Random question in Coues elevation habitat changes

[oz31p]

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.

for what it is worth. The buck I killed at 6000ft and the archery buck at 2800 were both in 21.

[Becker]

Takes a lot of snow to move the Coues down.

[GreyGhost85]

i have never really noticed a so called coues "migration" they tend to stay in the same areas year round. it would take some SERIOUS weather to get them to move out of an area. mule deer seem to move a lot further in search of does in the rut. i run cameras 12 months a year, just to try to get a better handle on coues behavior. although i think coues do have a larger home range than what a lot people think ( i think it is closer to about 3-4square miles rather than 1), i get the same bucks on the same sets 12 months a year. some months they frequent the areas more, but they are always there

[micropterus79]

^^^So this another component to this that honestly confuses me. It is said (and I have no reason to doubt) that Coues deer in AZ tend to live at HIGHER elevations than mule deer; okay, but having been born and raised in western colorado, we always thought of whitetails as "flat land" deer because in Colorado, for the most part, whitetails are only found on the eastern half of the state (I was completely ignorant of Coues deer until I moved here last year).

 

Now I come to AZ and find out that the "little deer" live up in the woods and the giant mule deer live in places like around Yuma yet in Colorado, the biggest bucks I saw were always in the high country during early hunts (Aug-Sept). To be clear, never killed one, just always saw bigger mule deer at high elevation.

 

Furthermore, Becker states that it takes a lot of snow to move a Coues deer; I have heard the same thing of elk and mule deer that live at higher latitudes (not altitudes).

 

I guess what I'm getting from here is that Coues deer, although smaller and, in general, inhabit drier and warmer areas than elk or mule deer, will behave much the same way within their home ranges and if we get weather like we did at the first of the year, it might push them around a little BUT all the tracks and apparent downslope movement I observed might well have been more due to the rut and finding easier food sources than the snow its self. In other words, if the Coues deer tracks I saw were heading out, it was probably not due to the little snow we got unless it was somehow making it harder to feed. Additionally, my hunt was during a full moon which very well could have sent them into a more nocturnal mode and there ain't much that can be done with that.

 

I know I'm probably overthinking all this and I appreciate all the info. Man, I thought I was fired up before my hunt and now that I've had a little taste and been skunked, I am in full blown gotta get back out there mode!

[GreyGhost85]

coues deer are browsers not grazers, which means they browse on the leaves, seed heads, etc. of things that grow above the ground. they do not graze on grass. this is why it would take a ton of snow to move them out of an area. coues deer are where they are. i have seen them at 2000' all the way up to 9000'. mule deer are the same. there is not set elevation that either of the two species lives. the tracks you saw i'm sure were just everyday movement of them, not any sort of "migration". if you followed them long enough, i'm sure that the tracks would eventually turn and head back up a ridge. and yes, you are definitely overthinking the situation. if you see coues tracks, that animal wil be within a mile or two of where the tracks are, in any direction. they are hard to hunt, "wandering" animals. very hard to pattern or predict, unlike their eastern cousin

[micropterus79]

^^^Thanks Greyghost. Really appreciate the info about their feeding habits, that is a key and makes total sense! Given all this new info, I literally might explode before I can get back out there and check out my spot...those rascals are probably there I just happened to miss/overlook them. Not too surprising given my neophyte status I guess.

[oz31p]

I would leave all your your Colorado knowledge in Colorado.

 

These deer live where they live. Regardless of the elevation. If it's coues country it's coues country.

[CouesWhitetail]

You can see some photos of Coues Deer Habitat here: http://www.coueswhitetail.com/2012/05/coues-deer-habitat/

 

As has been mentioned, they are primarily browsers, so look for areas with good amounts of brush. They also eat a lot of forbs when they are greening up. Water availability is key. Coues Deer occur in a wide range of elevations.

 

here is some info on their life stages (breeding, antler growth, etc). http://www.coueswhitetail.com/2012/05/coues-life-stages/

[elkaholic]

Generally deer live their whole lives in a core/zone 1-2 mile square area -

 

elevations will vary depending on if the core is in the flats or in the higher elevations

 

Bucks tend to have a wider Zone of travel then the does

 

highly unlikely that whitetail bucks will travel great distances just to get to higher cooler elevations

 

Bucks that live up high will tend to stay there - bucks in the flats will do the same

 

just like when you bugger a big buck out of the little bottoms of a side canyon - up over the top he goes - wait a few days and you find him right back in the same general area

 

Food and water dictates how far they will travel - get a dry spell and the tanks and habitat dry up they move accordingly- get the wet season and they are right back at home agin

 

just my .02 its has been and always will be - find the does and you'll find the bucks during the rut

 

early archery and the antler growing season changes how bucks act - they won't travel far and water is the main deal that early in the hotter seasons