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I went to the woods because I wished to live
deliberately…and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I
came to die, discover that I had not lived. Henry David Thoreau
Does the picture above make your heart beat
faster? Does the first hint of the cool fall air find you longing to be in
the mountains of the southeastern Arizona, New Mexico, or Mexico?
If so, then perhaps, like me, you have
developed a passion for searching for the elusive Coues White-tailed Deer.
The Coues Whitetail (properly pronounced "cows", but almost everyone pronounces
it "coos") is a small subspecies of white-tailed deer found in
Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. This deer has developed such a reputation for being able to
vanish from view in the smallest
amount of cover that it is frequently referred to as the "Grey Ghost".
Many people consider Coues deer to be the most challenging big game animal to
hunt. Some even refer to hunting Coues deer as the "poor man's sheep hunt"
because of the harsh terrain involved. Famous big-game hunter Jack O'Connor proclaimed the Coues
deer to be "the most difficult of all deer to kill" due to its extreme wariness
and the inhospitable habitat this deer can live in.
This site, launched on December 23, 2002, is dedicated to bringing you everything you could
possibly want to know about Coues White-tailed Deer. I will cover topics such as the
biology and taxonomy of this deer as well as how to effectively hunt for this
species. I intend to make this web page useful to the novice as well as a
veteran Coues deer hunter. If there is something you think should be included
in this website that you don't see, let me know by sending an email to
amanda@coueswhitetail.com.
This is a work in progress and I will frequently be adding information to this web page, so please visit
often. Information on this website has been gleaned from numerous books,
journal articles and technical reports. Please visit the
references page to see a list of that literature.
Do you have a hunt story you would like to publish here?
Do you have venison recipe to share?
Would you like to post a picture of your favorite Coues
buck?
Navigation Hints: All of the information on this website can be
accessed using the navigation buttons on the left margin of this page.
Some of the information is highlighted below. If you know specifically
what you are looking for, you can use the navigation buttons to the left or the search box
just below this text. Pages that contain the word searched for will be
listed below the search box. Otherwise you can peruse the information below to
see what might interest you and what has been recently updated. Text that
is light purple and underlined is hotlinked and can be clicked on to go directly
to that section.
Please don't forget to
join theDiscussion Forum.
Wondering what gear to get? Looking for info on a certain hunt unit?
Worried about the effect of the drought on antler growth? Use this forum to ask questions, leave
advice, and meet some new hunters.
June 19 - the 2nd annual CouesWhitetail.com get-together will be held at
Marshall Lake (near Flagstaff) this weekend (June 20-22). For more
info,
check this thread in the forum.
July 1 - added new bowhunting video by Duwane Adams to
bookstore.
July 9 - added three new videos to
the bookstore, all are produced by Northstar Productions. Video titles
are: Vapor Trails and Whitetails, Muley Madness 2, and Tricks of the Trade:
Trophy Elk Hunting.
July 21 - Coues Deer Celebration
5 video is here! This is a compilation of over 220 photos submitted to
the website during the 2007-08 season. Look for it on the
video clip page.
Aug 19 - Archers, please remember
to register for the
Coues
Buck contest by Aug 21. Rifle hunters register by Oct. 9.
For those interested, there is
a hunter clinic with some great speakers on Aug 23 at the Phx mtn preserve.
This is hosted by the Arizona Deer
Association, visit their website for more info.
Aug 22 - long sleeve CouesWhitetail.com
shirts are available now! Thank you to Bill Quimby and Mike
Fabritz for allowing me to use their excellent artwork.
Featured Coues Deer Hunting
Guides/Outfitters and Equipment dealers
The following guides/outfitters and
optics dealers help sponsor
this web site. Please consider supporting them by using their services
for your next hunt.
Would you like to have your service
featured here? learn how by clicking here
Wildlife artist, Mike Fabritz, has joined as a
sponsor of CouesWhitetail.com. He has some excellent images of Arizona
wildlife. Check out his collection of pastels, by clicking on the
images below.
Need a tripod or tripod head?
CouesWhitetail.com has teamed up with Jim White to offer an excellent tripod
head and a variety of tripods for Coues deer hunters.
Want to know more about Coues deer hunting and read some great hunt
stories? Then check out the "How to Hunt Coues Deer" book by
Duwane Adams and Tony Mandile. You get a copy from the CouesWhitetail.com bookstore.
This is an information packed book that any Coues hunter will love.
Want to get the latest information about
Mule Deer Management? Then you are probably interested in reading a
new book put out by some of the leading Mule Deer biologists.
A new mule
deer book called "Mule Deer Conservation: Issues and Management Strategies"
has just been published by the Mule Deer Working Group (sponsored by the
Western Assoc. of Fish and Wildlife Agencies). This 240-page book is the
latest information on mule deer biology and management and is written by the
western states' and provinces' leading mule deer biologists. It is written
primarily for the working biologist so you have the latest information at
hand on issues like diseases, predation, habitat changes, nutrition,
elk/deer competition, weather, etc. However, it will also appeal to many
hunters.
Joe and
Marisa Cerreta are wildlife photographers with a real appreciation for Coues
Deer. Please visit their collection to see
33 of their beautiful photographs.
Check out these monster sheds from the White Mountain
Apache Reservation. They score 122 6/8 without a spread!
You can see more photos of these sheds and many others in the
Ellsworth/Epperson Coues Deer collection.
You can see more photos of the monster shed below and
others in Coues Sheds-5. This
palmated shed totals 82 4/8 inches and has a 7 inch 3rd circumference!
This huge buck was found dead and net
scores 125 inches. You can look at other found racks in the
Pick-ups section of the
Photo Gallery.
Check out the
Bookstore! Need a gift for a hunting buddy? How about some
topographic mapping software? Want to
read about Elliot Coues, the man for whom the Coues Deer is named? You can
find a book about him at our bookstore. How about a hunting video?
Have you ever wondered whether Coues deer and mule deer can
interbreed?
Get the facts by reading this outstanding article by Jim Heffelfinger, a biologist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
This article is an excerpt from his upcoming book "Deer in the Southwest".
Click on the link below to read his authoritative article which is posted in
the Coues Biology section.
Want to read some Coues deer hunt stories?click here
to see them. Read Martin Guerena's story that was featured in Trophy Hunter
Magazine. Or read about Mark Hanson's Pope and Young Coues deer buck and Marlon Giese's adventures
in unit 24b. Read about Dave's 2002 hunt in Arizona. Or read about
Casey's first Coues Deer.
Dale Tasa, from Clarkdale, AZ sent this photo in.
What an incredible collection of Coues deer! Most of these bucks score over 100 inches
and were taken by rifle in Unit 6A over the course of the last 28 years.
If you want to see hunter photos visit the
Coues deer photo gallery. I
reorganized the photo gallery by state and weapon type. This is also where
I have the shed photos and "Find the Deer" photos as well as live Coues deer
photos. I have started a New Mexico section, but need
more photos of New Mexico bucks. Send some in!
Sally Epperson with a huge Coues deer shed she found!!!
Wow, what a find. If it wasn't chewed up it would probably be about a 55
inch shed. And it probably had an 18 inch spread, making it from a buck
that scored about 128 inches! And it may still be alive.....
They're here!! The
top 5 typical and non-typical Coues deer from the Boone and Crockett
Recordbook! This is a great collection of photos. Click on the
photos above to go right to the recordbook section
CouesWhitetail.com
has partnered with MyTopo.com to bring you custom topographic maps.
Doesn't it seem like everywhere you want to hunt is in the corner of four topo maps? Trying to line them up is a pain, especially when it's
windy out. MyTopo.com gives you seamless maps - centered anywhere!
These maps are great! I have created some for myself and used them in
the field. They are waterproof and almost indestructible. You can
write on them and they can be easily folded and packed away. Or you
can order them so they are unfolded, which makes them great for your office
wall or hunt cabin. Give MyTopo.com a try. Use these topographic
maps for your next hunting or scouting trip.
Click on the image below to go directly to
MyTopo.com.
Check out the
"Where to Hunt" section.
I have posted data from the Arizona Game and Fish Department including draw
odds and hunt success for each unit, as well as Coues deer survey data for
the last 5 years. There is also historic statewide hunt data from
1952-2000. You can also see a map of the
Coues deer density in Arizona. This data
is not available online anywhere else! Use this data to help you
decide where to hunt.
Worried about Chronic Wasting
disease? click here to learn more
Need information about Rabies?
This year, with its record warm temperatures, AZ has had a record number of
rabies cases. Click here to learn how
to limit you and your pets risk
For information on West Nile
Virus, click here. This virus is spread
by mosquitoes. Learn how to limit your risk.
Did you know?
Coues Deer breed about 6-8 weeks later than other
subspecies of whitetail.
Coues deer does that are greater than 3 years old produce the
most fawns.
Antler is made of the fastest growing bone
in the animal kingdom.
Find out more about the antler cycle in Coues.
A large Coues deer buck is only about 30 inches high a the
shoulder and generally weighs less than 100 pounds. Go to the
Coues Biology section to find out more.
What kind of sign do Coues deer leave? click
here to find out.
Want to know how to tell a Coues deer from a Mule Deer? click here
Looking for some fun? Test your skills at finding Coues deer in the
Find the Deer section or in finding sheds
in the Find the Coues Deer Shed section.
This page has been visited
times since December 23, 2002.
This page was last updated on
Tuesday August 26, 2008
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