Hunting help

[krink]

I need help concerning how to hunt.  I have hunting whitetails in Illinois for 13 years or so.  We hunt them from stands and sit on food plots and trails.  In Illinois it is easy to guess whitetail movements rather easily.  

I am stationed on Ft Huachuca AZ (southeast part of AZ, about 15 miles from the boarder).  They dont have "normal" deer here.  They have coues deer.  I dont know how to hunt them.  I dont know how these deer act as well as how they go about their day to day lives.  I cant go set up a stand because the trees are not all that tall so I have to hunt off the ground.  I have never hunted off the ground except for gun season.  

So what does a guy from Illinois need to know or do when hunting in the high desert?  I plan on going scouting this weekend while trying for some coyotes.  Wat do I need to look for while I am out?  Do I place more importance on water locations than areas with food?  What kind of food does Coues eat?  I know you cant teach someone how to hunt over the web but some pointers help a bunch.  

Mods if this is the wrong place Im sorry.

Kyle

[Shedrock]

Setting up on a remote spring or other water source can be very productive. Spot and stalk will work also. I have hunted Coues whitetails only once, and it was the toughest hunt I had been on.

I hunted the southwest part of the state about 12 miles from the border. We saw some decent mule deer in that area as well. They may be a bit easier to stalk than the little, wary, Coues deer.

Get Dwight Schuh's book, "Hunting Open Country Mule Deer", that book will help you a bunch on your quest for Coues or mule deer.

I am far from an expert on Coues deer, but know they rut around mid January, and can be more vulnerable at that time of year.

I'm hoping to get back down there for round 2 on them little buggers in Jan 2012. Good luck to you.

[RookieBwhunter]

Get a great pair of binoculars (or spotting scope) and footwear... Hunting down in your area in the early season focus on water holes. If you want to spot and stalk you can get up on a ridge before sun up and glass until you find deer, then watch them bed down. As you should have already noticed it gets hot really fast... well the deer will bed down quickly.. Don't pass up looking under lots of trees. You may find yourself covering a lot of ground - hence the good footwear. I would agree with Shedrock about the mule deer vs Coues stalking. January is definitely a better time for rutting deer as he mentioned. The only problem with January hunting is that if you do get a deer in January... you are done for the year! Only 1 deer per calendar year in AZ!    

[krink]

Thanks for the info.  I never thought of watching them bed down and then attack from there.

I am not too worried abotu the one deer a year.  I only have another  year and a few months left here before I get out.  What gets me is you can only shoot bucks.  I have always said antlers cant feed my family and it may be harder to find the bucks.  I do know where there are alot of does are though