Flatlander

Uhoh. You presented science?! The people will have none of this.

Only the NR will count against the NR quota. So if the hunt has 100 tags then there are 10 available for the hunt. No more than 5 of which can come from the bonus pass. So if 5 NR tags have already been issued during the bonus pass and your three person application is selected then none of the three would be issued tags. Same goes in the regular pass. If 10 tags have already been issued to NR then your entire application would be rejected. This is not typically a concern on youth hunts because very few NR apply for them. As far as the number of points it goes like this: 0 + 3 = 3 / 2 = 1.5 which rounds to 2.

2 Valve 5.4, that’s a beaut right there.

Aren’t the Elkhorns a 300 series unit? I appreciate you bashing it, but judging by the draw odds most everybody in the West knows something about it.

You will find plenty of help here. Pick a youth elk hunt and apply them. The odds aren’t great so be prepared to wait a few years. Deer hunts are much easier to draw. Pick one closest to you and have fun.

Jeans...hoodie...trad bow. Well done my man!

It was stated somewhere, I think 10 years. And the interstate compact is like 48 states now.

You let me ride those points and I’ll give your elk a free ride out of the woods

Shoot me a text, I got your guy. 480 266 4811

Don’t forget a 17% tag reduction this year. That means 3 fewer NR tags.

Pretty sure yesterday was quite a bit better...

Why does he need to tell everyone where he was? Are there really that many “random” 3 points with broadheads in their face. Seems pretty recognizable to me.

Congrats dude

I’m jealous. Keep at it dude.

Oh man what y2k me would give for this truck. Still wish I could scoop it up.

Sorry bud

PM Sent. I don't care about the box, I will take it.

I would go quality over power. You could rent some 15x's or a spotter from Ross Outdoor or Optics 4 Rent. I would rent Swaro SLC or EL's or before I would buy Vortex Kaibabs. I know that wont be popular with some, but if you dont do this type of hunting much I wouldn't waste my money on a lower end optic that you wont be able to use later.

Depends on what you want. If you want to hunt rutting bulls either of the archery hunts will accomplish that. If you want the biggest possible bulls then 23 late might be the best option. I wouldn’t even entertain 22 South Muzzleloader or Unit 1 late.

Jay Scott just had Shadow Valley Outfitters on his podcast to talk about the elf draw and they covered these units in detail. I’d give that a listen.

Maybe less.

What is the public access like in 19a or 19b? Its huntable but all the good bucks pretty much get killed on the archery and muzzleloader hunts. 19B has more access available for a trespass fee. I think it’s pretty steep, but if you can pay there are typically some giant bucks. In 19B you can pay for access to Perkinsville, some years there are good bucks there, sometimes there aren’t and you waste $1500. I am also looking at units 4 and 5. In 4A or 4B you might have to look harder for a top end buck but there is tons of public land. Looks like you would be bonus pass for 4B and maybe just out for 4A. 5A and 5B are good units with tons of public land. You probably wouldn’t make bonus pass for either. 9 and 10 are really looking good, what is the access to the big bo like and would it be worth purchasing the access permit. I don’t know 9, but here good things. We hunted 10 this year. You definitely need the big bo permit, don’t get cheap and cut yourself off from more than 50% of the antelope habitat. Last year was supposedly a down year and we saw some really good bucks come out of there. It’s worth putting in for. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Here is my .02 on all those units: 22 - Big unit with tons of deer and tons of tags. Lots of wilderness and I am sure you could get away from the big crowds there. However with the number of tags you are going to see some people, even in the back country. There aren’t as many hunts in the units with elk because they don’t overlap deer and elk seasons. Which brings to mind an added benefit that you could learn the unit and return some day to hunt elk. Very popular unit that gets hunted a lot in general so animals do get pressured here. 23 - Same as above but without one of the main freeways in the state running through it. Better quality, harder to draw. I don’t think there is a big chunk of designated wilderness but lots of remote places. 24a - Good unit with lots of coues country. High tag numbers and without elk seasons to compete with these deer get hunted for weeks on end with a fresh batch of tag holders showing up every Friday in November. Keep in mind that your opening day is not the bucks opening day. 24b - Steep desert canyons, the ones that aren’t moonscape from last summer’s fire are covered in thorns and rattlesnakes. It’s close to Phoenix and has some of the best draw odds in the state, because people don’t like hunting it. There is good country and wilderness available and some big bucks do come out of the unit but numbers are not as high as down south and the hunting is harder. I hunt there every other year and end up swearing never again every time. Then a year goes by and I forget. I won’t be hunting there next year. 31 - I don’t think there is a lot of designated wilderness here and the unit isn’t terribly remote. But it’s got tons of coues country in it. This unit has a lot of hunts and the locals work it over pretty good but it always produces some nice bucks and it has a little bit of everything. I used to hunt there more, but it’s a long ways from an airport and there aren’t a lot of places to take a rental car. But you could start on top of My Graham and hunt down. You’d need a ride back to the top but I bet you could figure that out. 32 - There are some private land access issues that can complicate this unit. I don’t know if there is a trailhead that would get you into the Galiuro’s or not. Beware, the back roads here can be brutal. 33 - Big Unit with tons of deer in it. Very close to Tucson or Phoenix. Lots of tags with hunts back to back for most of the fall. But there is wilderness and just remote back country. If there weren’t so many tags this would hands down be the best coues unit there is. But if I were you, I’d look hard at this unit. If you can spend the entire hunt, I would recommend one of the earlier ones to beat the pressure. Regardless of unit: Beware that the early hunts will have plenty of snakes out and about. Just watch where you step and sit. The hunts that are late November/Early December usually have decent odds and are a few days longer than the early ones. The deer have been pressured, but the weather is usually pleasant, but this year they got lots of rain and snow at that time. Good luck and keep us posted on your plans!

If you get 4 chances to get a low random number and thus a better position in line, how is that statistically any different than having your name in the hat 4x for random selection (not being argumentative here, if there is a mathematical difference I would like to know)? I have always believed the reason AZGFD publishes the draw odds the way they do is because it is impossible to derive truly accurate odds from their raw data. Because they don’t typically publish resident vs NR application info, nor is there anyway to extrapolate the exact number of 2nd choice applicants who drew their 1st choice and are not considered for the remaining passes, that they just took a generic high level look at overall applicants vs overall available tags. However, correcting for bonus pass allocation is a simple calculation that provides a much closer projection to actual availability. The time and energy required to dial in from there is cumbersome and provides limited value as the percentages don’t change drastically. Anyway, this has all become very detailed and probably confusing to the OP. Best advice I have is sign up for toprut, hunter’s trailhead or gohunt.

Congratulations on a fine first! Welcome to the Coues world!