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KYBoy

Area 27 Water

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Howdy,

 

I am trying to bowhunt deer in the Northern half the Blue Range Primitive Area this September. I am new to Arizona hunting. Just moved here in 2017 and haven't hunted yet. I called Fish and Game, they said they haven't filled any tanks in 27 this year. Does anyone know of any places currently holding water in 27? I have done a lot of e scouting, but hard to tell where there will be any water with the drought this summer. I am thinking of hunting areas that burned in 2011.

 

Many thanks in advance

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Lots of water in 27 now. Tanks are all full. Most of the unit has received 10+ of rain since mid july. Shouldnt need to focus your time around water holes.

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Best advice is a pair of decent 15s and a tripod. AZ is a whole other animal compared to back east.

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Maybe I suppose in some ways. But 27 is far more glassable than what I grew up with. My point still stands. For a guy from KY optics and tripod are a must!

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Better deer hunting in your opinions. Bear Wallow or Blue Range?

Bear wallow is basically completely burned. Good glassing country now where it used to be rainforest thick. The blue has some burned area but still has a lot of thick timber.

 

If you haven’t already put boots on the ground and determined some good ambush areas, at this point in the game you’re probably better off to stick to the open stuff and glass. That thick stuff can be tricky and has taken me years to figure out good treestand locations, but now that we have them they produce.

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Thanks matty. I was planning on glassing, having never been there. How crowded is this area with backpackers and other hunters in September? I looked at a few trails 1-2 miles away from where I want to hunt. USFS said their usage is 'medium'. That frightens me as I like to be away from people. I can always push deeper into the backcountry, I just don't know how popular the area is for other recreation.

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You wont run into very many people once you get a mile off the roads. Especially in early season.

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You wont run into very many people once you get a mile off the roads. Especially in early season.

 

^This. 27 is a fantastic area for backpacking if you enjoy to hunt that way. I love to backpack, but usually do that on the late hunts in the desert where the units get hit harder & just road-camp and hike in during the early hunt. Sometimes we go days without seeing another person, other days you see a few hikers. Hit or miss. Obviously you see more hikers & hunters on the weekend then you will in the middle of the week. I've had deer around me within 20 yards of my treestand while hikers were going by on the hiking trail about 80 yards away. Deer watched them go, then went back to eating. Hikers had no idea that me or the deer were even there.

 

You can go deep if you want to, but you don't have to to still have a great hunt. IF you're unfamiliar with the area, there's a value to being able to use the roads to cover lots of ground quickly, where as if you backpack in your investing huge amounts of time in an area you may end up not finding what you like. If it's your first time there, I'd save the pack trips for until you know exactly where you want to be and treat this hunt more as a scouting mission with the hope of getting a shot. But that's just my .02.

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