f you want to take a big mule deer and have an adventure in the process, consider hunting Sonora in the winter. You'll enjoy spending a week in the desert in January, and you have a good chance of taking the deer of a lifetime.

Over the past two seasons our outfitter has accommodated 34 hunters on nine ranches and has been able to produce muley bucks for 32 of them. The widest rack so far was 35 1/8 inches wide with no abnormal tines. The average buck has been about 28 inches wide.

Accommodations are either in a ranch house or a deluxe tent camp, depending on the ranch. We're offering a 2x1 hunt at $7,500, and a 1x1 hunt at $9,000. These are for six full hunting days. You can book a longer hunt if you have the time. One of our hunters in 2008 stayed an extra four days and saw four bucks over 30 inches, missing one of them, and eventually took a 28-incher with several extra points.  

The ranches vary in size from about 5,000 acres to more than 30,000 acres. We don't know of another area that provides a better chance of taking a truly big mule deer. Some of the bucks in Sonora have it all -- width, mass, height. Naturally, when you're hunting for an exceptional animal, you won't always find what you're looking for, but at least you have a chance here. Keep in mind that the entire trip is an adventure and an unforgettable experience. See some of the most stunning desert landscapes on earth. Much of this land is just as it was before Columbus. Our camps are designed for four to six hunters at a time.

Best of Mexico Hunting Service is run by two Mexicans who are licensed by the state of Sonora; Utah Outfitter Gary Andersen and Rich LaRocco of Hunts.Net help out in organizing and equipping the hunt and often go along to help things run smoothly. ership. Both Mexican partners, Enrique Salmon and Enrique Gracia, come from hard-working cattle ranching families, whose connections have helped tremendously in acquiring the best properties available.

We work only on ranches with good deer habitat, great genetics and light hunting pressure. Hunting is done either on foot, tracking these big bucks across the sandy desertscape, or from high racks mounted on a pickup truck or a side-by-side 4x4 ATV. In some cases, glassing from vantage points can be effective.

There's also a possibility of taking a big Coues deer. We have limited permits, so book ahead if you want one of these beautiful desert whitetails. We've had hunters who have pursued Coues bucks in Arizona, and they said our hunting is much better, especially for mature bucks with bragging-size racks.

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