D-12

[chadtain]

Anybody have any info on where to hunt in D-12? I drew a tag here and would appreciate any help for me and my buddy. Thanks in advance!!

 

[Rizzy]

What ever areas of the desert get the most rain this summer will attract the deer. Any area that has dry washes filled with Iron wood and Palo Verde could hold deer in November, they will not be tied to water by then. I think the southwest part of the zone has better habitat. Another place to start is near any of the AG fields along the river. Their is a lot of wilderness areas throughout the zone to try also. I came across some good research papers by Paul Krausmen when I was researching that zone last year, also look for the book "Deer of the Southwest" Do you live close enough to scout?

 

[chadtain]

Yea I'm only a couple hours away to scout. One of my other friends drew down there a few years ago and is going to give me some info as well. When do you think is the beat time to begin scouting out there. Thanks for the info!!

 

[Rizzy]

I started scouting in June and stopped at the end of July. I put a trailcam near a spring and got a few pics. It was hard to get the camera to work properly due to the heat but still got a pic of a buck. This gave me an idea of whats in the area and gave me a chance to explore around a little. The deer where only tied to that spring from the end of june to the end of july. Once the summer rains came I stopped getting pictures and pulled the cameras. On the days that it was about 110 or more they drank daily. In early to mid june it was 100-110 during the day and I was getting pictures every 4 days or so, I concluded this was because the iron wood and palo verde was still saturated with water from the spring rains. Pinching the leaves confirmed this and as it got hotter and the forage dried out (july) the deer where at the water more. When the summer rains started the forage got saturated again and I got less pictures.

when I hunted I didn't see any fresh tracks or deer, they had clearly vacated that whole area. I wish I would have left my cameras out until the end of the season to see if they ever did come back, but i got nervous about leaving them up during the archery and rifle season.

Next time I hunt that zone i am going to focus more on where the succulent feed is during the season.

 

[Rizzy]