Mule deer vs Coues

Squaw

Active Member
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151
The ?what would you give for a Kaibab tag? has me thinking that it might be time to skip applying for Mule deer and start hunting the smaller coues With point creep I'll prob never see a late Kaibab tag and I can hunt Muleys in Colorado/Wyoming/Utah every year if wanted. Are the early rifle Kaibab tags worth the points or should I look at spending my 9 points on a coues tag?
 
In my opinion, your nine points are much better spent on the early Kaibab hunt. There are going to some huge bucks taken there this year. Just be prepared to walk. Next year apply for a coues deer tag right on the Mexican border. There's a great age class of bucks down there because it's a tiny bit sketchy. You might encounter a few illegals asking for water.
 
I burned 9 pts on the early rifle in 12AW in 2015 and regret it. Lots of talk out there that the Kaibab is back to what it was. Those that are saying that clearly didn't hunt it back in the 80s early 90s. The archery hunts back then were pretty amazing.

My suggestion is to wait for something else or burn them on a late Coues hunt.
 
Hunted 12AW early twice in the last 10 years and was lucky enough to harvest 2 150ish bucks. Yes there are bigger ones out there, but it is not of the lore from the past and the early hunt has a $hit-ton of people hunting.

If I could hunt 150" muleys elsewhere regularly, then i'd do that. Save the points for a late Kaibab hunt or go for your Coues. I don't have much interest in Coues personally (from the midwest where we have 200lb whitetails....not 75lbers).



"...I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six..."
 
Bwht4x4:
Good point about "...back to what it was..." - A bit of perspective from someone who was there in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Mid-80s to early 90s was great. 1990 was unlimited archery tags (probably 1500-2000 hunters based on what I saw), 1300 early hunt tags, 1300 late hunt tags, and 3700 antlerless tags. That year huge bucks were "everywhere" during the archery hunt. I was with a hunter who took a 221" non-typ during the early rifle hunt. But 3700 antlerless tags?! I personally saw 9 does shot and left to waste. Disgusting!

Back in 71 & '72, I only saw one other group of bowhunters during the entire archery season. Big bucks? everywhere. I took a great 6x7 during the archery hunt, but missed 3 other bigger bucks.

Is the Kaibab back to what it was? IMO not hardly. Are there still big bucks? Yes, but you have to work hard & smart to find them, esp. during the early rifle hunt. Is it worth drawing a Kaibab tag? Well, it's still my favorite place to hunt muleys of all the places I've hunted during the past 50 years.
 
I hunted the Kaibab during the archery season last year and there were hunters everywhere, I can't imagine if they were all carrying rifles. That being said, I bet the late hunt would be magical.

I guess it depends on what you're looking for in your hunt. If you want peace and solitude I'd go for the Coues hunt. If you want the chance to get lucky on a big mule deer and don't mind competition hunting then put in for the Kaibab. To me the Coues hunt would be a more quality hunting experience, the early Kaibab rifle hunt would be more of a sh*t show but you'd have the chance to shoot the deer of a lifetime.

I'm from Montana and just recently started hunting Coues. I've definitely become addicted to hunting those little deer.
 
I apply for late bab and am willing to hold out for that tag that I have always hoped to hunt but I only have 8 points I'm curious about how many years it takes to draw one of the late Kaibab hunts ? I understand you can possibly draw any year under the new structure of the drawing system.


https://www.sagemuleys.com
 
BradA,
For unit 12AW in 2018 it took the following points to draw a late season tag in the bonus pass:
Resident =15 points
Non-resident =19 points
Like you said most hunts do have the random draw portion of tags as well.
 
>BradA,
>For unit 12AW in 2018 it
>took the following points to
>draw a late season tag
>in the bonus pass:
>Resident =15 points
>Non-resident =19 points
>Like you said most hunts do
>have the random draw portion
>of tags as well.

Thank you, I appreciate the info and maybe it will help catctusbuck to decide from how far away he is and how long we will have to wait.
https://www.sagemuleys.com
 
Thanks guys for the responses

If the deadline was today I would probably apply for a coues tag as my 2nd choice. I would love to hunt the late kaibab someday but in reality that could still be 25+ years out. I think I'd rather hunt the lesser coues deer??a few times in that 25 year span
 
If you are young 30- or 40's I would hold out for the late bab tag. It is good now and on the upswing.,Good luck. Don't waste points on early hunt.............BULL!
 

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