DIY Mexico Coues Deer Hunts

Your hunt costs $3,000. This is the base cost to access and hunt the private ranch land we hunt. If you do not kill a deer - for any reason - this is the total price of the hunt. If you kill (or wound and do not recover) a buck, you pay a trophy fee (regardless of the size) of $1,000.

• Immediate: We require a $1,500 non-refundable deposit to book your hunt.
• 10/1/2023: Rifle permit information due.
• 1/1/2024: $1,500 remaining balance paid by check.
• 1/13/2024: $1,000 Cash or Cashiers Check Trophy Fee due (will be returned to you at the end of the hunt if you do not kill a deer).
• 1/13/2024: Cross into Mexico for a week of DIY Coues deer hunting.

Ranch assignments are made according to the following priority criteria:

1. Return hunters who make deposits by May 1, 2023.
2. New and Return hunters (with deposits made after May 1) in the order deposits are received.

We're prioritizing groups based on when deposits are made. Ranch assignments will start in May. At that time, we will send a ranch information packet (with info on each of the ranches) to the group with highest priority. That group will have 48 hours to select a ranch.  After their selection is complete, we will send the packet to the next highest priority group, and so on until all ranch spaces are accounted for.

All of the ranches we are hunting are good ranches with excellent trophy potential. But you should make your desposit as soon as possible to ensure your choice of ranch is available.

If a ranch has 4 total spaces available, and your group has only 2 hunters, we will place two more hunters on the ranch with you, and you will need to work together to effectively hunt the ranch.

Tips are not included in the cost of your hunt. We recommend 10-20% of the total hunt price be set aside for tipping, and should be split between the ranch cowboy, Adan, the ranch owner, and your cook (if you hire one).

Our Mexican partners rely on the revenues and gratuities from these hunts to live on throughout the year, to explore new ranches, to maintain roads, to place salt and trail cameras, and to further develop The Mountain Project's hunting opportunities in Sonora.

The price of your hunt does include food and a cook (cocinera) from the local community who will stay at camp and prepare authentic meals for you.

You need to provide all snacks, beverages, and water for the week.

The table fare is traditional Mexican food. Expect simple, tasty meals like tacos, and burritos. The beans and tortillas are all made on site.

Unfortunately we cannot accommodate special dietary requirements such as vegan or gluten free. If you have special dietary restrictions that are contrary to traditional Mexican cooking, you will need to bring and prepare food for yourself.

We recommend everyone bring at least a few freeze-dried meals they can digest easily.

Different ranches have different options. Some have nice ranch houses with running water (don't drink it), beds, and showers. Others have very few amenities. We've literally slept in chicken coups on some ranches.

The Basic Hunt price is a "Truck Camp" price. So plan on bringing tents and not having a roof over your head. Depending on the ranch you hunt, staying in the ranch house might be an option. These details will be discussed as we get closer to the hunt date.

There is always an element of risk when traveling to Mexico, whether you're hunting or not.

Over the years we've developed relationships with the locals such that they expect and welcome us each year. We also take what precautions to avoid areas that trouble is likely to find unsuspecting tourists. These precautions include traveling as a group and only during daylight, and avoiding population centers as much as possible.

Hunting is hunting.

Some years, and some ranches you struggle. Other years it seems to come easy. You never know.

It's important to understand that you're paying for a hunt, not for a trophy.

We've found that the harder we're willing to work, the more likely we are to find big deer. Big deer are big deer for a reason. Even though it's Mexico, they aren't found under every juniper tree. Some ranches don't have a lot of road access, in which case you should be prepared to put some miles in to get where they are, and stay out all day.  A good number of the deer we kill are found and killed between 11 am and 3 pm every year. If you plan to hunt the morning and evening only, understand that half of your hunt is spent in camp where you're highly unlikely to find deer. And that's on you.

It's important that you come prepared to hunt hard, and get away from the roads.

The average deer killed in Sonora is less than 100", and is probably closer to 90 than 100. What you see on Instagram are remarkable animals. You don't see the vast majority of smaller bucks that bring the average down.

The reason to hunt Sonora is to chase Coues deer with a rifle during the rut. The actual rut. Not Arizona's December pre-rut hunt. And to hunt Coues deer on property that you have to yourself. And to experience the culture of rural Eastern Sonora.

That said,  you should expect to find deer between 95" and 105" on all of our ranches, with higher-scoring deer always a possibility. We have seen or killed 110" on each ranch we are hunting in 2024.

We are happy to provide a guide for your hunt if you'd like help finding and killing a deer. You should especially consider this if this is your first time hunting Coues deer. They can be tricky to find, and tricky to kill.

The added cost for a guided hunt is $3,000.

Please let us know as soon as possible if you'd like to do this. No later than October 1, 2023 to ensure we can confirm a guide we know and trust.