It was tough finding deer down south too. I think the storm and bad moon phase had the deer hunkering down. Last night was better. That's my life though - boring, boring, boring, Jackpot!! Good luck.
Pretty much ruined the January rut hunts with their number quotas. Some units can only have 5 animals harvested before closing for the year. Think most of the units will already be closed before the late OTC hunts start.
Thanks for the info! I’m chasing some mulies come January! What dates would you say are the prime days of the rut for the south central/eastern part of the state?
The rut is really tough to predict in AZ. The drought conditions have affected the elk rut by delaying or prolonging it this fall. The same scenario could play out for deer. If we get precipitation, the deer rut should be going strong by early to mid-January. It's a safer bet to say the third or fourth week in January in 2024. The antler growth is great for most of the state. The upside with drier conditions is mule deer movement can generally be patterned better than a wetter year.
Welcome. The Payson area is awesome for elk. There are some deer but everywhere you scout you find elk instead in my experience. However, unit 22N is a good place to start for deer. There are coues and mule deer there but in low numbers. Unit 23 is great for coues especially in the southern part. If you want to find mule deer in the high country (where the bucks tend to be bigger) I would head north. If you like the midrange country you will like Unit 20A. The Flagstaff area is a great place to start as well. Unit 11M is really good as are the peaks above Flagstaff. Units 6B, 7W and 7E are good around Flagstaff too. Unit 36A, B, & C are straight south of Phoenix down on the border. Pockets of mule deer can be found in those units but mainly they have some of the highest coues deer populations in the state. Earlier rifle seasons have less illegal traffic than cooler months like December & January. Unit 36B is a great unit but lots of predators last year (coyotes & lions) and a fair amount of illegal sightings as well. Good luck this season. Arizona is one of the best states in the west for hunting big game. Tons of public land and easy winters for the animals.
@@timjewell8665 My pleasure. It just so happens I really scouted that Payson area hard last summer (for mule deer). It took me awhile to work my way up the northern part of Unit 6A. And that's where I started seeing them in decent numbers.
Thank you Sir. And thanks for always responding to emails too. Bear hunt was more of a deer scouting expedition, I think we should have headed to higher elevation. But either way it was a great trip.
