Arizona Pronghorn Unit 17A

[Cody.Carroll]

Well, excited to say I drew one of the two unit 17A tags for Arizona pronghorn. Can't say how lucky and excited I am to have my first pronghorn hunt ever in such an exceptional unit and area. I intend on making the most of this hunt which usually takes 15-20 years to draw.

I will be making a few scouting trips down to Arizona (coming from Ohio) prior to the season to get the lay of the land, and have already started researching. Most likely looking to fly down for scouting trips in May, July and August. I've read all the information on Arizona game and fish, gohunt.com, as well as many other forums and have a general idea of where the herds are typically located. But with that said, I'm open to any advice of anyone familiar with the area and who may have hunted it in the past.

Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to share some information on this once every 15-20 year tag!

 

[Big Fin]

Congrats on the tag. Wish I had some intel about hunting there. Good luck on the hunt.

 

[Flatrock]

Dang. Congrats! Don't know anything about the unit so I'm of no help. How many points did you have?

 

[Cody.Carroll]

Dang. Congrats! Don't know anything about the unit so I'm of no help. How many points did you have?

I'm almost embarrassed to say, but I actually only had 1 point going into this years draw. I literally was shaking at work all day when I found out I drew the tag...I'm still in disbelief. But hey, I'll take it and am going to do everything I can to make sure I'm fully prepared when sept. 6 rolls around.

 

[Cody.Carroll]

Congrats on the tag. Wish I had some intel about hunting there. Good luck on the hunt.

Thanks! I'm so excited and can't wait to start scouting. I know this hunt is all I'm going to be thinking about until Sept. 6th. Knowing how lucky I was to draw and how long it may be till I draw again, I'm going to try and get down to AZ as many times as possible prior to the hunt, but at least 2-3 weekends.

Actually doing my first ever Elk hunt to in Colorado (archery DIY OTC tag) right before this hunt! Should be an epic few weeks!

 

[Bigjay73]

I'd start in the areas listed on the AZGFD website. 17a is a pretty small unit. Shouldn't take long to scout it out. Congrats on picking up that tag with 1 point.

 

[Cody.Carroll]

I'd start in the areas listed on the AZGFD website. 17a is a pretty small unit. Shouldn't take long to scout it out. Congrats on picking up that tag with 1 point.

That’s the plan, NW and NE corners are where I’m going to start scouting based on AZGFD and gohunt.com. Hopefully will get a good feel for the unit and the bucks in the area. Can’t wait to get boots on the ground.

 

[Cody.Carroll]

Well, appreciate all of the help over this past year from so many people. All the scouting, time, practice and effort paid off on 2 incredible hunts. All public land and DIY. Was def a year I won’t forget.special shout out to Tom and Andrew who helped me more than I could have ever asked for. For sure made some new life long friends.

 

[Buffs35]

Great job. Any other pics for the pronghorn?

 

[elkrchr]

Looks like you had a great season, congrats!

 

[Jape]

Looks fun! Congrats!

 

[Cody.Carroll]

Great job. Any other pics for the pronghorn?

Unfortunately, my truck was broken into after the pronghorn hunt and my camera was stolen. So I have very limited pictures of the pronghorn himself, but they did not steal the head, and it is currently at the taxidermist.

 

[Buffs35]

Unfortunately, my truck was broken into after the pronghorn hunt and my camera was stolen. So I have very limited pictures of the pronghorn himself, but they did not steal the head, and it is currently at the taxidermist.

Dang that sucks. Sorry to hear about that.

 

[The Hedgehog]

So where's this guy when I want to talk to him. Hopefully his truck wasn't broken into on the hunt and in the unit itself... I'll be extra paranoid while I'm there if that's the case. If anybody knows this guy, let me know how to reach out to him..

 

[Cody.Carroll]

So where's this guy when I want to talk to him. Hopefully his truck wasn't broken into on the hunt and in the unit itself... I'll be extra paranoid while I'm there if that's the case. If anybody knows this guy, let me know how to reach out to him..

Congrats on drawing the tag! I would be more than happy to help you in every way I can. I will message you separately with my contact information. So many individuals helped me with both my AZ pronghorn tag and AZ elk tag last year and I would be honored to help repay the favor. Look forward to talking with you soon!

 

[The Hedgehog]

@Cody.Carroll @EliAGrimmett @Big Fin Thanks for the tips/connections on this one. My hunt went very similar to Cody's minus the elk permit and having my truck broken into.

I had 18 points and this was my 2nd choice in the 2020 draw. Never expected to draw, just apply as I'm buying the required non-resident license for the elk app anyway. Odds are ridiculously low to draw a rifle buck antelope permit in AZ. I think the odds of me hitting this were on par with a good bighorn permit in MT. There are only 2 permits total in this area, and no archery and muzzle-loader season. It was just me and a nice fella from Camp Verde AZ, who spoke with me prior to the season. He'd hunted the unit many years ago when his wife drew. The unit is not large, and it mostly mountainous, rocky with thick pinyon and juniper forest. There was essentially one place that held antelope, although G&F website and mapping s/w showed there was antelope "habitat" in a couple other places. I checked those other places, and the water that was there and didn't see any antelope sign. Eli told me I could scout this place in 2 days and I'd know what was there. I went a week early anyway.

I knew the odds were against me to get a big buck, but that the odds were higher to get a really huge buck than probably anywhere I've hunted. I was expecting to see maybe 20 bucks total. I saw nowhere near that. I saw no more than 5-6 bucks that were adult, maybe that many more yearlings and a total of around 30 head at most. So I can't say I'm surprised that I didn't see any B&C caliber bucks. With only a handful of adult bucks - the probability isn't real high.

All the antelope habitat in this unit is on the borders of neighboring units. The buck I ended up with was in 2 other units the day before season. I looked out into other units and did not see anything spectacular while scouting. I did speak with the other hunter as I was loading up to leave and found out that he had seen one he thought was pretty big a month earlier while scouting but hadn't seen it since then. I saw one near that place that was in a neighboring unit, but didn't think it was anything great. I also met several nice folks that were archery hunting deer. One gave me a lead on another buck in a neighboring unit that was extra big and only 1 mile into the other unit. I found it and photographed it. He confirmed that was the buck, but I still didn't think it was a buck I'd be interested in. In the end I saw less than 10 bucks while in AZ that were 10" tall or greater, and honestly think I shot the best I saw. I'm glad he was a freaky one, otherwise I'd have maybe come home before the opener, or stayed and got so sunburned and depressed that I wasn't archery hunting in my home state. It was a "dry heat" though. ha.

It was a real fun trip, and not something you get the opportunity to do often. I enjoyed seeing the new country and different animals.. quail, javelina, road runners, lizards, a diamondback rattler, and some different artifacts. All the folks I met were pretty nice. Wow some of those roads suck, thanks for suggesting to take the ATV (Cody and Eli). I'd have really hosed up my truck had I left that home.

Some pics and videos..

 

[ashersdad]

Awesome looking buck @Greenhorn! Can't believe he kept going with that first shot. Sounds like a fun adventure.

 

[Wrong Burgundy]

@Cody.Carroll @EliAGrimmett @Big Fin Thanks for the tips/connections on this one. My hunt went very similar to Cody's minus the elk permit and having my truck broken into.

I had 18 points and this was my 2nd choice in the 2020 draw. Never expected to draw, just apply as I'm buying the required non-resident license for the elk app anyway. Odds are ridiculously low to draw a rifle buck antelope permit in AZ. I think the odds of me hitting this were on par with a good bighorn permit in MT. There are only 2 permits total in this area, and no archery and muzzle-loader season. It was just me and a nice fella from Camp Verde AZ, who spoke with me prior to the season. He'd hunted the unit many years ago when his wife drew. The unit is not large, and it mostly mountainous, rocky with thick pinyon and juniper forest. There was essentially one place that held antelope, although G&F website and mapping s/w showed there was antelope "habitat" in a couple other places. I checked those other places, and the water that was there and didn't see any antelope sign. Eli told me I could scout this place in 2 days and I'd know what was there. I went a week early anyway.

I knew the odds were against me to get a big buck, but that the odds were higher to get a really huge buck than probably anywhere I've hunted. I was expecting to see maybe 20 bucks total. I saw nowhere near that. I saw no more than 5-6 bucks that were adult, maybe that many more yearlings and a total of around 30 head at most. So I can't say I'm surprised that I didn't see any B&C caliber bucks. With only a handful of adult bucks - the probability isn't real high.

All the antelope habitat in this unit is on the borders of neighboring units. The buck I ended up with was in 2 other units the day before season. I looked out into other units and did not see anything spectacular while scouting. I did speak with the other hunter as I was loading up to leave and found out that he had seen one he thought was pretty big a month earlier while scouting but hadn't seen it since then. I saw one near that place that was in a neighboring unit, but didn't think it was anything great. I also met several nice folks that were archery hunting deer. One gave me a lead on another buck in a neighboring unit that was extra big and only 1 mile into the other unit. I found it and photographed it. He confirmed that was the buck, but I still didn't think it was a buck I'd be interested in. In the end I saw less than 10 bucks while in AZ that were 10" tall or greater, and honestly think I shot the best I saw. I'm glad he was a freaky one, otherwise I'd have maybe come home before the opener, or stayed and got so sunburned and depressed that I wasn't archery hunting in my home state. It was a "dry heat" though. ha.

It was a real fun trip, and not something you get the opportunity to do often. I enjoyed seeing the new country and different animals.. quail, javelina, road runners, lizards, a diamondback rattler, and some different artifacts. All the folks I met were pretty nice. Wow some of those roads suck, thanks for suggesting to take the ATV (Cody and Eli). I'd have really hosed up my truck had I left that home.

Some pics and videos..
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Wow -- that is a really cool looking buck. Pretty sure that left side melted out from the AZ heat....did that say 113°? Yikes...nice work!

 

[CRAZYCARL]

Congrats ... awesome looking goat!

 

[rmyoung1]

Congrats @Greenhorn . That’s a really cool-looking buck.