AZ Fall Draw Results

[sumpnz]

Well, AZ G&F surprised me a little in that they just posted the results of the fall draw. Good news is I was drawn for the early November mule deer hunt in 30B. Bad news is I was not drawn at all for elk (I had put in for cow elk in 5B North and 5A). Oh well, at least I get to go hunting for the very first time this year.

My wife is going to be out of town with the baby for 3 weeks in August, so I'm thinking that'll be a great time to think about the initial scouting trip, with maybe another trip in late September/early October.

Anybody know much about the terrain in that unit? It sounds like it's a mix of plains, mountains, and riprarian habitat depending on where you go in the unit. The boundaries of the unit are the San Pedro River on teh west, highway 191 on the east, I-10 on the north, and the Mexican border on the south. It includes the Dragoon and Mule Mountains as well as the towns of Bisbee and Tombstone.

Any suggestions on places to start scouting in that unit will be appreciated. Also, I would assume that coyote populations are pretty high in that area, but if any of you know for certain I'd like more information. I was figuring a little predator control could double as target practice while scouting.

 

[RatFink]

I got October Turkey and Late October early November Mule Deer, both in unit 27.... woot.

 

[Len_in_Phoenix]

My results?

Deer - not drawn
Elk - not drawn
Antelope - not drawn


Nuthin' but bonus points. I'll just have to do my part to improve things for next year by reducing the coyote population a bit more



re: hunting in unit 30B
There is a guy who runs a jeep tour company in Tombstone who knows quite a bit about the local area....including the Dragoon mountains. You might drop in, buy him a beer, and purchase a tour of good hunting spots from him. No, I haven't done this already, but if I had been drawn for unit 30 that was my plan.

Len in PHoenix

 

[sumpnz]

Len, THanks for the tip. I'll have to pass it on to my hunting partner too. Sorry to hear you didn't get drawn. My hunting partner had 3 bonus points for deer which helped us quite a bit I'm sure. I was really hoping to get drawn for elk so I was kinda bummed there. Didn't bother to put in for antelope though.

Also, Len, I was thinking about helping out your antelope chances a bit by volunteering some time to help out with G&F's habitat rehabilitation program for antelope. They're working on clearing out non-native plants that obstruct the movements of the pronghorns. I need to remember to email the guy that's in charge of that.

 

[Fuzzy]

I got a Mule Deer tag in November for Unit 30A. I got skunked on Elk, Altelope, and Sheep.

sumpnz, the draw rate for your hunt in 30B is 98% so you probably would have gotten that tag even without the bonus points. Congrats though. I've been Javelina hunting in 30B. The west side of the Dragoons has pretty limited access with all of the houses going up around it. The land that I saw is pretty barren so a few scouting trips will really help out. The success rate for that hunt is 32% so that sounds like a good unit to get to know. With a draw rate like that you can count on going every year and a 32% success rate shows that there are deer in the unit, you'll just have to find them.

Get to know the ranchers in the area too. We hunt a ranch next door in 30A. It seems that the more times we go out to help with the chores the more gates get unlocked. We've been pretty successful too. We've had seven hunters out there in the last two years and we've taken three deer. So, our group's succes rate is 43% which is a lot better than the unit's average of 27%.

 

[sumpnz]

My hunting partner has about 5-10 acres in 30A, a little NE of Elfrida. We put in for that unit as our second choice though I suppose we probably should have put that as our first choice, but oh well.

We're probably going to scout the Dragoon Mts and Coronado Nat. Forest in August. Then in Sept/Oct we'll probably scout around the Mule Mts if we don't see anything that looks promising in the Dragoons.

If any of you have other suggestions on places to scout, bring 'em on! Any tips that lead to a deer being shot will be rewarded (venison, a couple homebrews, a good cigar, etc - pick your poison).

How big do the mulies in that part of the state usually get? My hunting partner seemed to think that 150# would be a big mulie, but I was under the impression that 200#+ was the norm for a mature buck. Supposedly in that unit most of the bucks will be 2-3 years old due to poor fawn recruitment last year. Also, what do you guys usually see as the ratio of actual meat to live weight (e.g. a 200# deer would yield say 50, 75, 100, 125 pounds of boned out meat).

 

[sumpnz]

One big question I have for this hunting unit (30B) is what the typcial range is at which most deer are shot. The reason I ask is I'm THIS CLOSE to buying Mojo sights for both of my mil-surplus rifles. If I go with the Mojo's I'm assuming that 150 yards would be about the upper limit for responsible range. But, if I put a scope on one of the guns I could reasonably extend that range to 250-300 yards if I do my part. Obviously I will attempt to get as close as I can, but if those longer shots are likely to be needed I would want the ability to take them. However, if 150 yards is a long shot anyway for that unit, then why spend the extra money on a scope and mount (I can put Mojo's on both rifles for the same cost as just the scope mount on one rifle).

 

[sumpnz]

Well, I've gone ahead and ordered the Mojo sights for both the Turk and the Swede. My hunting partner figures that if we see a deer (and it's my turn to shoot) that if the range, or light conditions are outside of what the Mojo's are good for he'll hand my his scoped rifle. Although I'd rather not use his stuff, if it's that or miss out on an otherwise perfect shot because the deer is at 220 yards (rather than 150), or light is fading too fast for the peeps to work, I'd rather use his stuff.

Not sure how long they'll take to arrive, but hopefully they'll get here in time for me to fit them to the rifles and shoot them next weekend. I'd like to get them sighted in ahead of the initial scouting trip in mid-August so that if we see any coyotes I might be able to try a little target practice before I have to do it for real with a deer.