Hunters locked out of Buehman Canyon Unit 33

[audsley]

Deer hunters with Unit 33 tags should know that the gate to Buehman Canyon has been locked at the Redington Road and will remain so until someone does something about it.  This is the main access to a major canyon and surrounding drainages and has always been used by a substantial number of Unit 33 tagholders.  .  If you hunt anywhere in 33, this could impact you even if you don't hunt that specific area.  The many who normally hunt there will now need to go somewhere else in 33. 

This road has historically conveyed sportsmen through 10 miles of prime mule and Coues deer country terminating at the Brush Corrals on Coronado National Forest Rd. 4407.  From there you could hike toward Evans Mountain or up Buehman, Burro and Diablo canyons.   Some Coues hunters preferred to stop outside the forest boundary and hunt the mesquite/palo verde country.

The road was closed by a private landowner who recently acquired two pieces of private property.   We don't need to hunt their private property.  What we need is access to state trust and federal lands we're being locked out of.  One parcel is along the road, where the gate has been installed.  The other parcel is crossed along the edge by a short stretch of the road.

These small private parcels are tying up thousands of acres of public land.  Presently there is no access for Pima County, the state, Game & Fish, the forest service or the public.  A county official told me Pima County, which paid $1.55 million for conservation property they need to monitor, will try to negotiate with the landowners for administrative access, but not necessarily public access.   The state land department and forest service need to monitor grazing leases on the state and federal land, and the feds need access to fight forest fires.   I'm afraid the land agencies will just take care of themselves getting keys from the landowners.  The rest of us will be left out unless somebody does something about it.

Anyone interest in getting involved in this fight should PM me and we can exchange contact information.

 

 

  

[buffhunter]

What about access coming in by piety  hill?  Is that what is shut off or the access from the San Pedro?

[CouesFanatic]

If they didn't have 12,000 tags in there every fall this stuff wouldn't happen as much. That unit is the G&F's cash cow.

[360 0r Better]

If it’s the only access to the area you are speaking of and there is no other way to get to it azgfd should be able to do something about it. If there is access from another route even if farther nothing can be done about it 

[buffhunter]

3 minutes ago, 360 0r Better said:

If it’s the only access to the area you are speaking of and there is no other way to get to it azgfd should be able to do something about it. If there is access from another route even if farther nothing can be done about it 

There are 2 ways to access.  One is just 2wd while the other you need 4wd

[25-06]

Bolt cutters.

[audsley]

Piety Hill - i used to go in that way, but Buehman Canyon is several miles long, and the road past Piety Hill doesn't get you very far in.  You'll need to start walking when you hit the bottom of the canyon downstream from where most hunters go.   It isn't a practical alternative.

I see no connection between the number of tags G&F allocates to 33 and a private landowner closing off the road.  This particular landowner has a history of locking hunters out of state and federals over in Unit 32.  

As for other alternatives, I suppose you could also hike 7 or 8 miles down from San Pedro Vista.  I know guys who have done it.   But that's not a very practical alternative either.  Access by the old road already afforded opportunity for very challenging backpack hunts in various directions.    Now those opportunities are gone at least for now.   

[Bucks N Bulls]

This sucks! These roads should be easement rights since the acess has always been open.

[AZAV8ER]

ran into this the last coupe years in 35B. basically land owner can deny access. Have had conversations with FS access co-rdinator and the fix is build a road to bypass the private. But its the government and the BS bureaucracy is slow to grind out. Good luck.

[CouesFanatic]

2 hours ago, audsley said:

Piety Hill - i used to go in that way, but Buehman Canyon is several miles long, and the road past Piety Hill doesn't get you very far in.  You'll need to start walking when you hit the bottom of the canyon downstream from where most hunters go.   It isn't a practical alternative.

I see no connection between the number of tags G&F allocates to 33 and a private landowner closing off the road.  This particular landowner has a history of locking hunters out of state and federals over in Unit 32.  

As for other alternatives, I suppose you could also hike 7 or 8 miles down from San Pedro Vista.  I know guys who have done it.   But that's not a very practical alternative either.  Access by the old road already afforded opportunity for very challenging backpack hunts in various directions.    Now those opportunities are gone at least for now.   

If I had land in 33 I would close it off too. 33 is ridiculous, there is hunt after hunt with 500 plus tags in the unit. There is 9 rifle and muzzleloader hunts in a row. That doesn't count the over the counter archery tags in august, September, December and January. Signs shot up, trash left out, people not closing gates, people not signing in at locations the Game and Fish is trying to work with the landowner. Most people have no respect these days, I'd close it too if it was my land. If people respected private land maybe things would be different. I'm not saying that's why this specific case is closed, but we would be a lot better off if we closed gates, stayed on the roads and picked up our garbage and casings. The bad apples are hurting our access all over this state.

 

[AZkiller]

Note to self... Put in for 33 in 2 years cuz cry babies don't have fatxess. That's fat guy access. 😆

[buffhunter]

3 hours ago, audsley said:

Piety Hill - i used to go in that way, but Buehman Canyon is several miles long, and the road past Piety Hill doesn't get you very far in.  You'll need to start walking when you hit the bottom of the canyon downstream from where most hunters go.   It isn't a practical alternative.

I see no connection between the number of tags G&F allocates to 33 and a private landowner closing off the road.  This particular landowner has a history of locking hunters out of state and federals over in Unit 32.  

As for other alternatives, I suppose you could also hike 7 or 8 miles down from San Pedro Vista.  I know guys who have done it.   But that's not a very practical alternative either.  Access by the old road already afforded opportunity for very challenging backpack hunts in various directions.    Now those opportunities are gone at least for now.   

They shut it off in the bottom now.  It use to connect to the road that goes out to the San Pedro...  I really never hunted that way I always hiked from the bottom out to the end of the plateu and killed good deer out in that country

[CatfishKev]

5 hours ago, 25-06 said:

Bolt cutters.

I think you mean "keys to the city"

[520HUNT]

The land owners are hunters too... they are fed up with game and fish like most other hunters who are sick of game and fish issuing too many tags and depleting the deer herds!