Glassing is a key.

[Guest First time coues]

I have been told by many hunters to glass and glass to find coues. They have told stories about not seeing nothing on hillsides them 5 minuets later the deer will show up. I was told good optics and patience is a key to success. Is a 300 short mag. to big of a gun to take? Stories I hear saw that I will be shooting long range. Thats why I am considering taking the 300 wsm this fall to unit 22. I have planned on shooting a 150 grain silver balistictip. It is to much of a gun, then what would be the best gun to use? I am open to all imput and information about unit 22.

[Guest Ernesto C]

Hi first time coues,I will like to share with you my personal opinion on your question. To me the 300 s.mag. is a good caliber for coues so is the 25-06,270,308,30-06,7mm or the 300 magnunms. To me,when is about hunting there is no such a thing as overkilling,what you want to do is to put that animal down the quickest you can,if possible put him down on its tracks. Take the rifle you shoot the best,remember shot placement is the key and practice,practice and practice more.God bless you.

 

Ernesto C.

[Jason]

I agree with Ernesto C. You should never worry about overkill. Hunters have the responsibility to make the quickest and most humane kill as possible.

 

I do not own a 300wsm but like the fact that it is a short mag and it comes in a more compact rifle(Light weight). I have read that it doesn't have the recoil of a 300win but almost the same ballistics.

 

Good Luck

Jason

[Guest First time coues]

I am very comfortable with the 300 wsm. It shoots great so that is what I am going to use. Thanks for the imput. One other thing, is a spotting scope a must? I am planning on taking a leica with us. It is very clear and has a strong tripod with it. What are your thoughts.

[coueshunter]

If you have a pair of 15x bino's then I wouldnt bring the spotter unless you are going to field judge your deer. It is alot easier on the eyes to look through bino's. If you only have 10x bino's then bring the spotter and use the tripod for both the binos and the spotter. Its alot easier to see deer using a tripod than holding the binos........Allen.......

[Prohunt]

I agree with the others, IMO there is not such a thing as overkill, especially on Coues because the shots are usually long range. Some people think I am crazy because I am building up a Sako in the Lazzeroni .308 Warbird Caliber just for Coues. Whoever told you to glass, glass, and glass some more was right. The Leica spotter you mention will be fine for finding Coues. Like Allen, I like to use my 15 power Swaro's for all day glassing because they eliminate eyestrain unlike a spotter. Even if you don't have 15 power binos I would try to tripod mount whatever binos you have.

Good luck!

Travis

[Red Rabbit]

If you are stuck using the spotting scope, get a black eyepatch for the other eye. No squinting then. Also, drape a black cloth over your head, cap bill and scope to cut down on outside light. Definitely use a tripod even with 10x binos. Hike in the dark; Be at your glassing spot by the first hint of light. I have a 300 wsm and think those 150 BST's will give you a real flat trajectory, almost like 130's out of a 270 Weatherby. Good coues medicine. Good luck in 22.

 

Doug/RedRabbit

[az4life]

Wow!

Red Rabbit...

You just made that light bulb go on over my head! I never thought about using a dark cloth as a curtain to help see better through spotting scopes! I am going to try that one out this year! Will let you all know how it works!

Yippee.. a good idea that won't cost a fortune!

[Guest firstcoueswas80]

i shoot a 30-06. last year i shot hand loaded 125 grain ballastic tips. this year i shot hand loaded 165 grain sierra game king boattails. they shot extremly well on paper and once i hit the deer. did a number on him. i wasted about 50 dollars on the accutip boat tails from remington but i could not get them to group worth a sh!t.i think next year i will shoot 125 hand loaded sierra game king boat tails

casey

[Guest Ernesto C]

firstcoueswas80, worth a what??

[Guest firstcoueswas80]

worth a shoot. they would not shoot worth a dang and it was makine me mad!

casey

[Guest firstcoueswas80]

worth a shoot. they would not shoot worth a dang and it was makine me mad!

casey

[Dodger]

First time coues,

 

In my experience anything from a .243 to a .300win mag will work. I shot my first two coues with a .243 and they both dropped right there on the spot using 100gr BTSP. This year I bought a 7mm WSM. I took the new gun this year and the deer I shot took about 5 steps before falling and I hit him right through the rib cage. I shot him with 139gr BTSP going about 3100fps. So go figure, with the smaller caliber they dropped right on the spot and with the larger one he took a couple of steps. However, I deer I shot this year was over 400 yards away and the 7mm carried more kinetic energy with it. The larger calibers will allow you to take longer shots (not that I'm advocating that) since they will carry more kinetic energy. The important thing is to practice your shooting and know what you and your gun can do.

 

Just my two cents.

Dodger

[Guest Mike]

243 cal is the best for coues deer. Flat shooting w/ very little kick. Avoid spotting scopes. The only thing spotting scopes are good for are zooming in on already spotted animals to judge size.