Red Rabbit's AZ Elk (pics)

R

redrabbit

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Since I had not been drawn for elk since 1995, this year's rifle elk hunt in unit 9 was held with much anticipation. I had put in for archery 9 first choice, and rifle 9 second choice.This was also the first year in many that the drought had not drastically stunted antler development. After several days of scouting and not seeing a monster bull, my hands were up in the air the night before the opener as to where I would hunt.

I chose to hunt a large sage opening the first morning, figuring that I might catch a bull out in the flat at first light before someone drove through and spooked the elk. Surprise, no one drove through and I was able to get within range of a pair of "too small" 5 and 6 pointers. That evening, I went to a bench that curved along a draw with some tanks, but in over a mile of walking and glassing, I had only cut 3 sets of small tracks in the fresh mud (it had rained 2" a couple of days before the season). I wrote off this area. Some early morning watches of the sage flat, following some tracks in 1/4" of fresh snow Sunday morning, and glassing other draws and slopes showed few elk and no other bulls. Other hunters in the area reported seeing little (but would they really say if they did?).

Where to next? While scouting during the summer, I noted on the topo map, a clearing on a ridge that no roads went through. I figured this could be a good feeding area and refuge for the elk after a few days of hunters driving the roads through every draw below.

Monday, the fourth day of the hunt, dawned foggy with swirling wind. I snuck up a draw to the opening at top, noting the big tracks in the mud as I went. Once at the edge of the clearing, I noticed a lot more big tracks in the mud since yesterday's snow and drizzle. This could be the spot, as hopes of seeing a bull swelled in my mind. Sometimes having to wait for the fog to waft and clear away for a moment, I slowly made my way around the inside edge, glassing ahead and across to the openings in the scattered P-J. A fourth of the way around, a lone, tan body emerged from the foggy soup, with wide antlers attached. When his head turned sideways, the fifth point appeared short, but there was a small G-6 on one side-6x7.

In the fog, the rangefinder said 25 yards. Try again- 27 yards. Oh well, do it the old fashioned way with the naked eye-200 yards. The legs of the bipod went down, the crosshairs were surprisingly still, the bull turned sideways, a prayer for a good shot was uttered, and the 200 grain Accubond was on its way out of the 300 WSM. The bull hunched and ran. I made a quick prayer for a quick death. He ran 50 yards as the bullet went through the back of both shoulders. No tracking required. Another quick prayer of thanks.

Then the work began. I tried the no-gut method of skinning and quartering. Works great. No more bloody arms and stinky gut piles.

dougkoepsel113003.jpg



He'll look fine on the wall of the dining room, as backstrap and Merlot wine is served for dinner. This was a good hunt with good memories, and I met some good neighbors in the next camp. He's not the 350-plus bull that my goal was before the trigger was squeezed, but looked "just right" at the moment. No regrets on my first rifle bull. He grosses 333", nets 323".

Doug/ Red Rabbit
 
That's a great story and an outstanding bull Doug! Congratulations on your successful hunt. You deserved this one. Good job!

For those that haven't had the pleasure of meeting Doug; he is one of the most generous & friendly folks you will ever meet. Not an ounce of malice in this man!

I'll be praying for snow & rain up in your neck of the woods this winter so we can have more good antlers next fall!

S.

:)
 
doug, could you get the accubond's to group well at all? i shot them out of my 30-06 and they would not shoot worth a sh!t, i then shot my hand loaded 165's and then put a 3 shot group within the size of a quarter. it kinda makes me mad because i bought like 3 or 4 boxes and they cost me over 50 dollars.
casey
 
Casey,
They grouped well for me. Five shot groups were usually 0.6"to 1.5" Of the best load, I had one group of four go 0.38" and the fifth was a called flyer. Velocity for this load was 2810 fps, but other loads went to 2900 and above. Did you try a few different powders in your loads? Were these for your coues hunt, and if so why did choose 200 grainers? A lighter 150 or 165 would fill the bill better out of the 30-06, IMO. Save the bullets for the 300 WM that you want. Should be good elk medicine.

Doug/RR
 
Great bull Doug!!!
I drew that hunt in '99.. Really tough hunt because of the flat, thick country. Most of the hunter's road hunted or sat on tanks.
You did it right.
Sneaking around in the PJ's was frustrating at times, but proved to be very productive for us, as it did for you. Congratulations!!!
 
Hunting through the p-j is frustraing. I tried it one morning going after some elk I saw leaving an opening. The ground was still frost-covered, and hence very crunchy. Sounded like I spooked em at 30-40 yards, hooves running everywhere, but couldn't see anything through that thick stuff.

I just wonder about those road "hunting?" guys who think that an elk is gonna stick around for a two-stroke Polaris, when even my deaf ears can hear the atv over a mile away. One evening after it was too dark to see antler points, I watched five bulls perk their ears as a Jeep drove a quarter of a mile north of the clearing the elk were in. Five minutes later, two Polaris atv's drove the same road as the Jeep, and the elk high-tailed it to the trees.

For those who haven't been to unit 9, it's relatively flat, mostly pinyon juniper, and there is a road or old 2-track down every draw and through every major clearing. Seems like you can go 1/2 mile in any direction and cut a road. There are very few isolated spots.

A couple of things learned were:
1) Even if its not raining or snowing, keep the end of the barrel taped. Opening morning, I was buckling the pack's sternum strap, and the rifle slipped off the shoulder, landing muzzle first in the mud, and then the scope on a rock. Had to go back to camp to use the cleaning rod to unplug it, then clean it and check zero. It was two inches higher.
2)On a better note, make omelettes at home and freeze them in a ziplock bag. For camp breakfast, place the bag with omelette in boiling water. It'll be hot and tasty by the time the coffee is ready.

Doug/RedRabbit
 
RR, great story and nice bull. You're right, he will look nice on the wall and even taste better too.
ArizonaGriz.
 
Congratulations on a nifty bull taken with a clean, killing shot. Your hunting yarn makes me yearn for a tag of my own.
I like the finish on your rifle stock, what kind of .300WSM rig were you hunting with?
 
AZBuckSnort,
Let's hope our tags come more often than every 8 years. A good friend's son drew a unit 9 archery tag this year with only the hunter safety bonus point, so there is hope for us next year.
The rifle I was using was an H.S. precision and the stock was tan with the black webbing. I have a Winchester Super Grade in 300 win mag, but it's very choosy about its diet. It throws most factory loads into 6" patterns, and I tried 27 different handloads with 5 different bullets only to get two loads to group close to moa. Out of frustration with factory rifles, I bought the H.S., which has worked much better for me.

Doug/RedRabbit
 
It can be beau coup frustrating when you get ahold of a factory rig that will not group a string of shots into a nice cluster without going through the kind of histrionics you describe you went through with your fractory Winchester M70 Super Grade. Did you keep the Winny or send it packin'?
I had a pre-64 Win M70 Westerner in .264 Win Mag that wouldn't shoot worth a dang until you loaded it "hot", and I mean damn near where the primers fell out after extracting the empty case from the chamber. You know that's unacceptable, if not unsafe, so I backed it down to a puss velocity and really had nothing more that a long barrelled, loud, factory velocity .270 Winchester. I sold the rifle as inaccurate outfits are not interesting to me.
I finished a Brown Precision stock in a gray finish with the black webbing that looks similar to your rifle's finish. I've heard great things about the H-S Precision rifles, obviously you must be happy.
Since we are talking about elk tags and who's due...I'll put my order in now for one for the 2004 season!
 
Doug that is awesome!!! I'm glad to hear you pulled a great elk out of your hat. Great story and awesome picture, my hats off to you. All 3 of our clients filled their tags in 8 also so there was success all around. CONGRATS!!!!!!

Josh Epperson
 
Congratulations on a very nice bull. I wish I could say I was successful this year on my hunt, but I wasn't. It's good to see other hunters who don't "road hunt" be successful.
Bryan
 
Bryan,
How did your hunt in 7 go otherwise? Were you able to locate some bulls? A co-worker had a 7E tag, but the elk disappeared from where they were during his scouting trips. Think he was hunting north in the p-j flats.

Doug/RedRabbit
 
Josh,
Glad to hear your camp was successful. Did ya'll see grandpa's cousin? Good luck and have find a toad in 21 next weekend.

Doug/RedRabbit
 
Congrats on a great hunt and a beautiful bull . That bull dang sure looks big , thats a great photo. Thanks for sharing....NMhuntnutt
 
Doug-

Big congrats to you on a damn fine bull. That rifle hunt is hard, and you came thru! Good job on a well earned bull!

Scott G.
 
Doug, I saw a couple of small bulls on Friday but nothing after that. I started out at the burn area (along with everyone else) and moved farther north after the weekend. The closest I got to a bull was on Thursday night at about 10 P.M. He walked past my camp grunting and bugling the whole time. He wasn't real big, but it was pretty exciting none the less. Nothing like having elk in your camp the night before the season starts and then having them disappear the rest of the week. Anyhow, that's about the only exciting thing that happened on my hunt. I will just chalk it up as a season of tag soup. There is always next season.
Bryan
 

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