Whitetail in 36C

pinwheel · Sep 25, 2002

I am knew to this sight and to coues whitetail hunting. I have drawn a 36c tag in late October. I have a really good idea about the style of hunting it takes to be succesful and the right rifle, binos, and equipment. What I need is a little help with the place to hunt. I have been to the map store and got some really good maps. I have taken many whitetails back in the midwest no monsters but a few good ones 130-160's. I have a couple of really nice mounts, I would love to stuff an 80 inch coues in between a 135 and 150 inch eastern on my wall in the den. Don't get me wrong I would love to take a 100 inch coues but I am not going to be to greedy on my first coues hunt. If any one is interested in giving me a little guidance on a place to start it would really be appreciated. If you do not want to post the info to the public my email is [email protected]. I am going for a drive to the unit this weekend. I could really use a little help. Thanks

Bura Nut · Sep 27, 2002

pinwheel: start visiting this board regularily, add any info you have to other threads and let us get a little familiar with you. This internet is somewhat new to all of us and we treat this as meeting place and want to know you a bit before just passing out info. Dont take this as rude, think of it as if you just walked into a local club and are new, you need to be introduced around and then people will start talking......

crazyaboutcoues · Sep 27, 2002

I agree with Bura, it's hard to just give information to someone that is new to the site.

So where are you from? Is this your first time hunting the western states? How did you find out about Coues deer?

TwoPointDN · Sep 28, 2002

I draw the late hunt in this unit and if you play with this web sight you will learn lot about coues deer. The guys in the coues forum are really good. The best advice I have got is to get ahold of Duwain Adams. Bura Nut has his web address.

Good Luck I am in the same boat but finding info on a hunt is pretty fun and you can meet some really nice people.

Bura Nut · Sep 28, 2002

If you want to talk with Duwane Adams, he is back from Unit 1 Elk and will be around for about 3 more days. Call him at 520-385-4995. his website is www.arizonabiggamehunting.com as for 36c, I have scouted twice and saw one good buck and about 7 small ones. There is plenty of good browse/new Ocotillo leaves etc.... and water for a good season. The unit is a bit rugged if you actually hike in like you should. The access is a bit tough with alot of private land, but with Duwanes map service, it has saved me some time by not second guessing where I can get in, who owns what land, what is private etc....... I hope to scout it again once I get back from Wyoming, just before the first October 25th hunt. email me if you need a little more info [email protected] p.s. David, send me a note so we can compare info..........Allen

pinwheel · Sep 28, 2002

Sorry I haven't responded to my own add but, I was planning a scouting trip to the unit for today. I just got back a couple of hours ago. I left at 2:30 am from Gilbert, the first thing I see is you will have to be in pretty good shape to be succesful in this hunt. The second thing I learned is a pair of hunting pants with built in chaps are a must as well as a snag proof long sleeve shirt along with a bug proof face net. The terrain is rough and the knats are bad. I mainly did a preliminary scouting trip that will enable me to make a 3 day trip prior to my hunt. I have picked out a couple of canyons that I will now crawl up in and glass for a few morning and evenings before my hunt. Since this is such an early hunt my guess is that if I am in a canyon that has deer it will take a lot of patience and plenty of hours of early and late glassing from one spot or another. I think if I am in the right spot I may be looking to take advantage of another hunter pushing the deer by me. If this was the late hunt of course the rut would make them move. But I get the feeling there will be a lot of other hunters that may push the deer by the guy who is set up early and stays late. If there is another approach to try I would love to hear it. One question I have is will the deer move on the ridges up on top or will it just be a matter of them going from hill to hill in any unpredictable path or manner. What will spur them to move the most? Pressure from other hunters, water, food, or just routine? And by the way what do they eat? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also I will not over look any info on a proven area in 36c during the late October hunt my spots are preliminary and not proven, but I am going back before the hunt for a full scale scouting trip. Thanks A Bunch

pinwheel · Sep 28, 2002

I am sorry someone had ask me a few questions about myself and I got so caught up in this hunt I forgot to address them. I am from Missouri. I spent the first 30 years of my life growing up in a small farming community there. I took my first turkey when I was 13 or 14 and have taken 2 birds every spring and 2 birds every fall since, until I moved out west about 1 year ago. I took my first eastern whitetail when I was 13 also, I was extremely lucky, my first buck was 23 inches wide perfect 4 x 4 or 8 point with an 11 inch drop tine that came off the main beam. It grossed 163 and netted 150 inches. I have taken several eastern whitetail bucks with a bow and haven't skipped a year taking one with a gun or muzzle loader. I have one p & y with my bow that scored 130 and a 140 with my muzzle loader I also have a hand full of 125's or so that I took with a combination of my rifle and muzzle loader. I was hung up on the muzzle loader for a few years. No monsters just a few nice mounts. My passion now is to take a coues that would make a nice mount to go along with my easterns. I would be thrilled with an 80 incher. I would also like to take a nice muley someday but I could see this coues thing be coming a bit obsessive, I think it is the type of hunting that will require you to fine tune your techniques. Well I have taken up engough space here tonight. Thanks for listening. Scott

crazyaboutcoues · Sep 29, 2002

Sounds like you've spent alot of time in the field. I am some what in the same boat as you, I've taken plenty of mulies and a few coues, and this year i'm going to have a "shot" at a eastern whitetail in Kansas. I've never even seen an eastern in real life so i'm pretty pumped. The bad thing about this hunt is that it's with a smoke pole. I've had some pretty bad luck with the old front loader in the past, I think I would rather hunt with my bow.

As for 36c I would definetly get in good with Bura nut, I think he just might have every coues tied to a tree by now. he he

Later
Tommy

Bura Nut · Sep 29, 2002

Hey pin: if you get chaps, dont get the nylon ones they make way too much noise. If you want briar proof pants, maybe Filsons wax saddle cloth. once you have hunted here enough, you build caluses up on your thighs/arms LOL........then you dont use the chaps. I personally dont think you can pattern coues like an eastern. I think "generally" bigger coues bucks are up a bit higher on the mountain than the smaller bucks. I believe that 3/4 the way up you generally find the bigger bucks. I also believe that with pressure from other hunters, coues will scatter like quail and not necessarily take a predictable escape route like their eastern cousins. The unit you have a tag in should give you an indication that the country is big with no heavily used "trails" so the deer are spread out everywhere. You can also find deer on flats if they havent been pushed. All of this said, I will quote from my buddy Duwane, "The deer are where you find them". At first this statement pissed me off, then I figured out the knowledge behind the statement. Basically hunt your ass off and glass like you have never glassed before, and when you locate deer, then glass even harder because you have deer there you overlooked and you can find a buck if you look hard enough. Pin: you only have a couple days to hunt this new area. Maybe you want to get a tip or two to increase your odds. Holler at me or 520-385-4995 Duwane and talk to him about his map service. I am using it this year for 36c because it is a new area to me and after scouting a couple times I realize what it will take to get a good one......email me or call and we can discuss where you are accessing the unit etc...........Allen

pinwheel · Oct 20, 2002

Well, what an experience. I haven't posted to this thread in a while and thought I would give a quick message about my first real scouting trip in 36c. I have been there just driving around and looking at different canyons. I still haven't had anyone tell me of any paticular canyons but that is ok. After this weekend I have found a place to hunt. I spent 10 hours in one paticular canyon on Sat. glassing. I was as deep in the canyon at the back of the bowl as you could get. Never saw one deer. I did spook one out of her bed by accident. I loved the glassing but decided I was doing something wrong. I was dissapointed and not feeling very good about my chances for next weekend. Then with 2 hours left of daylight I was driving out when I ran across a few guys just kicking back along the edge of an old camp site. I almost drove by them. But decided to stop and pick their brain about this type of hunting. I hit the jackpot. This group of guys were excellent coues hunters. After looking at numerous pictures of some great deer they had taken they offered me a beer. Granted I knew I should be glassing a hill somewhere but I was getting so much good advise I could not leave. That is when the coolest thing happened. The one guy made a bet with his buddy that he could spot a deer from this make shift camp. He set up his tripod and glasses and started glassing a little baren hill that I was sure had no deer on it. While I and a couple of the other guys were busy talking hunting we heard the all to familiar sound of someone spotting game. "I got deer" he said. A buck, a great buck. After looking at this buck through 4 different glasses and a 60x spotting scope with half the buck in the skyline for over 2 hours we all decided this buck would make between 95 and 105 inches. Our guess is 102. A beutiful buck. Perfect 3 point with a spread of 16-17 inches. At least 8 inch G2's and his G3's were really impressive probably 6 maybe 7 inches with great eye brow tines to match. This buck has got me excited. I cannot wait till Friday. I am sure I will not get lucky enough to kill him but if I do I will post a picture. I gained more knowledge watching that buck for two hours and talking to those experienced hunters than 2 weeks worth of scouting would have ever taught me. If any of the guys that were in this camp read this thread, Thanks A Bunch you are one classy bunch of hunters. One other note. I was advised by the border patrol to be really alert in camp at night. They are having alot of problems with illegal aliens and drug trafficing in this unit lately. There have been a few murders steming from mexican coyote gangs. So if you are in this unit be careful.

crazyaboutcoues · Oct 21, 2002

Those two guys wouldn't happen to be the Dieson brothers, would they?

Bura Nut · Oct 21, 2002

Glad you had the opportunity to talk with these guys. I was up in the unit saturday morning and saw 7 bucks. As you probably learned from those guys, glassing is an art that takes a bit of time to learn how to find the deer. We glassed a group of bucks up at about 1/2 mile and watched them for the better part of an hour. You learn alot about deer when you can watch them undisturbed.... Thanks, Allen......

pinwheel · Oct 21, 2002

I am not sure who these fellows were. But I am sure they were not brothers. There was actually 5 of these guys together. The one thing I know is they had a bunch of pictures of great bucks they have taken. And I am excited about Friday morning.