Unit 12AW (Kaibab North West)

Start in the Warm Fire burn

AZGFD's unit guide for the plateau (it's written for 12A, which takes in 12AW) singles out the 58,000-acre Warm Fire of 2006 as the best bet for archery and early-season hunters. The agency reports an "incredible aspen, forb, and grass response" there. We'd put our first scouting days in that country. The guide doesn't name drainages or road numbers for the burn, so get the Kaibab National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map and build your own plan from it.

The same guide says outright that a mature buck is about as likely almost anywhere on the plateau. Your edge comes from water, cover and access, not from a secret corner.

High glassing perches: Telephone Hill to Tater Ridge

Our terrain data lists these public-land high points in Coconino County, all around 8,700 to 8,850 feet: Telephone Hill (8,852), V T Hill (8,817), Cane Ridge (8,815), Two Springs Ridge (8,800), Dry Park Apron (8,742) and Tater Ridge (8,733). Early in the season the herd stays high until real snow pushes it off. These perches sit in that high country.

Step down a notch and you'll find Red Point (8,633), Dog Point (8,442), Saddle Mountain and Boundary Ridge (both 8,422) and Big Ridge (8,383). They make good second-tier glassing stations once you've worked the top.

Rim points and the Burnt Corral country

The cliff-class points run lower and are where you'll hunt the edges: Tater Point (8,152), Lost Point (8,105), Oquer Point (8,089), Riggs Point (7,975), Road Hollow Point (7,933), Middle Oak Point (7,919), Moquitch Point (7,866), plus North and South Oak Points. Burnt Corral Ridge (8,013), Burnt Corral Rim (7,904) and Burnt Corral Apron (7,878) round out the list, along with Fence Ridge (8,000) and Cooper Ridge (7,928). We'd treat these as the places to look into canyons, since the guide says getting off the road and into the canyons improves your buck sightings.

Springs to mark on your map

Our data names Wildband, Willow, Indian Hollow, Warm, Rock, Slide, Mourning Dove, Oak, White, Box Elder, Riggs, Sowats, Upper Cottonwood and Pigeon springs. It doesn't say where each one sits, so plot them yourself before you go. The agency says the plateau is often dry during archery season. Concentrate on country with waterholes, but not necessarily on the water itself.

Country to skip, and where deer go late

Skip pinyon/juniper on an archery or early hunt unless it has snowed. Late in the year, snow and cured-out forage push deer to the lower winter range. Then the pinyon/juniper, the sage and the open canyon country are exactly where you want to be. The lowest points in our data sit near 7,850 feet, so expect to hunt below the named high country if winter shows up. AZGFD also warns that the woody winter browse in 12AW has been less productive through persistent drought.