Without question and for quite some time now, it's been Coues whitetail deer.
I've never seen a Coues, but I know there are a lot of aficionados.
What is it that makes Coues a favorite?
The remoteness. The terrain. The weather. The wariness of a whitetail buck that's pursued on a daily basis by mountain lions, the occasional jaguar, the occasional red wolf, coyotes, bobcats, black bears and humans. The difficulty of trying to even see an animal that's so incredibly camouflaged. And the allure of chasing specific older age-class bucks that are virtually unseen, in an ecosystem that's beyond challenging. Not to mention how petite and beautiful they are.
Used to be that Dall sheep were my favorite big game animal to pursue. That was the case for about 15 years or so. Now it's Coues whitetail deer and that's been the case for about 20 years or so. Currently, second place belongs to mountain goats and older age-class brown/grizzly bears. Dall sheep have fallen to fourth place, behind desert bighorn sheep and California bighorn sheep (tied in third place). Older age-class mule deer -- Sonoran, Rocky Mountain and Pacific (sub-species) -- are tied in fifth place.
