I love Jan bow hunting in AZ. I hunt Coues deer in the woods using whitetail rut hunt strategies. Yes, it is a great place for glassing and spot and stalk, but I can't quit doing what works so well. There are deer in Maricopa County, including some good ones. However, it is the last place in AZ I would go. Water is key, as is hunt pressure. If hunting wooded areas, included areas with the brushy Turbinella Oak, look for areas where deer feed on dropped acorns. It was a poor forage year, and any place that yielded acorns will be exhausted. Of course, water is the key anywhere in AZ. This does not mean you have to hunt over water. It means there will be more deer within a mile of a water source than there are 4 miles from a water source. Fortunately there is still a lot of country within a mile of water.
It's very nice to hunt the peak of the rut at 6500 feet and have nighttime temps above 25 and daytime ones around 55. This is an average, of course. It can get really cold in places, but is unlikely to be the shiver-fest found in other states. Camping in the back of a pickup with a shell is a piece of cake.
