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I was able to finally get my bull last week (evening of the 20th). Passed on a lot of smaller bulls before we finally spotted this guy.

Scouted for a month ahead of the season. Hunted for 13 days and finally everything came together. Tough hunt. Was hunting unit 8 and it was hot and dry. It was 85 the first 5 days and not much cooler after that. 81 yesterday. My son was supposed to be my helper but melted in the heat. I took him home after 5 days and was alone the rest of the way. Some of you will remember my dad passed away in May. This was the first time I went on a hunt without him. Emotional roller coaster for sure. Had many close calls and got a tip from a guy I met on a little hidden water spot. Sat there a couple days with no results other than antelope, mule deer, coyotes etc.. I did get several bulls on camera at night and it kept me coming back. I chased bugles around in between. After 12 days I was about wore out and decided for good or for bad, I was going to sit that spot until the end. Day 13 found me in the blind before daylight with bulls bugling all around. As luck would have it, part of the herd decided to come down the ravine to the water. The big bull pushed his way through the cows and into the water. 40 yards. He turned to broadside, I calmed myself, settled my pin and let it go. Hit him just a little high which brought on some nervous moments because he bled in his chest instead of leaving a blood trail. But I knew I hit him well and was confident he was dead. Made a circle and found him about halfway back. Not going to lie, I shed some tears. It was a long, physically and emotionally draining hunt for me. Then, I had no help. Did everything on my own. Told my wife, I can say I did it alone now, but I never want to do it again. A common theme with the bulls where I was hunting, was weak backs. Everyone thought it was from the drought. Not sure, but if this bull had backs to go with the ridiculous fronts, I can only imagine what he would have scored. All in all, I had a great hunt and met some good people. Was considering doing euro mount. Anyone have any suggestions of someone in Phoenix that is good, and reasonable? Almost done. Should have my hands on him soon. Can't wait to put a tape on him. Daniel Gradillas of Spot-N-Stalk Skullz holding him.

Season come and gone. No elk tagged. Was great to be hunting elk again. A few close encounters. A lot more out of range. Watch them dissappear. Great time meeting new people and having great freinds trying to make it happen. I can only hope I can draw the same tag again. Rut was a little slow and is really kick in now. Hear bugles in morning . None at night or visa versa. Bulls not really reacting to calls or so it seamed. Good luck to all those whom still have the chance to hunt and tag an elk this yr. Seen lots of wildlife . Deer muleys turkeys even a bear. I had a great season.!

Got to my hunting unit on Friday 21st at 6:00 pm. 24 hrs later, Saturday at 6:00 pm, put an arrow in this bull, ran about 100 yards and dropped. I'm very happy! Thanks for looking

Then you'll be to old to hunt like the rest of us who are waiting for the same thing

here ya go.

Just got my crispy summit gtx boots today, did a 3 mile scout for elk tonight on dam lava rock.. My feet feel great and the felt like the were pre broke in.. Love them.. My feet will never be the same. Hope we find a good bull for my friend's boy in the morning.

That would be cool. I'll snap one tonight of the trilobite with the celphone and upload tomorrow morning when t work. Some odd reason home pc doesnt see this site nor does celphone on wifi. work I have no problem Yup were it flattens out. you can walk the roads and see them on the bigs rocks. they look like what amanda posted. we didnt find any shells just the marking in the sandy type rocks. Daughter I and a friend tried to dig one of the good ones that had many of them in it out. but we soon realized the rock would need a forklift to get out.. if you take the road to bypass jacob lake and goto ferdonia you can get out almost anywhere where the rock hills goto the flats and see them. I forget the road number its one of the major dirt roads heres some pics of the EXACT Spot. thats on the 12bwest boarding 12a just guessing but I think the rocky area was the shore way back then or a depth were the shell creatures lived or dried up. the trilliobite was on top about 6miles south of jacobs lake in the forrest over looking a small canyon. pics also included but you'll have to figure that one out ;)

Well this has been along time coming. After 20 years of trying to convince my wife to leave communist California, it is finally going to happen! I got a call on monday from my brother in law, he says he is needing a construction superintendant. I talked to him on the specifics, and told him I would talk to the wife and get back to him. I am a small General Contractor specializing in Kitchen & bath remodels and do most of the work myself. My body is getting torn up & I've had a nagging pain in my hip area for about the last 5 to 6 years. Being self employed & going to the doctor to get checked out doesn't work out to well. I finally asked my wife to make me an appointment so I can find out whats up with my hip. I see the doctor yesterday & he says my hip is bone to bone & I need it replaced. My wife tells me take the job your brother in law offered you & quit doing the physical work. So I made the call today to take the job, money is decent & I won't have to physically tear my body up anymore. So to make a long story I am finally coming back home to Arizona & could not be happier!! I have missed it since the day I moved away even though I hunt there every year. It never ever felt like home in California & I have hated it since the day I moved here. My kids are all out of school & moving on. We are ready to start a new chapter in my old stomping grounds & I can't wait. 30 days & counting down to coming home!!!

Heres my OTC Buck, shot him Monday just after noon, took about 8 or 9 days of spot and stalk/sitting. Have a shed of his and last 4 months of cam pics. This is my biggest coues and my first archery coues...addicted.

I thought it would be a fun question to ask. Ive met guys who go out every other weekend to scout and be out doors. Then stay a whole 8-14 days on a hunt even if their hunt is only 6 days long. I talked to a guy in elk camp this year and they take 2 weeks for Javalina. They go before it starts, scout, hunt, and then hang out afterwards when the hunt is over. I personally know So I Hunt on the forum and when its elk season he will be on his hunt a whole week before it starts so almost a total of 3 week hunt. AKA takes it very seriously So from 1 through 10, while One is just a weekend warrior, never practice shooting, scouting, just shows up the day of the hunt and hopes for the best. While Ten being the Die hard, scouting many days for their hunts, practice shooting their choice of weapon all the time, plans on hiking in or not afraid of it, plans on being there before the hunt and the entire time the hunt is on! Now im not knocking anyone if they say they are a 1 weekend warrior. There are times I do that!. But I also get when I have a bigger hunt Im willing to scout more and stay lot longer then needed. So as for me I would say Im a -----5------

Well I was fortunate enough to draw another early bull tag this year. This year I would be chasing rutting bulls with a bow in hand in a unit I personally had never elk hunted before. My hunting partner and I spent a lot of time this summer running cameras and scouting with very little to show. About 2 weeks before season everything changed and the bulls started to move in. The hunt started off great with good rutting activity and several solid bulls to chase. Opening day found me in a pocket of 5 or 6 bulls tearing up. The bulls were very responsive to calling and several smaller bulls were passed. The second morning of the hunt had me intercepting my target bull and his cows. The cows passed by me at 10 yards broadside but the bull opted to walk right to me. At full draw the bull was staring me down at no more than 4 yards when one of his cows circled behind and winded me. The cow barked and the bull started to take off. I managed to stop the bull and guessed him at 35 yards with no tome to range and let it fly but he ended up being at 51. That night while heading back to camp I had a black heffer jump in the road in front of me. As I hit the breaks and tried to avoid hitting her my side by side decided to flip over. Miraculously I walked away with a bruised arm and a sprained ankle. I ended up coming home to recover and hopefully able to hunt again later in the hunt. Wednesday I was able to head back up and give it another go. With my ankle in a brace and immobilized as much as possible I was able to stalk a great bull but was unable to seal the deal. Thursday morning I decided to head to an area we scouted and saw several good bulls. We got in the area and had bulls sounding off all around us. We played cat and mouse with a group of 6 bulls that had 2 groups of cows. After calling to the bulls for 30 minutes while working in on them one of the bulls finally committed. The bull worked from across the canyon right to me. The bull was at 30 yards when I let the arrow fly. He started to walk when I released and I hit him a little back but still in the liver. I immediately started to cow call and the bull stopped at 20 yards. I was able to get another arrow in him and this time took out his lungs. The bull ran about 20 yards and piled up. This hunt definitely won’t be one that I will forget anytime soon. Can’t thank all the guys in camp enough for all the help and encouragement.

Awesome bull congrats! Really cool fronts

Thats it Amanda! thank you!

There's no mule deer in 22.

PSE Evolve35 $600 obo right hand 60-70# bare bow text Matt 623-261-1678

Mens club hmmmm. Not sure if you know but Amanda AKA a woman created and runs this site.

I'd love to be in the 6-7 range, but probably really more like 2-3 range. Work is killing me. I'm sure I'll retire some day, then I'll try to do better at it.

bunch of IPA drinking, fedora wearing, vape smoking hunters in this thread i guess

hard to the core? if it's not fun it doesn't git dun. glassing winter range bulls in jan/feb temp zero winds 35. climbing an altar valley peak in the dark when it's 85f/80%h just to look at velvet bucks at dawn. getting up at 3am to glass bulls for two weeks straight b4 archery bull and going to work every day. driving 5 hours in the dark, sleeping 2 hours in frozen pickup just to hunt last day of december coues for an hour. i had some fun. not too much success with tags. lee

Thankfully my wife of 18 years also spends some time with me. Her birthday was yesterday this is what we did since Wed. My tag, her birthday. I'm a lucky guy

Most of my friends who r die hard hunters are now divorced. So gotta walk that fine line

Ask the local rez shed hunters how that seasonal shed hunting works out???? I just wanna be able to go out in the woods and enjoy what is there and if I find an antler and have the kahones to pack it out then I don't want the law looking over my back....if I wanna let it lay then I can let it lay!!!!

When you "scout" tanks that have dirt roads leading directly to them you kinda have to expect that some other lazyasses will also be "scouting" that area. I don't remember the last time I saw another person's trail camera in my area. Park the UTV & put some miles on your boots, I promise most of your hunting problems will melt away.