Yuma Outdoorsman

Just curious if anybody on this forum has ever been down to Yuma to pheasant hunt. They used to have this as a draw type hunt broken down into several different seasons throughout the fall. We always hoped for the later draws as the birds would color up better in October vs September. Now, it is an open hunt that follows the same dates as dove season. It has been an open hunt for a several seasons now and the pheasant are few and far between. Mix that in with the standing cotton we have left in September and it becomes really tough. We don't hunt them the "proper" way with a dog pointing them and flushing them. Instead, it becomes more of a spot and stalk or hope for them to be in an area where they think they are hidden. I am sure some people do use dogs and point them but we mostly hunt in or around the cotton fields and these pheasant won't flush easily; they usually just take off running and you can hear them on the dry leaves in the furrows. This season, we made it out several times but only managed 3 roosters. We saw 15 roosters and 3 hens total for the season. Most of the time, they run into the cotton and become almost impossible to find. We did trick a few though. The first one, he was outside of a cotton field about 50 yards. I glassed him and walked from the opposite side of the field to where he was. He saw me and immediately hunkered down in the border and thought he was hidden. I marked him and came up from behind him and he flushed at 15 yards. When chasing pheasant in Yuma, I tend to have longer shots more often than not so I prefer #2 steel shot as the tighter pattern works great in the 30-50 yard range. Well, for this first one, I must have not put my duck loads back correctly last season and I ended up loading in BB shot and at 15 yards, I did some damage on this poor rooster. you will notice his tail feathers are completely blown off. Oops. The 2nd one, the wind was blowing 20mph and you can see with my daughter's face holding the pheasant. It was dusty and it was getting in her eyes which is why she has the face she does in the photo. He ran across an open field in front of us and into a cut cotton field that still had the beds up but cotton was gone. I saw what bed he laid in and we walked to the spot and he ended up jumping up at about 50 yards and with that #2 shot, I was able to connect and get us the second rooster of the season. Last night, just before legal light was no more, I spotted this rooster in a disced cotton field. He saw us and flew to the other end of the field and just laid down. I couldn't tell exactly where he was from our location and looking back into the sun though. We drove to the other end of the field and got out and started walking to where we thought he could be. He ended up flushing up at about 60 yards and I took one shot and knocked him a little sideways but he kept going. We watched him glide across a couple fields to the south and to a ditch bank. With about 10 minutes of shooting light left, we hauled butt over there. I got out and walked the ditch bank and found him "hiding" in a tumbleweed. I got to 10 yards and he flushed up and I let him get to about 25 yards and dropped him. Rooster #3 of the season and it was the most colorful pheasant of the season for us.

There are definitely a lot more birds across the border and there is a guide service over there that does very well. My daughter does love it. She luckily loves the outdoors just like I do. We actually are fishing a bass tournament together on Saturday. Both of us can’t wait. For the October hunt, we would find them mostly in lettuce fields. This was before food safety became as strict as it is now. The pheasant have full color in October usually. I might have to go try to shoot a couple with my bow again. We managed to get a couple with our bows but it was ground shots. Still pretty cool. These wild ones absolutely fly haha they are pretty dang smart.

There still is an archery only hunt for pheasant. ARCHERY-ONLY PHEASANT Open Areas do not include areas within municipal parks, municipal preserves, county parks, county preserves, airports, golf courses, or posted water treatment facilities (except as specifically opened in this Commission Order) or areas closed to hunting under A.R.S. Sections 17-303 and 17-304 or Commission Rules R12-4-321, R12-4-801, R12-4-802 and R12-4-803. Season Dates Notes Open Areas Legal Wildlife Oct 17, 2025 - Feb 8, 2026 (3) Open areas Statewide (excluding National Wildlife Refuges) Any pheasant

Congratulations, nice buck! Thanks for sharing.

I saw this on social media and didn’t see it posted here. Thought I would share. Stud ram. Pretty cool story that the tag ended up being donated to a veteran. 👏🏻

I drew a rifle tag for this year. Last year was the first time I didn’t get drawn when I put in for rifle deer. 1999-2007 I was drawn each year, then I didn’t put in 08’ or 09’, 2010-2023 I was drawn every year. We mixed and matched some units but all less desired hunts I guess you could say. After finding some big bucks in the archery hunt in January, I can’t wait to get out there in November. 20250131_235607000_iOS.mov

They are probably like the snowbirds in Yuma. We have more and more every year that become full time residents and quit migrating back north for the summer.

I went out NYE and found small spikes/forks with does but nothing shooter size. I went back out on Saturday and found a nice buck with a herd of 10 does. They spooked about the time I saw them but ran to about 800 yards and stopped and looked back and the buck was sniffing a few of them. As of a few minutes ago, the units I’ve hunted have reported deer being shot in them. I even saw 46A&B had 1 buck being reported. I would love to see what that buck looked like. Anybody else been out and seen any rutting activity?

He was pretty dang wide. I decided to give him another year 😂😂😂

20250131_235607000_iOS.mov Well, I gave it one last shot this afternoon and the only shot I got was this video of this dude running off with his does. He was a dandy. Well outside his ears and heavy. Hopefully find him next rifle season.

Hopefully get on him this weekend. He’s 4 miles from the nearest hill out in the flats. Tough to glass the area but will do what I can to find him.

Archery hunting is so tough. Got within 100 yards but his does weren’t having it 🤦🏻‍♂️

I know a couple guys that shot bucks in December and they snuck in on them when they were sparring with each other. One of the ones they shot was broke off. They were around farmland though and my theory is with so many does around the farms, those bucks tend to rut a little earlier as it seems the higher amount of does, the more likely a few are to be hot.

Typical, the rut happens in pockets down here in my desert. Some areas it’ll be full on and other places non existent. For as much of a drought as we had in my unit, the deer health is very good. Big bodies on the bucks and the does all have looked healthy. Just hoping this next full moon really gets them going.

I took these photos of a ram I glassed up during deer season. I’ve got no idea on scoring sheep. Would this be a respectable sized ram or does he still need a few years? He made the other one he was with look very small.

Unfortunately, I never got a head on shot. I’ll be out that way around New Years so hopefully run into him again.

Ok awesome thank you. He sure enjoyed sun bathing on the south side of a knob. Wind was blowing 15-20 out of the north and it was in the low 40’s. Chilly but he was soaking up that sun.

Is he broomed enough? 😂😂 sorry, I had to say it.

Needs to be a wider curl then? If I had a tag I probably would’ve shot him 😂 I need to learn about these dudes. I see them a lot and when they look like this I just think they are shooters.

I haven't been active on here in quite some time so I am sorry if this topic has already been discussed. I got an email yesterday about a new raffle by game and fish for mule deer, coues, and mountain lion. After looking into it more, it appears they've already done it for elk, turkey and antelope and will be doing it for bear, bighorn, buffalo and javelina. The cost will be $10 a tag and you can enter as many times as you would like. Anybody going to buy some entries? 10 Big Game Species - Conservation First USA : Conservation First USA

I didn’t get a tag and neither did my brother so we turned our attention to two of my nephews. I wasn’t able to be out opening day but my brother and his step son got to 150 yards of a heavier antlered 4x4 and he took one shot and dropped him. This was his step son’s first buck. On Sunday, we watched another 4x4 bed down and walked my brother in law and nephew into his bed and my nephew was able to make a great shot and filled his tag. Now, we have 5 adults with tags left to fill. 3 of them are able to hunt the whole time so hopefully they are successful this week. I can’t wait to get back out Friday afternoon and help out. I absolutely love the desert.

My brother in law dropped this guy at 75 yards this morning. Not a giant but he was happy to have him.

I would shoot it. Not a 180" buck but I would be happy with it.

These pictures circled the Yuma area the first year the unit opened up. The buck was killed by a local hunter and scored in the 190's and the trail camera was from a Border Patrol camera on a drinker. I know a few people that have hunted the unit and it's pretty brutal and requires a lot of walking. There is a local that used to fly a helicopter for the BP and he said he has seen some deer in that unit that look like what is shot at El Chapparal ranch in Mexico. Just absolute giants but it's a lot easier to get to them with a helicopter 🤣

This bobcat and I have had 3 years of cat and mouse. I spotted him yesterday at 60 yards. I took a couple photos with my camera that I carry with me on a tripod while hunting, thinking I had a slim chance at even getting a shot with my bow so might as well get some pictures. To my surprise, he obviously noticed me too but instead of running off like he did in previous run ins, he instead walked towards me and sat down at 55 yards. I drew back and centered between my 50 and 60 yard pins and I center punched his chest. He didn’t move an inch. He’s a beauty of a bobcat and am looking forward to having him mounted.