Glassing for Coues Deer

[1denogean]

My Girlfriend drew a coues tagefor the end of october rifle hunt. I have always mostly hunted mule deer which is not as tuff glassing. I was just wondering if there are any helpful hints, tips, and tricks in doing so? What could make or break seeing them. If you dont wan to post please PM.

[biglakejake]

if you live in superior there are lots of serious coues hunters within a mile of your home.

 

1) best glass.

 

2) steepest canyons.

 

3) hittin' the trail in the weeeeeeeeeeee-est hours to get to that overlook.

 

 

sure you want to learn about hunting coues deer??????????????????????

 

lee

 

insanity runs in the family-it practically gallups!

[Coach]

The biggest mistake I make is glassing too fast. Forcing yourself to really slow down is key in my opinion. I don't know how many times I've found deer on the "second pass" when I slowed down and stuck to a grid in an area that I thought I had looked over pretty well.

 

When you locate a deer that you don't intend to go after, watch it for a while. It's always amazing what percentage of the time it is invisible or barely visible. I've found this helps reinforce in your mind how easy it is to overlook a deer by not letting your glass sit still long enough to catch a slight movement.

 

 

 

[tjhunt2]

What area did your girlfriend draw a tag? Hope you got my reply to your pm. Good luck glassing.

 

TJ

[Coues Sniper]

As AZOne said, SLOW DOWN. That's easily the biggest mistake most people make when glassing, especially for Coues.

[Atypical]

a few more glassing thoughts for getting started..

 

consider using a grid for glassing, pick an area like a rectangle do a broad pass for obvious bodies and parts, then go back and go real slow (per above notes).. i like to mix the quick big passes across the area for walkers, then go back to the slow detailed grid for the slow ones.

 

once you've found a deer (or bush/rock just for practice) practice switching from your bino position (on tripod) to getting your rifle and scope into position (maybe on sticks) (and in reach when you're glassing). often deer can't be found again during that switch, and get used to finding land marks as reference points around your target so you can return to it, and/or looking in a straight line up to like a mtn top, or low for a close shrub/rock to line you up so you can return to the exact spot where the grey ghost is.

 

lastly, when hunting with someone, practice telling your partner where to find your deer, using reference points like above, so they can watch the deer and you can get set up...

 

nothing worse than when they sneak off and you cant find them again after all of your time and money and emotion invested..

 

and practice your long shots and know your ballistics/bullet drop.

 

knock em down

[jakehaffey]

I like to pick areas that look good and focus on them running back through it again and again. I think the hardest part is adjusting to the coues, the more you find the better you develop an eye for them.

[johnnie blaze]

When doing your grid pattern, I like to go up and down versus left to right. Although your arm does tend to get tired moving up and down versus using your nose to go left n right, I think that you are more apt to get off your grid and accidently get off track. IMHO.

[Birddog]

A must have is a tripod IMO. It becomes a lot easier to pick up on movement when your glass is still.

[RoughCut]

My Top Secret Glassing Secrets ----Highly Classified----

 

 

First off I would say don't even bother taking glassing serious until you own a tripod.

 

The absolute first thing I do when I sit down is glass the first 100-200 yards in front of me. I can't tell you how many times I have snuck into a spot and spooked deer that were right on top of me.

I typically hit the open grassy looking areas as well as ridgelines initially at first light. Deer in these areas are typically easy to spot and contrast well, so you don't need to wait for hardly any light at all.

Next I do a quick pass across most of the area I'm looking at. You never know what you might catch moving early.

 

Next the hard work comes. I grid out my scenery into blocks of a single "field-of-view" I take my time and looke behind anything that can possibly hide a deer. You would be amazed at how small a barrel cactus can look from 900 yards, but they are often big enough to hide an entire Coues.

Before I move to the next field of view I focus on an object in the middle of what I am looking at and stare at it for about 5-6 seconds(which seems like an eternity, but patience is king). I find it amazing what small movement you can see when you focus on a single for a small amount of time object. I always relate this technique to looking at a super faint star in the sky. If you like directly at it, it can be really hard to see, but if you focus on the space next to it you can see the star plain as day with your peripheral vision.

 

I coninue to the next block and repeat.

 

These techniques tend to work really well for me and I tend to outglass the other hunters.

 

Hope this helps.

 

This topic would be an awesome Sticky Amanda.

[1denogean]

Thanks for the help! I have beeen spotting them like crazy lately and i have a decent set up(vortex 15x50s, slik tripod) I just have to find something consistent that works have seen deer that i never would have imagined at a distance latlely.