5yearcoueshunter

Wow, nice buck. Was that the 100 incher taken in the Burro's you were talking about earlier?

Hey guys, the 03-04 draw statistics are out on the NMG&F website. If you didn't draw the Burro's rifle tag don't feel bad, you're not alone. You and 439 other people were unsuccessful in the draw. Can NMG&F say bonus point system?

Amanda, I had sort of the same thing happen to me one time. I was hunting coues when all of sudden I heard a series of high pitch screams. I looked up on the hill where the scream was coming from when I saw a nice coues buck being chased by what looked like a mountain lion. It was probably 500 yards away so it was difficult to see it real clearly. When the buck and cat came flying around the hill, they both went rolling in the dirt. The buck got up quickly and took off with the cat trailing behind. I don't think the lion caught up with the buck again. I guess it was the buck making those screams. I never heard anything like it. Travis

Wouldn't putting salt out especially for deer be considered baiting? Is baiting legal in Arizona?

Hey guys I'm back from my hunt. It did rain for the first 2 days of the hunt, but the last 3 were nice. I ended up seeing about 15 coues including 2 nice bucks. One buck I spotted at about 800 yards just has he was heading over a big canyon, and I didn't see any way to stalk him. The other buck was probably a solid 85 incher at about 450 yards. At that range we needed the buck to give us a good standing broadside shot, but he never did. So my goal of getting my first coues in NM will have to wait another year. I still had a wonderful hunt. The coues is by far my favorite animal to hunt and watch, and I will give it my all again next year. I'm thinking about trying another place next year. Where I was hunting had quite a few deer, but it's so rough it's almost impossible to stalk in. Anyway, thanks everybody for your advice and gook luck on your upcoming hunt Tommy and Scott.

Jason, You can only have 1 licence for each species per year. So if you put in for a public elk tag in April and draw, you can not buy a landowner tag. If you don't draw, then you can buy a landowner tag. Same is true for deer. If you draw, you can't buy a licence for one of the over the counter unit hunts. If you don't draw, you can get a over the counter tag for some units. Example: Unit 27 is a draw only unit for deer. If I put in and draw, thats my hunt for the year. If I don't draw, I can then buy a over the counter tag for unit 22, 23, etc. Did I explain that right crazyaboutcoues? Travis

The reason I asked the unit was because we have been talking about unit 22 as well in this thread.

Bret, thats a nice buck. What's he score? And if your don't mind telling, what unit was he harvested in? Congrats to your friend! Travis

I was just looking at the weather report and it looks like the first 2 days of the upcoming NM hunt might be rainy and/or windy. Does anybody know how this will affect coues deer movement? Should I still concentrate on glassing south facing slopes in the morning, or should I change my hunting tactics? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks, Travis

Thanks Tommy. Thats really nice of you. Travis

Hope to see your there. Good luck to your client and good luck to all on the upcoming NM hunt. Travis

Hopefully I'll be in the flats just inside the National Forest behind moon ranch. Thats the best camping area I know of for a big camp. My hunting party of 5 will be pulling in there Tuesday morning, so hopefully all the good camps sites won't be taken. We will have a big white canopy and like I said earlier I'll be driving a gray Toyota Tacoma. So if you find us, stop by and say hey. Travis

Yes I am from NM. I've lived here my whole life and live in Los Lunas. It's about a 4 hour drive to SW NM so I don't get to scout near as much as I would like. My family are long time mule deer hunters, and I just 5 years ago I broke away and tried to hunt coues. I remember the first coues I saw was a big doe and I couldn't keep myself from shaking just looking at her through my cheap binos. From that day I was hooked. Since then I've hunted every year for Coues in NM and am still trying to get my first one. I've had 2 heartbreak misses in those 5 years but I'm still trying to get one. I've never missed a big game animal before I started hunting coues. I keep getting the buck fever on them. I'm really tempted to hunt Arizona, but I love NM so I've always wanted my first coues to come from my home state.

I agree with you. The coues deer population in NM is underestimated in my opinion. But it seems like to me that unless your hunting unit 27, most good coues deer areas in NM are either really rough or really brushy which makes glassing and stalking difficult. Although I've never hunted Arizona or Mexico, from the few coues deer hunting videos I've seen, the country looks a lot more open and not quite so rough. Or maybe I'm just hunting the wrong spots in NM.

That's a nice buck. I think any Coues buck taken on public land on a over the counter licence in NM is a trophy. Congrats to your neighbor! Travis

By the way, I forgot to mention my name is Travis.

Thanks, Crazy. Your right about the brush at moon ranch, that's been my biggest problem when hunting there.

AZOD Hunter, Do you mean NW of Glenwood? Because NE of Glenwood would put you in unit 22 or 16A.

Crazyaboutcoues, I will also be hunting unit 22 during that hunt. I'll be driving a gray Toyota Tacoma if you want to stop by and give me a hollor. I'll probably be hunting either up the Sherridan Corrol road, or in the foothills behind Moon Ranch. Is this the general area you hunt as well?

AZOD Hunter, I will be there during that hunt. What unit will you be in?

I was wondering if any of you guys ever hunted unit 22 on the East side of US 180?

Actually, there's quite a bit of National Forest south of Mule Creek near brushy mountain where the radio tower is. I hunted that for a day once. I didn't see any coues, but I did see one hunter bring out a nice little 3 point.

I was just wondering if anybody did any good on the early Unit 27 muzzleloader tag. I wasn't lucky enough to draw, so I was just looking for someone to make me jealous.

I've spent a little time in this unit and have also never seen a coues. However I did find a nice Coues shed in water canyon in the magdalena mountains. There's a few really brushy slopes and that's probably where the whitetails are. Infact a bowhunter killed a big coues in the magdalena's a few years back. The other area I've heard there is coues is the southeast end of the San Mateos toward Winston.

CHD, I totally agree with you. To me, showing lack of respect for any game animal or the people that hunt that animal isn't good for the "sport" of hunting.