AZ late bull

marley

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LAST EDITED ON Dec-20-17 AT 04:03PM (MST)[p]Thought I would post up a report from my last hunt in AZ. After all the draw results came out I realized that I would not be able to get sufficient scouting done between all the tags my son and I drew this year so I called A3. I'll start out by saying they are a top notch guiding service in every way. My guide, Marc, kept me informed throughout the summer with pictures and updates even knowing that my tag wasn't until December.

After ending up with a bull on the Valle Vidal that was below what I was hoping for I decided that I really wanted to hold out on this AZ tag for 360" plus until the last day. The couple of days before my hunt had me really excited for opening day as we had a couple 350ish bulls and a 380+ bull that we had nicknamed "Big Heavy". His mass was unbelievable. But, opening morning came as a shocker to me. I've never heard so much shooting in my life. It was nonstop all day long. Pair that with a pack of wolves howling and running through the canyon and several people quartering and packing out elk in the bottom and you have a complete mess.

Our plan was to stick with the bull we were after, hoping that he would eventually make a mistake and leave the thick timber we figured he holed up in. We sat that canyon for four days straight, 12 hours a day, never taking our eyes off of it. In those 4 days I passed up 92 bulls. It was crazy the amount of bulls we were seeing but not Big Heavy.

On day 5 it was decided that I would sit and watch one side of the canyon and Marc would watch another side of it to cover more country.

By noon I was in my truck headed over toward Marc when I saw another hunter 200 yards off the road waving his arms at me. I stopped and asked if everything was okay. His response was, "Do you know how to gut an elk?" At first my mind wanted to keep going to continue my own hunt but I decided to help the guy out. I walked down the steep bank off the road and up to him. He didn't have a clue what to do with his first elk. He was all grin from ear to ear and so excited about his first elk that it made my decision to help very easy. It was fun to be around that kind of excitement again. I quartered his elk for him so that he could get it up the steep bank to his truck and headed on down the road.

That evening we had high winds so we decided to try some still hunting into the thick timber. With the wind in our face we moved slowly through the timber looking for bedded elk trying to stay out of the wind. We ran into a group of bulls just getting up for the evening with one really nice bull pushing the 330 mark at 90 yards. I think I took my safety off and put it back on 3 times. He was a pretty bull but I had told myself that I would hold out for bigger. We quietly backed out, leaving them alone as a hopeful last day bull.

By day 6 I was worn out and REALLY trigger itchy. We decided to go to a new area that another guide had seen a couple good bulls. After all day of glassing we had seen several bulls in the 320-330 range and one bull that you just knew was an absolute giant but he had busted his G1s, 2s, and 3s on both sides down to the mainbeam. That evening the busted up bull stepped out again with a buddy. He was a big framed, wide 5X6. I knew this bull wouldn't go over 330" but he had such a good look and long mainbeams and I only had one day left. I decided to shoot this bull. I had the perfect shooting ledge and zero wind for the long shot. I hit him twice through the shoulder and once a little back before he went down. He went down in such a place that we could only see about 4 inches of his butt. After a couple minutes I could see his hind leg kicking like it was the end. With it getting dark we decided it best to make sure and leave him for the night. When we got back in the morning I could still see the same 4 inches of his butt so we knew he was done. Marc's friend tagged along with us this last morning with tag still unpunched hoping to turn up one of the other bulls that we had seen and passed the morning before. After hiking over to my bull he walked around the corner and not long after we heard his rifle go. He had killed a 340" bull not 500 yards from us.

We now had two bulls down miles in! We got a hold of a cowboy that my guide knew and he met us in there with horses and mules to get us out of there. Those mules were the best sight after 7 days of hard hunting. I didn't end up with the giant I was hoping for but I'm happy with the bull and the experience and I made some good friends in the mean time. In the end, I had glassed and passed 128 bulls in 7 days.

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Nice bull. Nice story. 128 bulls? WOW!

And kool that you helped out another hunter. That will come back around to you one day.
 
Awesome hunt. Thanks for sharing.

Can I ask where this fellow hunter was from? Please tell me he was a local to arizona.
 
Congratulations on a great bull and thanks for sharing the story and pictures.
The late season hunts with all the hunting pressure and broken bulls are not easy hunts.
 
Great bull! Marleys stories are the best, he finds creative ways to make a point hes DIY except he always goes guided. Very well written and enjoyed the read.
 
>Great bull! Marleys stories are the
>best, he finds creative ways
>to make a point hes
>DIY except he always goes
>guided. Very well written
>and enjoyed the read.


I don't know if this is a dig or not. The 2nd sentence of my story says I went guided. I've been on THREE guided hunts in my entire life. I have over 50 trophy quality animals on my wall so I wouldn't call that ?always goes guided.?
 
A great hunt with lots of elk seen and a couple on the ground to top it off pack out with horses. couple of nice bulls on the ground.
That a A++++ hut.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
>[Font][Font color = "green"]Life member of
>the MM green signature club.[font/]
 
?Do you know how to gut an Elk??

Love it...Great job, great hunt, great write up...Congrats!


'Ike'

Bowhunter...
 

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