WhtMtnHunter Report post Posted November 12, 2013 I live in Lakeside and grew up here. IMO, if you are looking for a really high quality hunt, 3B is very iffy. I know of and have seen some great bulls taken in 3B, but the consistency just isn't there. Unit 1 is much bigger, has a much larger herd and has a lot more diversity in hunting opportunites. Given the choice, I'd take Unit 1 over 3B 100% of the time. I would have to agree with this. I live literally in the heart of 3B in Pinetop. Given the choice I would choose 1 just about every time. The pros and cons that I can see are as follows. 3B is a primitive weapon unit. No rifle hunts in the unit which can help to increase the overall age class. 3B prime elk habitat is also surrounded by unit 1, the Apache reservation, and 3A/3C so it has incredible potential. The 3B early archery hunts, since they have increased tags from 25 to 75, have generally had a fairly low success rate probably in the 12-30% range. If not very familiar with the unit it is an extremely tough hunt in AZ terms. I think just as many bulls were shot when we had 25 archery tags as they now do with 75 tags. It was a high quality hunt with 25 tags, not so much anymore. The best hunt in 3B is definitely the early muzzleloader hunt as it seems that most of the best bulls don't show up until the last week of September. Unit 1 is an alternative management hunt and has a much higher proportion of bulls overall. It is a larger unit and also surrounded by excellent elk units. The burn is a great place to hunt however the areas north of the 260 have been overlooked by many hunters this year and also has a high density of great bulls. The increase of tags will probably take its toll in the long run but i think the next 3-5 years will provide a very high quality hunt. I like the alternative hunt guidelines of 40 bulls per 100 cows and in my personal experience it is a much better unit in the rut than 3B. Unit 1 usually has the best and most predictable yearly precipitation in the state and coupled with great genetics provides the most consistent quantity of high end bulls. If I was a non-resident I would stick to the unit 1 hunts. Whatever you choose, good luck! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umpqua Report post Posted November 13, 2013 Excellent answer WhtMtnHunter…..I think you nailed it. I'd like to identify some of those out of the way areas in Unit 1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
