DonMartin
Very Active Member
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Recently my friends Marc Schwartzkopf, Rick Thompson and I had the honor of assisting Marine Corps veteran Joey Soto and his 10-year old son, Joey Jr. on a Unit 10 late bull elk hunt.
The hunt was through the Arizona Elk Society's HUNTS FOR HEROES program. Joey had received a donated tag.
There were two other veterans(Paul and Hector)also in camp and AES volunteers Don Miller, Frank Tobey, and Matt Hendrie were also going to be part of the hunts.
To say this was a tough hunt would be an understatement.
Joey was bringing up his trailer and I would have my 5th wheel in camp.
I took my trailer up early as I saw that we were going to be getting rain and snow on and before the hunt.
It ended up that in addition to a LOT of rain, we got record snowfall for that time of the year.
Opening day it was snowing so bad that we had to use our phones with maps that were downloaded, just to find the road we were suppose to be on.
We ended up getting stuck on no less than THREE occasions on opening day, and ended up having to chain up Joey's big Dodge 4x4 to pull out my truck and break the snow.
Needless to say, we didn't see any elk that day.
The next morning it looked like Santa's Winter Wonderland with all the snow! Not only did it snow over a foot, but the high winds piled up the drifts over 4 feet deep in some areas.
We noted that with the roads closed and in some areas the snow was so deep we couldn't make it to our glassing points. And when we did arrive to some of them, it seemed every other hunter in the area were set up and glassing.
Much to our surprise Marc and I located a small herd of elk almost two miles above a canyon. There was not a bull of any size in the group however.
Later as we were driving out, Marc spotted a single elk down below us in a canyon. As it turned out the 4x4 bull ran out of the canyon and in front of our truck.
Marc and Joey got out and Joey got two shots at the bull at a range of just under 200 yards.Both missed their mark and Joey said it was the first time he had ever shot a moving animal.
We continued to hunt but, the conditions there were starting to deteriorate. Even on the main road, it was slick and icy!
On this day we would see a large group of antelope--50 or more--that broke up the boredom of glassing up miles and miles of endless snow packed hills, canyons and flats.
At the end of Day 2 we were wet and tired, but determined to keep looking for more elk.
Day 3 wasn't much better, despite our efforts to make it out to areas that usually produce elk sightings.
The highlight of that day was when I glassed up a herd of over a 100 antelope a long ways off with my spotting scope!
All we could find was hundreds of cows and lots of empty landscape. We did join a group of hunters and their families at an overlook and before they left, they said they had found a bull across a huge canyon, but it appeared there was no way to get to him.
I set up my spotting scope and found the single bull. It was a young 6X5, and he was indeed a long ways off. We figured that he was was just over 2,600 yards, and out near the end of a point.
Day 4 we were going to look at some different areas. We met a group of hunters from Kingman who were having the same luck as us. It was all bad for both of us.
Other hunters we spoke to later on said the same thing; few if any elk were being seen.
With time running out we decided to check other areas where hunters with big trucks had forged their way through the snow.
Still, other than a another herd of antelope, not one elk was spotted!
We did it all; glassing from different points, checking some isolated pockets of trees, none of it produce any elk sightings.
We did have some fun though looking at tracks we found, and having Joey Jr. tell us what he thought they were. At one spot 10-year-old Joey Jr. wrote his name in the still deep snow.
That night, we ate dinner in the Soto's trailer, with Joey Jr. cooking up some great antelope cheeseburgers.
Day 5 and we could only hunt a half a day before Joey and his son had to leave. It started off with Marc making breakfast for us like he did everyday. Besides a heck of a glasser and a packer, this guy can COOK!
We were out at a new glassing point well before sunrise and the view was spectacular as a new day dawned.
But like every other day, all we would see would be cattle and lots of barren landscape.
We went back to camp where Joey heard coyotes howling off in the distance. So we walked out a ways and I started calling, hoping that one of hungry predators would come investigate. Unfortunately, none did, so we packed up camp and headed to our homes.
Despite the fact that Joey never got another opportunity to take a bull, we all agreed that we had made some new friends. I am going to help Joey and his son get more involved in hunting by suggesting hunts they should apply for.
This young Marine--and the others we had in camp- have gone through many surgeries and lots of pain while they were defending our country overseas.
I would encourage all of my fellow guides and any sportsmen/women who are experienced in the outdoors to get involved in helping these heroes on future hunts.
I assure you that your experiences with these brave warriors, no matter if you bag an animal or not, will be rewarding in so many ways, and you'll never forget them or the hunt.
There are many organizations out there that are dedicated to helping these wounded warriors. I have worked with the AES and Director Tom Wagner 480-760-3868 [email protected] and can attest Tom is a top notch guy!
I understood that the AES had 18 donated late elk tags this year. Not sure how many were filled, but those that volunteered and went out to help and those veterans who braved the elements of a rare heavy snow storm shared some wonderful experiences!
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
The hunt was through the Arizona Elk Society's HUNTS FOR HEROES program. Joey had received a donated tag.
There were two other veterans(Paul and Hector)also in camp and AES volunteers Don Miller, Frank Tobey, and Matt Hendrie were also going to be part of the hunts.
To say this was a tough hunt would be an understatement.
Joey was bringing up his trailer and I would have my 5th wheel in camp.
I took my trailer up early as I saw that we were going to be getting rain and snow on and before the hunt.
It ended up that in addition to a LOT of rain, we got record snowfall for that time of the year.
Opening day it was snowing so bad that we had to use our phones with maps that were downloaded, just to find the road we were suppose to be on.
We ended up getting stuck on no less than THREE occasions on opening day, and ended up having to chain up Joey's big Dodge 4x4 to pull out my truck and break the snow.
Needless to say, we didn't see any elk that day.
The next morning it looked like Santa's Winter Wonderland with all the snow! Not only did it snow over a foot, but the high winds piled up the drifts over 4 feet deep in some areas.
We noted that with the roads closed and in some areas the snow was so deep we couldn't make it to our glassing points. And when we did arrive to some of them, it seemed every other hunter in the area were set up and glassing.
Much to our surprise Marc and I located a small herd of elk almost two miles above a canyon. There was not a bull of any size in the group however.
Later as we were driving out, Marc spotted a single elk down below us in a canyon. As it turned out the 4x4 bull ran out of the canyon and in front of our truck.
Marc and Joey got out and Joey got two shots at the bull at a range of just under 200 yards.Both missed their mark and Joey said it was the first time he had ever shot a moving animal.
We continued to hunt but, the conditions there were starting to deteriorate. Even on the main road, it was slick and icy!
On this day we would see a large group of antelope--50 or more--that broke up the boredom of glassing up miles and miles of endless snow packed hills, canyons and flats.
At the end of Day 2 we were wet and tired, but determined to keep looking for more elk.
Day 3 wasn't much better, despite our efforts to make it out to areas that usually produce elk sightings.
The highlight of that day was when I glassed up a herd of over a 100 antelope a long ways off with my spotting scope!
All we could find was hundreds of cows and lots of empty landscape. We did join a group of hunters and their families at an overlook and before they left, they said they had found a bull across a huge canyon, but it appeared there was no way to get to him.
I set up my spotting scope and found the single bull. It was a young 6X5, and he was indeed a long ways off. We figured that he was was just over 2,600 yards, and out near the end of a point.
Day 4 we were going to look at some different areas. We met a group of hunters from Kingman who were having the same luck as us. It was all bad for both of us.
Other hunters we spoke to later on said the same thing; few if any elk were being seen.
With time running out we decided to check other areas where hunters with big trucks had forged their way through the snow.
Still, other than a another herd of antelope, not one elk was spotted!
We did it all; glassing from different points, checking some isolated pockets of trees, none of it produce any elk sightings.
We did have some fun though looking at tracks we found, and having Joey Jr. tell us what he thought they were. At one spot 10-year-old Joey Jr. wrote his name in the still deep snow.
That night, we ate dinner in the Soto's trailer, with Joey Jr. cooking up some great antelope cheeseburgers.
Day 5 and we could only hunt a half a day before Joey and his son had to leave. It started off with Marc making breakfast for us like he did everyday. Besides a heck of a glasser and a packer, this guy can COOK!
We were out at a new glassing point well before sunrise and the view was spectacular as a new day dawned.
But like every other day, all we would see would be cattle and lots of barren landscape.
We went back to camp where Joey heard coyotes howling off in the distance. So we walked out a ways and I started calling, hoping that one of hungry predators would come investigate. Unfortunately, none did, so we packed up camp and headed to our homes.
Despite the fact that Joey never got another opportunity to take a bull, we all agreed that we had made some new friends. I am going to help Joey and his son get more involved in hunting by suggesting hunts they should apply for.
This young Marine--and the others we had in camp- have gone through many surgeries and lots of pain while they were defending our country overseas.
I would encourage all of my fellow guides and any sportsmen/women who are experienced in the outdoors to get involved in helping these heroes on future hunts.
I assure you that your experiences with these brave warriors, no matter if you bag an animal or not, will be rewarding in so many ways, and you'll never forget them or the hunt.
There are many organizations out there that are dedicated to helping these wounded warriors. I have worked with the AES and Director Tom Wagner 480-760-3868 [email protected] and can attest Tom is a top notch guy!
I understood that the AES had 18 donated late elk tags this year. Not sure how many were filled, but those that volunteered and went out to help and those veterans who braved the elements of a rare heavy snow storm shared some wonderful experiences!
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
