unit 41

EVILNR

Very Active Member
Messages
1,698
Hello all,

Longtime lurker, 1st time poster. First of all let me say that I have gathered mucho entertainment, knowledge and philosophical ponderings since I found MM. So I'm hoping I may acquire just
a bit of useful knowledge regarding an upcoming hunt.
Here's the deal, as an evil non-resident I have drawn a
unit 41 (AZ) deer tag for 11/7-16 with ONE BONUS POINT!
I live on the east coast so there will be no scouting
opportunities. I will be flying out, renting a car and
backpacking in. I am devoting the whole 10 days to this
hunt to make the most of it. I know it is a low density
area with big-buck possibilities, and a desert environment
but thats about it, soooooo.
Any help appreciated: road conditions, weather, problems
to expect, Illegals?, hunting tips, Flats or Foothills?
Temperatures?,processors? areas to avoid,etc....
Also, what would be considered a representative buck for this unit?
 
Sent you a PM

Roads: pick up or SUV should get you most places

Weather: expect temps possibly in the 90's but probably more like 70's or 80's during the day and maybe 40's at night, probably not much rain if any

Problems: getting away from other hunters

Flats or foothills: easy one...flats!

Temps: see weather

Processors: Closest ones would be in Phoenix or Yuma

Areas to avoid: heavily roaded areas

Representative buck: ??? who knows, but anything over 150 or so is a good one anywhere

PM me your email and I'll send some pics

Nick
 
Heat:
Thanks for your reply. I cant figure how to send a
pm so if you'd like you can reach me at [email protected]
That area you spoke of is actually what caught my eye when
researching the unit descriptions. Would love to hear more.
Thanks
 
Heat hit the nail on the head about the conditions.

I would recomend 15 power bino's and place them on a tripod. If all you have is 10 power place them on a tripod. The steadier you can get the binos the better.

Get up as high as you can and glass. Glass the little cut washes in the flats. Another way is to get a map and find every water hole you can find and sit water.

Also what looks green to us out here looks like Mars to you but if you get up high you'll see where its greener and where it's not and glass the crap out of it.
 
1. Hunt where you find sign, big track on water

2nd, when we say glass, it is to the point of insanity.
3rd, keep glassin
4th, see rule 1-3

Take everything you have read about mule deer in books and do the opposite. Desert muleys are a different game. Look for cattle, where there is cattle, there is food and water. Don't be affraid to glass in the middle of the day. The bucks in the flats have almost zero pressure, they will be up and down all day. Where you find 1 buck there WILL be several more.

And 5th, start glassing harder. You will get it!

Travis
www.southwesthuntingadventures.com
 
I was gonna send you to mesquitehunter and maddglasser but it looks like they already posted.


If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
funny_new_46.gif
 
Green Vegetation, Cut washes, Cattle, Big Tracks
and Glass, Glass, Glass,......all day. Got it! These
are the kind of tips I was looking for. thanks guys!

I have been to Phoenix once and yes, it did look like
Mars. But ever since then I knew I had to hunt there.
Just something about that desert.So different than
the jungle here in central Florida.

I got maps coming, a new eberlestock pack and working up
a load on my 7 Weatherby (new to handloading). Cant wait!!

thanks again
 
These desert deer water all hours of the day.

Keep in mind if you find a water hole such as a Game & Fish guzzler the birds usually have the tracks wiped out by noon.
So you will want to make wide circles around the H2O hole to find the tracks coming in. Usually the deer will have several spots they like to come in from so look around the fence and you'll notice if the tracks are fresh prior to the birds. Now if you find tracks on top of the bird tracks it's obviouse there are deer some where close so go find a hill and start glassing.

If you come across a stock pond you'll know how fresh the track is by the receding water line. The farther the track is from the water line the older. Again the cows wipe the tracks out as well so you need to do the same as what I mentioned above make wide cirles so you can evaluate the sign coming in.

Last but not least get a tripod for the binos it will dramatically improve your glassing . You can check out what the outdoorsman.com has to offer. I highly recomend you do that to make the best of your hunt. Because hunting desert bucks is a far cry from the alpine meadows of CO or any where else.

For the most part when the guys who are used to hunting Rocky Mountain Muleys come to the desert they get their a$$'s mopped up.
 
Thanks Mesquite,

Sounds like you know what your talking about with those
water holes......good stuff.

This hunt will surely be much different than what I am used to.
Gonna give it my best shot and enjoy the experience as much as possible. Maybe everything will come together.

Thanks again
 
The best advice i could give you from personal experience is glass the flats and desert washes and after your done doing that glass the flats and adjacent washes again.
 
Good luck in the desert. There has been some good advise given already. It is no cupcake. It should be good this year. I have heard that the rain has come and things are green. I have a few pals that drew some desert tags too. I hope they do well. It was hot as crap last year.
 
Hey Bux what did you draw this year? I'm looking forward to seeing ya'll this year.
 
Hoping that moisture grows some good desert racks. I'm buying some more lightweight stuff for the warm weather. I have a bit of a dillemma however, as I was planning a central Idaho
hunt on a general deer tag in Oct. I'm not sure if I want the
added expense of 2 out of state hunts, using alot of vacation time, and there's not much turn-around time between Id. and Az.
I could always go to Id. next year but ya never really know how
things are going to work out.HMMMMMM..... thoughts anyone?
 
If it were me I'd goto Idaho. You'll prolly do better up there than you would down in the desert. The AZ tag you drew is an easy tag to draw, So no worries there.

It takes years to really effectivly hunt deer in the deserts. You can go several days and not find a single deer and the whole time you've been glassing, they have been right there and you never even seen them. You'll be surprised how well they blend in at a mile away or more. When your glassing you aint looking for a whole body of a deer your looking for quick movement such as a twitch of an ear or maybe the shine of the rack.

Before I would come down here and hunt I would find an outfitter who specializes in the desert.
 
Why did you apply for a desert unit anyway? This is not "Primos" down here. If you get your knucles bloody enough you will learn it, until then, WOW it kinda sucks! But when you do learn it, you'll never hunt anywhere else.
 
HIRING A GUIDE MAY BE YOUR BEST BET CONSIDERING YOU PROBABLY DONT HAVE ALOT OF TIME TO SCOUT. FROM MY EXPERIENCE WHEN YOU LOCATE DEER THERE USUALLY BUNCHED IN THE SAME AREA IN THE 40'S UNITS. LOOK FOR WATER BEING HIT WITH TRACK AND GLASS,GLASS, GLASS.
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-03-08 AT 11:07AM (MST)[p]I think what you guys are saying about water is true, especially during an archery hunt, but I know a lot of folks just more or less drive around in those units, hitting waterholes along the way.

I have a feeling that during a rifle hunt with people driving around during all times of the day, the deer will be a little less keyed on using water during the day, particularly during the busy weekends. During the week might be a different story, when the weekend warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome rig types aren't out there. Just remember that these desert deer can go a few days without hitting water, especially if the forage has been good that season.

Just wanted to maybe point out that water is not the only thing to key on during a hunt like that.

I think some things we'll all agree on is that if you're not glassing, and doing mostly walking or driving, you're cutting your chances way down. I also totally agree that finding someone with experience in the desert to help you would really help your odds of killing a deer.

Oh, and between 41 and Idaho, no question, skip 41 and go north!

Nick
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-04-08 AT 01:59AM (MST)[p]Heat I agree, but last year we killed two bucks during rifle season on water after 9:00 am on water less than 100 yrds south of I-10 freeway.

The first buck was a 3x4 29" wide at 9:30 am Sunday

The second buck was a 4x4 32" wide at 10:45 am monday

Some years ago my brother shot a 30" 4x5 less than ten min after some quail hunters left the stock pond around 3:30 pm he was sitting and he shot that buck at 10 yards with a rifle. I shot a 25" forkey on the last day at 8:30 am the day after it rained two days after my brother on the same water hole.

The 4x4 I metoined above, we found him at 11:00 am on Sept 1st coming to water while we were dove hunting on the same waterhole he was killed this rifle season.

But these situations don't happen every day or every season. My partners and I have encounterd this luck from time to time. Most of the time we're stuck glassing till our heads explode.
 
Mesquite... No AZ tags for me this year. Did draw a NM 2b rifle tag and have a unit 9 es elk tag so I guess we will se what happens.
 

Arizona Hunting Guides & Outfitters

SilverGrand Outfitters

Offering mule deer, elk, antelope, bighorn sheep, javelina, and turkey hunts in Nevada and Arizona.

Arizona Elk Outfitters

Offering the serious hunter a chance to hunt trophy animals in the great Southwest.

A3 Trophy Hunts

An Arizona Outfitter specializing in the harvest of World Class big game of all species.

Arizona Strip Guides

Highly experienced and highly dedicated team of hardworking professional Arizona Strip mule deer guides.

Urge 2 Hunt

THE premier hunts in Arizona for trophy elk, mule deer, couse deer and javelina.

Shadow Valley Outfitters

AZ Strip and Kaibab mule deer, big bulls during the rut, spot-n-stalk pronghorn and coues deer hunts.

Back
Top Bottom