Arizona Turkey

The National Park Service estimates the Kaibab Plateau herd on the North Rim to be around 200 animals, which is drastically down from some estimates that had the herd at near 900 only five to six years ago. The herd spends most of its time within the confines of Grand Canyon National Park. Like the herds in Montana and Wyoming, these bison have figured out exactly where the park’s boundary is and have come to be extremely wary of leaving its safety. To entice the bison out, salt licks are placed along the outside of the park’s boundary. Rather than still hunting and risking bumping the bison back into the park and further enticing them to stay there, AZGFD recommends sitting along the boundary as the most effective hunting. This method of hunting is not for everyone, and you will need to be mentally prepared to sit for 15 to 16 hours a day for as long as it takes to provide yourself an opportunity at punching your tag. These hunts will put even the most patient hunter to the test with the average number of days hunted per harvest typically around 20 days.

For self-guided hunters, this hunt becomes even more challenging as an outfitter in the area will have blinds set up on each of the best salt locations. In instances where more than one person wants to hunt the same salt and/or waterhole, AZGFD promotes a first-come, first-served policy regardless of who has a tree stand or blind already set up. Even so, confrontations can and do arise as competition for the best areas can be high. To hunt one of the better spots, you will need to be in a stand well before shooting light or never leave the area all together by spending the night in the blind.

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