AZ 6a Muzzy hunt(Pic)

J

JimmyAZ

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Well, went back home from the Chicago area with the intention of holding out for ol'big(isn't that always the case!). Got in Thursday night and headed out first thing in the morning Friday. I didn't have a hunting partner for the day due to the fact my dad had to work still so went out based on my years of growing up in the area. Spent most the morning getting soaked in a rain, sleet, snow drizzle and fogged glasses so didn't really get into like I had wanted. After heading home for a few hours to dry out, went back out that evening and picked up a few cows but was about it. The next day was considerably better. With my dad in tow, we headed out to a spot to glass. We split to work 2 different vantage points and the moment we seperated, I heard him holler he jumped to elk. I beelined towards the direction I thought they would head and happened to catch them in the cedars. I saw the first through the trees and saw antler but didn't want to shoot not knowing how big. I had one window to see how big they were, and go figure, the first goes through, beautiful 6x with deep tines. Keep in mind the window was only big enough get a glimpse and they were on the run. The second came through as well and was a 6x7. At this point I was heading pararrell with them so I tried cutting them off....and never saw them again, well at least until later that day. We ended regrouping and decided to get on the tracks and see if we could pick them up. We did catch up with them just in time to see them going over a ridge...ass to us...and never saw them again from there.

This is where the fun begins. The next day(Sunday) while we were getting our gear on, my dad stepped backwards from the truck right in a ravine. All I heard was screaming and from history, thought he rolled his ankle(bad historyt there). Well, upon getting over to him and seeing him, I knew it was much worse, yet he didn't want to admit. After about 15 minutes of trying to get him off the ground, we finally got him into the truck. He could stand on his leg as long as it was straight but the moment he bent it, agonizing pain! Well, I told him we needed to get him to a hospital but he was just too stubborn. He said he would find a vantage place from the road where he could glass while i went on my hike we had originally planned. As it turned out, I didn't see much that morning other than some cows and headed back.

We headed home so he could his knee and regroup, the whole me telling him his health was more important than my hunt but he just wouldn't listen.. We had planned on trying a new spot further south in the unit which would mean we had to camp for a night or two. My dad could walk as long as he didn't bend his knee but I told him no way but he wouldn't listen so we headed out. We got there in time to pitch a makeshift camp. The area we were hunting now was a very rugged country, steep manzanita canyons rolling off the cedar flats. My dad had taken a decent bustup 6x the year before but we knew there were bigger bulls in there. The roads were brutal and we quaded out to a spot we glass from. Just as light was disappearing, I glassed up 2 good bulls across the basin we had been looking at. Based on that info we decided we would head back early morning and find them and make a game plan from there. We got back that morning and couldn't find the 2 bulls, they were in some thicker pines near the ridgeline. We did scope up a nice 6x4(one side was busted after the 3rd tine) but based on the antler condition and mainly the terrain(think manzanita), I decided to pass on him. We decided to head back to camp to regoup and come in on top of where I had glassed the 2 bulls the night before. Just as we were getting back to the quad(about 50 yards from where we were glassing and took my dad 20 minutes just go that far) he took a step and his knee bent. The moment it did he went down, again, but this time, his elbow took a yucca plant and his entire hand landed in a prickly pear. He couldn't tell me what hurt worse, the prickly pear, the yucca, or the knee. Well after about 30 minutes if picking cactus out of his hand we were on our way...

We got back to camp and decided to make a makeshift splint, he always has a knack for making something out of nothing. Well a couple of 2x4's and duct tape later, we had a solution...here is a pic...

splint.jpg


that afternoon, we took a bit of an exporatory trip near where we saw the bulls and found a beatiful tank perched right in the drainage before it ran off into the thick country. This was about a mile if that from where I glassed the bulls and with it being dry the past couple of days, the condition of my dad, and me not wanting to bone out and pack out a elk by myself in the thick, we decided we might as well sit the tank and see what happens. As for me, I've never sat tanks, I would take a vantage point a good pair of bino's and making a stalk any day...but, like i said, I had good reason. We found a nice Alligator/Juniper about a hundred yards from the tank. Well, my dad can't drive with the "splint" on so he had taken it off. He decided there was branch that needed breaking about hip level. Before he could even think about, he put all his weight on the bad knee, lifted his other leg to come down on the branch, and about halfway, went down, again, this time pretty bad. On his way down he broke his fall with his forehead so had a good gash and blood running down. He was on the ground for a good 20 minutes this time. Well after everything said and done he was back in the truck and went to glass from the truck up the road a couple of miles.

Low and behold, about 5:00 I see antlers behind the burm of the tank. A smaller 6x came straight into it. I knew he wasn't what I was really after but considering all, it was time to get my dad home and we couldn't really ask for an easier scenario. Took one shot as he was broadside. Boom!! he jumped and ran about 10 feet about to head over the berm of the tank and stopped with his ass to me. He had no idea where the shot had come from(not that the cloud of smoke hanging over me was a sign). Well, not sure of your muzzy experience but you need a little leverage when packing the bullet and I was sitting down. To say the least I had a ##### of time, finally repacking about 3 minutes later. The bull had stood there the whole time. Like I said he was facing away from me so I aimed for his neck right below his head, fired and he dropped like a brick. (After we finally had got him home and skinned the first shot had hit right throught the body cavity in the lungs so I don't know why he never acted like he was hit). Also, if you look close, the second shot entered his neck, severed his spinal cord, came out his throat, into his nasel cavity and lodged there just before coming out. You can see the hump in his nose righe below his eyes where the bullet is lodged.

Here is the bull.

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My dad couldn't help load him and he had left all the gear at camp, so i for the most part loaded the entire elk into the back of the pickup by myself. We made a makeshift pulling that my dad would keep taught so I wouldn't lose ground as I inched him into the bed of the truck. It just about killed me!

But all said and done, It was a great time, anytime in the woods with friends and family is worth it all!!

BTW, my dad ended up blowing out his Quadracep tendon(connects the quads to the kneecap) and had to get surgery 4 days later. the doctor said his quads were balled up about 4 inches from his knee, completed severed the tendon.
 
You're dad sounds like one tough SOB!

That's a real good looking bull. Thanks for the story. Hope your dad is feeling better:)
 
I second that your POPS is one tough SOB, If you have to fight him I'm guess you would have to kill him to stop him. Great story and a nice bull.
 
Great read and real nice bull for ya!

Don't count out us 'Dads'.... we can still be rather tough even if we are a little grey.....hope he heals up fast and is good to go for '06.
 
Very nice bull, congrats to you and your Dad for a good hunt, hope your old man heels up alright.

RockyMtnOyster
 
Great Job!

Hope your Pops feels better.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"
 
Great story, not sure who got hurt more, your dad or the elk! I was hoping for a picture him looking like her survived a bomb going off!

Nice bull!
 
Jimmy,
Enjoyed the story and the ensuing laughs, although your dad probably wasn't laughing. Congrats on the fine bull.

"We made a makeshift pulling that my dad would keep taught so I wouldn't lose ground as I inched him into the bed of the truck. It just about killed me!"--I can just envision your dad being winched into the P/U. :)

Doug~RR
 
Kewl Story and Pics.
It is a good thing that ya toughed it out with your dad. You wouldn't want him to think u were a panzy!! Real Elk hunters don't go home with messed up tendons. I will give ya a 6 for toughing out the hunt and your dad at least an 9 for dad. And a 10 for the elk. Way to be. Kidding great hunt congrats
Rut
 
Great story. Where are the pictures with your dad and the elk? He sure deserves to be seen after his ordeal. Hope he has recovered.
 

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