Az Youth Deer

[ddgun11]

I am looking into a 2021 diy father/son youth deer hunt in Arizona, my son will be 13 years old. Would really like for him to have the opportunity for mule deer or white tail, which ever one shows up first. I have a few questions, hope you guys can help.
I am look for any sound advise, not for someone to give me the coordinates to their honey hole.

Is it possible to get away from the crowds if we are willing to hike?
Are the border units safe for a father son hunt?
Is it safe to leave a parked vehicle in the border units?
What should we expect weather wise for the Oct. or Nov. youth hunts?

 

[Packin_packout]

Getting away from crowds yes...there are lots of ATV's from snowbirds south of tucson.

Safe...depends on your risk scale...the whole area is covered up with the trash & debris of the masses of people sneaking across. You will find tons of black water bottles, backpacks, clothing scattered around etc. You have better than even odds of seeing people while glassing depending on how far away you are from major roads. They don't want to see you and I have not had a problem yet.

Parked vehicle...again mileage may vary...have had people sneaking down the arroyo behind where I was camped in middle of night...had unmarked bortac guy sniffing around my vehicle..I thought he was trying to break in so that got fun for both us...he was cool about it afterwards. The game warden out where I hunt has her belt rig setup with ar mags and when I run into her and she's carrying an AR. always.
There will be a lot of helicopters running around at night as a forewarning.

This year was warm...really warm according my buddy who lives out there...have had years where it has been good. 70's in the day 30-40's at night.

I still go out there...but I am always carrying a pistol. If your skin color is dark enough that the border patrol thinks you might be hispanic might want to have a passport card. Had a girl in my car one time and they wanted to make sure she was a citizen. She was on a h1 visa and did not have her paperwork with her. That cost us about 30 minutes on the phone but the CBP guys were pretty relaxed about it. They knew the company name we both worked at in tucson...it's not the first time they have had that happen with people from india.

Another good hunt to do with him out there would be the javelina or youth jackrabbit hunt over spring break. My kids loved that camp it's cooler and confidence building...lots of shooting opportunities.

Have your vehicle rigged up to self-recover, extra water and tire plugs / spare. Really easy to tear tires up out there.

 

[Life_Feeds_On_Life]

I've never been too nervous hunting down there and it's cool country. Leave some water bottles outside of your truck if you're worried about it getting messed with.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Weather can be a crapshoot. It can be 100* during the day or 70*. Can cool quite a bit at night but then again, it may not.

You really should decide on which species of deer you want to hunt. While there is some overlap in terrain, they do tend to favor different habitat.

No issues getting away from the crowds to find deer. Short hike usually will work. Like anywhere else, lots of folks choose to road hunt in their side by sides.

Just because you are near the border, it does not mean you have a higher chance of a vehicle or camp break-in. Plenty of US citizens do it regularly no matter where you are. Like anywhere else, leave nothing valuable behind.

I do recommend camping near others just for an extra margin of safety at night. Also, stay vigilant. It's when you let your guard down and get complacent bad things tend to happen.

 

[Packin_packout]

That's actually the same rec you will get from some of the CBP guys unofficially. One other thing..knee pads, gaiters and a leatherman. South of tucson you have jumping jack and cholla cactus If he has never seen a jumping jack cactus it is a good idea to make he knows what they look like and to avoid them. My kids messed with them and never repeated that mistake again. Spent a little while pulling all those spines out. It really is a neat area to hunt and get out in.

 

[ddgun11]

I really appreciate you guys replying to my post.
Thanks for all the info!

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

A comb works great for removing cholla (my nemesis).

 

[Blackcats06]

Dont be afraid to look at general hunts , even if you dont get a tag. Some youth hunts are harder to draw than general tags, especially for whitetails