January Archery - Cactus, No Immigrants, Camp at Road

[atwoodbeer]

Looking to do January 2022 archery hunt.   Want to bring wife.   We took vacation to AZ a few years ago, and we like cactus country.  I will hunt during day, and wife may go on hikes, paint (she is an artist) and stuff like that.   I realize there may not be a big safety concern with immigrants, but it would make my wife real nervous to see them while on hikes or in camp alone.   We are in Montana and would drive down and camp out of truck, and could have a mobile camp.   I would plan on 1-2 mile walks before light and come out after dark.   Can anyone recommend a unit/area where we would have some cactus around (I realize it won't be like the National Parks but don't want to be in the pine forest), little to no chance of seeing immigrants and where we could be truck camping near hunting areas.   

[knothead]

Stay north of I-10 and you should be good.  The illegals are probably just waiting for the next president to be sworn in and then they can come across and be met with open arms.

[stanley]

Plenty of great areas.  Virtually endless options....  I sent you a PM with an idea or two. 

Good luck!

S.

[muledeerarea33?]

Any unit north or south of I-10 it’s possible. I hunt both and rarely see trouble. 

[bigorange]

You could camp at Patagonia or Parker Canyon Lake campgrounds or Madera Canyon...very safe in camp and plenty of hunting and cacti nearby. 

[AZLance]

8 hours ago, bigorange said:

You could camp at Patagonia or Parker Canyon Lake campgrounds or Madera Canyon...very safe in camp and plenty of hunting and cacti nearby. 

Madera canyon seeing record numbers of illegal immigrants right now! mucho cuidado!

[Edge]

Maybe 34B, Whetstone Mtns. I have seen plenty of illegals in there but that was years ago.

[atwoodbeer]

9 minutes ago, Edge said:

Maybe 34B, Whetstone Mtns. I have seen plenty of illegals in there by that was years ago.

Funny you should say that, as I was just researching that unit now.   

Thanks for all the input from folks so far.   I'm putting together a table of all the units with different data to help me sort through things.   

[muledeerarea33?]

40 minutes ago, Edge said:

Maybe 34B, Whetstone Mtns. I have seen plenty of illegals in there by that was years ago.

Horrible unit, tons of illegals!! I quit hunting there years ago because of all the problems.

[Edge]

Just now, muledeerarea33? said:

Horrible unit, tons of illegals!! I quit hunting there years ago because of all the problems.

Maybe Lance will chime in. It's hit and miss, been there with them been there without. Like you, years ago.

[muledeerarea33?]

Just now, Edge said:

Maybe Lance will chime in. It's hit and miss, been there with them been there without. Like you, years ago.

I’d stay away from that unit for sure!!

[atwoodbeer]

Thanks everybody.  Leaning towards 31 or 32, but got a lot of time to decide.   

[wish2hunt]

We were in 36a in December and got into two groups of illegals.

[CatfishKev]

On 1/7/2021 at 11:01 PM, bigorange said:

You could camp at Patagonia or Parker Canyon Lake campgrounds or Madera Canyon...very safe in camp and plenty of hunting and cacti nearby. 

This, momma can fish while your out hunting.

[mattys281]

16 hours ago, atwoodbeer said:

Thanks everybody.  Leaning towards 31 or 32, but got a lot of time to decide.   

Haven’t been to either of those units in years, but from what I understand 32 has some major issues with accessing public land.

i used to hunt 31 and had some good luck.    Never saw an illegal there and plenty of cacti as I recall. 
 

I haven’t hunted the far southern units much, but the only one I ever saw illegals in was in the Santa Rita’s south of Tucson. They were a pretty sorry looking bunch.  They weren’t the ones hauling drugs, they were the ones heading to Home Depot so they could cut grass for $5/hr