DIY Mule Deer

This is one of my favorite hunts. There are a lot of opportunities to see good numbers of deer, there is a ton of public access, and if you time it just right and hit the rut, you will see some great bucks.

The rut normally falls during last two weeks in December thru the first 2 week in January. Keep in mind that if you hunt December and January during one single hunt you will need two different tags, because it will be two different years.

It is my opinion that the rut is the best time to hunt this area. Though it will be good in August, heat is bad and the monsoons keep deer from hitting the water holes(I will touch on hunting water later in this article).

Places to go:

South of Tuscon between Sasabe and Nogales(see map below).

All the foothills along this region hold good numbers of deer, especially along the Mexico border. THE CLOSER YOU GET TO THE BORDER THE MORE YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ILLEGAL ALIENS AND DRUG SMUGGLERS. It IS legal for you to bow hunt with a pistol on your hip and I would strongly reccomend it. I have never had any problems, but I have heard and read alot of stories about problems people have had. So be careful!!

All of the area South af Arivaca Rd and into Ruby Rd. is a great place to start. Find a good knoll in the middle of the flats and put your glassing skills to work. I tend to see more deer at the base of the foothills and in the flats. Also, the more hiking that you have to do to get into an area, the more deer and bigger bucks you will find and you will see less hunters.

The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge offers some great opportunity for hunting and camping. If you go to the main office(located between Arivaca Rd. and Sasabe along Hwy 286) you can get a map that shows camping locations, NO HUNTING Zones, and most importantly, watering holes or "Tanks".

There are alot of tanks in this whole area that the deer go to. If the weather is warm and its been atleast a week since the last rain, I would sit these tanks in the afternoons.

If you do enough hiking into and around the foothills you will be able to find natural spings that are a great place to sit or glass from a distance. You wont find these springs on the map so there will be less hunting pressure.

In Sasabe, right at the Mexican border, there is a general store called Sasabe Store that sells food, camping supplies,beer and gas. They also have a bar and a bunk house that you can rent at reasonable rates.

The key to hunting this area is to keep moving from area to area glassing thoroughly untill you start finding deer. If you are tring to catch the rut and it has not started yet, mark the spots on a map whereyou have been seeing does. then go back and check on them regularly to see if  the bucks have showed up yet.

A good pair of binoculars is a must!

Good Luck

 MAP OF AREA