Since drawing my elk tag all I can do is think about how it will all play out. To say I'm excited is an extreme understatement. My wife and kids know how crazy I am and agreed to take a summer trip with me to check out my area. We also went to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, both were amazing!
We only spent 2 days in my area. The campground we stayed at was slightly less than perfect. The full hook-up spots are right on top of each other. I was camped approx. 4 inches from a group from Phoenix that really hated the fact that I'm from California and after the 10th California joke I was over it. I guess if I lived in Phoenix I would hate people from San Diego too...
Needless to say we didn't spend much time cuddled up to our neighbors and this forced us to do more exploring/scouting. In our travels from glassing spot to fishing spot and back we met a couple of guys and their wives from Flagstaff. I felt like I found some long lost brothers! These guys were a wealth of knowledge and very friendly to myself and my wife and kids.
I found these guys the first morning
This was the second morning's gems. Count 'em 24 bulls! There are some absolute toads in this group
This bull made my heart stop for a second.
We saw this early "scouting pic" that was drawn by an ancient ancestor of mine.
We also had a close encounter (60 yards) with a small black bear. My 8 year old son was telling his mom to "calm down" Of course my pistol and camera were in the truck that was on the wrong side of the bear. I did get this pic just before the Fish and Game agent shot the bear twice with rubber bullets from a shotgun. That is a story all in itself...
Overall it was a great time. Thanks to those of you Arizona residents that treated us with the same respect and courtesy that I try to teach to my kids. Also thanks to my fellow MM members for the advise leading up to this trip. I can't wait to get back in August to scout some more and try to find a deer to put an arrow in.
We only spent 2 days in my area. The campground we stayed at was slightly less than perfect. The full hook-up spots are right on top of each other. I was camped approx. 4 inches from a group from Phoenix that really hated the fact that I'm from California and after the 10th California joke I was over it. I guess if I lived in Phoenix I would hate people from San Diego too...
Needless to say we didn't spend much time cuddled up to our neighbors and this forced us to do more exploring/scouting. In our travels from glassing spot to fishing spot and back we met a couple of guys and their wives from Flagstaff. I felt like I found some long lost brothers! These guys were a wealth of knowledge and very friendly to myself and my wife and kids.
I found these guys the first morning
This was the second morning's gems. Count 'em 24 bulls! There are some absolute toads in this group
This bull made my heart stop for a second.
We saw this early "scouting pic" that was drawn by an ancient ancestor of mine.
We also had a close encounter (60 yards) with a small black bear. My 8 year old son was telling his mom to "calm down" Of course my pistol and camera were in the truck that was on the wrong side of the bear. I did get this pic just before the Fish and Game agent shot the bear twice with rubber bullets from a shotgun. That is a story all in itself...
Overall it was a great time. Thanks to those of you Arizona residents that treated us with the same respect and courtesy that I try to teach to my kids. Also thanks to my fellow MM members for the advise leading up to this trip. I can't wait to get back in August to scout some more and try to find a deer to put an arrow in.
