AZ mule deer question.

[Tbob]

Question for you hot weather hunters in AZ,
     So I'm going to be hunting mule deer in late August and early September.. The area I am hunting is desert of course, but there's also some big ranches close by and I noticed on Google earth there is a few water tanks around.. Just wondering if hunting near these water tanks is a good idea for these Mule deer or If I should concentrate my time glassing the hillsides and basins? Thanks so much for any advise as I'm new to this style of hunting. I've got some good 10x50 binos and just got a tripod to set them on.. I just don't want to over look the water if that's a better spot to concentrate my limited hunting time..

[WAcoueshunter]

I don't hunt there that time of year, so I'm curious about the answer too. 

I know the monsoons are still going in August and early September, so there can be more water around than the rest of the year.  I know when I've had NM elk tags in mid-September we were always hoping the monsoons would shut off before the hunt started so the elk would need to hit the tanks for water. 

[Tbob]

Yeah,
   I figured the monsoons would still be going around that time of year.. I'm kind of hoping the opposite of you though. I don't want to have to sit in a blind hunting water tanks. I'm hoping for some, get up high, glass em up and stalk them, but I also don't want to waste my time either.. Hopefully some of the warm weather guys will chime in..

[Alaskan]

Dpending on the unit, sometimes by that time of year the monsoons have passed and most of the water can be dried up in the smaller holes/depressions that can hold water. Tanks are always a good idea, but you may also be competing with other hunters on thse tanks. I have had great success hunting in a blind or treestand on some of the trails that lead to the tank. However, the only way to figure this out would be setting up a game cam, to see which trail is getting hit the most.

Glassing can be productive earlier in the season to pattern those bucks, but once the hunters hit the unit, things can change drastically.

What unit are you hunting?

[AZcoueshunter78]

It depends on how much recent rain the area your hunting has gotten. Water holes are great if its been dry.

[Tbob]

Thanks for the replies guys.. I'll be hunting unit 18b up out of Bagdad in some of the desert mountains.. There's a big Mt range to the south and some of the huntable ranch country to the North.