Unit 13, 3rd season Deer

[AZMZHunter]

Does anybody have any opinion on the deer hunting in unit 13? I dont have access to private property and was wondering if anybody has had luck on the State Trust Land parcels south of craig? Are the STL parcels big enough to hunt? Are there alot of other hunters? Will the deer stay on the state land long enough to hunt before heading for private property?

 

[elks96]

Hard unit for a public land hunter to hunt. If you look at the map it is one of the units in the state with the least amount of public land. To get an idea look at the State unit map. It will show the public land vs. private. The public land will get hammered and unless you are willing to really hunt hard and hike some stupid steep country, you will not get away from other people.

The private land hunting in the unit is good, but nearly all of it is outfitted and leased and the managers can be real aholes to deal with. I have only hunted the unit 2 times and both times took good bucks, but both times I wasted a 1/2 day proving that I did not trespass. I basically hiked 2 miles across the BLM up and down nasty cliffs etc. to hunt.

Other than opening day or in the unlikely event that an outfitter blows up a group, do not expect much of anything on teh state lands. The blm along the south west side of the unit is harder to access, but is real tricky to figure out. A good mapping GPS is key to staying on public grounds and the only way I have avoided getting tickets in the unit 2 times.

I am assuming that you are coming from out of state? If so I would not consider it worth the time and money. I only hunted it because it was available as a left over while I built points. Traditionally the unit has left overs due to the access issues and the outfitters love to have those extra tags for last minute bookings etc.

Here are the 2 bucks my wife and I took last time I hunted it. Nothing great, I however hated the lack of land and the crowding we felt. It was one of those hunts where you felt pressured to out run everyone on the mountain, and where you were more concerned about making plans around other hunters than you were about the animals....

I spent years in the unit spraying weeds and accessing all sorts of private land. I have seen some really great bucks in the unit, but access is nearly impossible.

If you do decide to hunt it, PM me and I will give you my favorite spots as I never intend to hunt the unit again...

Here is my wife's buck from the last year we hunted it buck...


My buck... He had a good start, but just not real old yet... In that unit if you want to fill your tag on public land you do not pass a buck like this(or my wife's buck for that matter)...





The south end of the unit looks like this the river bottom on the right is all private that checker boards up to the left. On the left you have more BLM ground, but it is steep, and cliffs out etc. We would spend an hour to 2 hours managing the cliffs before daylight to get into out hunting spot. Both bucks were killed withing 300 yards of each other just 2 days apart.



A look up hill!!!

 

[Cohntr62]

Doesn't the same tag also include units 12,23,and 24? Why do you feel confined to 13? Forget 24 for 3rd season, but 12 and 23 have similar hunting to 13 with better access to public lands. There are plenty of BLM and state lands to check out. By the way, my sons and I plan to be in 23 the 3rd season with deer and bull elk tags. We have our sights set on an area we did well at 2 years ago and never saw another hunter, but you never know where the game will be until you find them. We like to hunt the oak brush.

 

[elks96]

>Doesn't the same tag also include
>units 12,23,and 24? Why do
>you feel confined to 13?
>Forget 24 for 3rd season,
>but 12 and 23 have
>similar hunting to 13 with
>better access to public lands.
>There are plenty of BLM
>and state lands to check
>out. By the way, my
>sons and I plan to
>be in 23 the 3rd
>season with deer and bull
>elk tags. We have our
>sights set on an area
>we did well at 2
>years ago and never saw
>another hunter, but you never
>know where the game will
>be until you find them.
>We like to hunt the
>oak brush.


Yes but he only asked about 13... I told him my experience in 13. I agree that the the other units open up some good country, but it gets pretty crowded as well. The only thing I liked about 13, was no one would get off the road. In the other units I often ran into horse back hunters, more ATVs, etc. There are some good chunks of walk in area only, that thins the number of people out some... I would suggest the other units over 13.

 

[Cohntr62]

>>Doesn't the same tag also include
>>units 12,23,and 24? Why do
>>you feel confined to 13?
>>Forget 24 for 3rd season,
>>but 12 and 23 have
>>similar hunting to 13 with
>>better access to public lands.
>>There are plenty of BLM
>>and state lands to check
>>out. By the way, my
>>sons and I plan to
>>be in 23 the 3rd
>>season with deer and bull
>>elk tags. We have our
>>sights set on an area
>>we did well at 2
>>years ago and never saw
>>another hunter, but you never
>>know where the game will
>>be until you find them.
>>We like to hunt the
>>oak brush.
>
>
>Yes but he only asked about
>13... I told him my
>experience in 13. I agree
>that the the other units
>open up some good country,
>but it gets pretty crowded
>as well. The only thing
>I liked about 13, was
>no one would get off
>the road. In the other
>units I often ran into
>horse back hunters, more ATVs,
>etc. There are some good
>chunks of walk in area
>only, that thins the number
>of people out some... I
>would suggest the other units
>over 13.


I liked your pictures and would not pass on those bucks. I've never hunted it, but I've driven along the road on the north side of the Williams Fork and know there is quite a bit of BLM on the hills, but a lot of it has private between the road and BLM. I guess you made the effort to get up there. Did you see elk?

 

[elks96]

Elk were there, but I was not looking for them. I would bump a couple everyday, or see them just on the other side of the line, etc. I never hunted it for elk, but with work a person could find some elk. However the amount of work that it took to get the bucks out would really make me hold out for a toad of an elk. Too much work for some pisscutter bull or a cow.