Sitka Gear
Anyone with 15+ AZ points?
Mule Deer
Contributors to this thread:
Hoot 26-Apr-23
Chuckster 26-Apr-23
BOHNTR 26-Apr-23
TEmbry 27-Apr-23
BOHNTR 27-Apr-23
huntinelk 27-Apr-23
HuntingAdict 27-Apr-23
MQQSE 27-Apr-23
Hoot 27-Apr-23
BOWUNTR 27-Apr-23
StickFlicker 27-Apr-23
wildwilderness 28-Apr-23
StickFlicker 28-Apr-23
smarba 28-Apr-23
Huntcell 28-Apr-23
StickFlicker 29-Apr-23
Tilzbow 30-Apr-23
BULELK1 01-May-23
Hoot 30-May-23
pirogue 30-May-23
Tilzbow 30-May-23
BULELK1 31-May-23
Hoot 01-Jun-23
Garth 01-Jun-23
flyingbrass 01-Jun-23
Hoot 27-Jun-23
creed 27-Jun-23
IdyllwildArcher 27-Jun-23
Moche 28-Jun-23
creed 28-Jun-23
Charlie Rehor 28-Jun-23
Medicinemann 28-Jun-23
BULELK1 29-Jun-23
midwest 29-Jun-23
IdyllwildArcher 30-Jun-23
From: Hoot
26-Apr-23
Hello all, I turn 40 this summer, I was planning on booking a hunt to celebrate, but life got in the way. I should draw a good deer tag for September here in CO, so that might be my “big” hunt for this year.

That brings me to AZ. My buddy and I have been saving points to try to draw a kaibab archery tag. If you’ve got 15+ points I’d love to chat with you to see if we could put together a group hunt for this august!

Please PM and we can exchange numbers!

From: Chuckster
26-Apr-23
If your talking the 12's your probably a shoo in with 15bp. The 13's, your probably close.

From: BOHNTR
26-Apr-23
If you don’t have max deer points, you will probably never draw 13’s as a NR.

I personally wouldn’t waste 15 points on the Kaibab archery hunt. It’s not even close to what it used to be years ago. JMO

From: TEmbry
27-Apr-23
If you’ll never draw the 13s and you have mid teens worth of points that can’t be banked when drawing lower tier hunt, what else is even worth the points if not the Kaibab?

Not being argumentative, genuinely curious as I’m in a similar boat. Not looking to cash mine in yet due to other hunts planned but it is on the 3-5 year radar.

From: BOHNTR
27-Apr-23
If you look at the other draw units, there are a just a few other options.

From: huntinelk
27-Apr-23
What is max points for nr deer going into this year's draw?

From: HuntingAdict
27-Apr-23
I've got 16 but honestly only started getting points for deer since I was already in for sheep and elk. I've drawn elk twice (rifle) gave up on elk archery as the trips were with my dad and he wasn't getting any younger so no regrets. We thought the first rifle tag we drew was our last big elk hunt together but got lucky and drew the same tag again 3 years later. As far as deer goes, I am also curious what 16 points gets you in AZ they make such a big deal out of the 12s and 13s that I don't even know what else there is. At 16 points and 40 years old do I wait it out? Is it worth it? or will it be when I finally draw?

From: MQQSE
27-Apr-23
I’m 21 points and can still add one with hunter ed. Never seems to be enough for what I want.

From: Hoot
27-Apr-23
For a little more clarification, my buddy and I have 9 points each. I believe we will need 11 this year for the Kaibab. We need another to join our group app to bring our average up to 11, hence the 15 point request.

If you were holding out for the strip and are realizing you won’t defeat point creep in this decade or possibly next, and are wanting to hunt, this should be a good year for it, habitat-wise.

If you’re going to hunt anyway, and want to help a couple guys draw, let’s chat, I’ve got a couple ideas on how to sweeten the pot and make it a win-win!

From: BOWUNTR
27-Apr-23
Holy smokes... it takes 11 points for n/r archery Kaibab... crazy times. Ed F

From: StickFlicker
27-Apr-23
Keeping in mind that there are always lots of numbers that don't add up or make sense in G&F reports (R & NR often don't add up to the Total shown, etc.), here is what they show for 2022. Last year, one NR drew in each of the 13's: 13B - 25 pts, 13A - 20 pts. U12 only took 10 pts to be almost, if not, guaranteed.

28-Apr-23
One reason NR tags and draws don’ t add up are Lifetime licenses holders who have moved away and are now NR. Their tags come out of the Resident allocation, But pay NR fees.

From: StickFlicker
28-Apr-23
ww, while that is a very good point and can certainly produce data that appears on the surface to not make sense, that's not what I was referring to above. Their column for the number of residents that applied and the column of NR that applied should equal the Total column, but they often don't. It doesn't matter how the hunter "identifies", the total of R & NR should equal the Total and they very often don't. There are other issues that are just plain math errors, and not the situation you mention. When I've called them, I've spoken to person after person who has no idea how the drawing even works! You should hear some of the crap they've told me about how they think the drawing works. Most eventually tell me they've only worked there a few months. Some of the people at the very top have left the department in recent years and there seem to be a lot of very poorly trained people running the circus.

From: smarba
28-Apr-23
StickFlicker: just patiently explain to them, the way the draw REALLY works is they begin awarding tags from the rear of the alphabet until all are allocated. And to just go ahead and send you one. LOL

Although since I'm an "A", maybe it should be end, beginning, end, beginning, so one for Z, one for A and so on...

From: Huntcell
28-Apr-23

From: StickFlicker
29-Apr-23
Smarba, I absolutely agree that's how it SHOULD work, but that has not been my experience. All but one of the last 5-6 premium tags I've drawn have been at or very close to max points. I can only remember once in my life that anyone benefitted me by starting with Z when handing things out. Although sitting next to M.J. Zinda in high school study hall was a plus to having a name beginning with Z!

From: Tilzbow
30-Apr-23
I’ve got 18, not sure that gets me anything better than 12.

From: BULELK1
01-May-23
I've got 22 and if I don't draw this year, I've already got a guy and his daughter that will be in the Adult age next year that I am sharing my points with as a group application.

He has 7 points so the Bow Kaibab should be do-able--------> for the 3 of us in the group appl.

I just did the same thing here in my home state with my 20 General Deer points (Not LE Deer) with a guy, his wife and their daughter that is now in the Adult age group for the first year. Look out on the Filmore-Pahvant unit!

Good luck, Robb

From: Hoot
30-May-23
Bumping to the top before I submit my last apps for the year…

From: pirogue
30-May-23
So for the 13’s that is mentioned above, what, if any, are the effects of the trail camera ban?

From: Tilzbow
30-May-23
Trail cam affect as far as what?

From: BULELK1
31-May-23
Got mine done Hoot, if anything changes for next year, if I don't draw this year, I'll reach out to ya man.

From the way I read it on the trail camera's all species are under the same umbrella rule.

Good luck, Robb

From: Hoot
01-Jun-23
Good luck to you Robb, looking forward to hearing about your season.

I did draw my CO archery tag so I’ll be chasing bucks in the high country at least!

From: Garth
01-Jun-23
There is not a trail cam ban in AZ. You just cannot shoot an animal that has had a photo taken with one. So, if your buddy has a camera out and tells you sit a certain place because theres a big animal there, do yourself a favor and dont.

From: flyingbrass
01-Jun-23

flyingbrass's embedded Photo
flyingbrass's embedded Photo

From: Hoot
27-Jun-23
Looks like even 15 points wouldn’t have helped, I thought it would take 11 this year but I know people with 13 that didn’t draw. That’s a 3+ point creep, at least….wow

From: creed
27-Jun-23
'Even the rifle desert hunts need multiple bonus to draw. it wasn't very long ago zero points would give you a decent shot at a tag. Not any more.

27-Jun-23
It wasn't that long ago where you could draw 12 every year with just a loyalty and hunter ed point.

I drew 13A several years ago with like 6 points. It happens. If you don't have well north of 20 points, you'll probably never be able to rely on drawing 13B. Hell, 13A doesn't even have a tag in the PP round. 13 is one of those tags where you put in every year and hope you draw the random tag, sort of like AZ sheep. If you put in for a few dozen bad-odds tags, you get lucky here and there.

The problem with AZ deer is that the draw results come out like 5 weeks from the season opener and I already had two hunts planned, which gave me like 5 days to hunt 13A, which I'll probably never draw again. Nonetheless, I keep trying...

Back to 12, what a unit is "worth" gets confused based on time and what people have invested in that unit or similar units in the past. It's worth what you put into it because points are basically a valueless construct. If you put in for 10-15 states every year for dozens of different tags like many of us do, you are most certainly going to take many of your points to your grave and you will get "some" hunts for your investment.

The trend has been for those hunts to cost more and more points and its going to continue for at least a while longer. Demographics are going to change, but so are application practices and so far, more people applying is > deaths of the guys who were putting in for hunts when all these points schemes started getting instituted back in the 90s.

From: Moche
28-Jun-23
Was blessed this year. Nonresident Lifetime license holder and Drew 13B rifle with 15 points. Also have been playing the zero guide fee thing for six years so I should get 7 days fully outfitted. lets see how that works out.

From: creed
28-Jun-23
Congrats on the Strip tag! I have friends that drew late Kaibab and Strip. They have already contacted guide services and have been told antler growth is fantastic this year due to the good weather. Something else that was brought up was the trail cam ban possibly allowing more big bucks to survive than would have with all the trail cams that usually plague those areas.

28-Jun-23
Idyll: Can you please tell us again about when the AZ Game Warden came to check on you when you were napping? I’ll bet he’s told that story a few times too:)

From: Medicinemann
28-Jun-23
I never read/heard about this the first time.......

From: BULELK1
29-Jun-23
Yeah, that was funny----->

Please Iddy,

Robb

From: midwest
29-Jun-23
Just the story, Ike. No pics!

30-Jun-23
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Also, if a guy takes a nap naked in the woods and there's no one there to see him, did he really take his clothes off?

I'll tell you a few things about the strip in August: 1. There are big bucks there. 2. It is hot. 3. The AZ wardens have really nice off-road trucks with multiple spare tires and no matter how far off the beaten path you go, they'll be out there too.

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