What Would you pick? Mine would be .257 Roberts "Mountain Rifle" with 100 grain Nosler BT at around 3,000fps with a synthetic stock and 1.5-6 or 2-7 Leupold or Bushnell Elite 4200.
Second Choice would be the venerable .270 with Winchester 130 grain BT in a like rig. Both would be light, accurate and lethal on small deer.

What Do U Think?

Good Shooting HBB

[ 12-27-2002, 21:48: Message edited by: hillbillybear ]

I've been around the Coues deer a bit(guided for Pusch Ridge in Mexico).
To me either rifle would be fine. As long as you could shoot it quickly and accurately to 400. Farther would be preferred in my opinion.

To me the real question is the choice of glass. And quite honestly I do not believe that you are looking at enough glass. These are small deer, in a lot of times plenty of cactus and can be a bit tough to see. I use a 6-20 Leupold with Premier dotz to 700, in a 6/06 with a 95 Nozler Bt at 3500.

Personally I would not want to go down there with less than 12 power on the top end. And to me the 6-20 Leo is just right.

Just my thoughts.

Where are you gonna hunt?

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Mark,
Thanks for your input. Right now I am looking at Southern Arizona, New Mexico, or SW Texas and gathering information about these areas.

Have you hunted in these regions and what is it like in Old Mexico?

HBB

Won't go Coues huntin' w/o at least 14x scope.

I've found the best glass needs to be in your binocs and spotting scope for these deer. While 6 or 7 would work especially with young eyes, having a little more power at long ranges, +300, is handy as is good light gathering capabilities. Try spotting dull objects at dusk. May sound silly but I'd take the one that hits a third the way up a 12" grayish colored cardboard box every time at the range I wanted to shoot and in the conditions I wanted to shoot, light wind, shooting sticks, etc.

I'd be very interested in what a Coues deer weighs and at what range they are generaly stalked at.

A 6x42 is perfectly usable for 200yd roe deer (35lb ready for the larder) in the UK. In fact it works for 300yd shots.

Given the requirements for a High Magnification scope has anyone used the 6 - 24 x 40 Bushnell Elite 4200 for this application?

I know they work well for our NC whitetails acroos soybean and cotton fields.

HBB

Hey 1894, most of the coues deer I have hunted weighted around the 55 to 70pound range that isthe ones in Texas. We call them Carman Mountain whitetail. I have taken them out past 350 yds.

As for a glass I have always used 6.5x20 leupold and have had no problem finding themin the crosshairs,as for a spotting scope and bino's 20 to 60 for a spotting and 7 to16 for bino's

I hope this helped

Doc

I think this is one area that the 257 Weatherby Mag would be perfect for, flat trajectory plenty of power, and low recoil for the performance. Used to have one, used it on whitetail deer.

Interesting - sounds very like Roe in size if that is a live weight. Our roe are about 35lb ready for the larder.

350 is a loooong shot but I can do 300 with my 6mmrem and 6x42. I use 7x42 binos for location and a 30x scope for sex/antler identification. I don't go past 200 unless it is absolutely imposssible to get closer and I'm under some pressure from the landowner/behind with the cull.

257 STW spitting 115 Combined Technology pills at 3567 fps (shot it yesterday).

You can skip you research on New Mexico. Our Bootheel Coues deer are in a closed management unit and has 75 tags for over 1500 applicants. There are Coues in the Gila Forest and mountains, but the cover is thicker and shots not nearly as far.

Never shot a Coues, but did take a mulie at 500 last year.......shooting sticks don't cut it after 250 yards, get a good bi-pod..........and take it with you.

Coues deer

A 300 wby is great for long range use soo is a 7 mm mag or fast 270.

Get what you like and can shoot with properly

Cheers
/ JOHAN

I grew up in Az hunting Cows deer every year. I use a 264 wm shooting 120 BTs at 3,490. The 7 mag using 120 at 3,500 is also a favorite of mine. 12x50 bino's are a real plus. You will have shots beyond 500 yards I guarentee it. Many Coues deer specialist kill these deer at distance and many use the 300 Weatherby. David Miller being one.

My partner and I find the highest peak in the area
hike to the top and glass the area in a 360 degree circle. This can turn into a stalk and shoot, sometimes one of us will stay on the peak, while keeping his eye on the deer he will use hand directions to direct the other one to encircle the deer for an ambush. When glassing we have spotted deer on barren hillsides with just a couple of 4 to 5 foot palo verde trees on the hill. The deer will curl itself around the tree and stick his horns up in the branches.
Flat shooting rifles are a dime a dozen.
What kind of bino's do you own? That's what matter's most in this type of hunting.
Out of any type of hunting I do, Hunting these little critters is the most rewarding.

Get yourself a pair of 15x56 Swarovski and a doubler and a very good tripod and you'll be sitting good. I use them along with another smaller pair of Swarovski's.

To me it's all about the glass. You gotta see them to hunt em.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Oh and one other thing do yourself a favor and don't even think about going it without a Leica range finder.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

A lot of the 1,000 yard benchrest guys around here use 20x 80 Binos made by, I believe,Celestron for spotting on the range. Would Something like this work for Coues glassing or is it too much?
HBB

What distance do you normally zero your rifle for Coues? 300 yards or would this make it too high for such a small target at say 150-175 yards?
Hbb

[ 01-03-2003, 04:23: Message edited by: hillbillybear ]

Yeah, I zero at 300 yrds. If it's a flat shooter, it won't be too high at 150 anyways. (you use your trajectory tabe that's taped to your stock anyways!!) I could recommend any rifle that shoots 120-140 grain pills at 3100+ fps. I'm using a 7mm WSM now. We should be talking abt accuracy though, rather than what caliber is best. They're easy to kill, they're just hard to hit at 300-500 yards across a breezy canyon!! I believe whatever gun, it must be a CONSISTANT sub MOA shooter. (hence, the MK's!!!)

I have a 300 yard zero on my rifles and use a
4.5x14x40 Leupold. I practice a lot using the top
of the bottom post/plex for longer shots.
You know what really helps me a lot... I do a lot
of canyon shooting on 12" to 18" rocks at long distance. You can really get to know your rifle by doing this. Also shooting jack rabbits at long
distance is a huge help. You start hitting jacks out to 400 yards and you will get that confidence to hit deer at that range and more.