wyflyguy Report post Posted October 5, 2012 Hey guys - I have been a lurker around here for a while now, but thought I would register. I have found you guys and the site to be very helpful. A little about me... My family and I moved to New Mexico just over two years ago. I lived in Nevada, Utah, and Colorado before coming here and have hunted in each of those states. I drew a deer tag for unit 22 in NM last fall and it was my first time hunting in New Mexico. I had a great hunt, learned quite a bit about the area, but came home empty handed. It was still great to get out and stomp around the hills, though! While we were there, I saw a couple of Coues does one evening. I had heard that they were present in this unit, but didn't go out of my way to find any. Seeing these two has piqued my interest, though. From searching through the archives here I see that several of you have successfully hunted this unit for both coues and mule deer in the past. I'm wondering if anyone is willing to share some pointers to a newbie? Like I said, I hunted there last year so I am somewhat familiar with the unit, but have never hunted coues before. I'm equally interested in hearing any tips/advice you may have about hunting muleys here as I think I'd be happy with either this go around. Thanks, in advance, for the help. If you'd prefer to PM me, that's perfectly fine as well as I am one who appreciates the value of information. Happy hunting! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huntswnm Report post Posted October 5, 2012 Well I won't PM you, because I am not gonna give you any specific places to start. I know that unit fairly well as I guided for an outfitter up there for a couple of years. I would say that if you saw some does, that there are bucks somewhere in the general area. Coues tend to be in "pockets" so if you find a population of them they may reside in a particular drainage, or on a particular mountain, but over the next ridge there may be zero Coues sign. This differs from Mule Deer where they tend to be more spread out and roam different areas. The key to Coues is patience. I am assuming here that you drew a rifle hunt. What is needed is a comfortable seat, on a high point overlooking ALOT of country and decent binoculars or spotting scope. During the rifle hunt Coues tend to move at daylight and dusk hours, as pretty much any deer or elk would. The key is to be able to glass alot of country, hopefully finding a deer and either watching where he beds and plan a stalk or be able to get within shooting distance before he beds. If it is later in the day then you start glassing either North or East facing slopes and pick apart every tree and bush looking for bedded bucks. This can be very challenging and most people do not have the patience or the equipment to do this. I would be practicing at whatever you consider is your "max" shooting distance as it is possible to have easily 300+ yards shots. With this strategy going into looking for Coues I almost gaurantee you will also pick out more Mule Deer as well. Usually Mule Deer stick out like a sore thumb when you are glassing for Coues. So, that being said, 22 holds a good population of both Coues and Mulies so with some good glassing techniques and patience I would be willing to bet that with time and practice you can start to find more and more deer in that steep, thick unit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaro Report post Posted October 5, 2012 Don't forget we had the Whitewater-Baldy fire in there this year so it might be an entire different game and you might not be able to hunt the entire unit. J- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wyflyguy Report post Posted October 7, 2012 Thank you for the responses, guys. jamaro - I should have pointed out that I am well aware of the fire and that I expect any response to be for the unit on a normal year, which this is not. I have followed the fire closely. Last month, the forest service opened up almost all of the burned area again so there isn't much of the unit that I can't hunt. huntswnm - thanks for your pointers as well. They have already given me a few ideas of what to do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
