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Coues (Whitetail) Deer* (properly pronounced "cows", but most pronounce it "coos") "If someone should conduct a beauty contest among the game animals of the Southwest, I have no doubt the Arizona whitetail would win hands down. . . . the Arizona whitetail is an exquisitely lovely thing." J. O'Connor Check out our exclusive DVD on Arizona Coues Deer! The Coues Whitetail Deer is a small subspecies of white-tailed deer found in Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. Coues deer are most common in Arizona's southeastern mountains, but range up to the edge of the Mogollon Rim and into the White Mountains. They are mostly found in areas of predictable summer rain, prefer wooded areas of chaparral, oak, and pine, with interspersed clearings and are usually found at higher elevations than mule deer. These deer have many different names: some say cow, some say coos, some call them the Desert Whitetail, even the North American Indians have a name for them - the "Grey Ghost" - due to their uncanny ability to vanish from view in the smallest amount of cover. Many people consider Coues deer to be the most challenging big game animal to hunt. Description The Coues white-tailed deer is one of the smallest deer in America, much smaller than most of its eastern cousins. Coues deer stand just over 30 inches tall at the shoulder and measure about 56 inches from head to tail. A large field-dressed buck will rarely exceed 80-90 pounds, although some can exceed 100 pounds. Does average about 65 lbs. The Coues deer coat color varies from a grayish salt-and-pepper coat in winter to a more reddish-brown color in the summer. The face is marked with the classic signs seen on other subspecies of whitetail with white circles ("halos") around its eyes and a white band across the muzzle. The white throat patch tends to not be as pronounced as other whitetails. The most distinguishing characteristic of the whitetail is its long, broad tail. Coues deer tails are generally brown with a border of white on the topside and all white on the underside. Topside colors can vary from gray to reddish-black depending on the geographical area. They often carry their tail high as an alarm signal sometimes called "flagging" . The antlers consist of a number of tines coming up from a main beam which curves forward. Mature bucks generally have three to four tines per side. Fawns are usually born to coincide with the new growth following the summer rains usually early in the new year. They are born with numerous white spots on their coat which generally disappear after about 2 months. Arizona Hunt History The Coues white-tailed deer's cautious and suspicious demeanor coupled with its amazing ability at using cover rarely offers a hunter a standing shot once jumped. Maybe that's why it is gaining popularity with many of our nation's hunters. "The recent trend has been for this species to constitute an ever greater proportion of the statewide harvest. For example, whitetails comprised less than 15 percent of Arizona's deer harvest in 1961 but nearly 40 percent in 1998.

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