BuzzH
Well-known member
Finally getting around to writing up the story of my elk hunt.
I'll start by saying that anyone that thinks theres good bulls behind every tree in Arizona is in for a shock when they get there.
I left Missoula from a whitetail deer hunt and drove to Arizona on my Birthday, the 24th of November. One of my long-time friends and hunting partners, Brian, decided to come along. Him and my Dad came down a couple days after I got there. Having extra eyes, and someone to pick you up is a good plan when hunting the country we did.
The first morning I got to AZ I glassed up 4 six points in the first place I glassed. I never saw another elk the next 2 days, the weather was rough to say the least. Poor visibility was the main culprit.
On opening morning Brian and I went to a place that was recommended by AZ402. We found 30 elk right away, 1 decent sixpoint, 1 five point, a spike and a bunch of cows. We hunted the rest of the day and didnt see much else.
The following day we hunted a different area and saw a bull that had a 5 point antler on one side and a deformed club for an antler on the other side. We also jumped a decent six point at close range, but couldnt tell how good he was.
The third morning of the hunt, we went to an area that my Dad and a couple friends from AZ scouted the day before. There was a lot of elk sign in the area and we saw a hunter shoot a decent 6 point bull. It only took the hunter 11 shots to collect the elk. It was a real awesome shoot-out.
With that area in shambles, we decided to check out other areas and didnt see any other elk.
The fourth day, after giving things some serious thought, Brian and I decided the best choice was to hunt the area we'd seen the club horn bull and jumped the six point. We got to a good glassing spot at daylight and were really shocked to not see a single elk. We hunted hard until about noon, then decided to walk back to the truck and decide what to do from there. When I got back to the truck I found I had cell service and called AZ402 again and told him things were slow and finding elk was tough. He told us to just keep at it, the elk were there, and if we continued to hunt and look, we'd find a good bull.
Brian and I decided to just leave the truck and hike to the north instead of the south. We left the truck at 1:00 pm and hiked to a likely looking glassing spot. We decided to split up and each cover one side of the ridge. Brian was looking to the country to the south, while I looked over the country to the north. After about 30 minutes, Brian calls me on the radio, " Buzz, you there?"
"Yep, I'm here". Brian then said, "Hey, I got a bull over here, and Boy, he's a good one too."
I gathere up my pack and stuff and walked the 100 yards to where Brian was at looking at the bull. He was just standing there for a couple minutes, then bedded down behind a pinion tree. We looked him over, decided he was a good bull and now faced a major dilema. He was bedded at 454 yards. Brian thought we should either kill him from right where we were, or work our way down the ridge and try to get within 350 yards or so. I thought it may be better to approach a small ridge just in front of where he was bedded and have a "chip" shot. Brian didnt like it because the bull was so far down in the draw. He figured that I would have a tough time getting to the small ridge in front of the bull and I'd also have a tough time seeing him for a clear shot.
I walked down the ridge toward the bull and got to 420 yards, I didnt like it, so told Brian I was going for the ridge close to the bull. I took off and pretty soon I was there. Just like Brian said, I had a tough time picking out the bull, just too many juniper trees in the way. Finally, after about 20 minutes on the ridge slowly moving around looking for the bull, he jumped and starting running up the 70% slope at 90 yards. I found him quickly, scrambled to an opening, and picked him up in the scope. As he ran through an opening quartering away, I rested on my knee and hit him perfectly about 3-4 ribs up from the back. The bull took about 2 steps, staggered and rolled down the hill.
I waited for Brian to come down to where I was at and we walked over to the bull. Wow! We couldnt believe how lucky we were. After several days of hunting and scouting, we'd not seen many good bulls and it was starting to become a game of being mentally tough.
It all worked out though.
Heres a picture of some of the country:
Heres the draw where I shot my bull, he's barely visible behind the ridge in the bottom, bedded in the shade. Thats also the ridge I shot from.
Heres a picture of the bull zoomed in, not the best, but pretty good considering. The ridge the sun is shining on in the picture is the ridge I shot from.
Heres a few hero shots.
Me with the bull:
Brian and I with the bull:
And one more just because:
A bunch of credit is due to my buddy Brian. Its aweful nice to have a hunting partner that is willing to work as hard at finding me an elk as he does hunting for himself. Thanks a bunch Brian, I owe you big.
I also owe thanks to my Dad for coming down with Brian, keeping top-notch care of the camp, cooking for us when we came back wore-out, lending advice, and helping us when we needed it. My two buddies from AZ, Monty and Ron also offered up a lot of help scouting different areas and making the drive from Phoenix.
A big thanks to AZ402 is also in order for sharing advice on how to hunt that unit. His advice played no small part in my success. Bigfin also deserves thanks for sharing information and his hunting spot. Even though I didnt see any elk in the area he recommended, I know they were in there.
This unit is pretty daunting, and without the help I got from a lot of people, I doubt I would have taken a bull this nice.
I'll start by saying that anyone that thinks theres good bulls behind every tree in Arizona is in for a shock when they get there.
I left Missoula from a whitetail deer hunt and drove to Arizona on my Birthday, the 24th of November. One of my long-time friends and hunting partners, Brian, decided to come along. Him and my Dad came down a couple days after I got there. Having extra eyes, and someone to pick you up is a good plan when hunting the country we did.
The first morning I got to AZ I glassed up 4 six points in the first place I glassed. I never saw another elk the next 2 days, the weather was rough to say the least. Poor visibility was the main culprit.
On opening morning Brian and I went to a place that was recommended by AZ402. We found 30 elk right away, 1 decent sixpoint, 1 five point, a spike and a bunch of cows. We hunted the rest of the day and didnt see much else.
The following day we hunted a different area and saw a bull that had a 5 point antler on one side and a deformed club for an antler on the other side. We also jumped a decent six point at close range, but couldnt tell how good he was.
The third morning of the hunt, we went to an area that my Dad and a couple friends from AZ scouted the day before. There was a lot of elk sign in the area and we saw a hunter shoot a decent 6 point bull. It only took the hunter 11 shots to collect the elk. It was a real awesome shoot-out.
With that area in shambles, we decided to check out other areas and didnt see any other elk.
The fourth day, after giving things some serious thought, Brian and I decided the best choice was to hunt the area we'd seen the club horn bull and jumped the six point. We got to a good glassing spot at daylight and were really shocked to not see a single elk. We hunted hard until about noon, then decided to walk back to the truck and decide what to do from there. When I got back to the truck I found I had cell service and called AZ402 again and told him things were slow and finding elk was tough. He told us to just keep at it, the elk were there, and if we continued to hunt and look, we'd find a good bull.
Brian and I decided to just leave the truck and hike to the north instead of the south. We left the truck at 1:00 pm and hiked to a likely looking glassing spot. We decided to split up and each cover one side of the ridge. Brian was looking to the country to the south, while I looked over the country to the north. After about 30 minutes, Brian calls me on the radio, " Buzz, you there?"
"Yep, I'm here". Brian then said, "Hey, I got a bull over here, and Boy, he's a good one too."
I gathere up my pack and stuff and walked the 100 yards to where Brian was at looking at the bull. He was just standing there for a couple minutes, then bedded down behind a pinion tree. We looked him over, decided he was a good bull and now faced a major dilema. He was bedded at 454 yards. Brian thought we should either kill him from right where we were, or work our way down the ridge and try to get within 350 yards or so. I thought it may be better to approach a small ridge just in front of where he was bedded and have a "chip" shot. Brian didnt like it because the bull was so far down in the draw. He figured that I would have a tough time getting to the small ridge in front of the bull and I'd also have a tough time seeing him for a clear shot.
I walked down the ridge toward the bull and got to 420 yards, I didnt like it, so told Brian I was going for the ridge close to the bull. I took off and pretty soon I was there. Just like Brian said, I had a tough time picking out the bull, just too many juniper trees in the way. Finally, after about 20 minutes on the ridge slowly moving around looking for the bull, he jumped and starting running up the 70% slope at 90 yards. I found him quickly, scrambled to an opening, and picked him up in the scope. As he ran through an opening quartering away, I rested on my knee and hit him perfectly about 3-4 ribs up from the back. The bull took about 2 steps, staggered and rolled down the hill.
I waited for Brian to come down to where I was at and we walked over to the bull. Wow! We couldnt believe how lucky we were. After several days of hunting and scouting, we'd not seen many good bulls and it was starting to become a game of being mentally tough.
It all worked out though.
Heres a picture of some of the country:
Heres the draw where I shot my bull, he's barely visible behind the ridge in the bottom, bedded in the shade. Thats also the ridge I shot from.
Heres a picture of the bull zoomed in, not the best, but pretty good considering. The ridge the sun is shining on in the picture is the ridge I shot from.
Heres a few hero shots.
Me with the bull:
Brian and I with the bull:
And one more just because:
A bunch of credit is due to my buddy Brian. Its aweful nice to have a hunting partner that is willing to work as hard at finding me an elk as he does hunting for himself. Thanks a bunch Brian, I owe you big.
I also owe thanks to my Dad for coming down with Brian, keeping top-notch care of the camp, cooking for us when we came back wore-out, lending advice, and helping us when we needed it. My two buddies from AZ, Monty and Ron also offered up a lot of help scouting different areas and making the drive from Phoenix.
A big thanks to AZ402 is also in order for sharing advice on how to hunt that unit. His advice played no small part in my success. Bigfin also deserves thanks for sharing information and his hunting spot. Even though I didnt see any elk in the area he recommended, I know they were in there.
This unit is pretty daunting, and without the help I got from a lot of people, I doubt I would have taken a bull this nice.
