The Chiricahua Mountains are one of those places that hunters who have been there remember for the rest of their lives. Rising dramatically from the Sulphur Springs Valley in the southeastern corner of Arizona, the Chiricahuas push to over 9,700 feet at Chiricahua Peak and create a sky island of extraordinary biological diversity — aContinue reading “Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 29: Complete Guide to the Chiricahua Mountains 2026”
Author Archives: Matt G.
How to Pick Your First Arizona Elk Unit: A No-Nonsense Guide for Hunters with 0 to 10 Bonus Points (2026)
Published April 2026 | Arizona Elk Draw Strategy The most common mistake first-time Arizona elk applicants make is applying for units they will never draw. It is easy to understand why. You look up Arizona elk hunting on the internet and the first things you find are articles about 400-inch bulls on the Kaibab, world-classContinue reading “How to Pick Your First Arizona Elk Unit: A No-Nonsense Guide for Hunters with 0 to 10 Bonus Points (2026)”
Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 30A: Complete Guide to the Southeast Arizona Border Country 2026
Unit 30A occupies a corner of Arizona that most hunters from the Phoenix or Tucson metro areas have driven past on Interstate 10 toward El Paso without ever stopping to look at seriously as hunting country. The unit borders Mexico at Douglas and stretches north approximately 70 miles through terrain that is fundamentally different fromContinue reading “Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 30A: Complete Guide to the Southeast Arizona Border Country 2026”
Post-Spawn Bass Fishing in Arizona: How to Find and Catch Bass at Lake Pleasant and Roosevelt in May and June
Published April 2026 | Arizona Bass Fishing There is a moment every spring when the bass fishing at Arizona’s desert reservoirs falls off a cliff and most anglers cannot explain why. One week the coves at Lake Pleasant were loaded with big fish sitting in two feet of water, easy to see and not thatContinue reading “Post-Spawn Bass Fishing in Arizona: How to Find and Catch Bass at Lake Pleasant and Roosevelt in May and June”
Best Optics for Coues Deer Hunting in Arizona: What You Actually Need and Why
Coues deer hunting is a glassing game. That is not a figure of speech. It is the literal description of how successful hunters find these animals. The grey ghost earns that name honestly. A mature Coues buck can stand in open country in broad daylight and disappear against the rock and brush in a wayContinue reading “Best Optics for Coues Deer Hunting in Arizona: What You Actually Need and Why”
Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 31 and GMU 32: Complete Guide to the Galiuro and Winchester Mountains 2026
Units 31 and 32 share the same defining mountain ranges — the Galiuro Mountains and the Winchester Mountains — and any serious hunter researching one of these units will inevitably end up researching the other. The Galiuros in particular are one of the more remote and physically demanding Coues deer environments in Arizona, a placeContinue reading “Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 31 and GMU 32: Complete Guide to the Galiuro and Winchester Mountains 2026”
How to Hunt Merriam’s Turkey in Arizona When the Birds Stop Gobbling: A Mid-Season Playbook
Published April 2026 | Arizona Spring Turkey Season Arizona’s spring turkey season opened April 25th and a lot of hunters are already running into the same wall. The first two mornings were electric. Gobbling on the roost, birds fired up and coming to calls, every setup feeling like it was going to end with aContinue reading “How to Hunt Merriam’s Turkey in Arizona When the Birds Stop Gobbling: A Mid-Season Playbook”
Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 33: Complete Guide to the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains 2026
Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 33: Complete Guide to the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains 2026 One experienced Arizona hunter described unit 33 as Coues Deer Utopia and that description holds up to scrutiny. The Santa Catalina Mountains rising dramatically north of Tucson and the Rincon Mountains to the southeast form the geographic backboneContinue reading “Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 33: Complete Guide to the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains 2026”
Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 34A: Complete Guide to the Santa Rita Mountains 2026
Unit 34A holds a distinction that no other Arizona game management unit carries: it is the only unit in the state designated exclusively for Coues whitetail deer. There is no mule deer option in 34A for the youth hunts or any other season. When AZGFD writes your tag for this unit it says Coues deerContinue reading “Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona GMU 34A: Complete Guide to the Santa Rita Mountains 2026”
Best Fishing Rods for Arizona Lakes and Rivers (2026): A Practical Guide for Trout, Bass, and Everything In Between
Arizona is not what most anglers picture when they think about fishing. That is their mistake. The state runs from Sonoran Desert floor to 10,000-foot Mogollon Rim country, and the water that threads through all that terrain holds rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, catfish, striped bass, and the state’sContinue reading “Best Fishing Rods for Arizona Lakes and Rivers (2026): A Practical Guide for Trout, Bass, and Everything In Between”