24A

[hunter07]

I Drew the early whitetail hunt for 24A.wich has 550 permits. I thougt to myself thats alot of people for that area but theres quite a few nice deer in there so i didnt think much about it. Then later i realized that its the same time as the mule deer hunt, and there will also be a javelina hunt. i think that is way to many people to be in that area. and its giong to be over crowded. what do u think????

[DesertBull]

Be thankful for the "opportunity"!

 

[CouesWhitetail]

I think it will be quite crowded, and I argued heavily against it, but hey, the commission and dept think it's grand opportunity.

 

If people who have that tag write a letter saying what they think after the hunt, perhaps someone will listen.

 

Fortunately in 24A there is some moderate seperation between coues and mule deer habitat.

 

Amanda

[ronaldo]

Call up game and fish and say thanks for ruining another great unit.....

I swear they put all them people in one unit like that so they can check you easier when it comes hunting season..

Ron

[DesertBull]

Call up game and fish and say thanks for ruining another great unit.....

I swear they put all them people in one unit like that so they can check you easier when it comes hunting season..

Ron

 

 

It's all about the money. If they lump us together they only have to pay overtime to field officers for one hunt instead of two.

[stanley]

It may seem like a lot, but 24A is a fairly big unit. 36B has 1000 coues permits + muleys for the early hunt! 36A has close to a 1000 total as well. With only 175 muley hunters in your unit, you'll likely not encounter any problems with them crowding you. Like Amanda said, the muleys & coues generally hang-out in different areas. I suspect the muley hunters will stick to the muley areas, and vice-versa.....

 

Get away from the roads, and you'll likely have a good quiet hunt either way.

 

S.

 

[out2hunt]

Excellent reply.Hike more than a mile away from roads and you'll have no problems.In 36b last year We hiked about three miles into a widerness area and didn't see 1 out of 1175 other hunter's till we hit the road on the quads!!!!

[KGAINES]

I think it will be quite crowded, and I argued heavily against it, but hey, the commission and dept think it's grand opportunity.

 

If people who have that tag write a letter saying what they think after the hunt, perhaps someone will listen.

 

Fortunately in 24A there is some moderate seperation between coues and mule deer habitat.

 

Amanda

 

You might also want to show up to whatever commission meeting follows your hunt and tell them how you felt and how your hunt turned out. If we don't start telling them now they will make any changes they want, and with very few of us showing up at these meetings they think we don't care or their surveys (not ours), tell them how the majority really feels and they do what they want.

[coues7]

I have the 24a November hunt and am very excited about the opportunity....but you can bet your butt that unless you get off the roads you'll be shooting at nothing but luck.

 

Personally I don't think the AZGFD gives a care what sort of hunts we have. They want money.....and so the only way to get that is quantity (in their minds). Look at the survey they sent out.

 

We have got to start attending the meetings and letting our voices be heard.

 

Good luck

[ultramag]

I have that hunt also i am very excited. I just dont know why it has to be at the same time as the mule deer hunt. I was in there last year during the mule deer hunt and there was a lot of people up high in coues country. Its going to be interesting.

[bobbyo]

Personally I don't think the AZGFD gives a care what sort of hunts we have. They want money.....and so the only way to get that is quantity (in their minds).

I respectfully disagree. They do care. They want a low success rate. In the 20% range. Lower success more oppertunity(money).

[Tines]

hunter07,

 

After your post, I was curious as to what javelina hunts may affect other coues deer hunts as well.

 

I don't even see a fall javelina hunt offered in 24A.

 

I must be missing something....

[hunter07]

Tines, My bads i messed up and went off of what someone else told me. i didnt check intill i read your comment. no javelina hunt..

[Tines]

hunter07,

 

No problem. I drew an October WT tag also in one of the southern units and will be in the same boat as you (as far as competing with lots of WT AND MD hunters). I can't tell you what 24A will be like but where I'll be, lots of MD and WT hang out in the same terrain/elevation. It still doesn't effect good opportunity for me. Be patient, spend LOTS of time behind the glass and have a great time! You'll do fine. I had a pretty bad experience with "hunters" last year during this hunt but it didn't stop us from being successful. Just quite irratated!

 

I can't find success rates in your unit for the past 4 years. Is this the first time they've opened it up for an early hunt in awhile? Regardless, success during this hunt will be about 20-30% (my guess anyway) so just tell yourself this, "....all of the time I've spent in the field and observed other hunters' skills while perfecting my own, I've got to be in that 20-30%!"

 

Good luck.

[DotShot]

Well I personally don't think that is too many permits. For those of us who hunted 24A years ago when it was an "Any antlered deer" area still and offered well over 1000 permits and even then i dont think that it was crowded, but thats just my opinion. Get off the beaten path and get away from the road hunters and you'll find yourself all but alone if you do.