I took my first trip to chase Coues in Dec of 2017 and while I saw Coues almost daily I wasn't able to turn up any bucks I wanted to take. I also took a prickly pear about 2" deep in the back of my calf mid hunt while hiking in the dark!
Fast forward to 2018 I was determined to take a Coues. I did a lot of research and ended up applying for a different unit than the previous year that would allow me to do more day hunts and pack in if I wanted or needed. This would allow me to cover areas faster than I could in the previous unit. Packing in somewhere is great if your on em but you can eat up a lot of time if your dealing with issues such as packing in, finding water, relocating camp if you need to move. All this time is time your not behind your glass. On a 5 day hunt this is a big deal. Some units lend themselves to backpacking due to where game is located.
I was excited to learn I had drawn my unit of choice as it wasnt a sure thing with 0 points as a NR. Now it was time to really narrow down areas and come up with a game plan. I was pretty excited to get down there. I knew the deer would have plenty of pressure prior to my hunt as archery season, a youth rifle, and 2 other rifle seasons for a combination of over 2000 other hunters would be in that unit prior to my hunt.
Day 1:
The 26 hr drive from Indiana was fairly uneventful as I left on Friday morning and arrived Saturday with a couple hours left of daylight. On my way in I paid attention to how many camps where in the area and the pressure didn't seem all that high a few camps where around and almost everyone was back at camp when I was driving in! Once I arrived at the area I wanted to hunt I quickly changed grabbed my pack and headed out to the hills. On my way in I noticed some 4wheeler tracks that looked as if one or two hunters had been in that area one time recently. On my way in I noticed trash left by guys illegally crossing the boarder. The one that really stood out was a can of sardinas, of all the things to bring while crossing into America a can of sardines made the list for someone
. As I worked my way towards where I was going to glass I bumped a group of does which I thought was a good sign as deer were in the area and it was fairly close to where most guys would be entering this area. Most likely those deer wouldn't be bedded that close if a lot of hunters were coming back there. I also noticed several rubs, a scrape, and a lot of droppings 
. My evening glassing session turned up 2 Coues does and a pack of Javelina. My view as I crested the ridge back to the car.
Day 2:
I got in quietly and was in my glassing position well before first light to let things settle down. I glassed until 9am before turning up a couple Coues does about 800 yds away to the south. Around 10am I glassed up another doe further to the south about 1000 yds away. I quickly noticed that like the previous day everything was further south and in and around the Ocotillo. I stayed in that spot until around 10:30 and decided I was going to reposition further south to open up more areas I wasn't able to see. Once it position I glassed for about 30 min and realized this area looked really good as the area had good bedding cover mixed with good feeding areas. I decided to give my eyes a small break and eat lunch. I took about a 15 min break and just took in the views. I then resumed glassing just as it started to lightly rain. I wasn't glassing long and spotted a buck about 2/3 way up a ridge about 600yds away feeding mid day in the Ocotillo. I could see he had at least 3 points on one side and the G2 on the other side looked pretty decent for a Coues. I decided he was good enough for me and ranged a few areas. It looked as though I could get to about 300 yds from the deer and the stalk was on. I snuck through a wash and kept out of sight to not unintentionally spook any deer I wasn't aware was in the area. Once I got near the shooting position I put my binos up to quickly check to see if he was there and to my surprise he hadn't moved. I got set up for the shot and then wasn't able to refind the buck. I spend 10 min looking and decided to put my binos on a tripod. Once on the tripod it didn't take long to pick up a ear twitch and pick him back up. He had moved a little from where he was previously. I steadied the rifle and at the shot the deer flipped on its back and I could see legs kicking. I laughed and excitedly said I got one. I had a decent mark on where he was however the cover in the hillside prevented me from going straight to him. Upon getting to where I thought he was I was suprised to not see him. I grid searched for the better part of 1 hr and could not find him! This area had a lot of cover and I basically had to be within 10-15 ft to see the buck which was tough as a lot of areas the Ocotillo were pretty thick and I was blocked from walking through. I finally looped around one area and came across the buck which had turned over and only the gray back was visible.
View from first glassing spot
Coues Doe at 800 yds towards the sun through my 15x binos.
Buck in comparison to my pack
The next few days I chased some quail around and was able to harvest 13 Gambels quail. I tried to find some scaled quail but my attempts were basically armed nature hikes.
