Random question in Coues elevation habitat changes

[Bitter24]

Wanted to see what other people think on this topic. So ive noticed from trail cams that come nov-jan I get pics of bucks down lower in elevation on a regular basis. Though now that spring has come and fully into summer all the bucks have gone MIA. I still get pics of does and fawns though

 

I understand that the bucks probably moved into this area for the rut seeing how the does seem to call it their home area. My question is it typical for bucks to move to higher evelvation during summer months? Just curious if I should focus higher in the canyon where I was getting pics of a "shooter" buck come early archery season. It seems to make sense that the buck and probably all the other bucks have moved higher, just wondering if anyone else has seen a trend of when the bucks come down lower vs stay up higher

 

I am guessing the bucks move to higher elevations due to its cooler and less buggy this time of year. Or am I just missing them on the lower elevations where I saw them all winter?

[PRDATR]

Is the forage different at the higher elevations?

[Bitter24]

No not really, the lower portions is super oak covered and has water. The only difference is that the higher you go the steeper the grade gets and has some pines up higher. Though its still mainly oak until you get almost to the ridge line where canyon dies out into the mtn and then its pines.

[POB]

I'm far from an expert but my guess would be that the bucks seek higher cooler areas away from the does and fawns. They come back down as the rut gets closer.

[Flatlander]

The only thing I know about coues deer is that they are where you find them. Last year I found wt bucks down in the flats while I was hunting Muley's. It was august. I had never seen them there before but they just sort of seem to show up when you don't expect it.

[Guest oneshot]

These are just my observations.... When bucks are in velvet they dont use the thicker cover areas as often during the summer, the 'primest" areas ie: the best food, water, cover etc is used mainly by the does during the summer...

The thoughts that I have read on this is bucks will 'give-up" the primest areas to the does/fawns as a survival of the species type dealy...

[creed_az_88]

I agree with oneshot although I feel that they may avoid the thicker areas for other reasons also. One being that their velvet is somewhat fragile and daily life in thick brush may cause damage to their beloved horns. Another reason, and in my opinion the most realistic reason, is because once it starts raining green lush grass starts growing in open country where the sun hits. In my experience they graze much more in the summer than they do in the winter and browse more in the winter, meaning more grass in the summer where its open and more leaves like mountain mahogany and similar scrub in the winter. Kinda like Colorado mule deer. While in velvet some bucks leave the cover of brush and trees and spend the summers above timberline in the wide open. Once they rub and the grass starts to mature and seed out, they move to more timbered areas at lower areas. Its kind of backwards here where generally the lower elevations are more open and the higher elevations are denser but it seems to work the same way to me. Although this may not be the case where there are no open grassy country in the vicinity.

[Bitter24]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Oneshot that makes sense as its better for the herd in general and makes complete sense about the velvet antlers. Which should push them to more of a open area where they wont bump them as often.

 

Creed ill def look around too see if there is any more open spots towards the top of the canyon, the only open spot I really know of is, is at the base of the canyon which would push the bucks out into the rolling hills area. Which would be a benefit much eaiser for spot and stalk. At least I can stand out there without sliding down the slide of a mtn trying to pull back my bow. Though Im sure I can locate more open areas towards the top and see if it has fresh deer sign.

 

POB thats kind of what I was thinking as well originally

[Guest oneshot]

Creed-Az-88...I have heard that the antlers in velvet have "feeling" and it hurts to get banged around in the thicker growth... I know whitetail bucks in velvet in NY stay out of the nasty thick stuff..

[az_shooter]

I think the bucks or does don't go higher in the summer, I think you just get fewer pictures of bucks because of what comes with summer. Summer means monsoons, and with the monsoons there is obviously more water. So now that there is more water available to the wildlife then they can stay pretty secluded without having to travel as much to get what they need. If your camera is set up on a water home then maybe they stop showing up because it's no longer the only water available to them. I've found bucks in December and January down low and those same bucks again in July and August in the same low country, and vise versa with bucks in high elevation. They may move up and down a little bit but I think they also stick to the same general area all year long.

[Bitter24]

Az-shooter, all my cameras are covering trails not water sources. Those cams have been in the same spot for almost a full year now. Just trying to figure out a pattern or as best I can when the bucks are using those trails and trying to figure out where they go the rest of the year. I just assumed higher elevation.

[micropterus79]

Hey guys and gals. A newbie to this forum as well as Coues deer hunting. Really like the info I'm finding on here and want to jump in and hopefully share and learn.

 

Did my first archery hunt this year in unit 21 (AZ) and was real excited to find some of these crazy little deer but, being new to archery and Coues, well it was a real learning curve and no deer on the ground. Like others on this thread, I am curios to see what the seasoned pros have to say about Coues deer movements.

 

As probably all Arizona hunters are aware, it snowed the first of the year and while I was out, I saw a TON of tracks in the little drainages I hunted but they all seem to be heading up the ridge and down to lower elevations (this is how it appeared to me but I could very well be wrong).

 

When we think of Coues deer changing elevation, are we talking thousands or hundreds of feet? Or would they simply move a ridge over to find a sunnier hillside? I'm with Bitter24, just trying to find out as much info as I can to try to better predict where or where they won't be given current weather conditions.

 

Thanks y'all! What a cool forum for someone in my situation!

[Benbrown]

In our mountains here in the Boot Heel, whitetails move back and forth between the mountains and the higher valley bottoms (4,800-5,000 ft in elevation) a couple of times a year. They generally winter in the mountains, come down lower in the spring when the first forbs green up then head back up to the mountains when the summer monsoons start. They will be back down in August and September, but by early October they will be back up in the mountains. When I lived down on the ranch, my house was at about 5,000 ft. For most of the time I lived there, three whitetail does lived in the cienega out in front of the house. They were there year round, and raised two to five fawns each year between the three of them. We never saw a buck, but obviously they must have been around.

 

The San SImon Valley to the west and the Playas Valley to the east are about 1,000 ft lower and it is rare to see whitetails in the valley bottoms at any time of the year. Obviously, there are populations of whitetails in Arizona that live most of their lives at lower elevations, so I suspect that availability of favored food plants and water are the determining factors.

[oz31p]

I don't claim to be an expert about coues. But I've hunted them long enough to have picked up a few things.

 

When I'm checking a new area I start low and work my way up the mountain. I normally find them right where they are whether that high, low or in the middle. Normally they are there year after year.

 

I've killed bucks as high as 6000 in the general hunt. As low as 2800 during the august archery season.

[micropterus79]

Ben and oz, thanks! This is great info...I am thinking of hitting up some lower portions of 21 for just a day hunt or a quick overnighter this weekend just to see whats up. I'll let y'all know what I find.