Sitka Gear Turkey Tool Belt

az elk?

slamdmini

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Joined
Dec 14, 2010
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right now im sitting on 10 pts in az. i can draw a number of late season tags both rifle and archery. so do i burn my points now or do i bite the bullet and keep putting in and hope i draw a better tag in 5-10 yrs? this would be my first elk hunt, and i could probably get out for one quick scouting trip. what would you guys do? what has been your experience with the late season hunts?
 
Hunt a couple late season hunts elsewhere first. MT, CO, maybe even a Wyoming or NM.

If it isn't one of the top 5 units, success rates are variable and depend highly on experience. I'm not advocating for you to wait until you can draw those top end late rifle hunts, just that you bring an experienced A game.
 
Hunt a couple late season hunts elsewhere first. MT, CO, maybe even a Wyoming or NM.

If it isn't one of the top 5 units, success rates are variable and depend highly on experience. I'm not advocating for you to wait until you can draw those top end late rifle hunts, just that you bring an experienced A game.
Agreed. I’d would encourage some experience before any limited entry hunt. It will go a long way to help you be successful on a LE hunt that takes a decade or more to draw.
 
I agree with the above.

Having gone on an AZ late rifle elk hunt that currently takes 9pts to draw, and saw only a handful of elk over a period of seven days, I must say that assuming AZ is so good that anyone can kill monster in an unit is totally bogus. Some of those late rifle elk hunts are tough, and have a lot of hunters hunting relatively few elk. I would get some experience AND be careful which late rifle hunts you apply for.
 
Forgot to mention I'm not looking for a giant, I'd shoot a raghorn if I had the chance. I could put in for a point again this year and scout during the season this year and hunt next. Thanks for the help so far guys
 
You've got 10 points, roughly a decade of waiting, and almost $2000 in non-refundable license fees to go hunt for a raghorn.. Man - go hunting and stop wasting your money. Do a bowhunt in an average unit, and odds are you'll be hunting some really nice bull elk.
 
Forgot to mention I'm not looking for a giant, I'd shoot a raghorn if I had the chance. I could put in for a point again this year and scout during the season this year and hunt next. Thanks for the help so far guys
Do whatever you want, but I’d go chase raghorns somewhere else for a couple years. I personally wouldn’t build points in AZ if the intention was to get a raghorn. That can be had anywhere at a much lower cost.
 
Late archery. Spot and stalk a big bull hiding out after the rut. Not easy. But can get a big bull with 10. Do your homework on units.
 
Go hunt an otc a couple years. Learn elk behavior in the forest. Find out what it smells like when an elk is close. How the thermals work in the forest. And a million other things you can screw up before doing it on a trophy hunt.
 
Go hunting. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to do an otc hunt in Colorado first just to get your feet wet. You could do both this year.

Don’t burn 10 on late archery. Go rifle hunting.
 
Completely agree with others here. I'd gain some experience on a couple OTC hunts and then look at using those AZ points. There is so much to learn, and the best place to do it is in the field. Use the knowledge you gain to draw that AZ tag in a couple years and gitcha a big one!
 
Get proficient with your bow and hunt a mid-tier unit…..you might be surprised at the quality of elk hunt you can have. Next year’s archery elk season (2023) will be the latest in September they can get……I’d go then.
 
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