arizona antelope 18-b

[billy-bob8]

my hunting partner drew a unit 18-b archery antelope with his 3 choice. 19-b was his 1st choice and we know how that turned into a "Major Ordeal". I guess the Fish and Game threw out his 1st choice, but it is good to know that they still gave him 2 options to draw from. All that aside I get to be involved in a az. antelope hunt this year, even if its only as cheif scout, cook, moral support ect. Now the questions, has anybody hunted here recently? how was the public vs private land access, and any tips as to where to start scouting. Any step to point us in the right direction would be appreciated. I know he wont comment, but do you think we will see Big Fin in our travels?

 

[EliAGrimmett]

I think the Fin-ster will be Mr. Invisible, like The Predator! At least he better be if he's going to stick a big buck.

I know you could probably find this info on the G&F website, but there are 3 general areas to start with:

1. Bozarth/Behm Mesa
2. Goodwin Mesa
3. Badger Flat and surrounding area.

The Bozarth area has some rough roads and Javelina and other big game.

Goodwin is the easiest of the areas to scout.

The Badger Flat area is north of the ORO and is mostly walk-in only (at least it was last time I scouted it) so it could be tough to scout. There's a little country east of Badger Flat that you can access but there aren't many roads and the ones that are there are pretty rough.

More or less plan to scout each one of the areas on separate trips as it takes a bit of time to travel between each one.

The other option is to book a hunt with an outfitter to hunt on the ORO Ranch, I have the phone number if you need it. The ORO is basically right in the middle of the 3 areas I mentioned.

As for trophy size: I heard it was rough last year, but the few years previous it was REALLY good, so maybe it'll bounce back some.

 

[Big Fin]

I know he wont comment, but do you think we will see Big Fin in our travels?

Congrats to your friend. Nope, probably won't see me.

Would love to catch up with you guys, but like Eli said, I am going underground. Two weeks off the grid. Might check in on Hunt Talk once in a while for some updates.

Dressed like a little 8" Be The Decoy buck, sneaking through the sage, arrow on the string, hoping for the one and the only, Big Hank. Hank the Tank has a ticket for a victory ride back to Montana. Or, most likely, my tag is getting a ride back to Montana and will be framed above my desk. One or the other.

After building 16 points, this is the one time in my life I might actually trophy hunt. Cameras and footage be damned. Troy and Loren are going to be ticked if I pass on good footage chances, but that is too bad on this tag.

Have fun on that hunt. Not sure what could be more fun than chasing pronghorn in AZ, even if you don't have the tag.

 

[sturge]

Bozarth is part of the Yolo, which allows access but is walk in only in most areas. There are other parts of the ranch that are much more hiking friendly.

 

[sturge]

Randy, I didnt know "Hank" lived in so many states.

 

[EliAGrimmett]

When we scouted Bozarth two years ago we drove all the roads and there were no gates or signs or locks. Which area did we miss that's walk-in? (probably the area with the big bucks, because we didn't find them.)

 

[sturge]

I am not sure exactly how much is walk in Eli. The ranch is 111,000 acres so I have only seen a small part of it. The area that was walk in only was on the south end by Behm mesa. Its been awhile so this might have all changed. The E/NE is all FS so its accessible by vehicle.

 

[EliAGrimmett]

Oh, maybe the Behm area is walk-in, that's an area we skipped over.

It's actually only 110,978.20 acres.

 

[billy-bob8]

Thanks for the info and help to start in the right direction. details and pictures to be sent in the fall

 

[Craig S.]

Two years ago a few friends did very well on that hunt. A couple of mid 80 type bucks & a mid 70, they hunted their butts off. Public Access to the unit is spread-out, especially to the North Side. Start saving for fuel, if you want to scout the entire unit...

As Eli said, the ORO Ranch (aka Baca Float) takes up a HUGE chunk of real estate. HOT! HOT! Snakes! Snakes! Thunderstorms! Thunderstorms! FUN!!!!