As for food costs, I do not figure these into my travel costs because we camped and cooked most of our meals besides a few restaurant meals that did not cost more than what I would spend any normal week. SteveG. Arizona offers unique and flexible opportunities for any archery mule deer hunter regardless of your residency status.In most units, three OTC hunts are offered per year and permits can be purchased from any license dealer or AZ Game and Fish … We scouted the unit in Tonto National Forest for two mornings and one evening and covered many miles while seeing little deer sign and even less deer. However, to choose a specific area and develop a basic hunting strategy you should consult with locals and others with experience hunting the area. You may be better off considering a unit around Tucson that holds more deer and where you could chase both muleys and Coues. It was an adventure with lots of soggy PB and J’s and a few cottontails and jackrabbits we harvested with our bows! Pre-season scouting will determine if these deer are on the waters. 2020 Photos & Text Copyright - © Shadow Valley Outfitters However, to choose a specific area and develop a basic hunting strategy you should consult with locals and others with experience hunting the area. Mule deer bucks form bachelor groups this time of the year. It's worth noting mule deer are not found in the timber and high elevations of the Pinaleno mountains along Hwy 366. 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. Finally, hunting the first week of January allowed us to miss very few class days while maximizing our hunting time and a return trip in late December will also coincide with some given Christmas vacation days. Mar 7, 2018 #3 . We choose Arizona over the counter archery deer hunting because it afforded us the ability to hunt mule deer without a big game lottery. Arizona offers archery hunters the opportunity to purchase archery tags for deer only over the counter. We can be as physical as you want to be. He is a published author in Quality Whitetails, Purdue University Extension, and is currently a graduate student at the Mississippi State University Deer Lab where he studies interactions between deer, oaks, and other hardwood trees. The units for OTC archery deer are generally not great. An archery desert deer hunt (like unit 41 and surrounding) will be tough especially for a first-timer. That tag is good for the calendar year. The OTC archery hunts are listed in the brochure and you can find the success rates in the Hunt Arizona starting on page 38. There are open units scattered throughout the state. So, we bought licenses and hunted the first week of January, but these licenses are still good to return this year without any additional costs besides fuel! Species and hunts available are: archery-only deer (some unit restrictions); limited opportunity elk; mountain lion; bear; archery-only javelina and juniors-only turkey (shotgun only). Pinetop 85935 Region I Units ⦠Ranger, Mar 7, 2018. Each hunt can accommodate 4 hunters. Elk â OTC nonpermit-tag season dates Arizona Over The Counter Archery Mule Deer Hunt. Many of these tags are considered once-in-a-lifetime because of their difficulty to obtain. I suggest joining Facebook groups like Desert Mule Deer Hunting, these guys were very helpful giving me pointers and even suggesting units to target. Call local biologists that work for AZGFD and ask them about unit recommendations and tell them exactly what you are looking for in a hunt whether that’s Coues deer, mule deer, mountains, or low desert. The second Arizona otc archery mule deer hunting option would be the late season archery mule deer hunts for hard antlered bucks that are in the peak of the rut. We stalked at least one buck a day including several Pope and Young class Coues bucks. Arizona however has a serious opportunity for over-the-counter (OTC) hunts. 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. It also allows you to accrue bonus points for that trophy Strip, Kaibab or rut Coues hunt through the draw process. 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