Unit 1 or 27? Mule Deer

[AZ RANGER]

I saw two herds last week in unit 1.

[lancetkenyon]

Took me 10 years with Hunter's Ed and loyalty points to draw an October 12AE tag. Just saying, 7-8 points is far from a guaranteed draw for any of the 12A hunts.

[Seldom Drawn]

Put in for Kaibab, and then go hunt the 27 archery hunt, hit the edges of the deep canyons and you might get on some big bachelore herds of

mulies.still some great bucks there.and buy a turkey tag some big birds in 27

 

Seldom Drawn

[muledeerarea33?]

27 still holds big mulies if you go to the obscure locations people won't or don't go, I know of two 4 point bucks with 29" and 31" spreads taken last year in areas of 27 you'd never think of finding them. It's a great unit to get away from people and see some deer. In my opinion it's turning into the next "kaibab" type unit, meaning that's its "premium"

[jmb1314]

Well I ended up putting in for the Kaibab again. If I don't draw I will have to go after coues again this year with the bow. I have an out of state hunt as well so I will hopefully be able to fill the freezer.

[Snapshot]

I have been putting in for unit 27 for first choice since the late 1970's. Have seen the mulie numbers plummet drastically. There are still good bucks to be had, but the days of seeing bigger numbers of deer during a hunt are a thing of the past. IMO

 

I applied for unit 27 mulie again this year, with the October whitetail hunt 2nd choice I know the unit well, and it has a lot of sentimental value to me. I can get away from the crowds just by hiking a mile, and places no OHV will ever get to.

[muledeerarea33?]

Numbers have dropped the past 10-12 years partly due to lack of rain. And lack of water being pumped by a handful of ranches that have quit running heard sizes of years past. Land restrictions also come into play but my opinion it's mostly due to lack of replenished rain/snow water and the new found popularity of the area in the past 10 or so years

[Pine Donkey]

In 1and the Northern part of 27 I have seen more Muleys this past year than the previous 5. Fires create habitat.

[Alpinebullwinkle]

Unit #27 has been my unit of choice since 1973 and probably know it as well as anyone. The mulie population seemed to start its terrible decline about 1980 IMHO. The mulie population declined so much in the northern part of the unit that I felt guilty shooting one and gave up on mulie hunts about 10 years ago. On the contrary the coues have done well (maybe even bigger population) since the 1980's mulie decline. I'm sure less precipitation has some impact on the mulie decline but without a doubt predators are the biggest reason for the decline. Coues seem to deal with the predator problem better which explains to me what we have witnessed in both deer populations since 1980 or so. Granted there are random fair populations of mulies below the rim, but not enough for me to feel good about killing one, so I remain a coues hunter probably the rest of my life and moreso an elk hunter, when priviledged with a tag or guiding family, friends, or paying customers.

[Alpinebullwinkle]

Pine Donkey I acknowledge seeing the same increase in mule deer population the last few years as you. However I don't know if it is that they are now "recovering" or the fact that 50% of the forest is burned and viewing of wildlife is now easier? Maybe our AFGD posters can comment based on their aerial surveys?

[Pine Donkey]

Let me clarify my post. We have been seeing a lot more mule deer in the last year, but the numbers are still pretty low compared to 15-20 years ago. By no means do I think they have had a major recovery, but am hoping for one. Foes are being found in areas that "never" have held coues.

 

Pine Donkey I acknowledge seeing the same increase in mule deer population the last few years as you. However I don't know if it is that they are now "recovering" or the fact that 50% of the forest is burned and viewing of wildlife is now easier? Maybe our AFGD posters can comment based on their aerial surveys?

[rugermack]

Part of the decline is due to over hunting, Game and fish should have backed off on the tags alot sooner. I started hunting thee in the early 80s, droughts and over hunting are what is keeping the populations down.

[awatson]

That's wishful thinking. The numbers will never be what they were 20 years ago. Look around; unfortunately, nothing is the same as it was 20 years ago, anywhere.

[Alpinebullwinkle]

Pine Donkey sounds like you and I are basically on the same wave length.

 

Lots of root causes for the significant decline in mule deer in unit #27 since the 1980's but at the top of the list and far ahead of all the other root causes is a significant increase in predators and predation impact. Most trapping was banned and there are far fewer lion hunters with dogs for many reasons. Addition of the wolf has impacted the elk population probably moreso than the deer but still an impact to consider. JMHO from someone that is in the forest more than most.

[sjvcon]

Hmmmm ... declining deer population due to predation ... Mexican Grey Wolf release program ... can anyone say MISTAKE!!!!

 

I have hunted 27 on and off for the past 15 or so years. There are still some mulie bucks in there, but sure a lot less than there used to be. Couple of years back we hunted for several days and only saw a couple of small guys.