Kids Youth Cow Hunt Success

chap_dog48

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LAST EDITED ON Oct-21-17 AT 03:36PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Oct-21-17 AT 03:25?PM (MST)

Sorry for the late response but had to install a new water heater, get a new freezer(a good thing), and process some elk.
Well, we made it back late on Monday and had a blast. To update Gator's last post we got both tags filled. It was a trip that played out perfectly.

Took off for AZ on Friday the 13th and got our VBRO house all lined up. Took off to just glass for the next morning?s hunt and we located elk in some rugged but doable spots for the next day. So with about 45 minutes of before legal light was to end I decided to glass right around the rim we were sitting on and 400 yards east of us was a group of cows. We backed out into the tree line and closed the distance to about 250. Since my daughter had first shot and this was her first chance and an animal I wanted to be within 200. The only way to get closer was to get out of the trees and head right at them. Since the rut was still active from what we saw glassing I decided to just blow a few cow mews and we walked in a single file line, me in the lead, my daughter , then son, and my wife behind. My Dad was also there and he stayed at our glassing spot just watching in case we got a shot he could watch where they went. Well we got to 171 yards and I figured this is where it's going to happen if it does. My daughter is shooting a .308 180 grain bullet so I was confident in the distance. She got ready and looked at me and said, "Dad I can't stop shaking," I laughed as quietly as I could and said, "Welcome to buck fever, just think of something else like the cabin or your grandpa and then when you have a pause in the shakes and feel perfectly set take the shot." I was thinking she was going to be there forever but 3 seconds later BOOM! Luckily I was looking through the binos and notice the elk flinch but she just jogged off into the timber. I went down to the spot and found nothing. No blood? Now the light is fading fast and had to break out some lights. Lucky for us Gator had given my kids a hunting gift the day before which were perfect lantern flashlights. I cracked one out and walked a few half circles from the shot location and sure enough found splashes of blood. Followed them to the timbers and went in. Not 50 yards from where I found blood we found the elk. Daughter was super stoked and emotional and I loved every minute of it. We hung those lanterns in the trees and made quick work of the elk. We got to processing and got back to the truck about 9:05. Boom? one tag filled one to go.

Day two found us down where we had seen some monster bulls pushing cows. As we were just getting out of the truck we spotted some cows feeding up the ridge about 400 yards away but slipped into the pinion and junipers to fast to put a game plan on. Not 20 minutes later a BIG but broken up bull walked on the same path. He was probably a huge 6x6 but ? of 1 side was broke off and the others side was missing his fronts. We saw nothing the rest of the day so back to the rim to glass for the following morning. That night saw 4 big bulls, 2 stompers at least 350+ and 2 310 bulls and about 15 cows and was going to be epic if we chose the right canyon. I glassed nothing around the rim that night like the previous night so we put a plan on for the next morning.

Day 3 found us again where the bulls and cows were spotted but we got there 30 minutes earlier and positioned on a long ridge. Took about 45 minutes of straight up hill hiking to get there, but we were there. As me move down the ridge I would cow call every 2-3 minutes and all of a sudden 50 yards away a bull just lets out a monster bugle and grunt. He was coming in hard. I was scanning for cows in the canyon but nothing. The bull ripped off again and then sounded like a T-rex coming in. My daughter actually got a little scared and jumped behind me. With about 20 yards between us and the bull he finally got eyes on my son and turned and ran like hell. We scanned for cows but nothing. Super cool experience to be in the rut but it sucked knowing you couldn't kill that bull. He was a one of the 310 bulls we had seen the night before. After that we sat and glassed, and my son spotted a group of cows but they were a little far for my son to take a shot(he also shoots and .308 with 180 grain) we set off after them and got to the canyon we last had seen them but nothing. While looking around for about 30 minutes we heard some rocks falling up above us across the canyon and out walks this giant 7x6 mega bull easily 350+ just walking north up the canyon about 250 yards out without a care in the world. Man what a great bull that would have been. But, back to the cow hunt. Since I hadn't seen any cows come out of the canon I knew they had to have traveled west along this cut into a canyon we called the ?Y? canyon. We backed out and planned to return in the evening. Later that day found us again on the long ridge we had the encounter with the bull in the morning and we worked over the saddle to the area I thought the cows must have gone. As we caught our breath from the long hike it I said to myself, ? why can a cow just pop out on that ridge? which was about 150 yards to your northwest and then I looked to my left and ?bingo? there is this cow standing there broadside like a statue. I got my son his range, 154 yards, and he settled in. I asked if he was comfortable with the shot and the only reply I got was ?BOOM.? The cow dropped in her tracks. I said, ?did you see that? and he had not idea the elk dropped in her tracks but I looked and him and said, ?you don't? have a track job with that one.? We laughed and high fived, wife was giving him hugs then we heard a cow mew. Then another and another and all of a sudden a loud bugle and the whole hill side stood up. One giant heard bull, a 6x6, about 15 cows and calves and a few spikes were bedded in that canyon. All the elk were kind of confused as to where to go and then the lead cow barked and off they headed northwest and out of the canyon. My son was super pumped and I was super proud. We got over to the cow and again began to break her down starting at 4:30 this time we had plenty of light. Once processed though again light was fading fast but we managed to get back to the truck about 20 minutes after it turned dark but what joyous feeling we all had. It was super cool to be able to get a hunt like this and hunt a couple days and accomplish what we came to do. Memories will live forever and it was super sweet to share it with my wife and father as both my kids had filled their tags.

Today we went out deer hunting and all my daughter wanted to do was go home and head down to Bass Pro Shop and take a picture of her and her elk to post on the Braggin? Board. Haha!

Big thanks as always to Gator a true frind and hunting partner.

Also a shout out to Dave aka-booter96 thanks for the info you gave me. We ended up killing my sons elk in one of the areas you walked me through on the maps. Also sorry we couldn't make it over for elk camp my son wanted to get back to school so he didn't have to miss starting for his football team since he is the QB and if he missed practice he wasn't starting. Thanks again.

Also thanks to azbackwoods the info you shared with Gator got us in the right spots for glassing. Thanks again to all that helped if you every need help on something I will try and repay it.
 
VERY VERY awesome!!!!!! My kids are all young adults now, so their official 'youth hunting days' are over. Memories for a lifetime though!!

Love it!
 
Here are some pics.

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