Unit 24A - Early December - 2023

[dnorr91]

First time poster, long time lurker looking for some advice. I've hunted this unit 11/05/21 - 11/11/21 and 11/25/22 - 12/04/22 and have yet to glass up a single buck. I got drawn for the early December hunt this year and am hoping my bad luck will finally turn. I counted almost 30 does over the 9 day hunt in '22 (I even glassed one up bedded almost 1300 yards from the top of the mountain I was on.) so I know it's not an issue of being able to spot them. 

I use OnX for E Scouting and have put some extensive time into getting out there and ground pounding but still with no avail. I've hit up "Whitetail Pointe" and other areas, but have thought about hiking into the wilderness for a few days this trip. My Hunt areas are primarily West (San Carlos Res Land) and East of 23S (so mostly the NorthEast part of the unit). I'm wondering should I Focus more on the South/SouthWest part of the unit? Keep going in the general area I've been going and venture into the Wilderness Area?

I'll probably get rolled for this, but I'm a MidWest transplant for work and have been a resident for around 5.5 years now. I didn't grow up hunting, but wanted to get into the sport as I got older. College and Military obligations got in the way for the majority of my 20s, but was able to pick it up in the latter half. My hunting career started with my coworker asking "Did you put in for Deer yet?". So of course, I chose the hard route first and went for Coues 🙃🤣

I was fortunate to finally harvest my first animal with a Cow Elk tag this past fall, so now I need to finally get my first Coues. I will most likely be doing this hunt solo this year. Any and all Tips/Tricks/Advice/Constructive Criticism/Etc. is welcome. Thanks In Advance.

[CatfishKev]

Congrats on your cow, you should post a story and pics.  One you break down an elk a deer will seem waaaay less overwhelming. Good luck, I know nothing of that unit. Did you look at the spots game and fish recommends?

[105Coues]

Tough unit for sure.  Good luck!

[dnorr91]

On 10/23/2023 at 5:14 PM, CatfishKev said:

Congrats on your cow, you should post a story and pics.  One you break down an elk a deer will seem waaaay less overwhelming. Good luck, I know nothing of that unit. Did you look at the spots game and fish recommends?

Thanks! First animal I've ever actually harvested. Cow Tag was in Unit 1. First day there wasn't a lot of action. Woke up in the woods to it being a balmy 8 degrees 😂. Met a few local coyote hunters and got some decent tips, so decided to move camp. Day 2 we glassed mostly pronghorn and a ram in the morning. Noon came around and got hit with a wind advisory for the rest of the day. We had gusts up to 50 mph, so not very advantageous for glassing. Saw a few dozen Elk about 800 yards from camp and said "F It", and decided to make a play to hopefully somewhat salvage the day. I got onto a small of herd of about 6-8 Cows with a Bull. 1 Cow was hanging back from the group and busted me (first time I'd heard an Elk bark) about 140 yards away behind a large tree. Final day out, my buddy glassed another herd in a different set of woods from camp. Decided to mosey on into the woods and see what we could make happen. I shot this one at about 163 yards.

After being skunked for 3 years, I was ecstatic to be able to punch this tag.

[dnorr91]

On 10/23/2023 at 5:14 PM, CatfishKev said:

Congrats on your cow, you should post a story and pics.  One you break down an elk a deer will seem waaaay less overwhelming. Good luck, I know nothing of that unit. Did you look at the spots game and fish recommends?

This is from their website:

" Areas: The Pinal Mountains are a popular location to look for white-tailed deer. The area is rugged and steep and deer are seen primarily in the drainages below the mountain summit and on most slopes of the Pinals, but glassing is difficult on the north side due to thick conifer and chaparral and high hunter concentrations.

The high elevation areas of the Dripping Springs Mountains located south of Globe also provide good opportunity. The Dripping Springs road can be accessed south of Globe off of Hwy 77 across milepost 154. There are many roads that run north and south along the ridges that provide good glassing opportunities. Forest Roads 248 and 899 are two trackers leading to the north of Dripping Springs road, and both of those will take you to good deer areas. Any of these roads are likely to lead you to whitetail deer. Be aware that mule deer also occur in these areas; so be sure of your target before you shoot.

If hunting the northern portion of the unit, white-tailed deer can be found in the areas of Timber Camp Mountain, Regal Canyon, Phillips Canyon, and Chrysotile Mine Area. Forest Roads 2334, 360 and 304 access these higher elevation grassland and chaparral habitats where white-tailed deer have been increasing in numbers over the past several years.

Another area is off the Horseshoe Bend Road (FR 219) on the west side of the Apache Mountains. Take the Wheatfields exit from Hwy 188 north of Globe across Pinal Creek and past the HE Ranch to the 219 Road. FR 219 junctions with FR 220, which travels to Richmond Basin and FR 223, that leads to Shute Springs. Both these areas have whitetail and good open slopes for glassing. Travel by foot or horseback to access the upper slopes of the Apache Mountains for a better chance at older age class white-tailed buck. "

I'm probably going to head towards Horseshoe Bend Road area off the 188 this year as I haven't spent a ton of time over that way.

[CatfishKev]

Nice job on the elk man, good luck on the deer hunt!

[ctafoya]

I hunt the southwest area of that unit. Its been the same for me the last time I hunted it. Doe everywhere, no bucks. I have the same tag this year, so hopefully its better. 

[Roofer Billy]

5 hours ago, dnorr91 said:

This is from their website:

" Areas: The Pinal Mountains are a popular location to look for white-tailed deer. The area is rugged and steep and deer are seen primarily in the drainages below the mountain summit and on most slopes of the Pinals, but glassing is difficult on the north side due to thick conifer and chaparral and high hunter concentrations.

The high elevation areas of the Dripping Springs Mountains located south of Globe also provide good opportunity. The Dripping Springs road can be accessed south of Globe off of Hwy 77 across milepost 154. There are many roads that run north and south along the ridges that provide good glassing opportunities. Forest Roads 248 and 899 are two trackers leading to the north of Dripping Springs road, and both of those will take you to good deer areas. Any of these roads are likely to lead you to whitetail deer. Be aware that mule deer also occur in these areas; so be sure of your target before you shoot.

If hunting the northern portion of the unit, white-tailed deer can be found in the areas of Timber Camp Mountain, Regal Canyon, Phillips Canyon, and Chrysotile Mine Area. Forest Roads 2334, 360 and 304 access these higher elevation grassland and chaparral habitats where white-tailed deer have been increasing in numbers over the past several years.

Another area is off the Horseshoe Bend Road (FR 219) on the west side of the Apache Mountains. Take the Wheatfields exit from Hwy 188 north of Globe across Pinal Creek and past the HE Ranch to the 219 Road. FR 219 junctions with FR 220, which travels to Richmond Basin and FR 223, that leads to Shute Springs. Both these areas have whitetail and good open slopes for glassing. Travel by foot or horseback to access the upper slopes of the Apache Mountains for a better chance at older age class white-tailed buck. "

I'm probably going to head towards Horseshoe Bend Road area off the 188 this year as I haven't spent a ton of time over that way.

The pinals burnt really bad last year or maybe the year before. There is still a lot of whitetail up there though. Just really scattered and deep  back in. The roads are washed out real bad two. And in December the top is very icey and lots of snow up there. Good area to hunt for sure especially in December. Just be very careful and prepare for the worst up on top .

[Roboz]

I am trying my hand at 24A this year as well 11/10 opener, doing the same as you lots of e scouting with on x. A couple of trips with the wife to do some glassing and i still am not sure where i will end up going, other than i know i plan to hunt the north / North east side of the unit. I am on my fifth year of trying to get a Coues, these guys are kicking my ***. I am originally from Colorado, so mule deer country for me, i think i am just looking in the wrong areas, cause i keep finding Coues does and mule deer does. I will figure it out one of these days...i hope.

 

[dnorr91]

On 11/6/2023 at 1:32 PM, Roboz said:

I am trying my hand at 24A this year as well 11/10 opener, doing the same as you lots of e scouting with on x. A couple of trips with the wife to do some glassing and i still am not sure where i will end up going, other than i know i plan to hunt the north / North east side of the unit. I am on my fifth year of trying to get a Coues, these guys are kicking my ***. I am originally from Colorado, so mule deer country for me, i think i am just looking in the wrong areas, cause i keep finding Coues does and mule deer does. I will figure it out one of these days...i hope.

 

Good Luck! I've had really warm (+75 degree weather) and cold for that hunt. Hopefully the weather stays in your favor and the rain stays away.

[cohntr6]

Let us know how it goes and stick with it.

Glass the north slopes really slow and for as long as you have the patience for, then do it again!

I think my inlaws hunt the  deep canyons at the north end of the unit close to the rez.

Jeff

[ctafoya]

Hope Ya'll did better than we did. Saw a ton of fat doe and more Javalina then I could count. Going to go back to the early hunts or head down south. 

[Cambow]

Yeah... this area is definitely hit or miss and the weather seems to have a lot to do with it.

[Roboz]

I did manage to fill my tag on the 5th day right before i had to head home. i found several bucks opening day, missed one at 450 yards and didn't see another buck for 2 days, then i stumbled upon one walking back to my RZR and missed him at probably 50 yards off hand, that was a surprise as i expected him to drop when i pulled the trigger but no he looked around for a second and ran off, all i could do was laugh. The last day i set out for the same mountainside that i had missed the first buck on, this time i was packing a different rifle since i had missed twice with the other one, around 11:00 AM a small buck with a doe walked out onto the hillside, one shot from my new 6.5 PRC and i had filled my first Coues tag, i didn't get back to camp until almost dark as i was a ways in there but a super fun solo hunt for sure. 

[dnorr91]

@Roboz Congratulations! I ended up hunting Solo for 4 hard days but had to cut my hunt short due to some other commitments that came up back home. Sat and Sun Morning were the coldest starts I've ever seen to a Coues Deer hunt in that unit. Day 1 I had a few mountain tops over from me shoot 8 times in under a minutes (5 times in 30 seconds) so I hope they got what they were shooting at...

I saw 1 Doe on Day 3 and 1 Doe with 2 Fawns on Day 4 (both groups around 800 yards out). No bucks again sadly. Debating about putting in for a Southern unit for 2024. Thankfully, I try to never leave any of my hunts empty handed, and found this cool deadhead set.