Hunting & Fishing Mule deer hunt Arizona 19A

[Apothus]

My buddy and I got drawn for 19A in Arizona this year, which is in my backyard. My first successful big game hunt came in the form of a javelina earlier this year but this is my first deer hunt I've ever gotten to do. Growing up watching hunting shows, I've been dreaming of a nice wide mule deer since I was 15, so I'm very excited.

I'm looking for advice, general areas to look, etc that can help me be successful. I'm not asking for grid coordinates of a honey hole as I'd have better luck asking to sleep with your sister, but 19A is fairly large. We intend to scout every other weekend from here until October.

I also know that water is king in the desert, but so does every other hunter out there so I was thinking trying to sit on a ridge or saddle away from the water so I can try and catch them to and from. Is that a decent thought process?

Any other bits of wisdom that could be shared? Thanks guys. I'm already falling asleep to dreams of mule deer in my head.

 

[Bulldog Firearms]

Get at least 2 miles off the road or more. Most people venture no more than 500 yards off the road. The more remote you get the more likely you are to encounter animals.

 

[RNWRKNP]

^^^^This is great advise. Find water atleast 2 miles off of the road will help. People are lazy so don’t be and it really doesn’t matter what critter your after. Walking it in will give you an advantage.

 

[sandwarrior]

Right now, while it's hot, muleys are looking to cool down. That means sitting in shade on the North slopes that get the least sun. Sometimes they're down low near water, but most times they are as high as they can get. (Mingus Mtn.) It's a really good area

First, find the buck herds. Doe herds wont do you any good right now. If you didn't know it yet bucks and does (includes spikes/forky's) don't mingle until just before the rut. Don't spook them. Your idea of staying away from where they would be is good. But, you'll find they'll mostly be on the ridgelines. They see better and get better cooling breezes. So, approach them with caution.

Once you find where the bucks are hanging out, then you find their patterns. That will change when it cools off, so look for that. If it gets cool enough, they'll sometimes migrate to the south facing slopes to gain heat. Usually picking a spot in juniper or pinion so the group can see 360. If one spooks they all move.

Something else, and this isn't always fact, big bucks tend to get "impacted" or constipated. They put in a lot of feed to build size. Anyhow, that leads to the pellets clumping together like turds. When you see "turds" on the ground you know you are seeing buck sign. Take as much note of that area as you can. What food is there? What is the weather like? If you don't see fresh sign, camp there that night and see how well it cools off. You might see bucks coming to bed at first light somewhere near you. So, again, move out of the area cautiously.

The last thing is muleys like having an escape route. If they hang out in a canyon, they might be a bowl somewhere on the ridges up the canyon where they can escape you without being seen. In Nevada, we often had one guy go up the ridge and overlook the bowl. The lower guy(s) would walk the bottom of the canyon and push them up. One or more might head out through the bowl.

 

[bigdaddydmd]

19A mules are a good hunt. I hunted 19A two years ago. Did you draw a mule tag or is it just Antlered deer? 19A has both although the coues whitetails aren't too numerous in that unit. It is a big unit, but a fair amount of it is closed/private land and the parts that are popular (like Mingus Mountain) will be crawling with hunters. it is a popular unit due to its proximity to PHX. I'll send you a PM with a few spots to scout. Glassing is your friend in AZ so an investment in great binos/spotter are worthwhile. Its not like the hunting I used to do in Oregon where you were beating brush and reprod and usually engaged in 100yd or less. Here in AZ you can get some fairly long shots.