New to Whitetail

[alexjh1]

I have been hunting for a few years, enjoying time with my boy out doors which he loves. Dont get me wrong, I love being outdoors and appreciate nature, harvesting an animal would only be a bonus Not being from a hunting family everything I read is on other states, mainly west coast whitetail. I have read one book on Couse here in AZ however I have questions on a couple of deer habits.

 

OK, my basic deer questions:

When Couse whitetail rut? Met up with an old timer on my last, my second, hunt and he said they wont get started until January.

 

When do they use water? worth it to set up around water? I have seen a few deer come into water durring the afternoon however seen so many more just forage when glassing.

 

 

Rattling and grunting? Does this work in Az?

[azcoues]

coues will typically start getting ancy in eartly to mid december but full blown out rut is generally early january .But southern arizona may be later than central az so i would start looking for scrapes and rubs as early as 1st of december and start grunting and rattling then to a little because you never know.

[azcoues]

Again the amount of moisture we get will determine you setup on water ,if its dry yes if its wet the deer will drink out of every nook and cranny they find that holds water

[CouesWhitetail]

You might want to read through all the info on the main CouesWhitetail.com website which has information on hunting strategies and biology among lots of other stuff.

 

If you go to www.coueswhitetail.com and look on the lefthand side menu, you will see Coues Deer Biology choice in the menu. With that option you get several submenus that will get you to the info you need.

 

here is a link to the life stages page which describes breeding timing and other related biology info.

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/coues_biology/life_stages.htm

 

January is usually peak breeding. Yes rattling/grunting can work, but deer density is lower than somewhere out East, so you have to be in the right place for it to work. Yes setting up on water can work. Coues may water during morning, mid-day or evening (or at night too). Mid-day can be very productive at a water hole, so don't discount that. Perhaps glass the morning, sit water in mid-day and glass the evening.

 

Amanda

 

[Redman]

You might want to read through all the info on the main CouesWhitetail.com website which has information on hunting strategies and biology among lots of other stuff.

 

If you go to www.coueswhitetail.com and look on the lefthand side menu, you will see Coues Deer Biology choice in the menu. With that option you get several submenus that will get you to the info you need.

 

here is a link to the life stages page which describes breeding timing and other related biology info.

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/coues_biology/life_stages.htm

 

January is usually peak breeding. Yes rattling/grunting can work, but deer density is lower than somewhere out East, so you have to be in the right place for it to work. Yes setting up on water can work. Coues may water during morning, mid-day or evening (or at night too). Mid-day can be very productive at a water hole, so don't discount that. Perhaps glass the morning, sit water in mid-day and glass the evening.

 

Amanda

 

 

Hi Amanda,

 

Do you know how long a coues can go without watering? Or how often do they water?

 

Thanks Redman

[cessna]

To add to your knowledge base about Coues Whitetail, I would recommend Jim Heffelfingers book "Deer of the Southwest". It's well written and very informative. I've been hunting for most of my 66 years and you never quit learning.