Awesome AZ elk hunt!

CAelknuts

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LAST EDITED ON Oct-04-14 AT 07:09PM (MST)[p]We returned a few days ago from my son's AZ muzzleloader bull hunt. What an incredible, if short, hunt it was! Since my son, Danny, also drew a Doyle muzzleloader buck tag this year and started a new job a few months ago, we knew his time to hunt would be short. Knowing that this would likely be the last time my son draws this tag for many years, if ever again, and that he'd be short on time, I hired Matt Schimberg of A3 trophy hunts to scout the unit for me before the season arrived. He employed Hunter Weems of Flagstaff to do the scouting and these turned out to be wise decisions on both our parts.

With that in mind, I headed south to AZ early, arriving in time to get a day of scouting in with Hunter and his buddy, Austin. We went to an area of the unit where I'd never been before and once upon a large hill, set up the big binoculars and spotting scopes. As it got light, Hunter and Austin told me to look out onto a grassy flat a couple of miles away.

Once I got my binoculars focused, I immediately found about 50-60 elk out in open, flat 'pronghorn' country. There were a number of mature bulls floating around this group, with the 3 biggest being a big wide 7x7 that they had already estimated would be a 370s class bull. Next biggest was a clean 6x6 that they thought was a solid 360s class bull and the next best bull was a 6x7 that they thought would go around 345+. We watched these bulls and others until they headed into the junipers just like they told me the elk had been doing for days now. The season was to open the next day and Hunter was going to be guiding an early rifle bull hunter in unit 10; while Danny, our buddy Jeff and I would be hunting on our own. Again, I purchased a scouting package from these guys, not a guided hunt and they gave me everything I was looking for before the season opened. That afternoon, I scouted the area alone, entering from a different direction, the way I planned to hunt these bulls. I didn't see any elk (which was good) but figured out how to access their bedding and feeding areas with favorable prevailing wind.

Now that I had some candidate bulls located (in an area where I'd have not looked, and we never saw another hunter) and a plan formulated on how to get them (keep in mind, this unit is not known for really big bulls, as most bulls taken in this unit score from 300-340 range) it was time to head to Phoenix to pick the guys up at the airport. By the time we arrived in Flagstaff to spend the night, it was almost 1:00 AM. We hit the sack for 3 hours sleep, then headed out to begin Danny's elk hunt...

We accessed the area with a steady favorable wind and began walking in the beginning of dawn light. Right away, we could hear bugling from several different directions. About 15-20 minutes into our walk, we found the first bull of the day, a nice 7x7 but not the big 7 from the day before. He was about 300 yards away, very stalkable and herding about 8 or 9 cows. Danny took one look at him and passed! I was kinda surprised as this was a really pretty bull, and after all, how many guys ever kill a 7x7 bull? About 10 minutes later, while pausing next to a juniper to glass, we got pinned down by a lone 6x6 that came walking our way. Right off, I told Danny "You are NOT going to shoot this bull" as he was only a 300-310 bull (isn't it nice to be able to say "only" about a nice bull like that?!). That bull walked past us and we kept on glassing. Then, we found the big group and realized we were too far to the east, so we hiked back toward them as fast as possible.

Once we got to within about 500 yards of the big group, we were in the junipers with them as they headed toward their bedding area. We moved forward, calling occasionally to provoke answers and keep tabs on where the herd was moving. Finally, they settled into a big area, with herd bulls staking out different areas from where they were each calling before bedding. I told Danny "you know what you have to do now, you have to stalk one of these bulls by yourself. 3 of us is simply too much noise and movement". So, Danny picked out one of the bugles to stalk and he slowly disappeared. Jeff and I stayed put and I laid down to take a nap since I was cranking on about 3 hours sleep over the last 36 hours.

More to follow...
 
Oh come on...?
I leave for my desert bull hunt in a few days and your story is making me feel like I'm right there with you.

Keep it coming!
 
This takes me back to the last horsecreek thread, haha.

Still waiting for more of the story and I've got to get up early to take my 6 year old daughter antelope hunting, which will be a blast!
 
... I ended up having a pretty good nap, though I did get woke up several times by nearby bugles. Jeff was thinking I'm nuts, sleeping while we have bugling bulls all around us. But, the only one who mattered was Danny and we didn't really know where he was, other than he was a lot closer to a bull than we were.

After nearly an hour, Danny came walking back with a big grin. He hadn't fired a shot, but told us that he'd belly crawled to within 38 yards of a big herd bull that was a 6x7 and had about 15 or so cows. He said the bull was big, but not first morning big and he didn't want to end his hunt so soon. Now, I knew which bull the 6x7 was, and we'd already estimated him at 345+ so I was having a hard time believing he just passed that bull up with a muzzleloader in good archery range.

Again, he told me that he simply didn't want to end his hunt so soon.

That afternoon, we set up camp, Jeff's big wall tent, and then we decided to back to the scouting hill and refine our understanding of the area. Danny wasn't thrilled about giving up an evening of hunting, but it was only opening day and I assured him that if we put a bit more time in to completely understand the area, that it would pay off.

And so ended the first day...
 
The 2nd morning...

At this point we were sure we knew exactly where to go in the dark, in order to be right where we needed to be when the elk left the big flat and headed into the junipers to bed. We just had one concern - there was a pretty good thunderstorm that had started and not only did we have some lightning but also moderate rain and the wind was blowing pretty good, about 20-25 mph. I told Danny to be sure to bring his raincoat but he knows more than me and decided to leave it in camp (maybe he thought it would take up too much room in the truck?)

We arrived where we wanted to leave the truck and started out, fortunately the wind direction was good for hunting although that meant we were walking directly into the rain. Danny now realized it was a bad decision to leave his raincoat in camp! :) Also, the mud was gumbo and was balling up on our boots so we were constantly scraping our boots on rocks to get the mud off. About halfway to where we expected to intercept the elk, Danny suggested that perhaps we should head back to the truck and sit out the rain, as he was getting pretty wet. I simply replied with "It's your tag and elk hunt, we'll do whatever you want". After a minute's consideration he said "I'm not gonna kill a big bull sitting in the truck, let's go". So we pressed on. At this point, I was glad that Danny was carrying my Knight disk extreme rifle as it is supposed to be more weather resistant than other muzzle loaders. The primer and powder were a lot drier than he was.

We went a few hundred yards further and heard bugling, but it was in the trees already. Had the elk already gone into the junipers to get out of the storm? This was going to seriously complicate our plan as we wanted to catch the big group out in the open and wait for them to feed into the trees... And our trap!

Fortunately, it looked like the rain was starting to lighten up. We went a short distance further and I could see a bull about 400 yards ahead, still out in the more open where the trees were much scarcer. I quickly got my 15's up on the tripod and focused on the bull. It didn't take more than a few seconds before I told Danny "I think you should shoot this bull". After a quick look of his own, he agreed. We continued on, now with a clear goal in sight.

More to follow shortly...
 
With the bull feeding along. All by himself, we moved quickly to get in front of him. Danny was worried about the elk already in the trees and at one point stopped me to scold me for bumping some cows that saw me. I was direct and to the point with my reply of "F**k the other elk! we only have to not spook the one we are after". And so we hurried along from tree to tree, or bush to bush as the case may be, until we finally relocated the bull.

He was now about 350 yards out and walking directly toward us, stopping to bugle at other bulls or snatch a bite of grass as he continued straight toward us. Danny was lying prone while I was behind him with my big Swarovski's set up, tight into a big juniper so the bull wouldn't spot me. Jeff was behind me, looking over my shoulder. I didn't realize it at the time but Jeff was soon to play a key role in this morning's hunt.

The bull came around a juniper and I ranged him at 290 yards, too far still. I was really worried about Danny having to shoot through a 3 strand barbed wire fence that was about 80 yards in front of us, since he'd be shooting prone. I know, there a lot more air than fence wire but after waiting 10 years to draw this tag and having such a good bull right in front of us, I was worrying about that little Irish lawyer, Murphy, appearing when we least needed his presence. At this point, the bull did something that greatly affected the outcome of our hunt. He turned into the large juniper tree and started demolishing it with his antlers. He was facing directly away from us as he tore into the juniper. After watching him long enough to feel confident he was going to stick with his task, I told Danny to hurry up and get on the other side of the fence.

Instead of debating with me, this time he just jumped up and hauled butt to the fence, under it and started crawling to get between a couple junipers where he could shoot from. All went well, he was again lying prone but had lost the bull's location. He was facing 45 degrees to the right of the bull and if the bull advanced to Danny's left he'd never see him.

Quickly realizing the problem and with the bull still preoccupied with destroying the juniper, I told Jeff to hustle to Danny and get him turned toward the bull. Jeff took off as quickly and quietly as possible. Fortunately, the bull was so focused on his task that he never paused to look around. After Jeff arrived and got Danny properly positioned I figured that we were in good shape and not many things could go wrong.

Suddenly, another nice 6 pt. bull bulged from a couple hundred yards to our left. Our target bull stopped to turn and bugle at the other bull, then resumed his assault upon the tree. This continued on for at least another 15 minutes. The bull would continue destroying the juniper, then give Danny tantalizing shot opportunities when he'd turn to bugle at the other bull, which he wisely passed on. Now was not the time to rush things. The bull was in range and Danny had open sight lines no matter whether the bull went to his left or right. Since all the cows were already up in the trees, there was no doubt where this bull would eventually go, if Danny would just be patient and let events unfold on their own.
 
Finally, the bull tired of destroying the juniper and simply turned and started walking toward us. From my vantage point it was really cool, in the field of view of my Swarovski's, I could see the bull and also see Danny and Jeff all at the same time. If I'd have been shooting video, it would have made great TV footage (but we aren't into that).

So the bull was coming toward me, to Danny's left. I noticed that he was still facing too far to the right and I got concerned. How could they not see this bull? He was out in the open. Finally, I noticed that Danny had turned toward the bull. On he came, getting closer and closer...

At this point, I was focused solely on the bull as he'd gone to the left. When he got dead even with Danny, at less than 100 yards, I heard a shot which sounded very muffled in the wind. But, I saw where the 290 Barnes hit the bull and also a puff o the offside where the bullet exited. The bull turned back toward where he came from and ran about 100 yards then got all jelly legged and the hunt was over!

The hunt was short, but totally action and adrenaline packed. I cannot recommend Arizona enough. I've hunted elk there 7 times now. Twice on my own tags and 5 times helping my son or friends. It is, hands down, my favorite place to hunt elk and I've chased those big buggers in every western state except Washington

Pictures to follow...
 
Great story!!!!!!!! Congrats to you and your son. Can't wait for pics. My father and I are headed to unit 9 in November for some big bull hunting of our own. I hope to have a story as great as yours upon our return.

Thanks for posting.

}}-SLIVER-->
 
A great read and I'm looking forward to the pictures. If that bull tapes out at 370+, it will probably be the biggest bull of the season from that unit.
 
Guys, I've been writing this from an iPad and for some dumb reason I can't figure,out how to upload photos off this thing. Can I email a few to one of you who know how to upload? I've put many pics on here over the years but never off this device and it's driving me batty!

No, his bull didn't break the 370" mark, but he's not that many inches away and yes, was probably one of the biggest bulls killed from that unit this year. Funny thing is, there were 2 bulls in the same overall group who were notably bigger, including a huge 7x7 that was probably 20" bigger but we never saw him again once the season opened

OK, if someone will be kind enough to help with posting, I'll email you a few pictures.

I don't think anyone will be disappointed at them.
 
Here ya go!


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Congrats to your son on an Awesome bull... Thanks for sharing the story and pics!
redelkarcher>>>------------------->
 
Awesome story for sure and a great bull!!


Glad you all had a great time. Congrats to your boy.


HOOK 'EM!
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Love the story and couldn't wait for the next part. Thanks for sharing and he is a great looking bull! Amazing how open the area is. The tine length is incredible on the thirds!
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-09-14 AT 11:58PM (MST)[p]Thanks for the nice comments. My son turned that bull down at 38 yards the morning before he shot it, as he didn't want to end his hunt opening morning.

We also had a great time after we finished. Went up to the Grand Canyon and unit 9 on Sunday and saw some nice bulls with good bugling action near Hull Cabin

The following day we saw some nice bulls in the south end of Danny's unit but the highlight of that day was when Danny decided to do some predator hunting...

He brought a custom AR he built himself, in .223. He set up to call coyotes and only about 5 minutes into his stand he noticed a movement, close, out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the left and was staring into the eyes of a big bobcat, just a few yards away, that was stalking him. It startled him so bad that he startled the cat and never fired a shot as it trotted off.

That was a fun way to wrap up his elk hunt.
 
Very good bull, The flat land is kicking out some good bulls this year.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
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What a great story and hunt for you and your son, congrats. But one thing puzzles me , why would Hunter be in your unit scouting for you the day before he was to be guiding someone else in another unit? Wouldn't you think he would be scouting in the unit he was guiding for the day prior to the hunt.
 
What a wonderful outcome to a tremendous hunt! Love the looks of that bull. There is nothing quite like sharing the elk hunt with your son! Congrats to you both!
 
Huntho, Hunter had been in Unit 10 a number of days already and had called in a bull that an archery hunter killed a couple days before I arrived. He lives in Flagstaff, so it's real easy for h to jump back and forth. I had no issue with it as it was communicated to me ahead of time so there would not be any misunderstanding. He helped is find a great bull which we then hunted and killed on our own. He also guided a rifle hunter in unit 10 on what I understand was a darn good hunt too. That guy took home a nice bull after not closing the deal on a giant bull.

Everyone came out a winner as a result of Hunter's efforts...

Except the elk!
 
Really nice looking bull. Congratulations on a great hunt.

WP
"My only regret in life is setting my goals too low"
 
LAST EDITED ON Jul-15-15 AT 00:14AM (MST)[p]I was going through the SD card on my camera a couple days ago and there were a bunch of photos of my sons bull on there that I hadn't downloaded before. Since this thread floated back to the top, I'm posting a couple of them for your viewing enjoyment.

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Hello again CAelknuts!
I completely enjoyed re-reading your entire post and I really enjoyed the additional pictures as well. As you said, Arizona is absolutely the best place there is to hunt elk, especially if you can draw one of the rut hunts.
I do not recall you mentioning the unit this hunt took place in. Thank you for that!
Please, do not divulge that info now!
There are several "sleeper" units here in AZ and it doesn't take much publicity to change that.
Congratulations to your son on a fine trophy Bull, and to you for pointing him in the right direction.

Elkchaser
 
I really do like the look of that bull, I know bigger ones have been taken, But the look he has really is what trips my trigger more then score.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
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>the MM green signature club.[font/]
 

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