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Don't post a whole lot here, but lurk around a lot and thanks to all the info everyone has provided has helped me out a ton with AZ hunting. Started out hunting from treestands back in Virginia so learning western hunting has been a long work in progress for me. *Disclaimer- this is a long story of a newbie’s first elk hunt- no bulls were killed so sorry no pics but just thought I’d share my hunt experience: So got drawn early archery 6A bull with 6 points this year and had been stoked all year about this hunt. This was my first ever elk hunt in Arizona during the rut so wasn't sure what to expect. Did some scouting in July, found what seemed like a good spot to hunt loaded with elk in the northern part of the unit where I was able to hike in and get away from all the roads and Razors/SxS's and quads. Ended up having to hunt the opening weekend b/c of the way things fell with work and family obligations (wanted to do the 2nd week but oh well). Got up to the area I wanted to camp Thursday evening before the opener. Brought my bike so I could ride in quietly up this super rough road that would take my truck forever to crawl up. Day 1 Woke up at 4 got packed up and rode out to where I wanted to go and hike in off the road at least a mile and try to listen for bugles/locate elk. Well about a half mile down the road my bike chain gets caked up with mud and snaps the gear shifting thing on the back wheel in half, so much for that plan. I pull my bike off the road as a quad is coming behind me full speed and stash it behind a tree. As I am trying to see if I can fix it in the dark I start to hear bugles off in the distance. I say screw the bike and I start heading towards the bugling, still waiting on first light. After hiking in circles chasing multiple bugles for about an hour and a half I realize that these bugles are not necessarily elk, they are other hunters calling like crazy. I stop chasing the bugles and decide to hike to the area I wanted to initially get to that was far from any roads and get away from all these other hunters that won't stop bugling. I bump into about 3 other hunters on the way but finally get some distance from roads and it is quiet. I bump into a cow while still hunting, she spots me immediately and trots off in the other direction. I realize I need to slow down and that these cow elk can pick up movement extremely well. I stay out all day and don't hear any bugles once I left the area that was packed with hunters. Bumped into a spike still in velvet with two cows, the one cow stood in front of the spike, so didn't have a shot, but didn't want to shoot him anyway as he looked the size of a calf. The other cow had me pegged anyways so couldn't move from my position without getting busted. Hiked back to camp and bumped into two more cows in the evening and again, they had me immediately as soon as I got within about 80 yards and ran off. Again I am realizing how difficult it is to move in on these animals. Day 2 Not having my bike, I get up earlier and hike the extra 2 miles into my roadless area I want to hunt. On the way I bump into another spike with cows that seem to be fleeing a crazed hunter that won't stop bugling at them. This guy was literally bugling every 5 minutes and I could tell it didn't sound like a real elk. Anyways, I try to get close to the spike for a shot but get busted again just outside bow range by the cows. I continue to the roadless area. As I am walking in quietly on top of a small ridge I hear something coming below me. I get down on a knee to lower my profile as it sounds like a group of elk trotting fast towards me. I pop my head up for a split second to see if I can locate them and right away I see the head of a cow elk starting right at me, already caught my slight movement. With that, they start to bolt away, they are maybe at 50 yards. I see about 9 cow elk pass, what looks like at least a 5x5 running at the back comes by, I draw my bow quickly but it was impossible to get on a running bull elk at 50 yards, so much for that encounter. I am starting to get pretty hyped up though about seeing elk especially getting that close to a bull. I slowly still hunt the rest of the day about 3 miles through the woods back to camp. Right a sunset, I bump into a good size bull probably a 6x6 out in the open at about 120 yards with about 10 cows. I slowly try to get my pack off my back and get set up for a stalk, immediately busted by one of the cows catching my movement, they run off. I continue on my slow still hunt and it is almost dark. About ¼ mile later, I glass up another nice bull by himself at about 100 yards. I duck behind a pine tree and again take my pack off to try to get close. Then I think well, stalking hasn’t work well at this point so let me try my cow call to get him to come close to me. I hit my cow call twice and I thought they sounded like good calls but the bull didn’t and he bolted off at the sound of it. At this point I realize these elk are totally averse to any type of calling due to all the hunting pressure. I make it back to camp feeling frustrated but also stoked about all my encounters. Day 3 I get my friend who drove up to camp for the night to drive my to the roadless area well before dawn, saving me 2 miles of hiking. I hike in the dark about a half mile from the road and start hearing bulges and these sound like real deep sounding, legit bugles, not other hunters. I slowly move into the continuing bugles as the sun starts to come up. I can hear them and I know they are close so I drop my pack to prepare for a stalk, this sounds like a huge herd. I slowly move in glassing every few steps into the pines and see multiple elk but the cows see me again and they slowly move away from me. The bugles are non-stop at this point so I know where they are and can gauge what direction the herd is heading. I move fast to try to cut them off and get ahead of them. After about another half mile of hiking I am set up in a good ambush spot and I hear the bugles getting closer. I move very slow, taking a step, glassing into the pines and listening. I spot a nice bull in my binos and he looks to be about 90 yards just slowly feeding and staying in generally one spot, it is either a 5x5 or 6x6. I decide this time I am not going to get busted and will belly crawl into bow range. I slowly crawl about foot at a time with my binos, range finder, and bow dragging the ground bumping into the millions of rocks that are all over the ground in 6A. I slowly peak up and get my eyes back on the bull, a 2nd bull starts feeding near him as well about the same size. I think I am at a decent bow range so I attempt to range him but my range finder is all fogged up can’t see anything. I lose sight of the bull while trying to wipe to fog off my range finder lens. I saw screw it and I get up on one knee to try to see where he went- bam, there he is, staring straight at me broadside, I nervously range him through my foggy rangefinder, it reads 62 yards. I feel like that is an easy shot for me as I had been practicing out to 80 yards all summer. I draw my bow and put my 60 yard pin just behind his shoulder, middle of the body height-wise and release thinking it was a solid shot. Too my horror, and seemed like in slow motion, the arrow sails high about 1 inch over his back. I couldn’t believe I blew the shot, 60 yards was automatic for me on my practice range, what the heck? Was my range finder off? Did I accidentally range a tree behind him? I’ll never know. So anyways the bulls run off along with the rest of the heard I can hear them moving off in the distance, not at a run though, just a medium paced walk. They are still bugling like crazy (this is about 830 am at this point). I sit there distraught about my missed shot and ponder whether I should walk back to my pack I dropped about a mile away at this point. I still hear crazy amounts of bugling in the distance and so I decide I will continue to chase this heard. I move fast again to try to cut them off once again. I get to a relatively open area and spot two lead bulls coming in towards me with the rest of the heard behind them. I drop to my belly and slowly crawl up to a large deadfall for cover. The bulls are slowly moving in and I decide this is my 2nd chance. I am ready to draw and I range them, 80 yards. I decide to let them move in close before I shoot. All of a sudden they stop and turn direction and walk into some thicker pines out of range. What the heck again? They couldn’t see me, wind shift maybe? The herd continues to move slowly and I parallel them about 200 yards away attempting to move faster and catch up to cut them off yet again. At this point I can see the full size of this heard as they cross an open area, there is a continuous stream of cows and bulls moving at a walking pace and they just keep going and going, there must have been close to 150 elk in this heard, maybe 20-30 bulls. I try again and again to get close enough into bow range but can’t seem to get in closer than 100 yards without being spotted and the herd moving off. I do this for almost two more miles and can’t ever get close enough for a shot. I am now about 3.5 miles from my pack with no water at it is like 11am. I decide I need to regroup, get water and rest as I am getting very reckless and sloppy trying to stalk in on these elk. I start the long walk back to my pack and thunderstorms start to roll in. It starts pouring rain and visibility drops (don’t have any rain gear either as that was left in my pack also). The rain seemed to make the elk go even more wild as I hear bulges going crazy again and I keep bumping into elk off in the distance. I try again once more to get close to a bull with about 5 cows in the pouring rain. I move in slowly thinking the rain will hide any noise and movement but busted by a cow again, they move off just out of bow range again. I continue to run into elk and hear bugles until the rain stops after about an hour. I finally make it back to my pack in shock of the amount of elk I just encountered. I take a break and still hunt the rest of the evening, running into a spike with two cows but again, can’t get close enough for a bow shot. Day 4 Have to leave this day due to work and family constraints, was thinking about not hunting and just packing up and going home. I decide I have to give this hunt my all so I wake up early and decide to hunt a half day and check out an area north of camp that looked good on the satellite imagery. Right at first light about ¼ mile from camp I have a two cows move in towards me, I have them at 40 yards and I stay still, they never see me, no bulls follow though. I move into a small canyon thick with pines very slowly. (I have learned that if I think I am moving slow, I need to move even slower). I take 2-3 steps, listen, and glass, repeat. I start to hear bugling off in the distance. I move in very slow as the bugles get louder and I make out some antlers off in the distance through my glass. It is a nice bull either 5x5 or 6x6 moving towards my position. I very slowly crouch down to hide my silhouette behind a large rock in front of me. The bull must have caught my slight movement and stops, staring right at me for about 5 minutes. I think he is at about 60 yards away at this point but I don’t want to risk ranging him as he would pick up on that extra movement. After staying motionless for a few more minutes, he decides to turn broadside to me and begins to walk off down the canyon. I decide this is my only shot at this bull so I draw my bow, no time to range him. He stops and stares at me broadside giving me a perfect shot opportunity. I feel like this bull is at 60 yards so I again level the 60 yard pin right where it needs to go and let the arrow fly knowing that there is no way I can miss a second time. To my shock and horror once again, the arrow flies about an inch over his back and he trots off over to the other side of the canyon. He stops back to stare at me some more at about 150 yards. I collapse on the ground in disappointment and disbelief that I have missed two shots on bull elk that took 6 years of applying to get this tag. The bull casually moves over the top of the ridge and I figure why not try an move quickly to get in front of him again. I give him some space and circle up to the top of the ridge he went over. As I crest the ridge I spot a cow elk moving right towards me. I freeze and lean against a pine, she doesn’t notice me. Before I know it, I have 8 cow elk surrounding me feeding on top of this ridge, one decides to bed down. I stand motionless for about 20 minutes while they are within 20 yards of me. One of the cows gets a little suspicious of me and starts staring at me. Just them I see another elk moving in behind some brush, I see antlers and velvet hanging off, another bull! He was at about 40 yards but no shot because of brush in the way and one of the cows staring right at me. I can’t believe I am this close to a bull within 25 minutes of just missing that other one. I get nervous and my legs start shaking from standing still for so long. No matter how hard I try and can’t get my legs to stop shaking and the cow elk picks up on the movement, alerting the rest to my presence and they quickly walk off the ridge down to the canyon below. Hunted the rest of the morning then had to pack up and head back down to the desert for work. I couldn’t believe the amount of elk I encountered on this hunt and it was a blast. I also am so pissed at myself for missing two shots that I felt like I should have been automatic at based on all the practice I did before the hunt. Thankful for a great experience up in the pines that was the best hunt I’ve ever had, but also the worst hunt ever with those two misses. Hoping to get back up there again before the season ends!

Well, I guess we can all make an educated assumption now about why he was such a successful "guide". Baiting game animals for profit should be a lifetime ban, IMO.

Yes everyone has heard of it. It’s been in the regs for at least 2 years. Jfc

I lost my bugle tube on Friday evening in unit 8 it fell off my pack on a road by Wagoner Hill. Whoever found it put it on a rock about 6” tall in the middle of the Jeep trail we were on. Needless to say I found it Sunday evening. If whoever found it is on this site I would like to give a big thanks to them. They could have easily kept it, but to put in the middle of the road for me to find it was awesome. Not an expensive item, but very cool to have got it back. Again a big thanks to you if you on on this site!!!

Have 3 tags for my kids. 2 in 5bsouth 1 in 6a. Bugles have shut off by 7am in both units. All the big herd bulls we are seeing have 20 to 40 cows with them. We got lucky with one small 6x6 so far that split from the herd bull and his cows and called him into 46yds and he made his arrow count on his 1st archery bull. Bull went 15yds and was down. 2 more tags to fill. Hopefully its kicks in a litter better. Good luck everyone

Thanks for the write up! Not enough people take the time on here anymore. I enjoyed reading your story, hope you can get back out!

Sounds like you saw quite a few elk and had a good time. Sorry it didn't happen. Did you have a chance to shoot your bow since? Maybe your sight got bumped?

Screw work.

Wife found out how much they cost

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/09/07/tech/apple-emergency-sos-satellites-scn/index.html Looks like this could be a game changer for backpacking hunts/outdoor activities….

This year I again get the priviledge to go as a helper on two different sheep hunts up here in Oregon. Both of the hunts are in big river canyons, the Deschutes and the John Day. Here is the story of the first one..... Got this ram opening morning. There was a group of three rams that were hanging out right by the river that had two good rams. They were the best rams we had seen through multiple scouting trips. We decided to make a move on them opening morning, so I was sitting on them an hour before daylight. When it got light we got them located and made a game plan to get in range. Trevor and Hunter (tag holder) kayaked across the river and started climbing a ridge. My son Tate and I stayed on the access road where we had a good view of the rams and watched them bed down. Trevor had lost where they were and thought he and Hunter were a lot closer to the rams then they actually were. Thinking the rams were only 2-3 hundred yards down the hill, Trevor started looking over the rock outcrop they were standing on. The rams, being about 5 hundred yards, immediately spotted him skylined looking over the rocks. Up they got and away they went! Tate and I jumped in our vehicle and followed them around the hillside. They were on the end of a big ridge so all Hunter and Trevor needed to do was hop over ridge and they were able to keep track of them for a little while but lost them when they dropped into small side canyon. Tate and I had them all the way and climbed up the opposite side of the main canyon to get enough elevation to keep track of them as they came out of that side canyon and went up another, finally stopping and began feeding again about a 1/2 mile further up into a bowl. I radioed to Trevor and told him I had them located and they had finally stopped. He replied back and said “ yeah, we’re right on top of them waiting for the big one to stand up.”. I was completely confused, how could they have gotten that far down the main ridge to get above the bowl that fast? Then it hit me... they were on the wrong sheep! I jumped back on the radio and said “Trevor, I think your looking at the wrong rams!”. This time he was confused, he asked “are you sure? I saw those rams go right here and I think the big one is lying right below us!”. I told him I was sure, but if they were sitting on a big ram to really look him over because now we had options! After close to an hour of sitting and changing positions trying to get a better vantage point, I finally saw the ram they were looking at stand up. They were right, he was a good ram that carried his mass really well! While I was looking him over, I saw him jump then heard the crack of the rifle! The ram didn’t look hit but he ran about 50 yards sidehilling down and away from them then stopped and looked back. This time I saw the ram bow his head and short stepped straight downhill before loosing his feet and tumbling to the bottom of the draw at the report on the rifle. 1st ram down, and it has gotten me excited for next months hunt! ning morning. There was a group of three rams that were hanging out right by the river that had two good rams. They were the best rams we had seen through multiple scouting trips. We decided to make a move on them opening morning, so I was sitting on them an hour before daylight. When it got light we got them located and made a game plan to get in range. Trevor and Hunter (tag holder) kayaked across the river and started climbing a ridge. My son Tate and I stayed on the access road where we had a good view of the rams and watched them bed down. Trevor had lost where they were and thought he and Hunter were a lot closer to the rams then they actually were. Thinking the rams were only 2-3 hundred yards down the hill, Trevor started looking over the rock outcrop they were standing on. The rams, being about 5 hundred yards, immediately spotted him skylined looking over the rocks. Up they got and away they went! Tate and I jumped in our vehicle and followed them around the hillside. They were on the end of a big ridge so all Hunter and Trevor needed to do was hop over ridge and they were able to keep track of them for a little while but lost them when they dropped into small side canyon. Tate and I had them all the way and climbed up the opposite side of the main canyon to get enough elevation to keep track of them as they came out of that side canyon and went up another, finally stopping and began feeding again about a 1/2 mile away up into a bowl. I radioed to Trevor and told him I had them located and they had finally stopped. He replied back and said “ yeah, we’re right on top of them waiting for the big one to stand up.”. I was completely confused, how could they have gotten that far down the main ridge to get above the bowl that fast? Then it hit me... they were on the wrong sheep! I jumped back on the radio and said “Trevor, I think your looking at the wrong rams!”. This time he was confused, he asked “are you sure? I saw those rams go right here and I think the big one is lying right below us!”. I told him I was sure, but if they were sitting on a big ram to really look him over because now we had options! After close to an hour of sitting and changing positions trying to get a better vantage point, I finally saw the ram they were looking at stand up. They were right, he was a good ram that carried his mass really well! While I was looking him over, I saw him jump then heard the crack of the rifle! The ram didn’t look hit but he ran about 50 yards sidehilling down and away from them then stopped and looked back. This time I saw the ram bow his head and short stepped straight downhill before loosing his feet and tumbling to the bottom of the draw at the report on the rifle. 1st ram down, and it has gotten me excited for next months hunt! He ended up scoring out at 174 with 3 inches of deductions for 171 (unofficial until the 30 day drying period of course).

Do you have a rangefinder?

Don’t over think it…You don’t need to make yourself smaller every time, just make sure you have cover behind you, breakup your outline…Practice shooting from your knees, if you haven’t…It’ll happen!

Feed rollers are going to be tough to find, or at least a used one that's in better condition than the current one. Best of luck in your search.

dang man, I hope you can get back out there!!!!

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I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate when you asked Jag11 about his Manfrotto head good ole Gravity PM’d you saying he had the same head but at a lower price, then he said you could pay him using Paypal, Zelle, Cashapp, etc…. with an account name ending with @gmail.com. Sound really close what happened in your situation? That seems to be my red flag indicators when I flag them for a moderator to check out. Post count and join date matters a lot these days especially before I decide to send my hard earned money to an unknown individual.

Having the phone doesn't mean you have to use it. Being prepared is smart! Nearly dying in the desert or the forest, dealing with life threatening emergencies without the necessary emergency gear, is probably more foolishness than bravery. Boy Scout Motto: " Always be prepared". Having dealt with a few near death experiences personally, mostly not in my control, I believe they should be avoided when possible. They may build some character, but how important those experiences are can be disputed, and the PTSD remains for the rest of your life, with the flash backs, even though it does get easier to live with. No, I was not in the military and I greatly respect those who serve, or have served! Nobody I ever new has come back to tell me how great the "next life" is after dying, so in my older age I'll error on the side of caution and not encourage a sooner demise. They built technology for a reason, and the reasonable use of it demonstrates great wisdom, in my honest opinion and should not be "Pooh poohed", or made fun of.

Yeah it is. I made out OK on my sale, but still about 80K less then what I listed it for.

Wise Choice.

Here's my disappointing story...My wife and i were hunting Coues about 10 miles this side of the Arizona/Mexico border. We saw one camp off about a 1/2 mile away as we headed toward our camp spot a day before the season. Opening morning we heard a series of shots the next canyon over. We had a great observation point to just sit and glass early opening morning so we kept our eyes peeled in that direction. Fifteen minutes or so later here comes a buck at a dead run down the mountain from us. I shot, and he ran another 50 yards and collapsed. It only took us 10 minutes to get to him. Within 30 minutes there was a group of 3 hunters coming toward us. One claimed he had shot it first and it died in front of us. I was pretty adamant about it was MY one and only bullet that made the hole in its chest. I even went as far as pointing where the blood trail started. They finally went on their way, but first asked if they could "HELP" carry the buck the 400 (+-) yards down to the nearest Jeep trail. I declined and told them we got it handled. It was going to be cold enough to skin, put a deer bag on and hang the deer in a mesquite tree without worrying about spoiling that night. I thought it was over and done with UNTIL about 9:00 that night I see headlights coming toward our camp. We were WELL off the beaten path. They pulled up to the hanging deer and put their high beams on it and got out and started spinning it around, looking for another bullet hole. I could smell the Tequila before I was within 10 feet of them. I did not want to walk out with my rifle when I saw what they were doing, but I DID strap on my .45 auto under my coat, just in case., I decided if they wanted the buck I would rather give it to them rather then have some serious sh** go down. After they did their "examination" and found no other bullet holes, they went on their way. We got out of there at first light.

Those were guides.

Amen! 98 % of the Folks on here are good People. The other 2% don't like older guys with knowledge of Hunting and Life.. That 2% doesn't have a life ,They have 12,000 post on here. Think they own it , Probably ain't killed squat. Personally I don't care what they killed. All they do is bad mouth any post that didn't come from their clan of Internet hunters. Like I said before they scare off most Good Hunters from around Arizona I could name Many that have left here. I am done for now. 1 post every 3-4 months is enough. God Bless Duwane Adams and His Haters too.....................................BOB!

"The wilderness; I've never been lost, but I was mighty turned around for three days once." Daniel Boone

The warranty is great! Cause you'll need it. Hopefully not during a hunt but who knows.