Hey guys, long time lurker here making his first post. Sorry for the wall of text, TL;DR at the bottom. Please let me know if I made any mistakes regarding posting, profile, etc.
I am pretty new to big game hunting in general with only a couple of Javelina hunts in terms of "big game" (with various levels of success). I moved here from Alaska a couple of years ago and therefor everything I'm doing, hunting wise, is self taught or with the help of some friends and I'm kind of at a stand still.
Me and a buddy were both drawn for rifle coues in mid November down in 34A. I am relatively familiar with the area due to the Javelina hunts but have never been deer hunting before. I spend 95% of my time on the east side of the Santa Rita's as opposed to the west and have seen plenty of doe before, but never any bucks. As I'm sure quite a few of you know, the elevation and landscape change a lot on that side of the mountain...
So my question is, should I continue scouting the mid-higher elevation part of the mountain where I've seen the majority of the does I've come across. Or should we focus on the lower, more desert-like terrain? I don't want to ask anyone about their secret locations or ask for anything too revealing, but I do appreciate anything anyone can tell me (Even if it isn't related to my question, I welcome ANY and all information)! I am a nursing student in West Phoenix so finding the time to hunt was a challenge within itself, and any scouting more than the day before is sadly not going to happen. As such, I am planning on using what I know from my February Javelina hunts. I am not expecting any real success on the hunt due to my lack of preparation because of school, but the experience will do nothing but help me going forward. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, I appreciate it, and any help you can provide!
TL;DR: First time deer hunter. For coues on the east side of the Santa Ritas in unit 34A, which elevation should I focus my efforts? Low scrub-brush or the higher grass-like areas? Thank you for any tips you can help me with!
