Unit 17

[Guest Guest_Brian]

Hey guys. I've hunted Coues' in AZ now for about 9 years. I haven't been drawn for a while now, so I put in for NM this year with Units 27 and 23 (BM) as my first 2 choices. I put in for Unit 17 as my final choice, only because it was listed as a "quality" hunt. Anyway, I ended up getting drawn for this unit. Does anyone know anything about this area? I'm leaving in September for my preseason trip. I understand it might be more of a lower-elevation desert mule deer hunt than anything else, and that the higher elevations aren't open and glassable like AZ Coues' habitat. Anyone have experience with this area? Thanks guys.

 

Brian

[Guest Ben]

I hunted this unit quite a bit back in the 1980s for elk and mule deer. I don't remember ever seeing a white-tail in this unit. although it certainly falls within the range of Coues deer. It is generally a high elevation unit and the foothills and mountains are heavily forested with limited visibility. It is certainly not classic Coues deer habitat as we think of it in southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona and adjacent Chihuahua and Sonora. The biologists in Socorro tell me that the elk herd has inreased significantly since I hunted there and that mule deer have declined somewhat. I visited a ranch in the eastern part of this unit last year and saw only mule deer--even up to the highest elevations. Sorry I couldn't be more encouraging...

[5yearcoueshunter]

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.

[Guest Guest_Brian]

Hey guys, thanks for the input! I visited the area for the first time in September for a three-day pre-season trip and was disappointed by the limited visibility (for glassing) and low deer density (I only saw 2 does). As it turns out, it's basically a limited-entry desert mule deer hunt. Anyway, this was the first time I had hunted for desert mulies, so I just deferred to my Coues' deer hunt-style. After the second day of continous hiking and long-range glassing (you know, the tripod-mounted 15x60s) I finally found a concentration of several does with what turned out to be a 27" 5x6 still in velvet. It took 3 stalk attempts over the next 2 days to get to him, but I finally got a shot.

 

Brian

[Guest Guest_Brian]

Oh, by the way, from 6,000 to 10,000 feet in elevation...I never glassed-up a single whitetail.

 

Brian