WAB
AH ambassador
Location: Arizona (If you want more specifics you will have to contact Simon Crawford at Crawford Guide Service!)
Outfitter: Crawford Guide Service
Rifle: Winchester M70 in .325 WSM
Scope: Swarovski Z6 1.7-10x42 with BRH reticle
Binoculars: Swarovski 15x56 SLC with tripod and shemogh (don't leave your shemogh at home and have to borrow your buddy's all black one, just saying!)
Swarovski 10x42 SLC
I recently returned from another great Coues deer hunt in Arizona. The desert mountain country is truly beautiful and I am already working on plans for a return next year.
In 2021 we struggled with a full moon and unseasonably warm temperatures. I managed to score on a very nice buck early on the second day. It proved to be a good decision as we struggled to come up with mature bucks in the difficult conditions.
2022 promised to be a very different story. Cool weather and a new moon created excitement in camp. I was guided by Eric Walker again in 2022. Eric is a fantastic hunter and an all around great guy. A typical day involves hiking to a good vantage point. Initial glassing is a relatively quick sweep with the 10x42's. This is followed by hours picking apart cover with tripod mounted 15x56's. Eric carries a 60x spotting scope in his pack to evaluate bucks once located. I did a lot of research on binoculars before purchasing the Swaro 15x56's from R&M (thanks Mark!). If you do the same you will find that every evaluation comes back to how close the other bino's come to the performance of the Swarovskis. The message is clear, buy once, cry once. If you want to hunt Coues deer, you want a pair of Swaro 15x56 SLC's. I really got the hang of it this year, coming up with as many deer as Eric, which in my mind is no mean feat as the man is a glassing machine!
This is a public land hunt and pressure can be heavy in areas. Don't let this discourage you, the majority of hunters are driving or hiking about with no real idea how to hunt these little deer. I watched deer I was glassing go to ground as hunters walked within 100 yards of them. Once the hunters were past, they simply resumed feeding. The folks at CGS do a good job moving away from the pressure and into good vantage points. They know the country exceptionally well.
The first two and a half days produced does, spikes and forks, but no shooters. The morning of day 3 produced for one member of our party, with a 3pt western count (8 pt eastern). That afternoon, @cbvanb scored with an incredible 450 yard cross canyon shot in high winds. I will remember that shot for a long time!
Eric and I left the boys to deal with @cbvanb's buck and headed to a good overlook. When we arrived we found that a memo must have gone out on the spot and a number of hunters were already set up glassing. Not feeling sociable, we set out prospecting in new country. Eric commented that we had been doing everything right and we just needed a little luck to turn our way. Moving into new territory we picked out a likely knob and hiked in to set up and glass. Within five minutes I picked up two bucks at 1,077 yards. Both were mature, but one was a definite shooter! We were running out of daylight fast so the stalk went into overdrive. As luck would have it, we were able to get into a very good shooting position at about 350 yards and the .325 WSM took its second Coues buck, and what a buck it was! I really don't know how you describe this buck, but suffice to say he has 6 points on one side and 3 on the other when counting eye guards. The short side was the result of a broken main beam. I don't give a flip for the record books, so this was just added character to me. I must admit that I wonder what he would have been with his rack intact!
Eric got a gleam in his eye and said he wanted to pack the buck out whole. We were over a mile from the road but who am I to discourage a friend's dream? I emptied his pack into mine and we loaded the field dressed buck onto Eric's pack whole. He made it, but was second guessing his decision not to bone the buck out before the pack was in the bed of the pickup!
We went back into the new area the fourth and final morning and our last hunter tagged out. We believe that we glassed ten different branch antlered bucks that morning. Remember, this is public land!
The bottom line, Simon Crawford and his team know Coues deer. I hope to hunt with CGS as long as my legs will get me into that country.
Outfitter: Crawford Guide Service
Rifle: Winchester M70 in .325 WSM
Scope: Swarovski Z6 1.7-10x42 with BRH reticle
Binoculars: Swarovski 15x56 SLC with tripod and shemogh (don't leave your shemogh at home and have to borrow your buddy's all black one, just saying!)
Swarovski 10x42 SLC
I recently returned from another great Coues deer hunt in Arizona. The desert mountain country is truly beautiful and I am already working on plans for a return next year.
In 2021 we struggled with a full moon and unseasonably warm temperatures. I managed to score on a very nice buck early on the second day. It proved to be a good decision as we struggled to come up with mature bucks in the difficult conditions.
2022 promised to be a very different story. Cool weather and a new moon created excitement in camp. I was guided by Eric Walker again in 2022. Eric is a fantastic hunter and an all around great guy. A typical day involves hiking to a good vantage point. Initial glassing is a relatively quick sweep with the 10x42's. This is followed by hours picking apart cover with tripod mounted 15x56's. Eric carries a 60x spotting scope in his pack to evaluate bucks once located. I did a lot of research on binoculars before purchasing the Swaro 15x56's from R&M (thanks Mark!). If you do the same you will find that every evaluation comes back to how close the other bino's come to the performance of the Swarovskis. The message is clear, buy once, cry once. If you want to hunt Coues deer, you want a pair of Swaro 15x56 SLC's. I really got the hang of it this year, coming up with as many deer as Eric, which in my mind is no mean feat as the man is a glassing machine!
This is a public land hunt and pressure can be heavy in areas. Don't let this discourage you, the majority of hunters are driving or hiking about with no real idea how to hunt these little deer. I watched deer I was glassing go to ground as hunters walked within 100 yards of them. Once the hunters were past, they simply resumed feeding. The folks at CGS do a good job moving away from the pressure and into good vantage points. They know the country exceptionally well.
The first two and a half days produced does, spikes and forks, but no shooters. The morning of day 3 produced for one member of our party, with a 3pt western count (8 pt eastern). That afternoon, @cbvanb scored with an incredible 450 yard cross canyon shot in high winds. I will remember that shot for a long time!
Eric and I left the boys to deal with @cbvanb's buck and headed to a good overlook. When we arrived we found that a memo must have gone out on the spot and a number of hunters were already set up glassing. Not feeling sociable, we set out prospecting in new country. Eric commented that we had been doing everything right and we just needed a little luck to turn our way. Moving into new territory we picked out a likely knob and hiked in to set up and glass. Within five minutes I picked up two bucks at 1,077 yards. Both were mature, but one was a definite shooter! We were running out of daylight fast so the stalk went into overdrive. As luck would have it, we were able to get into a very good shooting position at about 350 yards and the .325 WSM took its second Coues buck, and what a buck it was! I really don't know how you describe this buck, but suffice to say he has 6 points on one side and 3 on the other when counting eye guards. The short side was the result of a broken main beam. I don't give a flip for the record books, so this was just added character to me. I must admit that I wonder what he would have been with his rack intact!
Eric got a gleam in his eye and said he wanted to pack the buck out whole. We were over a mile from the road but who am I to discourage a friend's dream? I emptied his pack into mine and we loaded the field dressed buck onto Eric's pack whole. He made it, but was second guessing his decision not to bone the buck out before the pack was in the bed of the pickup!
We went back into the new area the fourth and final morning and our last hunter tagged out. We believe that we glassed ten different branch antlered bucks that morning. Remember, this is public land!
The bottom line, Simon Crawford and his team know Coues deer. I hope to hunt with CGS as long as my legs will get me into that country.
