Equivalent Sizes: Whitetail vs. Coues

[Broncazonk]

Hey All:

 

I'm trying to get myself calibrated as to size with these Coues deer. In the 'big' whitetail world, a deer starts to get interesting at about 140" B&C gross. (And for millions upon millions of guys from Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan etc., and the whole of the southeast, a 140" deer is a deer of a lifetime.) I'm told by serious guys, who go on guided hunts to Texas, Canada, and Mexico that you had better not be passing a 140" deer anywhere, anytime. I guess this is true. Gordon Whittington is a friend of mine and he spent nine (9) straight years in Canada on really expensive, high intensity hunts. In those nine (9) straight years, he killed one deer that just made 130".

 

A 150" gross kinda deer is very impressive on the hoof and most guys 'lose it' at about this mark. (In country terms, a 150" kinda deer is a "12 pointer, for sure.")

 

A 160" kind of deer looks huge on the hoof and anything above 160" simply looks GIANT. ("He was a 14 pointer, and could have been a 16 pointer!!")

 

So what about Coues deer. At what size do they start to get interesting? At what size do they start looking big, really big, huge and giant?

 

What is the 'equivalent' in Coues terms to a 140", 150", 160"+ whitetail?

 

Robert

[Shiras]

Robert,

Do a search under my name and you will see the research I did on just that. It's called something like "Eastern vs. Coues" equivalency. -Shiras

[j-rod]

Here in Oklahoma, my peers think it is a travesty for someone to want to travel to NM or AZ to try their luck at a "tiny" wt. In fact, I personally believe that to the average deer hunter (east of NM) would question..."why?"

A fair size eastern, as anyone knows (rack size), would score very high as a coues. Well anyway, I was wanting to put in perspective to these guys what an "apples to apples" comparison would be, numbers wise....according to p&y and b&c minimums. (This may be common knowledge to everyone on the planet, but I had never sat down and figured out the equivalency spread)

 

For typical scores, easterns and coues are separated by 60 points.

 

Ex. 75 typ.coues=135 typ. eastern 120 typ. coues=180 typ. eastern

 

 

 

For non-typical scores, easterns and coues are separated by 75 points

 

Ex. 105 nt coues =180 nt eastern 150 nt coues =225 nt eastern

 

 

Just thought I'd make it easy!

[recurveman]

This is very simple. It just depends.

 

Personally, I think anything that hits the mid 80's starts to get my attention really fast and if it is 100 or more I get very, very interested. Sometimes the 80 inchers become 100 inchers after further review. Then some of the 100 inchers turn into 80 inchers once they hit the ground.

 

Then again I've seen spikes a few times and have been really excited. It just seems like somedays you get more interested and more excited.

 

I had an elk hunt a few years ago. I passed on more 360+ bulls than most guys see in a lifetime. I was seeing much bigger bulls and just couldn't see shooting one of the small bulls. The next hunt I go on I might get really excited and shoot the first branch antlered bull. It just depends.

 

It might just take some time for you to get calibrated to the coues. Before long you will think that small eastern whitetail rack is HUGE on a coues.

 

Later,

 

recurveman - spike hunting in 5 days

[az4life]

I never applied the 60 inch difference, but looking at it, I think you have a pretty good rule of thumb! Thanks for the tip.

[Kilimanjaro]

Thats how I do it. See a buck, and add 60 inches and thats what you'd have in a regular WT.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Who would want to hunt "regular" whitetail after hunting coues?

 

Anything over 80 gets further review in my book.

[firstcoueswas80]

anything 80+ goes down in my book! UNLESS it is opening weekend of a december hunt!

[coueshunter]

Here is a different way to look at it. a 100" coues is like a 180" muley, 10" less than lifetime book. This can apply to elk as well. I think a person has got to look at book minimums and give credit where credit is due. I dont know book minimum for regular whitetails, but I have shot a few and have a nice 140" on my wall and it was no where near as difficult to get as the 100" + coues I have. Not to take anything away from any other animal, but a 100" coues is honorable mention or whatever B&C calls it for one year while it would take a 160" or so regular whitetail to measure up to the same.............naturally I am totally partial to coues so thanks for letting me jump on my soapbox............Allen Taylor..........

[gnoto]

I spent the first 15 of my hunting years Eastern Whitetail..

They are great. Some wonderful door as smart as anyting on feet.

Their size is the disadvantage. After the first couple years it seemed very easy to find respectable bucks. I had great success. Could hunt the same area year afte ryear and have the same success. In fact we actually had a shoot your first deer spot. Over the course of 10 years no less then 6 hunters shot and killed 8 pointers 4x4 out west. All substantial and all basically shot within 100 yards of each other. Its thick and if it you stay still and downwind there is little chance you will be found out

 

Out here if you are lucky enough to find a Coues buck now you have to shoot it.

The terrain is rough and open so whatever you can see can see you.

The things are like ghosts and have skills like a mountain goat.

 

Not that Eastern Whitetail hunting ever got old. Its just this is a much more even playing field.

[billrquimby]

There is a huge difference between the size of the antlers from region -to -region in what we call "eastern" whitetails. The various subspecies found in the southeastern United States will have a tough time competing with bucks from the three major subspecies found in Texas, Kansas, Michigan (where I shot the buck I show in this forum) or Alberta, for example.

 

The Coues whitetail -- as much as we love it -- is merely a subspecies of whitetail, and there is no particular reason why it deserves a separate listing in the Boone and Crockett record books when North America's other 37 subspecies are lumped into just one category.

 

The Coues is far from the smallest, too. Certain subspecies in Mexico and Central America, as well as the Florida Key deer and the stunted O.v. texanus individuals in the Texas Hill Country, are considerably smaller.

 

A seperate listing for Coues deer began when Boone and Crockett and many misinformed "experts" believed it was a separate species. It continues because of tradition.

 

Bill