Norteno Report post Posted September 19, 2012 So I've been on travel for work in NM for the last 7 weeks and have been dying to get out to go scouting since I found out I got drawn for a 24a late season Coues. Got back in town on Saturday and decided to skip work Monday to head up to Globe. I only got one night of studying my maps before I picked out a few areas me and my cousin were going to check out. I got a text on Monday morning 3am from cousin saying he couldn't make it up. I decided to head up alone which means no serious off roading and no hiking far from the truck. Still worth the trip for me. I started at an area I knew held good Mule deer and thought might hold Coues. I had just rolled into one of the spots I wanted to start looking and BAM, two nice mule deer bucks. Both 4x4 and maybe 5x5. They were gone before I could snap a pic. Next turn I run into some friendly mule does who were very photogenic. I just love seeing deer, so I snapped a few photos and then moved on before I used up my prime scouting time. By the time I get to the first hillside I wanted to glass I didn't even have to glass. There is a large group of mule deer. I put my binos on them and to my amazement they were all bucks. 9 bucks on a hillside 275 yds away. I got several pics, but it is hard to make out antlers in the pics. None of them were monsters, but the smallest was a very tall forky. Pic was with 10x optical zoom from point and shoot By the time I got to the area I was hoping was Coues habitat I realized the road to too risky to take any further. The hillside was also very thick and if there was anything in there I was not going to see it by glassing. I glassed a nearby hill for about 15 minutes and found a muley doe and that was it. I'll keep it as a back up plan. I left this area and did some exploring in the Timber Camp area. I didn't see any deer there, but found some trails that connected me to another area I know really well where I saw some Coues running with Muleys last years so I am excited about that. I then tried the Pinal Mountains which I have avoided in the past due to the crowds. To me the only areas that look good for glassing are the lower elevations. Once you get into the forest area it gets really thick. When you are up on top it is great country, but unless I was hoping to jump something I think it would be a tough hunt. The only thing I jumped was a couple kids in a car smoking pot. I was back in Chandler by 3pm. If there is anyone willing to give me some hints into where the Coues are in 24a I would gladly exchange some Mule deer information. I'll be hitting up the suggestions from azgfd, but so will 400 other hunters. Hopefully I'll be out at least every other week. Some other pics from the day http://s188.photobuc.../2012 Scouting/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azphil Report post Posted September 20, 2012 My hunting partner is headed up next week to do some scouting for out Oct hunt. Might have some info then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andrsn12 Report post Posted September 20, 2012 Try the Mescal Mountains....east of Pinal Mountains. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andrsn12 Report post Posted September 20, 2012 Corrections: That's southest of Pinal Mountains. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idgaf Report post Posted October 5, 2012 You may want to try between hwy 60 and the reservation. Alot of mule deer but a few whitetails. I got this guy in january in that area. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azphil Report post Posted October 9, 2012 Got up there last weekend. Saw 1 Miley fork horn and several does. I did find 1 3x3 coues buck solo and 2 wt does. Need more time up there before the hunt. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azphil Report post Posted October 9, 2012 You may want to try between hwy 60 and the reservation. Alot of mule deer but a few whitetails. I got this guy in january in that area. I'll check it out. Thx Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
