If you read the post about my first deer scouting trip, then you’d know that it didn’t go well, but I did learn some pertinent information regarding my upcoming hunt. I have been out scouting at least 2 more times since that post, and have figured out where I am going to hunt. This post is going to describe each planned spot, along with its characteristics.
Spot #1
This has been a hard-earned spot for me to figure out. I’ve switched back and forth between 3 different hunting spots, and finally decided on one spot in particular. My first reason as to why I picked this spot is because I think it will have less traffic than other areas, which is a priority with me. I hate hunting highly-pressured areas, and am just trying to be away from people in general. Next, I think that this hunting spot harbors a decent amount of deer, and also has good glassing points. There are also mule and Coues deer in the area, so I don’t know what I may or may not run in to. The area itself is an upper Sonoran desert community, filled with varying palo verde species, greythorn, desert hackberry, creosote, mesquite, acacia, and some grasses. Overall forage is decent with recent rains and lower cattle grazing frequencies. Finally, this spot is closest for me to drive to. This is important because I will be arriving around 1100PM on Thursday night – I don’t want to drive multiple hours in the middle of the night to get to my first camp/hunting spot, only to have to wake up a few hours later to start hunting.
I put a trail camera up on this spot and the following pictures were what I got. Because I only recently decided to hunt this area, the camera was up for only 6 days, which made for only a few pictures to be taken, none of which were deer. I did manage to get a javelina on the camera, though.
Spot #2
This is an interesting spot. Vegetation is similar to spot number, though it merges into a desert-grassland type area, and has more ocotillos. This area borders private property, and is well off the beaten path, which I think will severely decrease the amount of hunters in the region. This area will be hunted by strict glassing – one large area will be glassed, followed by going to the next mountain/ridge to glass. The potential for this spot is pretty good, and I think it could harbor both mule and Coues deer.
Spot #3
I’ve got 2 areas that currently tie for spot #3. Both spots have high hunter densities, but I think that hunting them during the weekdays could turn productive if spots #1 and 2 don’t produce deer. One of the areas has almost zero glassing points, and the only way I’d be able to get on deer would be to put a lot of miles on the boots. The other spot has great glassing points, but is also the heaviest hunted region in the unit. Vegetation for both of these spots is different than the first two, ranging from dense upper Sonoran to a desert grassland area, consisting of nothing but grasses, ocotillo, and creosote. I’m hoping that I won’t have to visit either of these spots, but they are essentially plans C and D if things go awry.
That’s it y’all. This will be posted on the Thursday before my hunt, so wish me luck. I’ve put my time into scouting and prepping for this hunt, so let’s hope that we can put one on the ground. To be honest with you, I’m looking more for a meat deer – I’m not going to shoot a spike, but I’d be happy with a 2x2 or bigger (maybe a 3x3 for a Coues). I’ll keep you all updated on the status of my success, but my blog posts will be limited, as I’ll be hunting. I’ll see you all next time…