help a newbie out

LAST EDITED ON Feb-28-08 AT 01:46PM (MST)[p]I want to find a DIY coues hunt. I mainly hunt with a bow, but would chase them with a rifle as well. I live in Utah so the hunt would have to be worth the time and money to travel out of the state. I don't need it to be a trophy hunt, but would like to see decent sized animals. I know nothing about the little things but think they would be a blast to hunt. I don't care what state its in, AZ or New Mexico. Or what ever other states have them.
OTC tags would be the best, but I am willing to wait it out for better units as well. I noticed that there are a few 100% draw places in New Mexico. But I'm going to assume that the hunt quality is not there on these units. Other than 23,27 in NM, Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on where to start. I'm not looking for your honey holes but, places to start. Its not really feasable to scout a place that could be 8+ hours away. So any tips will help.

for AZ - I would check the hunting statistics report available from G & F. I would specifically look at the rifle hunter success rates. The units with higher success rates for rifle hunters will probably be better units for an archer to hunt in. Most of these units will have OTC archery hunts in Aug, Dec and Jan. Be careful of the 'red zone' units associated with higher illegal immigrant traffic than others, especially if you are going to be hunting alone. These typically are the units between the MX boarder and the I-10 interstate.

for NM - not as much familiar with NM archery hunting for coues other than the better units are draw for archery, specifically 23 Burro Mtn and 27. there is a guy in NM that offers DIY scouting services and can be found on the internet. considering the price of gas and the distance to and from UT and NM, probably would be money well spent if you were successful in drawing a tag.

finally, there is another site that is specifically dedicated to coues whitetail deer and a newbie could literally spend days on this other site researching them. this other site can easily be found on the internet.

word of warning - hunting coues deer is extremely addicting. quality optics used with a tripod are a must.

good luck!!!

There are certainly options. Just my 2 cents:

For New Mexico, you could consider the archery hunts (in order) 27, 23Burros and 24. All are during the rut in january. You will need some luck with the draw but they should be pretty good when your chance comes around. In Arizona, you'll have more opportunity. Most of the units in the southern part of the state hold coues deer with decent bucks and many have over the counter archery tags that you could count on each season. There's the first season in late August/early September and a late season going from mid December through January. You could also always apply for the rifle draw. The October and November tags have prettyy good draw odds, but you will have lots of hunters in the field and warm to hot weather. December rifle hunts are premium and are tough to draw. My buddy archery hunted unit 29 for years and harvested a few pope and young bucks and I have rifled hunted it and have seen some good sized deer south of Wilcox, AZ. Good luck on whatever you decide, but I see successfully archery hunting coues deer for you as very possible with out a huge investment, especially if you plan on maikng a yearly or every couple season trip (you'll find out their habits and hot spots after some time in the field with them)!

I have done lots, and need to do more homework, but want to hunt these critters every year or so.
Thanks for the insight. I'll keep chipping away at it.

Since you will need to purchase a hunting license to apply for a rifle permit in AZ, it might make sense to buy an OTC archery deer tag if you do not draw a coveted December coues tag. That way, you could archery hunt in late August/early Sept and again in December, thus learning the unit for which you may eventually draw a rifle permit. If you intend to apply the following year, you could buy the license early and buy an OTC achery permit for the yaear and begin archery hunting in January. I figure it may take 6 years to draw a Dec tag, but you could archery hunt every year. Last year, there were leftover rifle coues tags for some October coues hunts in certain units along the Mexican border, so picking one of these up may be a possibility if there are some left over again.

I believe the archery deer hunt in unit 22, which has a good coues population, will go to a draw next year. Unit 6A has a less dense population, but is not open to archery deer hunting in Dec/Jan. The units with the highest coues population will be in southern AZ.

You might consider Duwane Adams book- How to Hunt Coues Deer. The AZ G&F website also gives general areas to hunt for each unit.

Doug ~RR

AZ unit 23 has some nice deer as well and atleast when I lived there had good numbers!

DITTO on reading Duwane's book, How to Hunt Coues Deer. A MUST READ if you want to hunt these things. The book lines it out A-Z on what to do. The rest is up to you! Good luck! They are fun to hunt. You'll love it.

Scott G.