Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Flagstaff Area

Information on the hunting and fishing opportunities in and around this area would be appreciated.

Hunting is the same as the rest of the state. For big game you have to apply in the draw. There are some exceptions like archery deer and fall bear. For small game and most varmints all you need is a license and check the regs for any stamps or additional info.
For fishing, there is a lot to my knowledge. Lake Mary is not far and some of the other lakes and streams.

There are a few guys that know a lot more than I do about the Flag area. The above is the best I can do.

Kique

Moving...?

Hunting is very good if you draw, which is very tough...As the above post said deer are over the counter for archery....

Fishing is a few trout places scattered around, and then Lake Mary, for walleye and northern, or that's what was in there last I knew....If you can travel, Roosevelt is not too far and is good for bass/crappie....

Lake Powell is excellent for stripers and both large and smallmouth bass, and has improved for walleye....Crappies are good from time to time.....It is a couple of hours north...Lees Ferry used to be a premier trout stream but has suffered over that last few years.....Powell and the Ferry are on the Colorado....

Elk hunting is very good if you can get drawn. I apply only for cow hunts, and I get drawn every other year, at best. Deer herds are suffering because we're about ten years into an apparently endless drought.

Speaking of drought, Lower Lake Mary and Mormon Lake are dry. Not low, bone dry. When I took the family to Mormon Lake a few weeks ago, the lake bed was a big dust devil.

Northern Arizona has an unbelievable diversity of climate and geographic zones, from Sonoran desert to alpine tundra. As I recall, it's the greatest climatic change in the shortest distance of any place in the country. As such, we have a pretty large variety of game species: elk, mule deer, Coues deer, bear, cougar, javelina, turkey, dove, and quail; probably some others that don't spring immediately to mind.

The problems are hunting pressure (on the animals) and competition (for tags) and drought. I don't claim to have great skill as a hunter, but it seems increasingly tough to find much in the way of game animals other than elk, which are famously tough and adaptable. I must say, though, that I don't often have time to hunt more than twenty or thirty miles away from Flagstaff proper. You don't have to go far to find drastically different conditions (except for the drought everywhere).

Not moving but may have an opportunity on the horizon. Investigating at this point.

I didn't know the drought was that bad there.

Percentages for drawing Deer tag?
Coues?
Mulie?
Percentages for Drawing Elk tag (bull) ?

How about reasonable places for houses w/land in or around Flagstaff? Within 40 miles.

TIA guys!!!

WyoWhisper: In regards to your drawings odds. Let me put it this way, expect your rifles to collect a lot of dust. Maybe Azshooter will chime in, but I'm pretty sure he will back up everyone else in telling you that big game opportunities are very limited. Now bird hunting on the other hand can be world class. Onliest trouble is, that wouldn't work much for me as I find bird hunting about par with fishing. I like both, but won't knock myself out for either. I more or less do both to take up time between big game hunts. In Arizona that could be a very loooonnnnggggg time.

Awsome hunting, but getting a tag is really like winning the lottery.

Elk population is real good with fine antlers, but drawing a rifle bull tag has 5-15% resident draw odds, depending on unit. Mule deer around Flag is not good, imo. North Kaibab or the strip mule deer is the place for MD, but they have single digit draw odds. Some coues along the Mogollon Rim 30 miles south of Flag, but the higher populations are in southern AZ. Coues draw odds are about 10% for December tags, and close to 100% for October or November tags in many units. Trophy antelope all around Flag, but the population is declining and about 2% draw odds. NR odds will be less.

Archery deer is over the counter, but this may change in the next year with G&F wanting to have some units go to a draw in 2008.

Trout lakes around Flag are maintained with stockers, and most waters are turbid. Fools are bucket stocking northerns in most trout lakes. Lower Lake Mary is real fertile and will grow trout quicly when it gets water every 5-10 years, water will last a few years before some sinkhole to ??? drain it. Lees Ferry on the Colorado River below lake Powell tailwater fishing is 2 miles north. The better trout fishing will be in the White Mountains about 4 hours away in eastern AZ, with the better being on the White Mountain Apache Res, along with their elk. Lake Powell as mentioned has good striper and smallmouth fishing. Roosevet Lake, 3 hours south, has the some of the better largemouth fishing in the state.

Housing in Flag is not too affordable, with a newer 1300 sq ft house starting around 400k. My 1200' stick frame house in Kachina with no garage is near 300K, and was purchased 13 years ago for 86k. Lot prices are now killers within the Flag city limits.

Doug~RR

I love Northern AZ, grew up there, all my family are there, I miss them all greatly but duty calls here in WA. I can buy over the counter tags for deer and elk. Priorities you know....I plan on staying in WA.

Good hunting, but hard draws. Rifle deer not easy to get, elk tags much harder, antelope nearly impossible, and bighorn, forget about it. Rumor is archery deer in some units will be draw next year. Give it a few years and all archery deer will be draw only.

Plenty of public land, but access will be getting tougher due to the "travel management plan" that will be implemented in the next couple years. There will also be new "incliment weather travel restrictions" in place. Arizona National Forest public lands are quickly getting pussified along the lines of Kalifornia public lands. It's a crying damn shame.

I was all set to move back next May after a 10 year hiatus, but cannot bear to see what's happening to my beloved state with the mass importing of people who are fleeing Kalifornia in droves, bringing their [bleep] up mentalities, theories, motivations, and "enlightened" ideals with them. I'm now looking to possibly move to MT, WY, ID, or possibly even AK. AZ's still alright for now, but give it 10 years, and it's going to start getting unpleasant I fear.

Good gun laws in the state, for now. I fear that may also begin to change in the future as the all knowing left coast liberals continue to infest the state.

For a short term move, I'd do it, you'd never regret it. Nothing like AZ. Unfortunately it won't remain that way forever.

I forgot to mention that we now get to pay a $5 fee to use either boat ramp at Upper Lake Mary. I guess the government forgot that we own that land, and that we pay the mortgage on it every April 15th.

I also forgot to mention that, while Upper Mary has water, it's only about 17% full. And that's after a short, wet winter two years ago had it over the dam.

Dave R pretty much summed up the big game situation.

I should mention that Az. is third in public lands behind Ak and Nevada IIRC. WE have the "big ten": buffalo, elk, mule deer, coues whitetail. bear, mt. lion, desert bighorn, javelina and turkey. We also can hunt sandhill cranes which I like to think of as #11.

The other posters didn't mention that you can usually get drawn for Javelina and can still buy over the counter mt. lion tags.

The S. Az coues hunts that have higher draw percentages either have land access issues like the Dragoons or are so full of illegals and litter that most hunters won't bother. My hunting group has decided to put in for our usual hunt for furst choice and for the second we will try for one of the border units. I'd rather hunt than not.

Dove hunting has not changed much. You do have to do some field work to find where there are flights but they are there. We have two seasons. One in early sept and another from thanksgiving to early Jan.

Gambel and scaled quail populations are down for most of S. Az. There is a green belt just north of Phoenix that is supposed to have a better gambels population even when we are suffering from drought in the south. Mearns is a bit dicey due to the illegal traffic. The gambels will come back quickly if we get the correct winter rains.

We have duck opportunities. In S. Az we visit a series of stock tanks and stalk close enough for a few shots.

There also is some varmint hunting. It isn't like Montana but still fun. The drought has thinned down the jackrabbit population in some areas. We have coyotes, bobcats, coatis, and a few species of "rats" including prarie dogs. The P. dogs are only in the northern part of the state.

If I lived in Flag, you can bet I'd visit Lake Powell frequently. I think it is the most beautiful desert lake in the west. Fishing can be good too.

If I were to relocate today I would consider NM. It is larger that Az. with around 1/2 the population. The odds of getting big game tags is better AND there are several exotics to hunt.

What's the public land situation like in New Mexico? I had considered it at one point, but figured if I was going to make the move and not be back in AZ, it would be to someplace where I could get some decent OTC tags.

What doug ( redrabbit) said is accurate. word for word, accept for roosevelt lake, its only about 2 hours away and can have good fishing.

Please forgive Casey-



Flagstaff is the second most expensive place to live in AZ behind Sedona. I know that a lot of folks relocating to Flag because of job moves can't afford to live there. They have to live in places like Joe City or Holbrook and make the commute each day.

A lot of granola in Flag as well- definitely the most liberal city in AZ.

Dennis, i was pokin fun at doug, him and i are good friends.


you are correct, flag is expensive as hell to live in! not to mention the price of gas! i think its the most in az!

Hey thanks for the excellent info!

Page has some pricey gas too!