longbowpilot

Haha yeah that’s what I figured. Wasn’t that excited about giving the g&f more money anyways just for leftovers.

I heard that about 20% of tags in the draw are bought by wildlife activists trying to prevent animals from being killed, then they just throw the tags away. Any truth to that?

I mean like enter the draw and if they get a tag then they pay for it and don’t hunt. I’m sure there are plenty of rich liberals out there that do it to make themselves feel good

fml again..... can't even get a 37A tag.

The springs is awesome, s stationed there at fort Carson for 2 years . Recently visited seems like homeless population had gone up. There are a ton of Mule deer around town seen some big bucks crossing the rte 24 to woodland park. A little too cold for me there though. Winters can drag on into May...

Want to take my 6 and 4 year old out in the desert shed hunting in the mornings but am freaked out about one of them steppin on a rattlesnake this time of year. Took them dove hunting with me last September and we ran into a 4 foot western diamondback. Had to dispatch the snake with my 12 gauge but haven’t taken the kids in the desert during warm weather since. I know it’s rare to get bit by one but would never forgive myself if it did happen to one of my kids.

That’s kind of where I’m at, can’t stop living life because you might get bit by a snake. It’s like a “what if the sky falls” type of thing. Definitely going to keep taking them dove hunting also they had a blast doing that.

Sounds good, appreciate the input guys. Will definitely give it a shot this fall if drawn...

Anyone on here ever been successful still hunting the desert flats? I know sometimes when you jump up a mule deer they will stop and look back at you (unlike coues, they typically just run). Seems like you could possibly get a shot at one doing this method.

Are you using open sights on your rifle for this type of hunting? The area I hunt sounds similar to what you are talking about, pretty thick with palo verde/cholla, etc. And is mainly flat with some mountain foothills, so glassing is tough. Was thinking I may have more luck with still hunting.

Flat brim hat or not, the dude still makes some pretty cool videos. Better than any of the production shows on outdoor channel with a million commercials.

Had 8 in my backyard yesterday evening in 37A. Hunt closer to neighborhoods or golf courses they are all over marana

looks like just another year of deer OTC archery for me... fml

With the recent snow storm in AZ and polar vortex in the Midwest, can we put the theory of "global warming" to bed? Some years its hotter and drier, some years its colder and wetter. I think the sun and the earth are going to do whatever they feel like, regardless of the "carbon footprint"

So there are quite a few scientists out there talking about the next solar minimum that is supposed to start this year. Maybe the beginning of a new mini ice age like what happened back in the 17th century: https://www.livescience.com/61716-sun-cooling-global-warming.html I say bring on the ice age, more snow melt for Lake Mead and the Salt river!

Build a 50' tall concrete wall from Texas to Cali with electrified concertina wire on top. Dig the footers so deep so no one can tunnel underneath. Project would create thousands of jobs and the cost would be insignificant compared to the 800 billion dollar "stimulus" package Obama passed back in 2008 to bail out all the bankers.

Snowing in marana for about an hour now, sticking to the ground pretty good!

We've had up to 20 inches of rain in parts of NW Tucson this past year, average is around 11-12". I saw that southern AZ is finally out of drought status on US drought monitor map. The desert down here has grass/greenery everywhere right now. Also, Mt. Lemmon has had snow on top for about 3 months straight now.

Ok brace yourselves, its just a 2 pointer. Nice shed to me but not much to others on this site I'm sure.

He kept his face hidden but nice rack on this guy. Was on my trail camera early this morning before first light. Got within 70 yards of this same deer at 8am this morning and could not close the deal. He was with at least 5 does and one of them saw me and alerted the herd. Desert mule deer hunting is so hard! Frustrated but glad I got to see some deer today.

Have 3 points for elk, is there any chance of getting an early bull archery tag in any unit? Was thinking about 6A but looks like draw odds about 16%. Didn't know if there was the slightest chance I could get drawn.

Thanks for all the replies guys, appreciate the insight. Gonna put in for the early archery and hopefully get lucky. So with hunter numbers on the decline and AZ elk population increasing could that mean better chances at drawing tags in the future? (just throwing the idea out there) https://www.grandcanyonnews.com/news/2018/apr/03/nationwide-decline-hunters-may-mean-less-funding-c/

It shows up on my end, maybe I'm not posting it properly.

former eastern hunter here but now proud AZ resident and becoming obsessed with desert muleys. Been hunting this week in a desert unit that has pretty thick flats with the palo verde and cholla that is really tough to glass into. Then there are canyon bottoms I've been glassing as well. Only been able to locate a few does so far. Would yall say that desert muleys generally stick to the flats or do you see them more in the canyon bottoms or on hillsides?

Thanks guys for al the tips and keeping this thread going! Hunt was unsuccessful but had a great time being out in the super quiet desert. Probably going to invest in some better glass and get out there for the OTC bowhunt next month if I can. Trouble for me is getting enough time to hunt with three kids (2 in diapers), work, etc. I hear about a lot of guys taking a whole week off just to hunt. Back east you could easily get your buck on opening day and be done. I'm finding that out west it takes much more time and patience!