San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation Coues Deer Hunt Summary

by Nathan Pamplin, Wildlife Biologist
February 4, 2003

The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in east-central Arizona has been noted as one of the premier places to hunt Coues deer.  The Reservation is 1.8 million acres in size and has Coues deer located throughout the region.  Habitat is extremely diverse and ranges from Sonoran desert to coniferous forest.  The Reservation issues tags on a first-come, first serve basis.  Two hunts are held each year; a pre-rut hunt in late-November and a rut hunt in January.  For the 2003-2004 hunts, 45 tags will be made available for the November pre-rut hunt and 78 tags will be made available for the January rut hunt.  The Reservation is divided into four hunting units, with tag prices varying depending on the unit and the season dates.  Tags range in price from $700 to $3,000.  Only one sub-unit is Tribal guide required, but the rest of the units do not require a guide.  However, if you do hire a guide, they must be a Tribal licensed guide. For more information about tag prices, season dates, regulations, and tag availability contact the San Carlos Recreation and Wildlife Department at (928) 475-2343.

The November 2002 and January 2003 data is still being compiled.

If you want to see some more detailed, but older data that Amanda Moors compiled as biologist from 1995-99, click here(PDF file, 1MB).  Otherwise some of the success rates are shown below.

Historical Success Rates and Rack Size for Coues Deer November Harvest Statistics (Units A, B, C)

Year	Percent Success	Avg. Pts. Right Antler	Avg. Pts Left Antler
2001	25	3.67	3.33
1998	38	4.07	3.93
1997	33	3.75	3.58
1996	32	NA	NA
1995	43	3.78	4.22
1992	30	NA	NA

Coues Deer January 2002 Harvest Statistics

Unit	Hunters	Harvest	Success
A	7	2	29
B	6	6	100
C	10	0	0
D	13	9	69
Unreported	4	1	25
Total	40	18	45

Historical Success of Coues Deer January Hunts (all units combined)

Year	Percent Success
2002	45
1999	65
1998	60
1997	45
1996	74

Tagged San Carlos