AZ Unit 1 Late Cow Hunt

[mikeymac1987]

Hey everyone, I had a couple of questions for the board.

I drew a cow tag for the late (15-31 December) firearms hunt in AZ Unit 1.  I?m from Chandler and my wife?s family has property in Greer, so I know the area well. However, since I?m stationed in CA right now, I?m only going to have December 26th to 31st to fill my tag.

I spend a couple weeks every summer in Greer and Springerville, and usually see hundreds of elk, but I don?t have a lot of knowledge on where to look in the winter, and during the last hunt of the year.

I was hoping that any locals or people with area knowledge could give me some advice on that hunt since I?ll have such a short time in town. I thought of hiring a guide, but I don?t have thousands of dollars to drop on a cow. I?m in good shape and I?m a good shot, so I?m willing to climb mountains, fall down canyons, make high-angle shots, etc., but I?m worried about wasting my limited time looking in stupid or overhunted locations.

I?m going to be deployed for the entire hunting season next year so I?d like to make this one count.  It would be my luck that this is the first time I drive up to Greer and all the elk have disappeared, haha. Thanks for the advice.

 

[cohunter14]

Welcome to the forum!  :welcome:


I've never been fortunate enough to hunt AZ, so can't really help with specifics, but one thing I will say is there is a very good chance that in late December the elk won't be anywhere close to where you find them in the summer. By that time, the elk should be into their winter range, which can be a long ways away from their summer range. I would recommend doing some digging to see what information you can find on where the winter range(s) is/are in that unit. Doing a quick google search led me to this: https://www.azgfd.com/hunting/units/pinetop/1/


Good luck on the hunt! Let us know how it goes.