New to Deer Hunting

[GrantM]

Hi everyone. My son, a friend, his dad, and I all have late October couse tags this year in unit 23. This will be my son's and my first deer hunt. We are very excited. We when up to the north end last weekend and scouted but, only saw 9 doe and yearling mulies, not one couse. I've read these little guys can be tough to find. We glassed from a few mountain tops but no luck. My question is do couse have an elevation they generaly stay in? From what I understand, they can be found between 3,000 and 7,000 ft. Finding them at any elevations is the hard part. I'm thinking about making a run to the south end of the unit and take a look. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I have a feeling this is going to be a lot harder than I thought. It's all good. Just happy I can spend time with my son and friends. It should be a good learning experience for both us. Grant

[Flatlander]

I really like the southern end of the unit. Up North is pretty thick and if you are in the pines glassing is pretty limited. You might give some of the country to the West of Roosevelt lake a try.

[kimberx2]

West of roosevelt??? I think that is unit 22 or 24b.

East of Roosevelt is good though and in 23. Look at the steeper canyons and

hillsides. They are there. You can pm me if you still have trouble finding them.

 

[Flatlander]

Guess I should have clarified - West end of Roosevelt

[bonecollector]

Good luck and welcome to the site.

[Norteno]

White-tailed Deer

Overview: White-tail deer numbers in unit 23 are static to improving. The long-term drought we have been experiencing over the past several years has had an effect on them but they seem to thrive in unit 23 regardless. How well the fawns survive due to the dry spring and summer rains is a good indication of the condition of the total populations the following year. Look forward to better populations on years with increased rainfall.

 

White-tailed deer can be found in all habitats from the semi-desert grassland areas up through through mixed-conifer forests. They are primarily found in a band of elevation from 3,500 feet to 6,000 feet. White-tailed deer prefer areas that do not experience heavy livestock densities. Required equipment for a successful hunt is a GOOD pair of binoculars and a tripod to mount them on and/or a spotting scope. There are areas in the unit where a good glasser can glass 20 to 30 deer from one vantage point. This can't be done unless you have the proper equipment.

 

Areas: Popular areas holding high densities of white-tailed deer are between Cherry Creek and Tonto Creek at an elevation between 3,500 to 6,000 feet. All major drainages that run off of the Sierra Ancha Mountains hold white-tailed deer. For an undisturbed hunt, packing into one of the wilderness areas is a good plan. These are Salome, Hells Gate and Sierra Ancha. The north half of the unit also produces good hunt opportunities for white-tailed deer.

 

Tips: Pre-season scouting is very important. Locate an area away from roads and glass the area to locate deer. Use a Tonto National Forest map to help you locate areas in which to search. White-tailed deer are very localized and can be found in the same canyon or hillside several times. The December hunt is a rut hunt and the bucks are usually actively seeking out does. Continue to glass with an honest effort and you should be able to locate a mature buck.

[Norteno]

I am no pro, but thought I would put in my 2cents of advice. Thought I would throw the obvious our there first with the azgfd info. I would suggest you take as many tips as you can get from members. What you'll find is the areas recommended are all similar. Pick a quadrant that sounds good and buy that topo map. (Wide World of Maps in Mesa). If you haven't done so already download Google Maps and study the area you want to go in detail. Here is "the west end of Roosevelt" as suggested above. You can zoom in and view from every angle. It doesn't beat scouting on foot, but sure saves a lot of time looking for roads. I live in Chandler too, so if you ever want to meet up to talk hunting IM me.

 

[Airbusdriver]

http://habimap.org/habimap/

 

Try this website for scouting/planning purposes. Great resource, and very versatile. Note the different modes in the toolbars.

 

Good luck.

[JakeL]

Welcome. It looks like you're getting some grade A advice here.

[GrantM]

Thanks for all the great advice. I have used google earth and my trusty tonto map. Read the G&F info and thats why I was thinking we should look around the south end. Again thanks for the input. I'll let you all know how it goes. Grant

[GrantM]

Well we didn't make back to scout the south end. I think we are going stick with plan staying north but, maybe make a run down south of Young one day of the hunt. We'll see.

[roninflag]

the south Half is easier to glass and i believe hold a lot more coues. climb a mountain before day light and use some good bino's they are there.

[GrantM]

Again thanks for everyones help. One more week.

[GrantM]

Well we are heading out for the week. Good luck to everyone.