southern arizona...what is hunting like?

27 April 2002, 04:12

Big Sky

Prior to living the good life here in Utah I lived for 10 years in Arizona. Seven of those years were in southern Arizona about 80 miles south of Tucson. Here's what you can hunt in AZ in theory. I say in theory because some tags you have to draw for and that can be difficult with some animals. Mule deer, coues deer, desert bighorn sheep, elk, black bear, javelina, antelope, at least 3 different species of quail, mourning doves, whitewing doves, bantail pigeons, and turkeys. There's also more coyotes, mt.lions, foxes, and bobcats than you can shake a stick at. Add squirrels and rabbits to the mix and you can stay pretty busy. Plus there is some outstanding warm water fisheries. I may have missed a critter or two, but my point is there's no shortage of things to hunt or wildlife to look at. The only real drawbacks are trying to draw tags for elk, antelope and sheep, and then there's the scorpians, snakes both rattle snakes and corral snakes, monster triantulas (sp?), and Gila monsters. Other than that it's a nice place.

27 April 2002, 04:50

<zadok>

Wait till you see those antelope jackrabbits
you'll think your seeing a deer.

Great varmit calling year round.
Bear Hunting will also be very good!

27 April 2002, 05:18

<BigBores>

Dr. John,

I've hunted AZ for over 20 years. It's a unique state, one of only a couple that has all 7 climate regions within it's borders. From low lying desert, to above 10,000 ft. That gives us a wide game variety if you look at the state as a whole. There are several difficulties with hunting in this state, however.

First as has been stated some tags can be difficult to draw. Forget about "automatic" draws for deer or elk. The state is divided up into 40-odd "game management" areas. Each area is unique in the type of game as well as availible tags for the different species. Your chance of draw success is directly related to which game area you apply in, and what species you apply for. Some species/areas are near impossible to get tags in, while others are less difficult. If you have your heart set on a Kiabab mule deer (read trophy-class possible), you might wait 10-12 years for a tag. If, however you just want to hunt a deer, there are some areas in S. AZ. that are almost guaranteed a tag each and every year. These are Coues deer, a small member of the whitetail family, and a monster buck will go just over 100 lbs. At least you will be hunting...(I have only NOT gotten a deer tag ONCE in the last 12 years).

The same is also true to a lessor extent for elk, forget about the "hotspot" areas like 6 A/B or 7, that's where every swinging joe is putting in for as well. Your chances of winning a draw are slim to none. You might go 10+ years without a tag. There are other areas that will yield more tags per applicant, and you stand a better chance of getting that tag. I average an elk tag every 3 years, and I have 100% success in filling my elk tag when I get one (I am NOT a trophy hunter!!).

We are still in a drought situation in AZ and have been for many years. We have been under our normal rainfall (which isn't much anyway) for quite a while. That means that there are fewer deer and elk, and fewer tags are issued. This will change as the seasons weather patterns change. When the rainfall returns, game populations will rise and tag numbers will increase again. This is a record low year for availible deer and elk tags availble, due to the drought, which also effects chances of being drawn.

The rainfall issue will come and go in a natural cyclic pattern, while the population increase (and corresponding increase in hunters), will only continue. The name of the game here is definately - mind what areas you put in for, or you may not hunt much. I hope that helps, feel free to email me if you have other questions.

29 April 2002, 00:07

Eterry

My brother-in-law lives in Glendale, and I understand he has to try to get drawn for almost everything. And I know from talking to him that like previously stated, sometimes you have a several year wait to hunt the good areas. That is why everytime I hunt for deer or a turkey I give him a call, to rub it in.

Good luck and good shooting

29 April 2002, 01:12

<Matt_G>

quote:
Originally posted by zadok:
Wait till you see those antelope jackrabbits

You mean jackalopes? Oh yea, they get huge down there. I seen one once that was big enough to stand flat footed and fuck a Shetland pony.

------------------
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

29 April 2002, 15:39

<Robin>

BigBores gave you a pretty good picture of hunting here. The great thing about hunting souther Arizona is the availability of places to hunt. Only about 15% of the state is privately owned,thus there are few "No Trespasing" signs. There is also something a little magic about hunting the mountains that were home to the Chircuahua Apache.

------------------
Robin
from Tucson, AZ

29 April 2002, 15:59

<zadok>

NO, I mean a subspecies of Jack Rabbit
the Antelope Jack. I'm a native of Az
and lived there for forty years before
moving to Wa, state.

I have also seen Jaguars as a boy back in
the 60s, when I went out with my uncle, a hound man and govt trapper.

30 April 2002, 02:39

Kentucky Nimrod

If I lived in the desert SW again I'd have a good short haired bird dog. I hunted quail for 3 years in the Chiracauha Mountains in SE Arizona and its simply the best quail hunting I've ever done.

01 May 2002, 15:00

<merkelmeister>

It is all about the draw. take a bunch of money with you down here, so you can go out of state for all your big game hunting, since the draw on ly system completely eliminates any planning, any knowledge of an area, and any way to know you can hunt any year. I have only drawn elk twice in ten years. and deer on ly thre times in ten. turkey once, and javelina is the only sure bet.

The bad part is that you can not count on shooting at the same place twice. so you are always an outsider.

Now the good news: doves are a full limit every day you want to shoot, and no problems with places on public land.

Quail: It is a myth. stay away. no quail in Arizona anymore. especially none on public lands. too many snakes and stay away. no quail. I promised to tell everyone no quali. and no where to buy shotgun shells.

if you bowhunt, there is ready acces for deer and javelina.

gluck.