CouesKilla Report post Posted November 19, 2008 Well after hunting my a** off for 5 days I finally gave into the small spike that had been showing himself every once in awile. My first muzzleloader deer. I'm not sure if it's an excuse, but opening day was accompanied by a full moon. I never saw a buck on my trip. Keep in mind this is an area where I have seen so many big bucks during late bow season that I was convinced I would walk away with a trophy deer. With the good bucks acting for the most part nocturnal, I decided to fill the freezer. The weird thing is I was hunting for a big mule deer (fairly low elevation) and for some reason the area was overrun by whitetail. My spike was a whitey. Come late bow season this area is typically filled with mule deer. My guess is the two big whitetail hunts pushed the deer down from the foothills where they typically hangout. I've never laid foot on this land except during the late bow hunts. I guess I should have scouted a bit more. How did others fair with this hunt? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
natureboyfloyd Report post Posted December 17, 2008 AZFG says that coues are intermingled with the mule deer in 30B at lower elevations; I used this fact to fill a tag. I new to Arizona (@ 4 yrs) and really interested in this topic. I wonder if coues can really get used to desert areas? Sabino Canyon has a good herd, and that is partly Saguaro land at @2700 feet. Also, unit 37 B, the desert north of the Catalinas, with the 96 Hills and Black Peak allows for "any antlered deer." I have seen a big coues out there, and numerous sign ( for that area, I guess). Species overlap in range. Great topic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elkhunter Report post Posted December 17, 2008 Some of the biggest whiteys i've seen live in typical mule deer habitat.....shhhhhhh! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Simple Hunter Report post Posted December 18, 2008 Coueskilla, You aren't the only one having trouble in 34A...I have the late rifle tag and after 4 days of hunting have not seen a buck. Granted 3 of the 4 days were windy during the full moon cycle. My honey hole which usually is loaded with bucks during this time of year has not revealed a buck yet. I am baffled...I have glassed 4 great areas and have seen nada in the way of bucks and doe numbers are slim also. ???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swishjth Report post Posted December 18, 2008 CK, We've noticed the same thing on the other side of the valley...coues and muleys running together at about 3600 elevation (and lower)...definitely down in the flats and not the foothills. Some of the mule deer hunters I know started tipping everyone off to the WT, now a LOT of the coues hunters that I know prefer the low country...I guess primarily because there is less hunter pressure down low during the coues rifle hunts. We've noticed the terrain makes it very difficult to find the bucks. With very little topographic relief, you have to either spot them a mile away and be sneaky as heck, and/or have cat like reflexes...if you come across something by happen stance, one hop and it's gone. My pop's open sight 30-30 is either completely useless (if we glass them from a distance) or the only way to go (if we kick somehting out). -JTH Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
erucker Report post Posted December 28, 2008 THat's all fish stories....no whities down low. ER Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
