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Anybody been to Arizona during the past few weeks to hunt Coues deer? Anyone ever hunt in Unit 21 north of Phoenix? What type of bucks are available in that unit?

Welcome to the Fire, whens your hunt?

Dober

Maverick:

Yeah, I just got back from a coues deer hunt in southern AZ. But I don't know anything about unit 21.

KC

Dober:

Preferably, I hope to draw the Unit 21 December tag when it comes time to apply. Unit 21 is very convenient and I'd rather hunt there instead of driving all the way down to the southeastern units. I've hunted Coues whitetails in Unit 32 and Unit 33, and the Unit 32 November hunt would be my back-up choice if I'm not fortunate enough to draw the December Unit 21 tag.

Maverick940

U live in Az now?

Dober

Sent you a PM.

MAV- welcome. how did your hunts go down south?? 32 , 33?? 21 is closer but it has less wt.. i would think it is hard to draw a tag too. ESPECAILLY dec.. coueswhitetail.com is another good spot for info.

Dober & Ron-In-Flagstaff & Mudhen:

No, I'm an Alaska resident. However, I usually go to Arizona during late fall and winter, for hunting purposes. I've spent quite a bit of time chasing desert mule deer in Unit 21, but haven't put in a lot of time for Coues deer in that unit. I've seen a few whitetails there, though.

The DIY hunts I've done over the years down in the southeastern portion of Arizona were absolutely great. No complaints there. The only thing that's kind of an inconvenience for me as a non-resident hunter, is the logistics involved when orchestrating and then doing quality DIY backpack hunts in those units (32 and 33).

I've viewed the coueswhitetail.com website quite a few times over the past several years, but never bothered to register as a member. I'll probably register and pose a question or two and see what shakes out.

i hunted bear in 21 and javs in 32, have not hunted 33. both 32 and 33 have a lot more whitetail and bigger imho. for coues i hunt 36 . inconvienience- lot of border patrol lot of coues. few migrants.

One of the largest black bear I've seen anywhere on the North American continent was while I was on a DIY desert mule deer hunt in the central part of Unit 21, north of Seven Springs. That thing was coal black in color and a true monster. I've seen one other black bear in Unit 21 and that bear was reddish orange in color, but quite a bit smaller. There's a lot of bears in Unit 32, that's for sure. I've never failed to see plenty of bear sign when hunting down there (Unit 32).

Unit 21 isn't a mecca for coues like some of the other units and the December success rates reflect that... on the other hand, some great bucks have been taken there. The main issue with that unit is the deer are in pockets more than dispersed... and if you don't know where they are at it's more difficult to find a decent buck. Scouting is key there.

Kent

Yes, I figured that scouting was going to be crucial in Unit 21, just as it's been in the other more "traditional" Coues deer units I've hunted. Right now I'm not sure whether I should concentrate my effort in the burn or to go further north.