35B late season rifle and glass

[lastemp11]

Going the intoduction route - I live in Montana but am from Tucson and just pulled a late rifle coues tag in 35b. Haven't hunted coues before but have plenty of experience hunting elk and muleys in Montana. I've been reading all about people running 15 power binos on these hunts, is it worth it? I've got 10x42 EL and an 80mm ATS. Also, just curious on glassing aspects? What kind of rut activity or lack there of? If anyone has experience in the area? I can probably hunt the entire season as the dates are good for getting time off work. Does anyone have any recommendations for camping areas in the unit or does it make more sense to stay in Patagonia or Sonoita? Appreciate it! Bear Down!

[Ernesto C]

If you haven't hunt coues deer before that means you have never glass for the grey ghost. You will need to learn how to glass because I guarantee you, you'll be looking at deer without knowing you are looking at deer. If you do not have 15's then your 10's will do. No rut activity or very minimun. Glass, glass, and glass some more. Get comfortable and keep glassing. If I were you I'' hunt the whole season. Good luck.

[4huntrs]

Been using 10x slc for last 20 years. Stable tripod a must. Best rut activity I’ve ever seen  for down south Coues is late January and early February. Varmit hunting trip.

[lastemp11]

Appreciate the responses, do you guys usually camp down there?

[Sky Island junkie]

I hunted that unit 3 times in the last 10 years. I wouldn’t hesitate camping in there again. 

[coues@186]

10s work, 15s are nice to pick everything apart. The best bet is to catch them on the move and bed them. Once they bed they are really hard to see. I could help if you want. Let me know.

[lastemp11]

thanks coues@186, have you hunted that unit before? I'm debating if I should pull the trigger on some 15s.

[UggRedBilly]

2 hours ago, lastemp11 said:

thanks coues@186, have you hunted that unit before? I'm debating if I should pull the trigger on some 15s.

I used a pair of vortex vultures for a few years. They worked pretty solid. Now I've upgraded to Slc 15's. 

I'm sure you'll find a used pair of vultures around 300-400$

[NOTAGS]

11 minutes ago, UggRedBilly said:

I used a pair of vortex vultures for a few years. They worked pretty solid. Now I've upgraded to Slc 15's. 

I'm sure you'll find a used pair of vultures around 300-400$

 you know there's  a reason for the price difference, especially if you have  upgraded to the SLCs.  A Plymouth Neon could get me around, but  a Hemi powered 1500 does a whole lot better...LOL .  You get what you pay for

[PRDATR]

3 hours ago, lastemp11 said:

thanks coues@186, have you hunted that unit before? I'm debating if I should pull the trigger on some 15s.

https://optics4rent.com/product-category/binoculars/

[TrackerG]

I've hunted down in 35b a fair bit. The deer can be very pockety I have noticed. There isn't a ton of roads in the southern portion of the unit, and it is very thick in a lot of areas. In my opinion it is well worth pulling the trigger on a VERY good set of 15s. In that unit, I feel like the deer are pretty pressured by the end of December. I would try hard to find areas that other hunters are overlooking. I feel like the glassing points that are a 2 mile hike away from any roads are far superior. I have backpack hunted that unit as well. I personally have never seen any issues with illegal activity. 

 

I would recommend camping somewhere on the north end of the San Rafael valley. There is a few good pull offs that would be an easy/ safe haul to get a camper in. 

[CatfishKev]

7 hours ago, lastemp11 said:

thanks coues@186, have you hunted that unit before? I'm debating if I should pull the trigger on some 15s.

You don't "need" to buy them. 10s and a spotter will work.  Think of coues hunting as trying to pick a hillside to find a bedded animal not moving. A bedded elk or muley, if you can find them bedded in your typical situation you can probably be just fine.  Plenty of guys have done it here with the same set up.  But if you got the money to burn ..  Go for it and get some 15s.  But if the question is strictly do you need them, no you don't.  

[Mattman215]

I would try unit 25m no deer in any other unit …..

[coues@186]

I have not hunted B, but I have hunted 35A, 34A, 32, 33, 30A for coues. I have 10s that I glass quite a bit with but spend most of my time glassing with 15s. I have had good success with both. A have spotted several coues with 15s from over a mile and put a stalk on them from there. The tripod is really the key for glassing whether it be 10s or 15s. If I were looking for 15s on a budget I would look for a pair of swaros (that have flooded the market now), next a pair of 1st gen Kaibab HDs 15x56s. I think mavens are a good option. Try GPO or Zeiss conquest. I don't typically carry a spotter. I don't like looking through a spotter for long periods.

[coueswt]

Fun unit but overhunted. Plus an outfitter sets up a couple cities with 5-15 hunters on each hunt which  every hill has a spotter in area. Some of the glassing spots they spent night on before the openers. 
 

atleast the Dec hunt has less hunters and will be a blast. Pray for cold weather.