Unit 7

[1uofacat]

As I suspected, pulled unit 7 tags (in the first 10% of those given, myself and 2 of my sons). That said, I've not hunted 7 for deer, but plan to start the process this weekend. Being a lifelong coues hunter from when I was old enough to carry a bow, I grew up hunting the Whetstones. Those were the days (J-6 Ranch Road for access, Haystack Mountain, Bathtub Springs on the way to Cottonwood Saddle and East Peak, Guindani Canyon, Wildcat Ridge, French Joe Canyon, Cienega Creek...)!

 

Now living in northern AZ that was just too far to venture, and just didn't apply for any of the rim units hoping to pull one of the Kaibab tags. While there's probably some coues in 7, I really don't have high expectations of a "huntable herd" there, which is OK (although we can always dream I guess).

 

PM me if you can share info on 7 and don't want to share here, but any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thanks

[kazpilot25]

That's a good hunt, lots of deer, but also a ton of hunters. Most deer will be just north of the peaks, but so will most hunters. I would avoid the places given by game and fish due to the fact that 80% of tag holders will be in those spots. Kendrick mountain area has less hunters than the peaks and white horse hills area, yet still pretty busy. Further North you can glass the hills in and around Grand Canyon Tank and find some big deer. Quality will be higher in the flats and hills north of the tree line, but quantity will be lower.

 

Hunting the transition is a good bet.

[PowellSixO]

That's a good hunt, lots of deer, but also a ton of hunters. Most deer will be just north of the peaks, but so will most hunters. I would avoid the places given by game and fish due to the fact that 80% of tag holders will be in those spots. Kendrick mountain area has less hunters than the peaks and white horse hills area, yet still pretty busy. Further North you can glass the hills in and around Grand Canyon Tank and find some big deer. Quality will be higher in the flats and hills north of the tree line, but quantity will be lower.

 

Hunting the transition is a good bet.

 

Quality advice right here ^^

 

They need to cut back on the deer tags by 50% in 7. There are too many people in the unit, and the deer population seems to have dropped a lot. It's a joke if you hunt the popular areas. Another bad thing about the areas near the peaks are the hippies. I drew a unit 7 tag 5 or 6 years ago. There were hippies driving around honking their horns, blowing whistles, and all kinds of racket trying to spook the deer. I ended up calling G&F and they were no help. I ended up taking a small 3x3, and the hippies wouldn't leave me alone in camp. They kept coming by and screaming at me and my family. It was a horrible experience. I ended up telling them that they scared the deer right to me with all the noise they made (which wasn't true), and they left with their heads down. Lol. The funniest part was that we were skinning the buck at camp, and one of the girls kept acting like she was going to vomit. Hahaha. But don't let my story discourage you. If you get away from everyone, there are actually some toads hiding out there. I've come across a few monsters while archery elk hunting 7. Good luck on your hunt.

[4Falls]

Never heard of Coues in 7, but all the units nearby have them even 10. I always think about the giant Coues bucks that have to live in some of the fringe units.

[DesertBull]

Nothing more entertaining than vomitting hippies

[1uofacat]

That's what I was leaning toward, farther north... perhaps being able to find some areas to glass, but seeing vomiting hippies would be a great experience too! haha...

 

Certainly getting away from crowds is very high on the list.

[roninflag]

there are quite a few units around flagstaff that have coues deer and tags. I do not believe there are coues deer in unit 7.

[lancetkenyon]

I agree with Roninflag. I have hunted 7 for 25+ years, and never once seen a Coues up there. I have seen javelina in 7 on numerous occasions, so who knows.

 

I do know that 6A, 6B, and 8 all hold Coues, so maybe some migrated in? But there are no "Antlered whitetail" or "Antlered mule deer" tags in 7, just "Any antlered deer".

[kazpilot25]

Something tells me he just posted this in the wrong forum. This belongs in Mule Deer Hunting.

[DesertBull]

I seem to remember that someone claimed to have killed a WT or had a trail cam pic in 11M not too long ago.

[GreyGhost85]

i've seen a couple coues in 7. they are sparse, but they are in there. had a buddy kill a real nice archery coues in either 7 or 11 about 10 years ago. think he scored 107"?

[jim]

I have seen a few west of williams that surprised me for where I was at, but never in 7.

[rossiranch]

I saw a nice coues in between the peaks and elden a few years back. Really surprised me though. Like everyone else said I wouldn't expect there to be many there especially compared to bordering units.