It is ideal mule deer habitat. So if you have been applying for or waiting for one of the coveted premier Arizona deer tags understand you can take advantage of the otc tags and get to experience hunting in Arizona while building your bonus points for the draw. This hunt is over the counter and you can hunt trophy mule deer and Arizona coues deer bucks in the late season during the peak of the rut. Growing up my family hunted 9 every year and killed some BIG bucks. The pretty much keep all the elk on the south rim and all the good deer on the north rim.. The OTC Deer scouting reports are per unit based and we limit what we send out. Notice: Archery deer hunters – Unit 13B is not an open area for over-the-counter tag holders as of April, 2008. Plan Your Trip
Below are the units we believe will offer a DIY hunter the best chance of tagging a mule deer buck in an Arizona OTC deer unit. That tag is good for the calendar year. Arizona Mule Deer Draw The Mid-Winter Draw takes place annually the second Tuesday in June, the next draw deadline in … And the tag is available over the counter. Generally, elk can be hunted most of year where Arizona Game and Fish is trying to keep unwanted elk out of areas of agricultural fields and in areas of competitive species, such as mule deer. This is where we have looked: That place should be crawling with deer. Hunters can apply for mule deer … Exampleis if you buy unit 10 $1500 you have a second hunter $500 total $2000. The numbers and densities of mule deer in Kaibab unit 12A east are much lower than the west side of the Kaibab but, there are some giant mule deer bucks that are currently … Kill one deer a year but you could come hunt deer with your bow and you can hunt them in velvet, you can hunt them during the rut; pre-rut, full-rut, post-rut. We have spent 4 weekends scouting/hunting and have only seen a little sign (but no deer). These otc tags don’t have any affect on bonus points. The sky’s the limit when you’re mule deer hunting on The Strip. Mule deer can be found from the southern portion of the unit in the Sonoran Desert north to Mogollon Rim into the Ponderosa Pine forests on the Mogollon Rim. These early season Arizona archery mule deer hunts typically begin in mid August and will run until the second week of September. However, I tend to target bucks that are 160 inches or larger. The biggest buck one of our hunters have gotten so far on this hunt was a 229 inch monster! Archery Mule Deer hunts can be booked in 5,7,10, or 14-day increments during any of the three Over-The-Counter seasons in either August, December, and January. Not all, but several game management units are open in December, with most of the state open in January. Dream destinations include the Arizona Strip (units 13A and 13B) or Kaibab Plateau (units 12A East, 12A West, and 12B), but the drawing odds are long, sometimes in the low single digits, Ornoski said. The first otc archery mule deer hunt that takes place annually would be the early season Arizona archery mule deer hunts in the velvet. We hunt GIANT bucks on the Arizona Strip Units 13A/13B and on the North Rim Kaibab in units 12A/12B. Arizona OTC Mule Deer Opportunity Hunts are the Best Kept Secret Trophy Mule Deer Hunt in the West! The over the counter archery deer hunts are one of our favorites as we are given the freedom to hunt never every unit in the state. Late Season – Arizona has a long archery deer season that runs mid-December through January. The OTC tags & licenses for our trophy Arizona mule deer trips are purchased over the counter and do not need to be drawn. Mule Deer. Darveau also suggests hunting mule deer in Unit 22 with its 20 percent success rate. Overview: Unit 25M has an archery only deer hunt in late December and January. The mule deer archery hunt in Unit 22 begins in late August for the archery hunters and closes in mid September and reopens in December and stays open until the end of January. I believe they now issue about 400 permits, but I remember when it was 2000! AZ Rifle Mule Deer Hunts – 7 Days guided only 1 on 1 for $3500 and 2 on 1 for $2500 each . The Arizona OTC Archery Mule Deer Hunt is the most over looked hunt in the west with opportunity at trophy caliber bucks with an average 160-180 class bucks with annually bucks exceeding 180+. Mule Deer. Across the units deer populations are low but the age class and genetics of the strip provide the bucks opportunity to … I cant understand why they dont manage that unit better for deer anymore. There are open units scattered throughout the state. The archery mule deer hunt in Arizona Strip Unit 13A used to be an over the counter archery mule deer hunt but it has gone to a draw tag hunt … Arizona Strip Guided Deer Hunts The Arizona Strip is over a million acres that makes up units 13a and 13b. Access: Hunt areas are accessed by 4x4 vehicles, trucks and side-by-side ATV's. Unit 9 used to have great deer hunting. Mule Deer: Trophy Rocky Mountain (forest) mule deer bucks range in size between 150 inches and 250 inches and average about 170 inches. If you want semi guided assistance while you hunt it will cost an additional $1000 per unit. Its just how Game and Fish manages the unit dude.. Region III has productive mule deer units too near Kingman in western Arizona," he noted. ... We will send a list go gear and epexted weather for the hunt and unit expectations. We charge $1500 per unit, $2500 for 2 units that adjoin, and $3,000 for 3 adjoining units. There were a few other people looking for deer in unit 9 with an OTC tag when I was there .. "A nonresident generally can draw a rifle tag in this unit every 2 to 3 years. Over the Counter Archery Deer Hunts. OTC states like Nebraska (archery and muzzleloader) and South Dakota (archery) are go-to locations for mule deer fanatics who come up empty in draw states / units. Our Outfitter believes that the two Arizona Strip units are the best premier mule deer tags in Arizona. Game Management Unit 45A Most people hunting the flats try to find high points from which to glass the flats. Here at BCO we have over 30 years experience chasing high caliber Mule Deer bucks in the state of Arizona. Another great feature that our over the counter archery mule deer hunts offer you is that you do not lose any of your Arizona bonus points when you harvest a buck. Of Tucson’s seventeen units, 36A and 36C are best known for their all-around success rate for deer hunting harvest in Arizona, rating almost 65% in the late season. To hunt Unit 13B you must now obtain a permit-tag through the big game draw process. 5th Choice – Kaibab Unit 12A East: Unit 12A east, or the east side of the Kaibab, is the Arizona Strip Guides Team’s 5th ranking pick on our list of the best Arizona mule deer units. The hunt takes place in early November. Recently we have had huge success in these units and have spent countless hours learning and hunting those deer. Click here for more details. Arizona Over-The-Counter Mule Deer Hunts Buying an OTC mule deer tag in Arizona gives a bowhunter the opportunity to hunt earlier and more often than those who draw tags. The Arizona Game and Fish Department makes no warranties, implied or expressed, with respect to information on this map. All rifle/muzzy tags are awarded through the draw. We choose Arizona over the counter archery deer hunting because it afforded us the ability to hunt mule deer without a big game lottery. Please refer to the current year’s Arizona Game & Fish Department hunting regulations for more information regarding open areas. In Arizona, the late archery deer season runs from mid-December all the way through the entire month of January. Archery Only tags are OTC for almost all the units (except 3A/3C, and all the units n/o the grand canyon........Most of the units in Region III, V, and VI have decent hunting for both mule deer and Coues. From: BULELK1 16-Dec-16 Looking for a buck this January (2013) on the AZ OTC archery deer tag (valid in various units Jan 1-31; 4 weeks in Aug/Sep(~8/24-9/13), and then again last 2 weeks of December). The desert mule deer units in Arizona also offer the bowhunter the chance to hunt trophy Arizona mule deer bucks either in the velvet or the peak of the rut with over the counter tags and licenses. Units 28-31 Safford Area Each of these designated areas have their own specific boundaries, private versus public access, and some have specific dates. Many also hunt the late season in Arizona with a non-permit OTC archery tag. During dry years, look for deer concentrations in areas where spotty rain has fallen and has greened up the surrounding desert. Hunters are required to have a valid hunting license and a non-permit archery deer … There are several management units within Arizona that produce extremely large Rocky Mountain mule deer and most of those management units offer good chances to draw a mule deer permit. In Arizona, you can come and buy the over-the-counter mule deer tag for Coues deer tag. AZ OTC Archery Deer Units 16A, 15A/B Report/Advice? Unit 12B can be a very tough mule deer unit to hunt but it does produce some giant mule deer bucks on an annual basis and has the trophy genetics to continue to put out monster Arizona mule deer bucks for many years to come. Like Utah, Arizona is famous for producing record-book mule deer. While the units do not present as much trophy mule deer potential, there are trophy bucks harvested in … Both units offer an Archery hunt in the early fall and a rifle hunt during the rut. Early Season – Everybody dreams about the Arizona Strip or the Kaibab, but Arizona also has some awesome over the counter archery hunts for early season mule deer and Coues deer … Mule deer are found throughout the unit but are often concentrated in areas depending on weather conditions. Hunting License ($37) Non-Resident License ($160) Resident OTC-Tag ($45) Non-Resident OTC-Tag ($300) Guided Hunt ($3,575) Trip available on Aug 20th 2021 - Sept 9th 2021 Dec 17th 2021 - Jan 31st 2022. 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