Unit 5B (Sitgreaves - Show Low)

Use the high ground to find birds

The summits in 5B are public land, and the terrain data tags them as glassing country. Hutch Mountain, Pine Mountain and Mahan Mountain are the obvious ones in the south. Get up high before first light. Listen. Then glass the parks and draw bottoms below for birds moving out of timber. Turkeys give themselves away on open ground, so a ridge-top view of Bargaman Park or Antelope Draw tells you more in an hour than a day of driving will.

Once you've got a bird located, drop down and work the timber edge toward it. Don't walk straight across the open.

Set realistic expectations

The only success figure we have is shotgun, at 35 percent. That's a decent number for a bird hunt, and it also means roughly two of three hunters go home empty. The agency calls the population moderate, not thick. Expect to cover ground. A realistic day is an early climb, a couple of listening stops on different ridges, then a slow move through ponderosa where a canyon, ridge or small mixed-conifer patch gives birds cover and feed in the same place.

The packet doesn't break out success by other weapons, so we won't guess at differences. If you're carrying a shotgun, you're in line with the numbers we can see.

Beating other hunters

Most hunters will follow the guide to the same names: Hutch, Pine Mountain, the 124 road corridor. We'd go a drainage or ridge beyond the obvious access and work the canyons and ridges in the southern part of the unit that the guide mentions only in general terms. On the north side, the rim of Anderson Mesa is a narrow strip, so you'll see competition quickly. If you see trucks at Marshall Lake, move down toward Walnut Canyon and Mormon Canyon.

Coconino travel rules and the carry-out

This one matters. Under the Coconino National Forest Travel Management Rule, motorized use is limited to designated roads, trails and areas shown on the Motor Vehicle Use Map. The MVUM is free at Forest Service offices. Get it before you go. The unit guide also states that motorized retrieval of wildlife is not permitted on national forest lands in 5B. A turkey is light, so it's easy to carry out, but the rule is still the rule. Park on a designated road and walk.

For anything beyond that, contact the Coconino National Forest directly.

Anderson Mesa and the canyons on its east side

If we were drawing a first pin on the map, it'd be Anderson Mesa (7,240 feet) in 5B north. AZGFD's own unit guide says the bigger bulls tend to live in the north half. It also says the rim country between Chavez Pass and Walnut Canyon has numerous well-used travel corridors. That's the strongest lead in the packet.

Early in the year, elk are spread across the whole mesa. Water pulls them in, and the guide says to expect them within a mile of standing water. The agency names Jaycox Mountain (7,422 feet), Kinnikinick Lake, Ashurst Lake and Marshall Lake as places to check. The terrain data also lists Ashurst Spring, Sawmill Springs, Elk Spring and Mint Spring. The packet doesn't say where each sits, so find them on your map before you count on them.

Below the mesa, elk concentrate around the canyons on the east side. The guide puts them anywhere from Walnut Canyon in the north to Diablo Canyon in the south. More elk now stay year-round at the lower elevations below the mesa and south of I-40, and the guide specifically mentions the stretch between Winona and Padre Canyon.

5B south: Hutch Mountain, Pine Mountain and Duke Tank Mesa

This half of the unit is about half the size of the north but holds almost double the elk. The agency's line is blunt: every inch of it is elk country, and there are no "bad" spots. Hutch Mountain tops out at 8,508 feet, and Pine Mountain is 7,986. Duke Tank Mesa is the third name the guide gives for where most early-season hunters will be.

That's the catch. Elk are everywhere, so the real question is how many people you want to share them with. Country without a popular name on the map is the agency's own advice for getting away from the crowd.

Sawmill Hills to Tremaine Lake for late bulls

For a late hunt, look at the low-road-density ground between the Sawmill Hills (7,642 feet) and Tremaine Lake. The guide calls it the lowest elevation in 5B south and says it may act as a staging area between summer and winter range. Bulls there tend to use canyons or hills as bedding and cover.

It takes a lot of snow to push elk off the high country in either half. A couple of inches won't do it. The exception is mature bulls, which the guide says often drop to lower elevations after the rut whether or not snow falls. Rugged ground with few roads and little disturbance is where we'd look for them. The north and east canyons of Anderson Mesa fit that description.

One more spot: the Hay Lake property is now public and open to hunting. A vehicle closure is in effect there.

Work the travel corridors on Anderson Mesa after opening morning

Opening morning is your best shot at elk in the open on Anderson Mesa. After that they'll still use the grasslands, but mostly at night. Don't sit on a field at noon and wonder where they went.

Instead, find the trails that connect a canyon or mountain bedding area to a feeding area. Set up on one before first light or in the last hour of daylight. The rim between Chavez Pass and Walnut Canyon is the agency's pick for well-used corridors. The summits in the terrain data, like Jaycox Mountain, are natural spots to glass from before you commit to a route.

Let other hunters push elk to you in 5B south

Where roads are dense, elk stay off them in daylight. Where pressure is heavy, the guide says they get "pushed around." Its advice is to sit on or near an escape trail and let other hunters move the elk to you. Around Hutch Mountain, Pine Mountain and Duke Tank Mesa, where most early-season hunters end up, that's a sensible play.

Or skip the crowd. Walk into an unnamed corner of the map. Elk are there too.

Snow, water and mature bulls

Elk water use is predictable early. Check the lakes and springs, and expect elk within a mile of standing water at dawn and dusk. Late, snow matters less than you'd think. A dusting won't move elk off the mesa, but it'll make them easier to track.

Spikes and raghorns will still be running with cows late in the season. Mature bulls will be alone or in bachelor groups. Hunt them in rugged, low-disturbance country, such as the canyons on the north and east sides of Anderson Mesa, or the Sawmill Hills to Tremaine Lake area in the south. Archers should know that some of the larger north-unit bulls move into 5B south for the rut.

The packet lists rifle success at 25 percent. Plan on working for it.

Retrieval rules and property lines

Read this before you pull the trigger. Motorized retrieval of any big game animal is not permitted on national forest land in 5B. Under the Coconino National Forest Travel Management Rule, motorized use is limited to designated routes on the Motor Vehicle Use Map, which is free at Forest Service offices. At Hay Lake, a vehicle closure is in effect and there's no vehicular retrieval of game.

That changes how you choose a shot. An elk dropped a long way from the road means a pack-out on foot. Do the math before you commit.

In 5B south there are a few residential areas. Know where they are, stay off private land, and don't shoot within a quarter mile of an occupied structure.