Coues Whitetail Deer

"The educated whitetail is a great skulker and hider; a creature of almost incredible nerve and of instant decisions," wrote Jack O'Connor, past Hunting Executive Editor and widely revered outdoor writer of our time. O'Connor could hardly contain his enthusiasm for the Southwestern Coues [pronounced cows] whitetail when he penned that description in 1939 for the Boone & Crockett Club book, North American Big Game.

Many rightfully associate O'Connor with mountain sheep and sheep hunting, but as a native Arizonian, his early passion was for the diminutive whitetail sub-species of the Southwestern deserts.

Tracking B&C entries for the Coues whitetail is easy compared to their northern cousins since they only inhabit Arizona, New Mexico and Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. All-time entries (1830–2008) reveal Arizona with 272, Mexico with 128, and New Mexico with 28. I could stop the presses right here and jump to "Conclusions" and say Head to Arizona for a trophy Coues, but let's dig a little deeper.

The top five counties (all-time) rank for typical Coues are as follows; Sonora, MX (114) and in Arizona, Pima County (81), Santa Cruz (26), Gila (24), and Santa Rita (22). Looking back over just the past ten years we see Sonora (81), Pima AZ (26), Santa Cruz (9), Cochise (4) and Gila (4). On the nontypical side (all-time)--Sonora ranks No. 1 at (30), Pima AZ (22), Gila (12), Cochise (11) and Santa Cruz (9). Over the past ten years, Sonora (23), Pima (7), Apache (3), Gila (3) and Cochise (3).

Conclusions

It's a good thing we didn't rush to crown Arizona as the top Coues deer destination, even though this state has the most entries overall. Sonora, Mexico, clearly looks like the place to be from the surge in recent entries.

Assumptions

A good question today is why Mexico has come on so strong in the past ten years for record-book Coues. The word is, 10 percent better management and 90 percent more hunters traveling south for Coues equaling higher deer harvest. The bucks have always been there, and what used to be the under card on a Muy Grande mule deer hunting trip has shifted to more hunters focusing on just a trophy Coues. There has also been an increased interest within larger ranches and local economies to better manage their deer populations, with less venison ending up in tortillas.

B&C Record Book Minimums

Typical/Nontypical

All-time Book: 110/120

Awards Book: 100/105

All-time Rank by State/Region

Typical

#1 Sonora, MX: 114

#2 Pima, AZ: 81

#3 Gila, AZ: 26

#4 Cochise, AZ: 24

#5 Santa Cruz, AZ: 22

Nontypical

#1 Sonora, MX: 30

#2 Pima, AZ: 22

#3 Gila, AZ: 22

#4 Cochise, AZ: 11

#5 Santa Cruz, AZ: 9

All-time Rank by State/Region--Last 10 Years

Typical

#1 Sonora, MX: 81

#2 Pima, AZ: 26

#3 Santa Cruz, AZ: 9

#4 Gila, AZ: 4

#5 Cochise, AZ: 4

Nontypical

#1 Sonora, MX: 23

#2 Pima, AZ: 7

#3 Santa Cruz, AZ: 3

#4 Gila, AZ: 3

#5 Cochise, AZ: 3