Unit 9, Arizona early Rifle

macgyver118 · Jul 26, 2006

Talk about beginner's luck, my friend drew the early Bull rifle hunt in Unit 9. I haven't been drawn in 7 years, this will be his first elk hunt. I am not that familiar with the unit, last time I hunted it was for cow, late november, in the upper basin. Any help for potential scouting locations would be much appreciated.

azsagebrush · Jul 26, 2006

My wife is very unhappy with your friend, she says that was her tag. She has been watching "her" bull for several months.

It will be a GREAT hunt!

sremim · Jul 26, 2006

BS!!! That was my tag. I've been waiting 17 years as a resident!! Check out the west side of the unit where it borders 10. These are wide open flats, however there ARE elk out there. It may not look like it but they are there. Most people don't go looking out there, but I've seen some monsters during the rut out there. Last year they were all over the place out there during archery season and nobody was around.
Do you think I said out there enough?!!!!!!!!!!!!

BML · Jul 26, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Jul-26-06 AT 01:44PM (MST)[p]I sent you an email. I can help. Congrats to your buddy on one of the most coveted tags in the state.

caelkhnter · Jul 26, 2006

Absolute best advise I can give you, based on the fact that you do not really know that unit is:
FIRST your friend has a once in a lifetime opportunity to harvest a MONSTER record book bull !
Second, hire a good guide. This opportunity simply will not happen again. People have been waiting for that unit to have an early gun hunt for years. It is a thing that peoplle truly DREAM of. Do not waste this opportunity if you do not know the unit.
Third get a guide EARLY. Your friend has already lost a few days since the results were posted. Do not lose anymore time. Good guides get booked early! Best of luck, which he probably will not need if you take the advise given above. Of course any luck he needed he used up in drawing the tag.

sremim · Jul 26, 2006

You do NOT need a guide. The unit is one of the easiest to learn and get around in. Having the early hunt will be easier than if you had the late hunt. If you had the late hunt you might want a guide, but you really don't need one. Get some maps.

mike111 · Jul 26, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Jul-26-06 AT 03:53PM (MST)[p]Congrats to your friend! I know the unit well and can give you info, send me an email... [email protected]

fin little · Jul 26, 2006

The guides will find you. Trust me the guide and outfitter mailings should start arriving any day. Awesome tag. It can be done DIY without much trouble if you live close enough to scout a little. My advise look the bulls over really well . Broken antlers will be a concern by early Oct.

jaybob · Jul 26, 2006

My advise is a good guide for the absoulute best chance for a big bull. I have a suggestion if you are interested. Without a guide, you will find a bull to shoot still if that is all your looking to do. I will suggest the east side of Hwy 64 as the best side with lots of elk. Try skinner ridge, grandview lookout and petersens flat. I would still pay for a local guide on this one. I'll PM you.

Tinman · Jul 26, 2006

Great tag!! Sent you a PM

sremim · Jul 26, 2006

Not trying to start anything or say anyone is wrong, however from my personal experience, the east side is the most crowded. Yeah there will only be 25 hunters with tags, but I'm willing to bet between 15 and 20 of them will be on the east side. Skinner Ridge and Petersen Flat are very popular for elk, so naturally, that will be the first place most probably look. Again, I'm saying this based on personal experience.

CDN · Jul 26, 2006

Sent you a private message.

caelkhnter · Jul 27, 2006

In an effort to try and explain my position about retaining a guide, yes all the above posts are correct, you do not need a guide for this area if you would be happy with a nice 350 bull. Some preseason scouting should take care of that. However if you really want the type of MONSTER that has made unit 9 such a sought after tag get a guide. Unit 9 is great but it is not like you will find a 380+ class bull around every corner. This tag can give you a chance at a once in a lifetime bull. If you would be happy with a 350 bull don't worry about a guide. If you want to take a chance at having luck in running across a 380+ bull so be it. But if you want to make the most of what this tag entitles you to, get a guide. That is my 2 cents worth anyway.

Shedreg · Jul 27, 2006

That drawing system or program is all rigged. You always here of people - first time hunters getting these ultimate tags. People with max points should be the priority and sadly they aren't.

public class drawtheother(hunter_ssn, bucket)
execute getinfoforhunter //gets approriate data about hntr..
if bucket == 'firsttimehunter'
and bonuspoints == 'notmaxed' then
givehimtag = true
end if

if bucket == 'seasonedhunter' or bonuspoints == 'maxed' then
givehimtag = false
end if

I truly believe the system is rigged to tailor to others besides hunters who have put in for years, etc. The odds are just too great for a person to put in for the first time and get a tag. You hear about this every year!
Also, they get all this advice and guides soliciting them, and they go try to shoot a new rifle or borrow one, new clothing and friends helping them a long.
The big day arrives and all this pressure is on them to shoot the big one. They get all kind of opportunities and they blow the shot!

caelkhnter · Jul 27, 2006

Shed I don't know whether it is rigged, but some results do make you wonder about the fairness of it all. One that I just heard about in particular. I understand a 12 year old girl , who abviously was applying for her first time , drew an Az bighorn Sheep tag. Go figure????

camuleycrazy · Jul 27, 2006

Caelkhnter has good advice. If you can afford it a guide will GREATLY increase your chance at a MONSTER! I will be there hunting the bow season. A guide friend of mine from Az. will be with me probably most if not the whole season. You might want to hire someone like that as he will have current knowledge of what is where. I drew the archery tag with 11 points as a second choice. It is going to be a great hunt.

Muley62 · Jul 27, 2006

The reason you always hear about the person who drew on their first application is because it is so rare. The story gets told, and told, and told again. I bought the full bonus point report from last year. The fact are there, the people with the most points draw the most tags. My son has drawn two rifle bull tags in the last three years. I have not drawn an archery bull tag in 8 years. Until you get into the max bonus point pool, you just need a little luck. Is 16 years a long time to wait for a trophy early bull tag? If you could sell this tag to the highest bidder it would sell for 20K plus!

Does someone who has been buying lottery tickets every week for the last ten years deserve a guaranteed jackpot for their loyalty?

Shedreg · Jul 27, 2006

Cali,
That's great for her, I know one guy who got the same rifle bull elk tag for 3 years straight! The company(s) who write the programs, there is something fishy going on with the conditions they put into their computer programs, that's all I'm saying. It's just not all luck and too many suspicions and questions to be answered or addressed, etc.
ShedReg.

Boskee · Jul 27, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Jul-27-06 AT 11:58AM (MST)[p]You got some real good advice above! The one thing about advice is you can take it or leave it. If you have any thoughts or wishes to harvest an average bull go it alone but if you want to take full advantage of that rare tag that you have, I would suggest hiring a guide. A guide can help you judge the size of a bull (they all look pretty big if you haven't shot one before) and maybe even help calm you down so you make the most of your opportunity. You may just learn a thing or two from a seasoned professional. If I read your post correctly it's your friend's first time and experience is by far the best teacher when it comes to Elk hunting but you can be successful either way. Good luck on your hunt.

conch · Jul 27, 2006

Would you like a no charge camera man?
Or should I say, Camp Cook ...

Serrano · Jul 27, 2006

The $4000+ the outfitters want could be spent in many much better ways! Ken

ridgewalker · Jul 27, 2006

If you guys are pretty confident in your hunting abilities, you can do this hunt on your own..but, because it is a once in a lifetime hunt, you need to have a 'hunt til you drop' attitude or you may want to get a guide..Me and my brother hunted the late, rifle hunt in '99..that hunt isn't NEARLY the hunt your friend has..you will have the rut on your side...Our late hunt was the toughest hunt I've ever been on..That place is flat and THICK!!! A 350 bull IS a bull of a lifetime to 95% of hunter's(including myself)..If you guys hunt HARD, you should have at least a good chance..If you don't have at least a few days to scout and don't plan on being out there from dark to dark everyday, I would hire a guide..
Because I'm still stoked on the bull my brother took, I'm going to post the pic..I try to only do it every other year..

Persistance is half the game..This bull was shot in the last 10 minutes of the last day of season..GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!! I'm jealous!

AZtrophyhunter · Jul 27, 2006

Sweet! Well I've never seen that pic so thanks for sharin.

macgyver118 · Jul 28, 2006

Thanks for all the info, we will be spending a lot of time in the field scouting and learning the unit. Hiring a guide just doesn't sound as challenging nor can we afford that edge. Don't get me wrong, but to have such a coveted tag, we prefer to "earn" the rewards. Having a guide would certainly give us lots of new knowlege in hunting, but we are from the old school. Even if we don't shoot a "monster" we will have enjoyed the hunt nonetheless. That being said, any more suggestions on areas to concentrate on?