Backcountry Bowhunting for Coues Deer

Backpack hunting with my bow is one of my favorite things in the world to do. Most folks who partake are doing so during August and September in search of velvet mule deer or bugling bull elk. While I too love backpack hunting during those times, what I love more is backpack hunting in December/January.

Catch you off guard with that one? Let me elaborate. During that time frame in my home state of Arizona, our archery deer seasons are in full swing. We get to hunt both coues deer and mule deer with our bows and during the rut to make it even more interesting. The weather is phenomenal and it’s just a beautiful time to shoulder a pack and go live in the dirt for a few days. This past January was no different.

Down the Trail

As my buddy Gabe and I made our way down the trail with our backpacks, loaded down with four days worth of gear, food, and water, my smile stretched from ear to ear. Not only was this one of my favorite hunts of the year, but this was Gabe’s first backpack hunt ever; a feeling that I remember all too vividly. Nervousness, excitement, and curiosity were all in motion at the same time. The look on his face reflected those things. I was looking forward to showing him my ultimate passion for backcountry bowhunting. For the next four days, we’d have our sights set on rutting coues deer bucks with our ambitions overflowing.

After hiking both on and off-trail for a few hours, we arrived at our predetermined camp spot; a beautiful flat atop a small ridge that offered a commanding view over the country before us. Sleeping here would allow us to essentially glass almost right from camp. This is how I prefer to backpack hunt for coues deer. The less country we have to cover with our feet, the more time we can spend behind the glass, which means more of a chance to pick up that sly buck. Coues deer hunting is a glassing game, through and through. That game would start after we got our camp set up.

Do I Need to Be a Minimalist?

Before I get further into the hunt, let’s chat some details about backpack hunting for coues deer just for a second. In the world of backpack hunting, there is a lot of chit-chat around being a minimalist. This is when one trims down their gear list to everything that they need and nothing that they don’t. Using the smallest shelters, least amount of food, cutting off toothbrush handles, etc. The point is to go in as lightweight as possible with plans of coming out as heavy as possible.

In the case of coues deer though, they’re really not that heavy. A big buck on the hoof will sit around 100 pounds. Carrying out just the meat is a number far less than that. The nice thing about this is we can bring along some extra comforts. This can mean a seat for glassing or just extra food to eat, so one can stay out longer. Unless you’re planning on putting an immense amount of country between you and the vehicle in one go, being a minimalist is totally acceptable, but not needed. For elk, I’d say otherwise. Those pack-outs sit on another level compared to coues deer.

Notes About Water

Down here in cactus country, water can be pretty scarce. If you don’t recall, I said above that Gabe and I were carrying in four days of water along with everything else. The reason for this is the lack of water. So, when you’re scouting out an area to hunt on a map, DO NOT trust where it says there is water. It very well might be there, but there is a good chance it won’t be. Water needs to be scouted almost as much as the deer do. I spend a great deal of time doing this – just hiking back into areas to see if I need to haul in water. Of course, when I find some, I’ll bring in a pump filter and avoid carrying all of that extra water weight.

Another thing I’ve done in the past is stashed water a week ahead of time. This way, I don’t have to haul water and camp in at the same time. The water is ready upon my arrival and I don’t have to worry about going on “water missions.” Not having to do so means more time for hunting.

Bring a Footprint for Your Shelter

Something else to note about coues country is how rocky and pokey it is. Everything out here wants to poke or scratch you. With most ultralight shelters being very thin, this poses a potential problem, particularly with the floor. For that reason, I always bring a footprint to go underneath my shelter to protect it from any small sharp objects that may have gone unnoticed on my part. I’ve used custom footprints as well as just a sheet of Tyvek. Both get the job done.

Another great solution to this is to just run a floorless shelter. If you do though, I’d suggest bringing a piece of Tyvek to put under your sleeping pad. This will help protect the pad so you don’t end up with a patching job in your near future or, unfortunately, sleeping on the cold ground. Yes, it can get cold during December and January in Arizona. Nighttime temps usually sit around 20-30 degrees, but I’ve also slept in 10-degree weather during this time. Let your sleeping system be a reflection of that. A 20-degree quilt and sleeping pad with an R-Value of at least 3.0 have done me well. If it’s going to be colder, I’ll pack along a liner and sleep in all of my clothes. Let’s get back to the hunt now!

Let the Games Begin

Having camp all set up, we were ready to get behind the glass to see what was lurking around our home for the next four days. Just a stone’s throw away from camp, we found a fantastic place to do just that. It doesn’t matter what hunt it is, whenever I sit down to glass for the first time, I’m always antsy. This causes me to jump around too fast in my binoculars and miss a lot of what is actually there. That kind of thinking doesn’t do well with coues deer hunting. It’s a game of patience. Patience with your eyes is what will find deer.

As luck would have it, we spotted some coues deer about an hour before dark. It was a small buck pushing around a doe. Gabe was first up and made a mad dash stalk before the light faded. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite pay attention to his landmarks and ended up on the wrong ridge. He’s a new bowhunter and learned his lesson that night.

Eating dinner together next to camp, we fantasized about what the following day would bring. We didn’t even dent the area with our glass that evening and turned up a half dozen deer. After hanging our food to keep it safe from any little critters eating it, we hit the hay. Thoughts of glowing coues bucks in the morning light put us to sleep that night.

Big Buck Spotted!

Mornings in the backcountry are some of the most peaceful on Earth. That level of quiet just doesn’t exist in the city. Soon after enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee and morning conversation, we were behind the glass. This is always an optimistic time. The day is just getting started, and only time would tell what it would hold. We started spotting deer instantly. Various groups of does adorned the country in front of us. During this time of year, when I find a group of does, I’ll scan in all directions of that group. Usually, if a buck isn’t right with the herd, he’s not far away.

A few smaller bucks were running around, right out of the gate. I noticed a lone deer right beneath one of those groups; a deer that just looked different than the rest. Not only was it a buck, it was a buck that put a massive smile on my face. It didn’t take long for me to grab my stuff and start cutting the distance. On these hunts, I’ve found that being aggressive provides the most opportunities. So, I don’t wait for deer to bed down. During the rut, the bucks don’t stay down long. I’ll take note of the wind, the direction the deer is traveling, pick a route, and make it happen.

I ended up getting within 200 yards of this buck. He never knew I was there, but slowly fed his way over a ridge. Naturally, I followed him, encountering several other groups of does along the way. I never did catch up with him. Getting to chase a buck like that was a privilege and I wondered if we’d ever meet again. Nonetheless, the past is in the past. Onto the next one.

Zero to Sixty

While I do like to sit in one spot for most of the day, the area we were looking at didn’t provide us with a view into the shade for a middle-of-the-day glassing opportunity. We decided to move down the ridge just a tad so we could pop over the other side to scan the shaded hills below for any bedded deer or midday rut activity. As we were making our way towards the top of the hill we needed to crest, I slowed way down. Whenever I’m about to possibly skyline myself, I’ll always take a second to peek over the top of the ridge to see if anything is on the other side. Most of the time it’s all clear. This time, it wasn’t.

A lone buck was making his way directly at us from about 150 yards away. The deer was moving towards a saddle to our left, which was only about 40 yards from where we were, but we didn’t have a view of it from our position. I grabbed my bow and snuck around the backside of a hill to try and ambush the deer coming through that saddle. When I got there, the buck was walking past me at 20 yards. All of my arrows were still in my quiver, I was standing up in the open, and the deer miraculously didn’t know I was there. Talk about getting caught with your pants down.

After slowly kneeling down, I was able to nock an arrow below the grass line when the buck’s head was facing away. I wanted to get lower so I could avoid getting busted when drawing my bow. The buck was now broadside in front of me at 15 yards. Slowly, I drew my bow back beneath the grass and raised myself up. Time stands still during these moments and everything goes quiet. Even as I write this, it still feels as if I’m at full draw on that buck. My release fired and I heard the noise that every bowhunter drools over – the hollow thump with a huge gasp of air, indicating a lung shot. Things went from zero to sixty on the hill that day and my hunt had just ended, but the experience still had so more much to give.

The broken and battle-scarred coues buck lay motionless just down the hill from us. Even though we knew he was down, we still took the time to blood trail. You only get so many opportunities to practice these things, so I always try to take advantage of doing so. The blood trail was classic for a lung hit. Red-colored sprays painted the desert flora we traversed through on our way to my deer. It’s exactly the blood trail you want. We soon arrived at the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, my 2021 backcountry archery coues buck.

Full Circle

My first backpack hunt ever was a coues deer hunt. I went into my spot back then with way more gear than I needed and came out bruised, wanting more. To sit in camp that night, eating fresh coues tenderloin with a great friend on his first backpack hunt really brought things full circle for me. My roots as a backpack hunter are embedded deep in coues country and there’s no yanking them out at this point. Coues deer captured my heart long ago, and to be able to take one with a bow is never something I take for granted. Add in backpack hunting with a great friend and you’ve got a recipe that won’t be easily replicated. I know that each time January rolls around though, I’ll damn sure try.