Hunting & Fishing Arizona, hunting and shooting relocation guide? Fort Huachuca?

[Muskox]

I got offered a job on Fort Huchuca as a civillian. I am retired military so it will be nice to have accesss to base services.

The job pays enough that we should be able to afford to hunt beyond Arizona, but it would be nice to hunt in Arizona as well.

Anyone live down there, how is the hunting on base?

 

[45.308]

I spent 6 years there, I left Alaska in 38f arrived in 114f was literally sick with head ache and stomach cramps for 3 days. After the first year got adjusted but still did not wear a M65 below 60f like most. It a unique area with huge temp swings, in winter all 2 weeks, it can be 20f at 6am and 70 by 2pm. Aug is monsoon season with daily thunderboomer at 1500, some were quite severe but very short lived. We did a lot of camping in the mountains. Its hot and then more hot. Its dry but in you can find running water streams, very few coming from the mountains to take a dip and cool off.

Every thing sticks, bites or stings and jumping cactus found me a lot, goat heads the worse though. I fished quite bit, some very large bass in the local lakes, never hunted a single day but up north huge elk and mulies if you get lucky. From what I remember, most of the land around is ranch land with free graze cattle so hunting is asking and shooting was not so much approved.

You will enjoy it and we loved AZ but the crime was getting bad when we left.

Good luck

 

[tireys]

I was stationed in Yuma for almost 4.5 years and loved it also. It really is an outdoors/ sportsmanship paradise. A few of us applied for mule deer and elk tags but weren't successful but, you can get over the counter left over tags and there always seemed to be left over Coues Whitetail tags for the Fort. We went 3 years in a row. The first year we hunted the Dragoon Mountains just west of Bisbee and few miles north of Tombstone before we found the gold mine at the Fort. The next year we hunted the 5 out of 6 hunters tagged descent bucks and the following year 8 of 11 hunters were successful in tagging bucks. There is a ton of things to do & hunt in that area. Dove season is crazy in the southwest, deer, elk, javelina, coyotes and hiking. If any of this is your style you should enjoy it very much.

 

[George Az]

Great dove and quail hunting. Great varmint hunting. You can go for over the counter mountain lion. Hunting for large game is by draw. If you take a safe hunter class, you get a point. Points build until you get drawn. Some areas have more opportunity but less quality of trophy, but great meat. Yes, on the Az strip - way up north by Utah, there are some huge mule deer hunts, but that doesn't mean there aren't good hunts elswhere. There is hunting in the Tucson area and to the east. Hard hunting. Cross canyon shots on Coues deer. These guys are desert ghosts. I have only seen them a few times. Areas around Flagstaff, Williams have great Elk and deer, Prescott has good deer. Antelope anywhere is tough because the herd numbers are down, primarily due to fencing, encroachment and predators - coyotes.

I got drawn for elk after 4 years this year! I got drawn for deer last year but I didn't get one. there is also hunting on the Indian reservation - you can buy these tags and you have to have an approved guide. There is some serious quality of animal in the Apache Indian reservation because it is their controlled hunt. $$$ though.

Colorado isn't that far away and with a safe hunter card you can buy over the counter for around $500 on elk but it is controlled by areas. In New Mexico there is great hunting and land owner tags. You will pay to hunt, but it can be resonable.

Good luck and welcome.

 

[rhildy77]

Plenty to hunt here. I'm stationed at DM about a hour drive from where you are going to be. 34a has great hunting along with 33 I primarily hunt coues deer just because the challenge and cross canyon shots. Mt lion are over the counter I ran into one this hunting kinda scared me but that's the Arizona wildlife. One downfall is close to border good chance of running into illegals that has happened also to me.

 

[tireys]

Plenty to hunt here. I'm stationed at DM about a hour drive from where you are going to be. 34a has great hunting along with 33 I primarily hunt coues deer just because the challenge and cross canyon shots. Mt lion are over the counter I ran into one this hunting kinda scared me but that's the Arizona wildlife. One downfall is close to border good chance of running into illegals that has happened also to me.

I had a run in with illegals in the Cochise Canyon. All wearing trench coats carrying backpacks the coyote was the oldest one and the rest of them probably 15-18 year olds.

 

[Muskox]

Thanks guys, we are considering it. Job pays enough that even if I hate the job, I'll have the extra cash to do the hunts I want to do.

A friend of mine told me last night that there is no such thing as a bad job, only ones that don't pay as well.

In this economy I would tend to agree.

 

[Muskox]

Just looked at the San Carlos and White Mountain Indian reservation hunts. Pretty affordable, especially the management bull hunts. I have spoken to several folks woh have hunted the management bull hunts and shot great bulls that would be trophy bulls anywhere else.