ARIZONA ARCHERY MULE DEER HUNTS
Have you been doing some serious looking around and researching numerous trophy mule deer outfitters for a chance to hunt some of the biggest mule deer bucks in the world with your bow?
Would you like to go an archery hunt for hard horned trophy mule deer bucks that are in the peak of the rut and not have to wait around for years or even decades to draw a trophy mule deer tag?
Would you like to go on an early season archery mule deer hunt for bachelor groups of trophy mule deer bucks in the velvet with over the counter tags?
Would you like to apply for a limited entry draw tag for a trophy archery mule deer hunt where you will have nearly non existent hunting pressure and where you might have a very legitimate chance of harvesting a buck that will beat the current Pope & Young World Record Mule Deer Buck?
Would you like to be able to purchase an otc deer tag if you were unsuccessful in the limited entry draw yet still keep all of your Arizona bonus points that you have waited years to build for next years Arizona Big Game draw?
Stop waiting any longer and join us this year for one of our trophy archery mulie hunts in Arizona.
Arizona offers bowhunters who want to pursue giant mule deer bucks several different hunt options and seasons from which to choose from that can all produce big mulies. The most popular hunt option that bowhunters who are interested in hunting Arizona have to choose from would be the over the counter archery mule deer hunts that are offered in Arizona.
There are two different hunting seasons for these otc archery mule deer tags.
The first otc hunt would be the early season Arizona archery mule deer hunt. This hunt typically begins in mid August and will run until the second week of September. Bowhunters who choose to experience this great mule deer hunt will have the opportunity to pursue trophy mule deer bucks that are in the velvet and enjoy a long hunting season that usually lasts at least 21 days. The Arizona temperatures are generally pretty warm to downright hot during this time of year and this tends to concentrate most of the bachelor groups of trophy mule deer bucks around water sources. We generally experience the highest success on these early season mule deer hunts by hunting these water sources where the deer will be congregated from either tree stands or out of ground blinds.
Another successful tactic that we employ on these Arizona mule deer hunts is to hike up to high topography points and then glass and pick apart the surrounding areas near these water sources with our high powered tripod mounted optics in hopes of spotting a trophy buck, or a group of bucks, and then planning a successful stalk. Often times these big mule deer bucks will only hit water under the cover of darkness and your best bet is to try to glass them up very early or very late in the evening when they are up feeding or trying to glass them up as they are traveling to and from these water sources that they are using when they are heading to their daytime bedding areas.
This early season archery mule deer hunt offers hunters the chance to look at a lot of different bucks. Most of these mule deer bucks will generally be found feeding in groups in more open cover and terrain during this time of year due to their antlers being tender while in the velvet and their bright red summer coats really make them visible at a long distance when glassing. If you have been wanting a great velvet mule deer buck and do not want to wait years to draw a tag, this is the hunt for you.
The second Arizona otc archery mule deer hunt option would be the late season archery mule deer hunt in the rut. This hunt generally begins on the second weekend of December and runs all the way until the end of January. These mule deer hunts in the rut allow archers to hunt trophy mule deer bucks while they are chasing does in the peak of the rut and allows them to take advantage of a hunting season that is a month and a half long.
If you are looking for a lot of fast paced spot and stalk mule deer hunting action with a great chance of harvesting an all time Pope & Young mule deer you definitely need to experience this hunt at least once in your lifetime. Wouldn’t you like to harvest a mule deer buck with your bow like the buck pictured to the left? (we photographed this buck in an Arizona otc deer unit in Jan. 2011, he is still alive and waiting for you to come hunt him)
The Arizona mule deer country can literally come alive during these late season rut hunts and it is not uncommon to see dozens of deer throughout the course of one day. Every group of does, or any group of mule deer for that matter, that is glassed up during these hunts is met with great excitement because you never know what kind of trophy mule deer buck is going to be rutting and chasing the herd. This hunt is spot and stalk mule deer hunting at it’s finest. Glassing from high topography points that let us look over miles and miles of rutting grounds with high powered world class optics that are mounted on sturdy tripods is what produces the best results for our clients during these late season archery mule deer hunts in the rut. We hike to our vantage points well before daylight to be in the best position to look over the most groups of rutting mule deer possible and locate which group of deer has the biggest rutting buck with it.
You can also glass up numerous bucks during this time of year that are “cruising” and are actively and aggressively traveling while looking for does in heat and have not yet acquired a large harem. It’s very exciting to watch a trophy mule deer buck that is traveling fast with it’s nose to the ground like a hound dog in search of it’s quarry and planning a stalk to cut him off in the direction that he is traveling. Mule deer bucks that are in this “cruising” stage of the rut can often provide hunters with the best opportunity for a successful stalk. The bucks mind is so preoccupied with trying to find the fresh scent of a doe in heat that they often let their guard and senses down and allow us to get really close. Another advantage that a “cruising” buck offers is that many times they are traveling in a straight line and only looking at the ground which allows hunters to stalk to ambush points ahead of the buck in the same line of travel and patiently wait for the buck to cruise by and offer a shot. If you like hard horned trophy mule deer bucks and love to hunt mule deer in the rut, this is the perfect archery mule deer hunt for you.
The third option for Arizona archery mule deer hunts is to apply for one of the limited entry draw tags on the Arizona Strip Unit 13B, Arizona Strip Unit 13A, or the Kaibab unit 12A. Let’s take a look at the Arizona Strip Units 13B and 13A first.
We firmly believe that the early season archery mule deer hunts on the Arizona Strip are the best hunting opportunities that an archer will ever have at harvesting a giant mule deer buck that scores over 200 inches Pope & Young. There is no other place on earth that has better trophy mule deer genetics or that continually produces giant bucks like the Arizona Strip does. This archery hunt on the Arizona strip Unit 13B is a fairly new hunt and 2011 will only be the fourth season that this hunt has existed in Unit 13B. There has been an archery hunt on the Strip Unit 13A for quite some time but the Unit 13B archery mule deer hunt has only been in place since the 2008 hunting season.
The Unit 13A archery mule deer hunt was formerly an over the counter hunt but it has been changed to a limited entry draw hunt with a very limited number of tags since the 2008 Arizona hunting season. The archery mule deer hunts on the strip are an early season velvet hunt that have the exact same dates as the over the counter early season archery mule deer hunts. The weather can get very hot during this time of year on the Arizona strip and a lot of the trophy mule deer bucks up there tend to stay pretty close to the limited water sources that are found up there. Archery hunters who are lucky enough to be able to draw one of these archery tags for the strip generally experience the greatest success on trophy mule deer bucks by hunting these waterholes on the strip out of treestands and ground blinds.
Waterhole hunting is not the rule though as a lot of the good mule deer country that is found on the Arizona Strip seems to have been tailor made for spot and stalk mule deer hunts. During the 2010 archery mule deer hunt in Unit 13B, a typical mule deer buck that was harvested by an Arizona hunter, by glassing and then spotting and stalking, may potentially be the new Pope & Young world record typical archery mule deer buck. If you are looking for an archery mule deer hunt that is the absolute best of the best for giant mule deer and you do not mind waiting a few years to draw a tag, you need to give some very serious consideration to applying for the archery mule deer hunts on the Strip Units 13B and 13A.
With all of the attention that the Arizona Strip receives from hardcore trophy mule deer hunters it is sometimes pretty easy to overlook the Kaibab Plateau as an excellent choice for a trophy archery mule deer hunt. The Kaibab, like the Arizona Strip, also has a very trophy rich gene pool that produces plenty of trophy mule deer bucks for the bowhunters that choose to apply for the tags that are allocated for the early season archery mule deer hunts on the Kaibab. Bowhunters who choose to hunt the archery hunts on the Kaibab will encounter very high numbers of mule deer that are unparalleled anywhere in the state of Arizona.
The Kaibab archery hunt is also an early season velvet hunt with dates that start in mid august and end in early to mid september. Again, the weather is very warm this time of year and most of the deer will be in the high altitude thickly forested areas and staying close to water. These thick forest areas on the Kaibab are very difficult to glass in and most hunters have the best success on this hunt by hunting water holes and travel routes out of treestands and ground blinds. Although glassing and spotting and stalking bucks can be tough during this hunt you will still see great numbers of deer on a Kaibab archery hunt.
The mule deer densities on the Arizona Strip are very low and you will not see great numbers of deer while hunting there but it is quite the opposite on the Kaibab. Kaibab mule deer can be found in great numbers and high densities which makes for a very exciting and fast paced hunt with sightings of mutiple good bucks being very possible on a daily basis.
Generally, the average gross scores of the trophy mule deer bucks that are harvested on the Kaibab will be lower than those of the mule deer bucks that have been taken on the Strip. The Strip produces higher scoring bucks on average but the Kaibab is not too far behind and has produced some true behemoths on the archery hunt. In fact, the former world record Pope & Young non typical mule deer buck which scored an amazing 258 1/8 net P&Y and stood for many years was taken on the Kaibab archery hunt. This incredible Kaibab buck is still the Arizona state record mule deer in the archery non typical category. Don’t overlook the Kaibab for big mule deer bucks.
As you can see, Arizona offers archery hunters with some great hunts for trophy mule deer. We have a very high amount of experience on all of these hunts and can provide you with a world class hunt no matter which Arizona archery hunt you choose from.
Contact us today if you are ready to experience some of the finest archery mule deer hunting available.
EMAIL US: DAVEYRANCH@YAHOO.COM