Rio Sonora Outfitters

[CouesWhitetail]

This month we turn the spotlight on Rio Sonora Outfitters (RSO), owned and operated by Brad Fulk. Brad started his outfitting business in 1999 and his clients have consistently taken some huge animals. Brad has 7 other guides that work for him and they provide some excellent service.

 

Most of you guys have seen this photo already in the forum. This shows team RSO with a giant Coues buck (151 4/8 non-typical) taken by Kevin Kearney (aka Coues Sniper) in the 06/07 season in Mexico. If this doesn't make your jaw drop, I don't know what will!

 

 

 

RSO guides exclusively in Mexico and they provide completely outfitted hunts for Coues Whitetail, Desert Mule Deer, Buffalo, and Gould’s Turkey. They guide about 24-34 deer hunters, 30-40 turkey hunters, and 3-5 Buffalo hunters annually.

 

"RSO provides transportation from Tucson, AZ or Hereford, AZ in and out of Mexico in suburbans. Transportation on the ranches include, 4x4 trucks and suburbans, ATV’s, and horses, all food and drinks (except alcohol) include; steak, chicken, pork lion, hamburgers, chili Colorado, carne asada, eggs, bacon, sausage, chorizo, ham, cereal, beans, fried potatoes/French fries, tortillas, Dutch oven cobbler, fruit pies, ice cream, snacks, fruit, bottled water, soda, Gatorade, and burritos for the lunches, all prepared by our camp cooks. We provide all the legal hunting documentation for the hunts including; Firearms Transportation Permits, Hunting License, Tags, USFWS-Declaration and USDA-Notice of Arrival forms, and completed all the required check-point entering and exiting Mexico.

 

The lodging accommodations are provided and consist of a modern ranch house with running water, electricity (either solar or generator), hot showers, kitchens and a ranch cook prepares all the meals and lunches and cleans the house daily."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RSO is dedicated to finding the buck you are looking for. They serve hardcore trophy hunters as well as a hunter just looking for a good animal to harvest. According to Brad, "We have taken our fair share of 110’+ bucks, but we put a lot of effort into finding them. A large percentage of our hunters are dedicated to taking only 110” or better bucks. This of course helps us as an Outfitter take larger deer, if you shoot a small buck you can’t get take a big one is a good rule to follow. Each year we take 3-5 bucks that exceed 110” gross, and usually one or more in the 120” plus range. Each year can be different due to rainfall and habitat conditions which affect nutrition availability. One year we average 110.5” gross score average on 15 deer taken, but I don’t expect to break that anytime soon Most of our hunters are not concerned about entering their buck in the books, and are not hung up on the fact that their hunt was a bust just because they didn’t take a BC buck, realistic trophy hunters realize it’s not easy and enjoy the hunt regardless. We respect hunters that have the personal discipline to pass good bucks while in search of a 120” buck, it helps the age class of the deer population and allows bucks to develop antlers to their maximum potential during good conditions."

 

 

Success rates are high for RSO clients. According to Brad, "Gould’s Turkey Hunts are in excess of 100% as some hunters shoot a second bird and that is for either Shotgun or Archery hunters, so every hunter for the past several years has taken a turkey. The Coues Deer Hunts are running around 80-90% on average as we have several dedicated trophy hunters that are looking for high scoring deer and pass good deer. We put a lot of effort into scouting ranches, so we often target and hunt for specific bucks. The Buffalo hunts are 100%, as well as our High Desert Mule Deer Hunts. This is our first year hunting Mule Deer in the Sonoran Desert, so I do not have any information on those hunts at this time."

 

 

Let's take a look at some more of their client's trophies.

 

 

How about this 121 from Kyle Welker.....

 

Or this 116 by Kevin K again...

 

 

 

and a few more very nice Coues

 

 

 

And you can't get buffalo with most outfitters, but you can with RSO.

 

 

 

 

And RSO also has some excellent Gould's turkey hunting. This photo was from this past year.

 

 

 

 

Hunting in Mexico is rather daunting for some prospective hunters, so Brad has some advice on choosing an outfitter:

"There are many great Outfitters in the business. I notice new names each year entering the hunting scene in Mexico. It’s a very difficult business to enter in, maintain, and succeed in, due to the fact we are in a foreign country, so many Outfitters fade over a short time due to this. There are other issues to consider, safety and how the Outfitter is liked or accepted in Mexico, many hunters never consider this when booking hunts, they mainly consider the size of deer and the price of the hunts. These are major things to be concerned with obviously, but I think the other factors are very important as well such as, how much experience is behind the Outfitter, is he in good standings with the locals in Mexico, has he had any legal issues in Mexico or the US, or do they over hunt ranches by maximizing the number of hunters they hunt annually, do they move to new ranches frequently because of this, what type of guides do they use, and do they speak English or Spanish only, how much time have they put in on the ranch, and are there representative antlers from the ranch, how much planning is given to the hunts; rut or pre-rut, dark of the moon, etc., what is the average age of the bucks taken on the ranch, ratios, etc. These are legitimate questions that you should get answers to."

 

 

RSO works hard to make sure each hunt is tailored to the needs of the client. They provide advice on equipment, permits, taxidermists and more.

 

"We take the troubles out of traveling into a foreign country to hunt and pay special attention to your needs and requests.

Your success is our success!"

 

 

For more information call Brad or visit his website. Brad has been supporting CouesWhitetail.com for years and is dedicated to making sure his clients have an excellent hunt.

 

Rio Sonora Outfitters, LLC. - P. O. Box 1030 Hereford, Arizona 85615 - (520)-803-9210

Website: http://www.riosonoraoutfitters.com/index.html

[COOSEFAN]

Those are some monster Coues bucks for sure!!! From everything I've heard and seen RSO is one of the best outfits in Mexico and I'm proud to see them as a sponsor of this site! I'm saving my pennies and hope one day I can personnally check them out! JIM>

[Coues Sniper]

Well, if anyone deserves a plug from me, it's Brad Fulk. This guy is the real deal. Brad works extremely hard for his clients, and it shows. Between my father and I, we have killed 3 deer with Brad in the last 4 years and the smallest buck went 116 3/8" . He really wants all of his clients to leave with the buck of their dreams and spends the time to try and find them just that. Many Mexico outfitters will show up to the ranch with the hunters, ask the rancher and the cowboys where they saw some good bucks (if they even do that), and start hunting. Brad actually spends time scouting before season and putting up trail cameras etc., to try and locate the biggest bucks on the ranch BEFORE the hunt starts. And his guides are top notch as well. Several of them have killed 110+ plus bucks in AZ (one was 120+) so they know how to hunt Coues and are excellent at putting a score together on a buck you are trying to decide to shoot or not (one of them pulled my head squarely out of my butt last year ) . He also picked up a couple promising ranches near Hermosillo for this year that have produced some whopper mule deer and Coues deer. If you're looking for a good hunt with some great guys and a good chance at a monster buck, definitely give Brad a call.

[ehunt]

i met Brad on my desert sheep hunt up on the strip. He gave up half a day of his strip deer tag to help gino and i pack out our ram! If not for their help, we would of been staying the night out there deep in that canyon. So from what i know Brad is a stand up guy who seems to have a top notch hunting operation down in Mexico!! If anyone is considering a hunt down there, i would give them a shot. eric

[COUESAZ]

I am glad to see Brad doing so well also. I am sure he is the guy that worked in the mine south of tucson. I used to bring parts in the mine to him in the Empire shop. We used to talk hunting until I had to get back in the truck and head back to Mesa. He has some great hunting photos and he knows Coues deer. Hey Brad if you are on the site. Hi from Jade I used to be an owner operator for ET EXPRESS Empire transport. I owned the two white dodge deisles at that time.

[elkhunter]

Brad's a good guy, lives down in Herford and law enforcer for AZGFD, havent spoken to him much but got to lift some weights wit him at the local gym for a year, he knows his stuff and he'll be able to carry any bucks or bison out of the field for ya

[RSO]

Hey Guys, I just wanted to thank you all for the support! It's great to hear from friends out there. I don't spend a lot of time on forums, but this is one of the best if not the very best! Thanks Amanda and keep it up.

 

None of this would be possible if it wasn't for the great hunters I have had the privilege of taking south, and thanks to the great guides I have, they are irreplaceable!

 

Muchas Gracias!

 

Brad

 

[El Fuego]

I have had the opportunity to hunt with Brad Fulk and his team. And, along with Coues Sniper, have nothing but great things to share about RSO.

 

The RSO team and coueswhitetail.com are a true compliment to one another. Welcome aboard!

 

Best of luck to you this year Brad, along with Paul, and the others on the RSO staff.

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

 

 

We had the pleasure of meeting Brad on "the Strip" last year and all I can say is, "Thanks, Brad!".... What a great guy! All the guys he hunts with are awesome as well!! I'd hunt with those guys any time and their pics are proof of the results they put up in ol' Mex!

[Elkaddict]

All I can say is if it wasn't for Brad I'd never have my picture in any magazines. Fun group to hunt with.

[Coues Archer]

Mann? talk about bucks, Those deer are monsterous. Great job to all hunters of Rio Sonora.