Unit 23 Coues

[Tbar]

Has anyone noticed that some of the Coues deer in this unit have a black tail? I have always known them to have a brownish or grey tail. Wondering if this is normal? 

[PRDATR]

Yes.

[CouesPursuit]

They're all white on the inside.

[Tbar]

It was strange because it had the same characteristics as a mule deer until it flipped up it’s tail 

[bigbuckfever]

There is definitely some cross breeding going on in 23.

[idgaf]

I talked to a g&f officer on this and he said they come in different color phases. 

[Tbar]

-bigbuckfever

Thats kind of what I was thinking. I was down south a few years back and saw a Coues and a Mule deer going at it during the rut. 

[Roosevelt Mark]

4 hours ago, idgaf said:

I talked to a g&f officer on this and he said they come in different color phases. 

Game and fish have been in denial for years that we have a subspecies of CWT in AZ.

[Tbar]

I have been looking for Coues in 23 the last few months, I  wouldn’t be surprised if I passed them up thinking they were mule deer. 

[firstcoueswas80]

4 hours ago, Roosevelt Mark said:

Game and fish have been in denial for years that we have a subspecies of CWT in AZ.

What subspecies would that be?

[bigbuckfever]

The body on this deer completely dwarfed the 110 I shot at in 23 (turned out I missed him but was sure he was down in the brush, so I didn't shoot at this toad when he popped out of some bushes on the same hillside 2 minutes after I shot at the other one)  I went and got my hunting partner and got him lined up on this guy and he popped him.  The biggest bodied Coues I have ever seen.  Woody Holloway in Young said this was the first Coues deer he had ever had hands on that had a longer distance between the nose and eyes than any other Coues buck.  Has a pretty dark skull cap that is more characteristic of a mulie, but definitely had the white tail.  (No, that's not the one in my avatar)  No doubt in my mind there is a whole lotta cross breeding going on around there.

[Tbar]

- Bigbuckfever

Thats an amazing buck!!! I would love to harvest one of those monster this October. His face definitely has the features of a mule deer. I have a buddy of mine that lives in unit 36C and he tells me he sees hybrids every time he goes out and scouts.  

[Roosevelt Mark]

5 hours ago, firstcoueswas80 said:

What subspecies would that be?

Hybrid 

[Roosevelt Mark]

2 hours ago, bigbuckfever said:

The body on this deer completely dwarfed the 110 I shot at in 23 (turned out I missed him but was sure he was down in the brush, so I didn't shoot at this toad when he popped out of some bushes on the same hillside 2 minutes after I shot at the other one)  I went and got my hunting partner and got him lined up on this guy and he popped him.  The biggest bodied Coues I have ever seen.  Woody Holloway in Young said this was the first Coues deer he had ever had hands on that had a longer distance between the nose and eyes than any other Coues buck.  Has a pretty dark skull cap that is more characteristic of a mulie, but definitely had the white tail.  (No, that's not the one in my avatar)  No doubt in my mind there is a whole lotta cross breeding going on around there.

Nice one! Look at the ears on that buck, congrats guys.

[firstcoueswas80]

You're classifying hybrids as a subspecies? 🙄

 

 

I saw a buck in 36b years ago that was so big (body and antler) that my first thought was "what's an eastern WT doing here"?