Late archery deer

JohnColter · Oct 6, 2011

Greetings all. I'm a long time hunter from MT, and I just had a buddy move down to AZ. He picked up a non-permit archery deer tag and I'm thinking about joining him for a week or so in January. I think he got the tag good in 8,9...etc but I'm not certain. He just called me last night so not entirely sure on the details and I'm just begining my research. Anyway I'm not asking for areas, he's down there scouting it now. I was just looking to BS about the hunt conditions, quality, what to expect etc. If anyone has any non-permit late archery sucess pics big or small I'd love to see a few. This being my first hunt in AZ I would likely take any medium size buck (I have 2 other buck tags this year, one premo). Honestly I'm just looking forward to exploring a new state with my buddy, even If I don't fill my tag it will be time well spent. Anyway I hope to get some feedback. Hope everyone has great season!

muleymaniac · Oct 6, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Oct-06-11 AT 08:18AM (MST)[p]
kinda depends where you intend to hunt - you mention 8-9

well 8-9 are justa few of the units open for archery deer in Jan.

rds in unit 9 can be fairly torn up and muddy - depending on the winter.

Unit 8 is abigger unit and has better rds to get you into the remote areas. there are some rd restrictions in 8 and you need to get a map from the fs in williams - not a big deal but mostly a pain in the ass- but it does give you a detail map of all the rds in theunit

Both have good quanites of deer- in 8 you can even run into whitetails!

JohnColter · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks for the info. Not sure exactly where his tag is for or where he plans on hunting...gonna give him a call soon. The more I look into it I would rather buy a javelina tag instead. I have literally killed over 100 deer in my life but have never even laid eyes on a javelina. I'm a little confused about the tag process for javs...I see a non-permit arcery tag but not exactly sure about areas or seasons? My buddy said I would have to buy it by oct 10?

JohnColter · Oct 6, 2011

OK found the jav info...think I'm gonna do the non-perm archery tag rather than the deer tag...any advice out there?

JohnColter · Oct 6, 2011

Ok so actually I'm going for the 5802 tag. Anyone know what draw/success rates are?

ruthunter · Oct 6, 2011

Hunterstrailhead.com will show you draw odds...

coues79 · Oct 6, 2011

I dont see a hunt number of 5802, perhaps you mean 5082? Anyways, you are going to have to buy a Non-Resident hunting license and apply for that hunt. Javelina hunts generally have left-over tags for a lot of units. That hunt 5082 has 1500 tags, so I would imagine that you would draw that hunt.... but who knows, maybe you won't.

If you are going to hunt javelina and apply, you can do so at www.azgfd.gov through the online application process that just recently came back online. When you do this, you will buy your 2012 non-resident hunting license at the time that you apply. Make sure to have a printer so you can print it out when your done.

If you buy the non-permit deer tag, which is an OTC tag, you will also have to use the non-resident hunting license that you bought while applying for javelina.

The OTC deer tag can be purchased if you decide that you want to buy one when you get down here. They are easy to get, go into a license dealer and they'll have them behind the counter. The season is liberal in time and in units that you can hunt. Check out the 2011-2012 hunting regs for "archery deer" and it'll tell you the open units.

Good luck. You'll might be done hunting javelina when you kill your first one. They stink pretty bad, like a skunk. Make sure not to get any of the secretion from their scent gland on you..... nasty stuff. They are pretty fun to hunt though...

JohnColter · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks for the info, ya it was 5082. I just bought my license and applied for the tag. Looks like a pretty good chance I'll draw it. I've heard about the smell, can't wait to experience it myself!! Has anyone tried calling for them?