Trophy Hunter Coues Article ?

[TAM]

I am not trying to bash anyone's opinions or experience hunting coues deer here, I am just curious to everyone else's opinions. I got my new Trophy Hunter Magazine last night and as usual I went to the coues deer articles first. In reading the article entitled The Christmas buck the author states:

"...Coues deer never travel the same trails, hence they cannot be tracked; second, coues deer are rarely drawn to water during the day, so you cannot sit and wait for them..."

Again I am not trying to bash anyone here, but my experience and the experience of those with whom I hunt coues is that coues deer will follow the same travel routes, and it is not uncommon for mature bucks to water at mid-day. I have noticed that in the summer months a coues bucks home range is quite small and that they can be seen in the same areas on a regular basis. I have also noticed that they seem to follow the same travel routes to and from feeding and bedding areas during these times. I have also seen coues bucks in the pre rut and rut months that have active scrape lines where they follow the exact same trail as they go from scrape to scrape. I personally have seen just as many bucks watering at mid day as I have during the morning or evening. In fact, I generally see the bigger bucks water at mid day. During the rut when the bucks are chasing does they will water when ever they need water day or night.

I am no expert and I am not saying that coues are predictable and will show at the same places at the same times. I know that everyone has different experiences but what have the rest of you noticed? In your experiences do coues travel the same routes and do they water during the day? Just curious.

 

[huntsonora]

Whitetail deer are territorial by nature. I have personally seen coues deer bucks travel the same trail and I have seen the same bucks in the same area year after year. Furthermore, one of my favorite ways to hunt coues deer in the rut is sit on waterholes during the middle of the day. We have killed good deer by hunting this way. I am no expert when it comes to coues but I know what has worked for me in the past, I am sure that the other "coues nuts" will have more to say on this subject though. Drummond

 

[bullwidgeon]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-20-02 AT 06:09PM (MST)[p]Yeah, that guy was smoking tree or something. They water at midday all the time during late summer and they frequent trails, maybe not as much as their Eastern cousins but they certainly do follow trails again and again. During an August bear hunt in unit 23 one year I was taking a nap about 100 yards from a pond during midday and everytime I woke up, I saw different groups of coues (including some weener bucks) coming to water solidly from about 10AM -2 PM. I went back the next day and set up farther away and above the tank during the midday and glassed the same deer hitting the same tanks at approximately the same times.
My family has hunted deer that lived their entire lives in the same canyon(See the "Old School" post). We see the same bucks from year to year in many cases, sometimes the bucks only leave these areas to rut. Deer that spend 95% of their lives in a 2 mile square do get into routines and it is possible to pattern them. I am no expert by any means, but people make up stuff about these deer all the time especially after a few rough seasons of not seeing any good ones.....
Bret M.

 

[edhunter]

I haven't read the article in question but I've heard some pretty unusual things about these little deer that I think came more from payote than field observation. Since we have no real "Master Coues" or "Professional Coues" hunters, writers take many latitudes they shouldn't.

One October hunt we watched the same huge buck cross a high mountain peak just at 1st light all 4 days of the season. We tried to position ourselves to take this whopper but none of us could get high enough early enough. A spike camp way up there could have done it but none of us wanted to go to that much effort.

Preseason scouting away from the roads is very effictive and the bucks are usually were we found them weeks before.

The one thing I think is totally absurd is the notion that Dr. Coues prounced his name "Cows". It may have been Cows for the 1st couple of butt whippings from the locals and after that he started saying it like he should have, Coos. See how this crap gets started!

Ed, www.swhounds.com

 

[Bura Nut]

I havent read the article either, but as to patterning etc....I think alot of writers want to find some sort of similarity with other deer "patterns/habits" I think we should just take the coues for itself, and figure it out on its own. I know that there are patterns I can depend on based on the time of the year etc. I also see when fences are involved, the coues tend to use a couple crossing areas on a regular basis. I havent spent the years YET out scouting/hunting them, but after two years, I see patterns and things that make some movements predictable. I have to agree with Tam, if the article stated bunk like it did, the author was just writing and didnt know his subject....Allen Taylor......

 

[RandyWeaver]

TAM, I agree - mostly. I've hunted some remote canyon waterholes that weren't hunted by anyone else. I've seen decent bucks (80-90 inch) - but not the real big guys, water during the day. I gave up on hunting waterholes quite awhile ago because the deer are so wired at the waterholes; they know lions, bobcats, etc. hunt there too (first-hand experience). As for the use of trails, the author's statement is simply not true. Several years ago, I took a buddy of mine in on a very, very good buck - an 8x7 that grossed 132 and netted 129 (B&C #20, Chris Cornelius). I had filmed the deer in the same spot and had seen him 28 times prior to the morning my buddy shot him. He's not the only one. Bucks will travel far out of their core areas during the rut, but early in the season, they are very patternable.

Venado muy grande!

 

[RLH]

one thing is for sure, you can never say never. i saw a doe (muley) bite a bobcat, 3 times. picked it up and shook it and treed it like a hound. never thought i would see that. anytime someone says something will never do something, they're either full of bull of just trying to make copy in their article. when i was a kid i read everything there was about elk. fantasized about them. after i shot a few i realized that most of these writers base their opinion on one incident. the animal acted this way this time, therefore, they all act that way all the time. most writers are just that, writers. no expert about anything but writing. when you talk to men who have lived the life, you realize that any animal is liable to do anything at any given time. as far as coues using trails and waterholes; they use trails all the time. you have to get down on your hands and knees in the dang brush they live in to see them, but they're there. more like little tunnels. and i'm of the opinion that an animal will drink when it's thirsty and there is water around.

 

[Chef]

Saw the article too and noticed that statement as well. Found it odd. I did however, DROOL over the double drop tine and double main beam non-typical that netted around 115!

Chef