longbowpilot Report post Posted October 11, 2013 Hi everybody, Drew coues tag for 34A with my friend who is a new hunter and hasn't taken a deer yet. Hunted 34A last year on the north end of the Santa Ritas on Mt. Fagan, didn't see anything but a bunch of does, not one buck. Was going to check out temporal canyon this year, not looking for any sweet spots just somewhere that we'd have a better chance at seeing bucks (really want to help my buddy get his first deer). Going to scout temporal canyon rd in a few weeks. Wanted to see if anyone knew the road conditions there and how high I could get with a stock F-150 4x4. Thanks for any help or info anyone can provide. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZwest16 Report post Posted October 12, 2013 Not crazy familiar with that area. But from experience do your home work on your computer prior to going down and find places that are about a mile in with no other road access around! Bucks frequent these areas and tend to go back to them this time of year because of hunting pressure! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Distance Report post Posted October 17, 2013 I've hunted there 3 times and brought one home each time. I head down the road leading to Kentucky Camp, Gardner canyon. It loops around and you can also head out through Fish Canyon, south of there. I've seen some big deer up in there. they hang out kind of high, but it's easy access. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesBuckhunter Report post Posted October 20, 2013 Distance is right, Kentucky camp is a really good spot, always deer in there. Sometimes those big bucks are right by the road under everyones noses. Keep that in mind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longbowpilot Report post Posted October 20, 2013 Cool, thanks for the help. Will check out that area for sure. I wanted to get as high up as possible, don't mind hiking 5+ miles a day if I have too. Always thought about that near the road thing. everyone probably just blows past a lot of deer trying to get away from the roads so quickly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesKilla Report post Posted October 21, 2013 Distance is right, Kentucky camp is a really good spot, always deer in there. Sometimes those big bucks are right by the road under everyones noses. Keep that in mind. +1. I heard a very high scoring record book deer came out of that unit within a quarter mile of a hard top road. The deer avoid hunters, not roads. I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out which road. Good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
young-coueshunter Report post Posted October 22, 2013 Try box canyon. That's off the Madera canyon exit. I've seen some decent bucks! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longbowpilot Report post Posted October 23, 2013 Appreciate everyone pointing me in the right direction. Will post some pics from the scouting trip if I glass up some good bucks. Can't wait to get out there, I know that is some awesome country down there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rugermack Report post Posted October 31, 2013 Fagan gets alot of traffic all year long, its across the street from my house. Go further south. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesBuckhunter Report post Posted November 1, 2013 Exactly rugermack, plus all the dang cats in there, they put a real hurting on the deer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZLance Report post Posted November 1, 2013 Temporal canyon is a pretty nice road... 2 wheel drive is fine. Was just in there during the past hunt and no one was camped north of Anaconda springs, and no one was camped in Piper gulch either, both great areas... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longbowpilot Report post Posted November 4, 2013 Temporal canyon is a pretty nice road... 2 wheel drive is fine. Was just in there during the past hunt and no one was camped north of Anaconda springs, and no one was camped in Piper gulch either, both great areas... Thanks for the info on Temporal, going to check out there and gardner canyon on the scouting trip. Yeah last year Fagan was packed with hunters/hikers/dirtbikers etc. I also heard there is a lot of lions in there, plus that jaguar is running around in that area somewhere prob. eating a lot of deer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longbowpilot Report post Posted November 17, 2013 Back from the scouting trip yesterday. Didn't get to go for a full day like I wanted due to work. Went up Gardner Canyon rd, then to Cave creek rd. till it ends. Lots of people camped all the way up to the end, mostly ATV/dirtbiker types I think. Also saw some bicycle riders going up the trail (Don't these people know its hunting season? Can't seem to get away from the yuppies no matter where you go these days, haha). Was able to glass up 5 deer, all does, they looked pretty good size though, healthy. Found a tank with tons of water in it, lots of tracks and droppings, heavily used deer trails in the area. Probably hiked up to about 6,000 feet. Starts to get really thick on the northern slopes there. Went into some thick pinyon juniper areas and found a few areas of standing water in small puddles which was cool to see this time of year. Does anyone ever try to hunt in that thick stuff up high? Pretty much impossible to glass into it. I figure that's where a lot of bucks go to hide out during hunting season. Anyway, was good trip, awesome country/views out there, looks like plenty of water this year. Looking forward to the hunt in two weeks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ffm71 Report post Posted November 17, 2013 Great area. There are bucks all over, dont forget to glass the low rolling hills too. Seen them all over where you wouldn't expect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longbowpilot Report post Posted December 3, 2013 Update on the hunt: Unfortunately no bucks were killed. Saw tons of other hunters and tons of does but not one buck in the Gardner Canyon/Sawmill Canyon area. Hunted pretty high (6500-7500 ft) to try to get away from all the madness down lower. Tons of quads/trucks/ road hunters riding around all day. Only had 2.5 days to hunt due to work/family, wish I could have stayed out a few more days, awesome country out there. Now gotta start planning for next year! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
