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I went on a Javelina hunt last year with some friends (I did not have a tag, just along for the ride), and it was an absolute HOOT! I'm coming from out of state and will likely not have any time to scout the unit I get drawn for. This is a bit premature, as the draw has not yet taken place, but I'm putting in for units, 20C, 22, 23, 36A, 36B. I'd appreciate any information on good access points, general hunt areas (you can PM me) if you are familiar with any of these units. Also, if you would recommend one of these units over the others. I have a basic understanding of finding sign and how to glass for these little guys. Just looking for a good starting point.

Looking for any advice on good areas to scout for unit 22 rifle hunt. I'm a relatively new hunter. How will this year's winter precipitation effect the hunt? Thanks.

This is my first Coues Whitetail tag and I have been scouting for 3 weekends without seeing one deer. Lots of scat and prints but I still have yet to actually see a deer. On most Muley hunts I have seen them in the morning and evenings leaving and entering the hillsides. I have been looking everywhere for the Coues (close to 23), South east of Rye, West of Payson/Pine/Strawberry and still have yet to find an actual animal. My hunt is in October and I only have enough time for one more scouting trip. Do Coues bed down on the side of mountians like most Muleys do? I know there is food everywhere for them, anything in particular they love to eat? Could anyone tell me if I am looking in the right spot or if I should look elsewhere. Im not looking for specifics just making sure the work I am doing is not a waste of time. Thanks for reading

Well we finished the hunt a week ago this morning and it was just a super fun hunt! The bull we got was just the icing on the cake. We saw bulls just about every time we went out and many times they were being pushed because of so many tags given out for that hunt, but whatever. As we were nearing the end of my extra help on the hunt I decided to take the bull that I got since I knew that after that day I would have to do all of the packing myself. Here is just a fun no so serious video of when it all went down.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEdL1leglGg Hope you Enjoy!

My brother and I has spent the last few years hunting 22 with much success, so we were excited to find out we drew tags again this year. Our excitement slowed when we found our favorite honey hole would not be able to be accessed easily do to the road closures from the Sunflower fire over the summer. My brother and I living pretty busy lives, with conflicting schedules, gave us limited time to scout (only two days before the hunt). We headed out to find a new spot two weeks before the hunt. We were lucky, it had rained a few days prior, and while heading up a new road, we stopped to stretch out the legs in a random spot where there was a puddle in the dirt. To our amaze we looked down to see Coues sign galore! We knew this would be our area. Not wanting to give up hope on our old spot we planned to hike up a canyon from the 87 on opening morning to see if we would get lucky and then spent the rest of the hunt in our new spot. Opening morning, we left my truck from the highway at 0330, and spent two and a half hours hiking in the dark to our "original honey hole". Arriving at our final spot after hiking on the top of a knob, sweating like crazy we were encountered by crazy wind, and spent the first hour freezing from the wet and wind. (We're cold wimps from the valley). We spent the whole day glassing, sunrise to sunset, without seeing a thing, hiking back down the canyon again in the dark empty handed. We did get to see a Ringtailed cat in the canyon, which I've never seen before so, the five hours of hiking did have a plus! We now knew we would spend the rest of the time in our new discovered spot, hoping it would be productive. Day two morning we woke up early to a hour quad ride from our camp to our spot. Again spending all day glassing, finally started seeing activity in the bowl around 1530. All does until about an hour before sunset and finally saw this guy! Waited patiently for a ethical shot for about 15 minutes and BOOM, fired a round and he went down about 10 yards from the shot. 358 yards. By the time we got to him the sun was setting. We had seen another buck with this guy that looked interesting but he didn't make much of an appearance for my brother so we knew we would be back on day three. We ran to Payson Day three morning to drop of my deer for processing, returned to camp had lunch, and headed back up the mountain to find my brothers buck. Arriving about 1300, we hiked back to our vantage point from the day before and just like the previous day. Again the mountain came alive with does in the mid afternoon, then around 1600 the other buck from the previous day made an appearance. My brother made a shot, 319 yards as I watched through my Kiabab 15's. He missed just high and the buck tucked behind a bush. I kept my eye on him for over 30 minutes only seeing his rack turn occasionally through the leaves and finally he came back out. My bother fired his second shot, I could see the shock wave though his chest, and he dropped right there. Again a hike across the bowl and there he lay.MY BROTHERS FIRST COUES!!!!!!!!!!! Great weekend! , there is so many great thing about Coues hunting I could write forever, but you guys already know why it's so great! We made it home safe, and my daughters (future outdoors women) could not get over that we brought home two deer! My younger daughter calls everything with horns Elk, we couldnt stop laughing at that. "Nice elk dad". As usual meet some great people on the mountain. One gentleman was nice enough to provide us with pictures of these deer alive, from a week before. He happened to be hunting a half mile from us and didn't even know it. (Thanks Paul!)

We hunted all day Friday and Saturday of opening weekend as well as Monday and Tuesday morning. In total we saw 7 mule deer does, 3 mule deer bucks, 13 wt does, 5 wt bucks, 4 coyotes, and a bear. We hiked over 10 miles and looked at a lot of great country. We made 3 stalks and Tanner got a shot at a big 4 point mulie on Saturday morning. It was a tough shot and he went just over the buck's back. On Friday afternoon we were able to take out a coyote. My brother was there along with his oldest daughter on her first hunt. Also, thanks to my dad for coming as well. Here are some pics: We had a really great time and made some fantastic memories. Gained some experience as well.

This weekend's hunt couldn't come fast enough. I'm a full time student at ASU and I also work full time so I couldn't wait to get out in the field with my dad and my brother. Special thanks to my wife for her understanding and support. With 3 crazy boys and newborn baby girl at home she deserves a get away more than I do, but she still supported me in going on this hunt. Opening morning came and we were sitting on our predetermined glassing point trying to stay warm against the brutal wind. We waited for it to get light and started picking apart the hills. By 9 am we had seen 12 does but no bucks. The three bucks we had seen Thursday night were no where to be found. There were a lot of other hunters in the area so we decided to head back to camp around noon and devise a new plan for the afternoon. We decided to go to another area that we thought would have no other hunters and we have seen lots of deer on previous hunts. We arrived at the spot, parked and hiked in the one mile to our glassing point. We sat down and got the binos set up at just after 3 pm. After about two minutes my dad said he had a deer and it was a buck. We looked him over for a few minutes as he fed and milled around. My dad asked me if I wanted to go shoot him. I was more than happy to oblige. My brother and I emptied our packs and began our stalk of just under a mile. My dad stayed put to keep track of him. My brother and I were in position of the now bedded buck by 4:00. We had to wait almost and hour for the deer to get up. This is my view as we waited for him to stand up. And here he is after. 358 yards. .270 shooting 150 grain Berger VLD. We hiked out in the dark and got back to camp at about 7:30 Friday night. This is my 7th coues buck and a lot of luck helped me tag him. (Like most hunts, but this made this buck my lucky number 7) Saturday morning we went to a completely different area and new to us. We have always wanted to scout this massive canyon but never had the chance so we decided to hunt it. It took us over an hour to hike up to the top to be able to glass. We found a doe and a fawn before moving down the ridge a little to get a new angle on the canyon. After about an hour we moved one more time. After about 20 minutes I glassed up a buck across the canyon. My brother and I again prepared for the stalk and my dad stayed put to keep an eye on him. My brother put the hurt on him with his .270, 150 grain Berger at 388 yards. Lets just say once we had moved into position we were pleasantly surprised with the size of this buck. My buck scores 88 and my brothers taped out at 112. Clay at Mogollon Taxidermy aged him at about 8 years old. We had a great time as always. My brother and dad will be going back out looking for a buck for my dad.

My dad and I have been going hunting for as long as I can remember, TX, NM, CO. This is our first time with a bow and the first time in AZ and I keep reading that 22 and 23 are some of the better places. We are thirsting for some deer and as soon as we found out about over the counter archery starting this week we were really excited (remember we're rifle hunters) . Please give me some feedback as I will probably go out this weekend and sight with a return trip the following weekend with my dad.