye guard nestled between the main beam and the eye guard (or third beam).

So yesterday SPOTnSTALKer asked if I was going to do a coues calendar for 2016 and the thread expired?? I don't understand that but anyway, As I stated I'm wanting to put one together if I'm lucky enough to get some good pics. I would like to see how many people are interested in buying one if I can get it done. I cant promise I will have one but I promise to try my hardest to get enough pics to put one together. Please let me know how many of you are interested. Thanks, Pixman aka Darren

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/sportsmans/Mahco-Covert-Neoprene-Padded-Seat/productDetail/Chairs-Seats-and-Loungers/prod999901363502/cat100884 just do it, you'll love yourself later.

SOLD....... I have a coues cape from the mature (3x3 about 80") buck we harvested in unit 33 on November 9. it was on ice for 2 days then frozen. I took the cape way back to around the last rib so there is plenty available for a pedestal or wall pedestal mount. $100

Opened my email this morning and saw an email from MeatEater, the tv show with Steve Rinella. Basically the email said the new season started tonight and thank you for being apart of the mailing list. Reading a little further down, they sent a link for a free episode. Follow the link and type in the code MEATEATERMAIL and you can watch it. You don't have to fill in any credit card info just go to the "use code" tab under Postal Code. https://meateater.vhx.tv/buy/volume-9-ep-1-sky-island-solitaire-backpack-hunting-coues-deer-in-arizona I thought it was a very good episode.

I know this story is a little late in the year, but I thought I'd share it anyway! This is my second archery coues deer with my Mathews Jewel. I hunted for 8 long days in the best unit in the world (27) and bagged this boy all on my own. It was my first hunt that my dad let me do on my own! I loved the experience of it but it is definitely better to have someone experience it with you and share that story. Anyways, I made a perfect shot right through the lungs at 30 yds. He went maybe 40 yds before he dropped dead:) I shot him with a grim reaper broad head (as well as my 2014 buck) and I will never use any other broad head again! There amazing-in my personal opinion. Also, I don't care if any of you think he's "too small" because I love him and am very proud of him! Thanks for reading! Good hunting, Shelby Teel P.S. If anyone missed my 2014 buck it's on my page, check it out!

I drew a January hunt on the San Carlos for Unit D. I am not one to E Scout, but considering this is my first time hunting the Rez, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. I am looking for any information anyone can provide. Good or Bad. If you prefer, PM's are a great way to not advertise your information. I have an idea of where I want to start, but considering I am unable to scout until 3 days prior I am hoping someone can help ease the learning curve. Someone who had done this before.... Thank you for anything anyone can provide!

So I have posted a few of my pics lately and had a few comments about my pics being in a calendar and I got to thinking about putting a coues buck calendar together. These would all be pics of Az. bucks that I have taken over the years. My latest have been my best but I think I have enough to put together a decent calendar. If I get enough interest I will put one together. Thanks, Pixman

I feel really lucky to have taken some of my best coues bucks photos ever in the last few weeks and wanted to share a few more I took over the weekend. Yes the small buck is missing a front leg but he was getting around pretty good and hanging with a doe.

Been a while since we posted any work on here, so here aresome of the mounts we have sent home recently.... First the kids...these 4 bucks all all youth deer. Nice Desert Mulie... Archery Bull finished up.... And a nice Pronghorn done for a Coueswhitetail member.....