NexToLast

It's definitly a diverse area, both in geography and wildlife. I remember the first time I hunted it, I was a very disspaponted. I had gotten used to the southern units and seeing 50-100 deer a day. Not the case here. I also respect you not wanting to say too much, because I've put in a lot of hard miles in rough country to find the few honeyholes I have. It takes a great deal of more patience to hunt this area. Plus the weather can get down right nasty in december&january compared to down south.

Yeah I'm tweaked too. I've been spending to much time looking at maps in the evening, instead of doing things that really need to get done. However, I find more than enough time to shoot my bow; seriously I have been shooting more this year than the past several. Also carry five gallons of water 3 miles every other day. I'm almost hoping not to get drawn for elk, in order to devote my time off learning more about my favorite whitetail area. Oh yeah, I definitely "can't wait". P.S. Josh you gunna be at the Happening in Williams come July.

That narrows it down!!!!...lol

Treestandman Do you know if these deer were taken above, below, or on the rim?

This year for the first time I decided to hunt Coues in the hight country. Due to a busy work schedule I could only hunt this past week (January 18th-24th). I thought the timing would be perfect for the rut, since having hunted the desert and mid-elevation areas for many years. However as I checked out the likely spots to place a treestand it became evident that all the rubs and scrapes that I came across had not been visisted for at least a week or two. Deer numbers in this area are not extremely high, but with snow falling daily I was seeing some fresh tracks. However there wasn't any visible activity on any rub or scrape lines. This area is way to thick to do any glassing (predominately Fir, Ponderosa, and some PJ's/oak on the south slopes), one thing I really miss doing and makes me feel almost out of place. My questions to anyone with Coues hunting at such elevations is: do you think the rut has come and passed or had the deer just moved lower in elevation? The physical signs of the rut (rubs/scrapes) were evident, but do you think that the bucks in this area just made a few pre-rut rubs and then vacated? Any Help or insight would be appreciated! Thanks, Jeff

I guess it all boils down to one thing and that's to spend more time afield, which is easier said than done. You can bet that i'll be in my treestand on opening day December 2004. As little as whitetail move throughout thier life and daily routines I still think the rut was over in this particular area. If in fact they are still rutting in this area, they must have moved and the only place I belive they could have gone is down in elevation; out of the snow. It's definately something that going to nag at me until I get it figured out. The quality of the deer, not the quanity of deer is what draws me to this area. Anyways I still learned a lot in the short time I had available to hunt. Thanks for your replies! AZGuide, let's see those pictures!! Thanks, Jeff