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John's Journal... Entry 121, Day 4

CHRIS DENHAM OF ARIZONA -- HUNTING COUES DEER

Another Way to Hunt Coues Deer

EDITOR'S NOTE: Chris Denham of Chandler, Arizona, has lived in Arizona for 38 years and started hunting seriously in Arizona when he was about 14. Denham, an outfitter and expert hunter, took his first Coues deer when only 16-years old. A colonel, Elliott Coues, back in the 1800s, first discovered the Coues deer, and the deer were named after him. This week we'll take a trip with Denham to the mountains of
Arizona to hunt Coues deer.

QUESTION: Let's talk about the other method of hunting Coues deer where you jump them up. How does that work?
ANSWER: We call this the Jack O'Connor method. Jack, an
internationally-known outdoor writer, made this type of hunt famous in the 1920s and 1930s when hunting Coues deer was basically a still hunt. A hunter would move along ridgelines from canyon to canyon and literally jump the deer up. Fortunately Coues deer have a tendency to run straight up a mountain. If you're on one ridgeline, the Coues deer will tend to run right up the other ridgeline. You can get a shot at them, but you won't have the time to really evaluate the deer's antlers to know if it's the kind of deer you want shoot. Often Coues deer won't stop until they get over that mountain too. With this method of hunting Coues deer, you won't get the shot or you have to take a running shot and risk wounding the deer. Too, when a deer is going away from you is the worst look you'll get at his antlers to evaluate that buck for trophy potential. Every animal looks big when he's going away from you.

QUESTION: Will the Coues deer stop and look back at you like a mule deer will?
ANSWER: Yes, and no. If the deer aren't really spooked, if they've just heard something that has them a little bit buggered, then typically they'll run about half-way up the hill, stomp, blow, look back and try to figure out what that sound was. If the deer get a whiff of you or a really good look at you, then they will run right over the top.

QUESTION: The other problem starts when you shoot the Coues deer. Because you're anywhere from 2 to 3 miles from camp and on foot with a pack, how do you get the animal out?
ANSWER: This time is when the Badlands pack that I carry -- the Split Pack -- comes in really handy. Everything pulls away so that you can get right to the frame of the pack. I literally skin the entire deer, cut all the quarters off, cut the legs off and cut the backstraps and loins off. I carry a game bag and tie the entire meat portion of the deer right to my back and restrap the pack over it. Then your pack will weigh 80 to 90 pounds. So, you have to be really careful climbing down those steep hills with a pack that heavy.

QUESTION: What about the head of the deer; what happens with it?
ANSWER: Often I'll go ahead and just cape the deer out right to the last joint of the neck called the atlas joint and take the head off at that point. Then I'll wrap it, tie it into my pack and carry it off the mountain.

QUESTION: So, you carry the whole deer off the mountain?
ANSWER: The whole deer. Right.

QUESTION: How can you carry 90 pounds plus the 40 that you usually carry in, which puts you at about 130 pounds.
ANSWER: Actually, by the time you leave behind the deer's legs, pelvic bones and rib cage, you'll end up with about 60 pounds of meat and head. Then if you have anywhere from 30 to 40 pounds in your pack plus your water, you'll be pushing 80 to 100 pounds. Try not to fall, because getting up will be hard.

To learn more about Coues deer hunting, you can contact Chris Denham at 1814 West Oriole Way, Chandler, AZ 85248, (480) 857-3057, or email him at c.denham@prodigy.net. For information about Denham's equipment, contact: Badlands in Salt Lake City, Utah, for backpacks at (800) 269-1875 or go to www.badlandspacks.com; Kahles in Cranston, Rhode Island, for binoculars at (800) 426-3089; Outdoorsmans in Phoenix, Arizona, for Denham's tripod at (800) 291-8065 or go to www.outdoorsmans.com; Swarovski Optik in Barrington, Rhode Island for binoculars at (401) 245-4461.

TOMORROW: DENHAM'S TOUGHEST COUES HUNT AND GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT APPLYING TO HUNT COUES DEER

 

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about Hunting Coues Deer...

Day 1 - Acquainting Yourself With the Area Where You Hunt Coues Deer
Day 2 - The Equipment You Need to Hunt Coues Deer
Day 3 - How the Hunt for the Coues Deer Usually Progresses
Day 4 - Another Way to Hunt Coues Deer
Day 5 - Denham's Toughest Coues Hunt and General Information about Applying to Hunt Coues Deer

John's Journal