oak creek south

desertpointbrian · Apr 20, 2009

i know this has been posted quit a bit in the past but this situation is a little differant. my father in law drew the late season hunt for the unit. and his health has went down hill the past year. i told him when he put in for this area that this unit was not the best for a big elk. but he does not care he wants a chance at an elk does not care to much on size. i was wondering if anybody has hunted it in the late season what to expect that time of year i have explored it during the winter coyote hunting and seen some elk and plan on doing most of his scouting for him this year.but that was late january not sure if they will be in the same spots in november.i am not trying to make this sound like a charity case i just know how usefull monstermuleys can be i have helped some people with some wasatch moose tips and general elk tips and they sure seamed to be very thankful. some info on what to expect and what your thoughts on him being able to atleast see some bulls would help thanks in advance

mlycrzy · Apr 20, 2009

There is a thread in the Utah forum on the Oakcreek unit you might want to check out. Most of the replies were saying basically the same thing you did about not having many quality bulls on the unit. I will pass on any info I find as I have drawn the same tag. Congrats to your father in law on getting a tag.

Big_DD · Apr 21, 2009

PM sent

desertpointbrian · Apr 21, 2009

thanks for your help guys i appreciate it

NeverStopHuntin · Apr 22, 2009

Honestly i would turn the tag back in and get your points back. Not trying to rain on your parade but the issue isn't lack of quality bulls, its lack of elk. The last few years the herd has gone to crap. Some of the elk migrate back and forth onto the general unit and get slaughtered.

desertpointbrian · Apr 22, 2009

>Honestly i would turn the tag
>back in and get your
>points back. Not trying to
>rain on your parade but
>the issue isn't lack of
>quality bulls, its lack of
>elk. The last few years
>the herd has gone to
>crap. Some of the elk
>migrate back and forth onto
>the general unit and get
>slaughtered.

it is not my tag to turn back in and i highly doubt my faher in law is about to do that since it will probably be his last elk hunt with some hard work it has to be better than the general season hunts for him

NeverStopHuntin · Apr 22, 2009

I understand your dilemma.

I will be spending a little time out there this summer. If i see anything i will be sure to let you know.

Good luck

Foxtrotter · Apr 23, 2009

I live in the area. We have had a few tags on this in the past. It is a very, very tough unit. They are trying to get rid of all of the elk. I spent weeks and weeks on it last year and saw one bull over 300 inches. Be ready for the toughest, most physical hunt you can imagine. This is not your typical draw unit, it is clearly not a quality unit. The quality is way down from what it was. Unless your father-in-law is in fantastic shape or you have horses you are in for a really tough experience. There are not many elk on the unit. The DWR issues more tags than there are bulls on the unit, pretty strange. The best advice you could get has already been given, turn the tag back in is by far the best advice I could give also. That is the simple, hard core reality. This is not a tag to be coveted or jump up and down with joy about getting unless you are ready for some of the toughest and non-productive hunting you have ever had. It used to be good, but those days are forever gone. Good luck.

mlycrzy · Apr 23, 2009

I may be wrong on this but is it as simple as just turning the tag back in? I have considered this but the way I understand it is you have to have some type of medical issue, death in the familiy, or military leave if you want your money back. I only had 1 point but paid the heavy non resident fee so unless I get my money back I may be stuck with the tag.

bigthree · Apr 23, 2009

If you got this tag my feeling is to turn the tag back, if you dont want to hope for really bad weather leran about where they migrate off the pahvant.my buddy had this tag last year on archery elk there is some resident elk on that unit. pm me . I would pray for lots of snow !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mlycrzy · Apr 23, 2009

Hey bigthree! How did your buddy do on his archery hunt last year? Was there much snow for the late hunt?

bigthree · Apr 23, 2009

We wore alot of boot leather out for that hunt pm me .

Foxtrotter · Apr 24, 2009

You can turn your tag back in as long as you meet the deadlines, look at the proclamation. The only bad part is you do not get a money refund, but you do get your points back. In answer to your archery quesiton, I had an archery tag two years ago, had my chances but came away empty. This last year there were about 12 archery tags. My sons had three of these 12 tags/ A total of 3 elk were killed on the Oak Creek archery hunt last year, 2 of the 3 by my sons. They were smaller bull my sons got, felt good for that as the quality and quantity is very poor now days. An out of state guy hired a local guide/outfitter to help him on the rifle hunt, they hunted very hard and finally got a bull, felt good and lucky to have done that and that was with a local outfitter who really knows the area. Again, this is a very tough unit, with archery it is probably as tough as any in the state and I know several folks who had rifle tags who didn't even see any elk. The DWR has issued more tags than the total combined number of bulls on the unit including all of the spikers and rag bulls, they appear to just want to get rid of the elk on this unit. They also won't tell you about the poor quality since they like the revenue from selling the tags. Anyway, good luck on things, you really have not got a tag worth having from my perspective.