Tucson area hunting - Heading out for the first time!

Wldcat10

Wldcat10

New member
How's it goin' everyone? Well I'm finally heading out to this weekend to see what I can get. I'm heading out with a buddy of mine for some coyote or bobcat. I was wondering if anybody had any areas around Tucson I should head out to? Anybody ever hunt near pinal air park road, just west of I-10? Any help/input is appreciated, thanks!
 
The area along Pinal Air Park Road is a very popular place for off highway vehicle recreation. I would avoid it due to the number of OHV's that stage there and would likely cause disturbance to your stands, especially on weekend days. There are a lot of other good places nearby that should be more peaceful. Here is where I suggest trying instead.

Hunt the area that is east of I-10 and north of Park Links Road. Get off I-10 at the Red Rock Exit, follow the frontage road going north to Park Links Road. Turn east on Park Links. There is about 400 square miles of huntable public and state land between I-10 and Highway 79 all the way from Park Links Road to Coolidge. You can get lost out there, have the whole place to yourself, and it is all good for predator hunting. Hunt the washes and thick cover for bobcats, the open areas for coyotes, and where there's rocks there's fox.

Good Luck and good hunting.
 
Use Google Maps and do some satellite scouting. Make notes and try to hit up the spots that look good. I haven't hunted around Tucson, but with some aerial scouting and a game plan you should be good to go.

I would stick to the brushy and rocky areas for cats and foxes. If a coyote comes in first than plug him and move on.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for to everyone with all the input! I remember someone on here telling me about the area North of tangerine rd and east of I-10. Which is unit 37A. I'm thinking about heading out there this weekend. Has anybody here hunted them before? I looked it up on google maps and looks to be a good spot. Wheres a good spot to park? Anybody ever had any problems hunting there?
 
Originally Posted By: Wldcat10Thanks for to everyone with all the input! I remember someone on here telling me about the area North of tangerine rd and east of I-10. Which is unit 37A. I'm thinking about heading out there this weekend. Has anybody here hunted them before? I looked it up on google maps and looks to be a good spot. Wheres a good spot to park? Anybody ever had any problems hunting there?
That might have been me telling you about it. I have never had any problems hunting there, but OHV activity will be similar to Pinal Air Park. I'm thinking the wind might be coming out of the south so you may want to enter that area off I-10 at the Marana Exit. Go across the CAP canal then head southward working your way toward Tangerine Road. There is enough cover there to park anywhere and be able to hide your vehicle at each stand. Good Luck!
 
So like I said in my original post, I headed out on Saturday morning to do some hunting in 37A. I got there around 7am, and drove up the Mckenzie ranch trail up to the mountain side and tried my first stand. There was lots of rocks and a wash that surrounded the mountain.

So I thought for sure I would at least see some bobcat or fox. Set up stand and waited for about 15 min before I started calling. Wind was in my face the whole time. Started calling (hand call) and stayed at that stand for about 30 min. I didn't see/hear anything at all.

I walked to what look a watering hole just northwest of that stand, which turned out to be just a hole on the side of a hill that water had collected from the rain the night before. I get there and set up stand on one side of the hill and can see a whole 180 degrees in front/below me. Called for about 30 min and still nothing. As I'm walking back on the trail to my truck climb up some large rocks on the hill side, I find some dropping that look to be like fox, but all day I hadn't seen anything at all.

I did a total of 3 more stands in some open areas for some coyote but no luck at those stands either. I don't know what I did wrong? Just 2 days before I was at a buddies house near the Davis Monthan Air Force Base and I called in 3 Coyotes within 5 minutes! There is some desert/washes just on the north west side of the base. The desert is basically in his back yard so I went and tried out my hand call, sure enough I got 3 to come out within minutes. So When I went out hunting on Saturday I was a little bummed at not only bagging me a coyote but not even being able to call one in to see. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Any help is appreciated. Sorry for the long post!
 
Originally Posted By: Wldcat10 I did a total of 3 more stands in some open areas for some coyote but no luck at those stands either. I don't know what I did wrong?Is there something I'm doing wrong? Any help is appreciated. Sorry for the long post!

Welcome to the sport of calling!!!!!!!

There are days you can do nothing wrong,then there are days where nothing works!!!!
 
Here is my two cents on your situation;

A) You are calling for too long.

Normally I will only hike three to five minutes from the truck and then throw a stand for twelve to fifteen minutes. Which will account for about twenty minutes all said and done. Then I will drive a mile, maybe two depending on how well I can hide the truck and start over. From 6AM till Noon I can easily pull ten to twelve quick stands and cover fifteen to twenty miles of desert.

I have yet to have a dry day with this process. (knock on wood)

Good luck,
 
If there are no coyotes in the area, calling all day won't do any good. I make my stands longer than AZ Bushman but that may be because I'm to lazy to get up that often. Typically, coyotes will come in within the first 15 mins but I have had them come in up to 30 mins into the stand. For me I don't usually see bobcats till later in the stand.
 
One day being blank is no big deal. Your success rate is actually excellent when you compare the total number of coyotes called to the total number of stands you have done. Looks like you have had 6 coyotes observed after callng a total of 7 stands. An experienced caller hunting familiar areas near Tucson might average 1 coyote every 3 to 4 stands after doing about a 100 stands. How many they kill is a lot less. My best advise is be persistant and keep trying. GOOD LUCK!
 
I had a month long dry spell last season. It sucked, but I stuck it out and got a super nice bobcat 2 days before Thanksgiving. Every time out is a learning expirence. Like said above, all the calling in the world won't do any good if they aren't in the area. Coyotes will tend to hang close to neighborhoods with connecting desert areas, so I'm not surprised you called some in at your buddys house.

Keep at it. Expierence and knowledge = more fur.
 
Thanks to everyone for the input. I'm going to try to head out again this weekend. What's a good time to arrive to set up a stand? Last time I arrived at 7am.
 
Like I said, when I go out my only goal is to pull (X) amount of stands before a certain time.

So lets say I call ten stands before noon then my day was a success.

Anything called in during the session becomes a bonus.

.....and any percentage of those called in and killed will be posted to Predator Masters!

Set small, attainable goals and the glory will follow.
 
Originally Posted By: Wldcat10Thanks to everyone for the input. I'm going to try to head out again this weekend. What's a good time to arrive to set up a stand? Last time I arrived at 7am.

Try to get there as early as possible. I like to be walking to my first stand as the sun starts to show. The earlier the better. If you are setting up at dawn, you could have 2 or 3 stands in by 7am. That's 2-3 more chances to call something in. It sucks getting up early, I have to leave my house at 3:45 on Sunday to meet up with a couple buddys and hope to make it to our destination close to sunrise.

Set alarm clock, pound coffee, kill something, go to sleep. Repeat as necessary.....
 


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