Well, as some of you know my cousin and I drew an Arizona elk tag this year. Lots of shooting and workouts in preperation for this hunt. Thought I would share some pics of the hunt with you guys. I was fortunate enough to meet two guys through Tradgang who knew the area quite well. "Stone Sheep" and "Highcountry" are there handles here and I owe them a big THANK YOU!
First pic is of me in the resting and looking position.
(http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv355/BigSneaky77/Elkhunt013_1.jpg)
All right here we go.
:campfire: :coffee:
Congrats and more pics and story!!!
This is a picture of my cousin standing by one of the many rubs we found. Just for comparison, he is 6'4".
(http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv355/BigSneaky77/Elkhunt016_1.jpg)
The hunting down there was a little different than what I had experienced elk hunting before. The norm for the first week was us just trying to find a place where the elk were and the 4-wheelers weren't. We saw numerous bulls almost everyday. The bugling was good at times and not so good at others. The residents there said it was an off year. We were kind of out of place there because we didn't have a 4-wheeler or a wheelie-bow.
Because the elk were not vocal all the time, our game plan was to try and paralell a herd and hope to get close enough or try for the big sneak. This is a pic I took of a 300" 6x6 with about 12 cows. We were able to get 45 yards from him but he never did come close enough for a shot.
(http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv355/BigSneaky77/Elkhunt018_1.jpg)
Keep it comming.
Never tire of good elk stories. Crank it up.
Sorry, I guess the last pic is kind of hard to see.
Anyway, after about a week of hunting we were finally able to narrow down a couple of spots where elk were traveling between bedding and feeding. We spent the next days shadowing herds and trying to knife in for a shot. It was kind of hard to do because every mature bull we saw had between 5-30 cows.
We were lucky enough to bed a herd one morning. We knew by the sound of his bugle he was big enough for us. We slipped out of there and came back that afternoon. What we found when we came back was better than anything I could have imagined. He was a 6x7 that we guessed would go around 370. He had fronts that stuck out past his nose before they curled up and about two feet of main beam past his fifth's. I have never seen anything like it! I belly crawled for about 150 yds and got within 50 yds of him and 30 yds from the closest cow. I layed in waiting for about an hour hoping he would get up to check his cows and wander close enough for a shot. At 30 minutes before dark the herd finally got up and started feeding away from me. Although I didn't get a shot I still feel blessed for being that close to such an impressive animal. I ended up getting back on this bull 2 days later and getting about 60 yds from him and his cows.
Finally, on the 11th day of our 12 day hunt we were back in our little area waiting for the elk to come up the mountain. We heard no bugles which was strange because we had the 3 mornings before. I decided to let out a couple of bugles and some cow talk hoping that a bull would think there was a herd up the mountain. I called and about 10 minutes later a spike showed up. He milled around at about 40 yds than looked behind him. Another spike, a raghorn, and this small 6x6 all came slipping into bow range. When the 6x6 stopped broadside at 30 yds, I let him have it. The shot looked good but maybe a little low. I immediatley cow called and they all stopped 50 yds from the shot. He started getting wobbly on the back end then layed down. 2 Minutes later I realized I had just taken my first elk.
(http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv355/BigSneaky77/Elkhunt030_1.jpg)
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Great job!! Congrats on Your Elk
Great job on a nice bull.
Great story! Congratulations! Lin
We got right to work on quartering him out and had it all in game bags in about an hour and a half. We were just a little over a mile back in so the pack out wasn't too bad.
I guess I didn't mention my equipment. I was shooting a 66" ACS CX that is 58# at my 31" draw. Axis shaft weighing 590 grns with a Mangus Stinger 125 4-blade.
Here is a pic of the last load off the mountain. I have a hindquarter, neck meat, and the rack. The hardest part was me trying to get stood up with that much weight on my back.
Thanks for listening to my rambles. Cade
(http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv355/BigSneaky77/Elkhunt031_1.jpg)
:thumbsup: congrats. :clapper:
Makes life worth living. Great story and a great bull.
Now that was a really cool story and great pics to top it off! CONGRATS ON YOUR FIRST OF MANY!! And a big thank you for sharing your story!! :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Congrats, great story, great Bull!
awesome
Nice bull, congrats!
Thanks for sharing the story and pics! Congratulations!
Great Job.
Mike
Good for you, Hoss!
Congrats on a nice bull.
Terry
Sweet! :thumbsup:
Wow! Congratulations on a great hunt. I hope someday to follow in your footsteps in Arizona - it's my dream trip!
Congrats,a good clean kill on a awesome elk.
Congrats and welcome to AZ. We have some great hunts out here if you can get drawn. Had a cow permit and as usual I just saw bulls!! This will be a memory for you forever. Chort
Congrats on the bull!!
Sounds like great fun, crongrats.
Nice job! The tenderloins are gonna taste great.
How far did the arrow penetrate!
Man you guys killing elk are killing me. Awesome job brother and great critter.
Many happy returns of the day to you!
:campfire: Sure was great to meet you guys! Too bad there are not any pictures of you pulling yourself up on that tree with that pack on!
Nice work mate.
Congrats on a fine animal!!!
Great story and a fantastic bull!!!
Congrats again!!!!!
Great hunt!
I love the part where you crawled within 30 yards of the cow...what a feat very cool!
Congratulations that's a beauty of a bull! :clapper:
Great hunt. . . a dream. Congrats
Congrats! I can only hope to enjoy the success that you've had, and I can imagine there was lots of blood, sweat and tears (ok maybe no tears)along the way. Thanks for the pics and story.
:eek: Man ya got my heart pounding.. I can't wait until next year...
man wish i lived close i would be sneaking some roasts or steaks brother. congrats on your first elk
rob k
Thank you guys for the nice words. To answer the question about penetration, I hit him near the shoulder area. It didn't hit bone but there is a lot of muscle right there. It penetrated both sides, but the arrow didn't completely pass through.
Highcountry, people around here are still laughing when I tell them about the pack out story. Thanks again for all your help.
Cade
Nice way to break the ice as an elk killer. Congrats.
Nice work.Congratulations.that's a great story and great pictures.
Hey great job! Way to stay at it for 11 days that take a lot of mental toughness.
Allan
congrats on a good hunt and a very nice bull.Makes everything in this strange world seem better when you get er done the hard way.Again congrats
All's well that ends well. Much appreciated the story.
Great story, great job!
Well alright!!! Congrats on your first Elk...thats awesome.
Congrats on such a hard earned bull. Thanks for sharing such a great story. Elk hunting is in the near future now that I'm retired, but first I have a Moose itch that I have to scratch.
Nice job, and what a trophy! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Way to go! Congrats on a fine Bull!
Thanks for taking us along...
Beautiful, great story and I loved that second pic, pretty much the way it really is. Great job and thanks for sharing.
Great job!! I hope that I can draw next year.