Coues Hunt 2019

I live in the area and am fortunate to hunt them every year. Been doing it for 37 years in a row. 36b is a quality unit. I'd love to help anyone that comes and is serious about it. Both of these Coues bucks I harvested in the last 5 years. Next best hunt to a sheep hunt and some refer it to the "poor mans sheep hunt". Very tough country but it's so beautiful.

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I was born and raised in Tucson. My Dad hunted these deer every year. When I turned twelve I was allowed to hunt after my hunter education course.
My first deer was shot in self defense. My Dad sat my mother on one saddle and sat me on an adjacent saddle while he went bird dogging down the hillside. Just the way he planned it, I heard my Mom shoot and then I heard a huge animal coming up the ravine towards me in the saddle. As the noise got closer I knew it had to be a large bull elephant making all that noise. When the beast came out of the brush at about five yards, I stuck the borrowed Savage 300 out in self defense and killed my first deer. No one has ever been more proud of a deer that field dressed at about sixty pounds. It was a young doe that matched the tag I had in my pocket. Later that day my Dad filled his tag. Three deer in one day was a great way to fill the freezer.
For the next five years my Mom, Dad and I put three Coues (pronouned "cows") deer in the freezer every year. The area we hunted was south of Sonoita around Patagonia. We hunted quail, rabbits and javelina in the same area.
During this time we applied for a special hunt in the Santa Rita Game Management Area. This was, at the time, 1963, an area that had been closed to hunting for over twenty five years. I was the only one in my family to draw a tag. Compared to the itty, bitty Coues deer we had been hunting, the desert mule looked like cows. That area was big open draws and ridgelines with really long shots. At that time I was using my Dad's surplus Springfield with stock military sights. I shot a huge, to me, desert mule deer doe. At the end of that hunt I had no love for that deer. My Dad's rule: You shoot it, you clean it and carry it. He did carry the rifle but we were a couple of miles away from our car and the ridges and draws only got larger as the distance to the car became shorter. I was thirteen and like I said, that deer seemed like it was as big as a cow.
It has only been in the last few years that I have realized how fortunate I was to hunt in that area during those years. In my old memory, I can remember seeing deer every day and putting meat in the freezer every year.
I was the oldest of six children and the game that we shot was most of the protein that our family lived on.
 
I was born and raised in Tucson. My Dad hunted these deer every year. When I turned twelve I was allowed to hunt after my hunter education course.
My first deer was shot in self defense. My Dad sat my mother on one saddle and sat me on an adjacent saddle while he went bird dogging down the hillside. Just the way he planned it, I heard my Mom shoot and then I heard a huge animal coming up the ravine towards me in the saddle. As the noise got closer I knew it had to be a large bull elephant making all that noise. When the beast came out of the brush at about five yards, I stuck the borrowed Savage 300 out in self defense and killed my first deer. No one has ever been more proud of a deer that field dressed at about sixty pounds. It was a young doe that matched the tag I had in my pocket. Later that day my Dad filled his tag. Three deer in one day was a great way to fill the freezer.
For the next five years my Mom, Dad and I put three Coues (pronouned "cows") deer in the freezer every year. The area we hunted was south of Sonoita around Patagonia. We hunted quail, rabbits and javelina in the same area.
During this time we applied for a special hunt in the Santa Rita Game Management Area. This was, at the time, 1963, an area that had been closed to hunting for over twenty five years. I was the only one in my family to draw a tag. Compared to the itty, bitty Coues deer we had been hunting, the desert mule looked like cows. That area was big open draws and ridgelines with really long shots. At that time I was using my Dad's surplus Springfield with stock military sights. I shot a huge, to me, desert mule deer doe. At the end of that hunt I had no love for that deer. My Dad's rule: You shoot it, you clean it and carry it. He did carry the rifle but we were a couple of miles away from our car and the ridges and draws only got larger as the distance to the car became shorter. I was thirteen and like I said, that deer seemed like it was as big as a cow.
It has only been in the last few years that I have realized how fortunate I was to hunt in that area during those years. In my old memory, I can remember seeing deer every day and putting meat in the freezer every year.
I was the oldest of six children and the game that we shot was most of the protein that our family lived on.
 
That storm that came through was terrible! We were in 36B and thanksgiving night was probably the worst storm I have ever been in. We ended up going 9/9 on the hunt though.
Yeah felt like the trailer was going to blow over half the night! Lol
 
Congrats on the Coues hunting trip. I have a unit 29 late season tag and due to having to travel so far won't be going until after Christmas. I had a turkey tag this spring and got my turkey first morning so didn't get to see much of the area but was excited about seeing Coues deer for the first time so I put in and drew a tag. I was wondering if anyone has hunted that unit and had any information they could share on the best areas to check out for the late season.
 
Congrats on the Coues hunting trip. I have a unit 29 late season tag and due to having to travel so far won't be going until after Christmas. I had a turkey tag this spring and got my turkey first morning so didn't get to see much of the area but was excited about seeing Coues deer for the first time so I put in and drew a tag. I was wondering if anyone has hunted that unit and had any information they could share on the best areas to check out for the late season.
Get in the foothills of the mountains and find good glassing areas. The bucks will be chasing does as it's the rut. You drew a great trophy tag. Be sure you have a great pair of 15 or 12 power binos and a sturdy tripod to mount them on. Be selective as you should have multiple opportunities to harvest a trophy buck. I never hunted the unit but a friend of mine does and he's takes some nice bucks out of brushy canyon. I would find that area and spend some time there. Get a map. There are numerous maps available of the AZ units. Some of the best public land hunting available.
 
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Get in the foothills of the mountains and find good glassing areas. The bucks will be chasing does as it's the rut. You drew a great trophy tag. Be sure you have a great pair of 15 or 12 power binos and a sturdy tripod to mount them on. Be selective as you should have multiple opportunities to harvest a trophy buck. I never hunted the unit but a friend of mine does and he's takes some nice bucks out of brushy canyon. I would find that area and spend some time there. Get a map. There are numerous maps available of the AZ units. Some of the best public land hunting available.
 
Thanks for sharing. These Coues deer hunts look like a lot of fun. Can someone clarify if the pronunciation is "coos" or "cows"? I have heard it both ways.
Most people in AZ say cooz. Of course the actual pronunciation per the French Biologist's name is cows. But nobody likes saying cows.
 
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