Unit 18B Rifle Deer Hunt 2019 October

Got into hunting about 3 years ago. I hunt locally where I live, but it's crowded and not any success yet. I love to visit Arizona and vacation there, and wanted to hunt there so I applied and won a Mule Deer Rifle tag for this October. I figured I would have a better chance out of state. Can't wait to go but I'm not sure where to look for deer in an area like this.

I want to avoid crowds, and I want to harvest a deer more that get a trophy. I hear the southwest quadrant is a good area. Should I be hunt the north facing slopes of the drainage's?

The harvest rates seem really good to me, but of course, if you're not experienced like me that makes it more difficult.

Should I try to go as high as possible, or are those areas in the southwest viable? There's Muley Mtn, Deer Mtn,.........any of higher areas a good spot, or are the deer hanging around the big Burro Creek that transects the unit?

Should I just try to camp on BLM land near where I'm hunting?

Another question: Any quail in this unit?

Thanks!

Eric

Check out the areas that fish & game suggest for that unit as its a good place to start. Make some scouting trips & put boots on the ground before your hunt.

I have hunted the unit a few times. The G&F website has some good information for you to get started. All of it pretty accurate IMO.

https://www.azgfd.com/hunting/units/kingman/18b/

I would highly recommend camping in the unit. Give yourself an extra couple hours of sleep every night instead of driving. Since you're relatively new to hunting mule deer, I recommend you get a copy of this book. Read it several times before your hunt.

https://www.abebooks.com/book-searc...ays-trophies/author/jim-norman-tom-carpenter/

"You can fly a helicopter to the top of Everest and say you've been there. The problem with that is you were an a$$hole when you started and you're still an a$$hole when you get back.
Its the climb that makes you a different person". - Yvon Chouinard

I hunt Javelina in 18b every year and see some nice bucks. Never hunted deer there though. Try Upper/lower trout creek road. The trip back in and up and over the mountain is quite far. 45 minutes for me. Unless it rained real hard don't go this route. The river, when you enter the mountain, will flood real bad, and dont cross unless you have a small boat, hahaha! The area you'll be looking at will be the east side of the range. Not allot of bucks so go high and spot. Also coming from the south side, if the river is flooded, you can enter at mile marker ? (drawing a blank, its on the fish and game web site) Hopefully you have a truck to take you back in. There will be other hunters in there, so don't worry about being alone. Camp out of your truck (I do) and hunt high and use your spotting scope and bino's to locate the deer.

The mile marker on Highway 93 to the Burro Creek turnoff is 134.