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Well now that my daughter can no longer put in as jr, she and I put in for cow elk in 6A together. The draw gods were on our side and we got drawn. I used my oldest sons archery 6A bull hunt as a pre-scouting trip for our hunt. Well needless to say, everywhere we saw cow elk a month earlier these spots were empty. Opening day turned up nothing, Saturday in a new spot heard some bugles, high tailed it up the mountain in chase. While trying to get ahead of the bull I notice movement about 60 yds away. It was a black bear lumbering our way. I did buy an OTC bear tag because during my sons hunt we came across 2 different bears. I asked my daughter, should I shoot this bear and then hunt elk later, she said yes. I take a knee and squeeze the trigger. The bear buckles, does a summersault and is rolling around. I’m just completely beside my self that I just shot a bear. I look up and the bear gets up and runs down hill. Now I’m wondering…. Uh oh, where did I hit this bear and how pissed off is this bear if it’s not dead. We both unholster our sidearms and cautiously walk up. We find blood, bits of bone and the ground is all torn up where the bear was rolling around. Reading and hearing stories about bears, especially hurt bears I wasn’t going to put my daughters life in danger rummaging around the thick brush. We backed out and we’re going to give it a day to possibly bleed out. Obviously after that gun shot the bulls quit bugling. We went to a new spot where I was able to tag a very small cow elk…..aka calf. Yesterday after miles and miles of hill climbing my daughter was able to tag her 3rd cow elk. She was completely exhausted and of course the $hit talking hasn’t stopped since hers was so much bigger. We did end up going back to where I shot the bear, but with the amount of rain we received all the blood was washed away and we both still were very wary about looking through the brush. Take away…..shoot again and again if uncertain!!! Great trip all around, county was absolutely beautiful with the leaves changing and memories that will last a lifetime!!! sorry for the sideways pics.

So shoot a game animal and don't try and recover for days and that's ok with you all? WTF? Congrats on the elk!

Yeah everyone told me the archery hunt was pretty rough this year. Feed and water everywhere spreads everything out, which makes it so that even on a camera year the hunting is still tough. At least you have the rut getting closer for the rifle hunt that will help you out. The historic areas that hold does during the rut will still hold does, so people with that legacy knowledge will still benefit from it. Not having cameras this year will make it so that 5 outfitters should not be hunting one big buck living in a less popular area, theoretically. If they aren't starting to rut yet though, it can get tough quick. Maybe you are an all-in doesn't-get-hunt-fatigue type of guy, but I would be careful about going 5-6 days early and staying straight through, it can be brutal on you mentally and physically, especially on the strip where you might not see a mature buck for a couple days depending on where you are hunting and the rut. By the time you have been up there for 8 or 9 days, that 175" 4x4 can start looking mighty fine... I personally could probably only do 2 or 3 days of scouting before the hunt if I was staying continuous straight through by myself, but some guys can do it no problem. Maybe some of mine is tied to home/fam situation that always play a factor.

This is a pretty unique story, A good friend's son drew a muzzy tag in NM and my buddy got called to do some LEO training in Washington DC and NY for 12 weeks so he called me and asked if I could help his son on his first tag. I only could commit the weekend but after a bunch of rain and couple missed opportunities Colter smoked this bull at 250 yards off his knee for his first bull.

This is just my opinion and observation but I think quite a few of the biggest bucks will still be killed this year by the guys that ran a bunch of cameras in the past. A buck that was pretty good 2-3 years ago and didn't get killed most likely will be in the same general area and so they will hunt that area trying to turn him up. I don't think the "benefits" of the camera ban will become apparent until the next 2 years.

Bring spare tires and a couple cams to set on your camp and truck. This year will be interesting to see how things play out with the cam ban. Hopefully there won't be 20 guys glassing per hunter.

Vortex Diamondbacks

Thanks. We really did have a great time. GroundPounders killed this bull the next day. I had him somewhere between 375-80. I heard he went quite a bit bigger.

Who all is going to 36a? Me and my buddy are going there Wednesday night to setup camp. If anyone wants to join us and combine camps lmk. If not good luck guys!

***SOLD*** Browning Medallion A-Bolt 7mm Mag.

Nightforce SHV 4-14x50 F1 MOAR, Nightforce A265 1.125” rings, sunshade, original box and all contents present. Scope has a small blemish under the forward ring. Willing to trade for nice AK, AR10, 300 BLK/7.62x39/308 bolt gun. $1000 obo

Well... I got lucky and drew a 13A tag this year. I'm getting pretty excited. I am curious to people's thoughts on how the camera ban will play out for strip hunts. I know there are guides that are there anyway and will just spend more time behind the glass instead. I've heard from a few people that the archery hunts were pretty tough because of all the rain. Anyone else hear similar? I'm doing it DIY and have been in the unit before - but for a sheep hunt. Due to work and an archery elk tag I haven't been up there this year. My plan is to just get up there 5-6 days before the opener to look for deer and then get after it. I'm also open to general advice from anyone who has had the tag before... or pics of success to get the juices flowing! Lol

It sucks to see fellow hunters complaining about unfair advantage and wishing to take away things from fellow hunters.At that rate we all will be hunting with our bare hands because everyone can complain about something not being fair about how someone else hunts according to the rules.

Very slim pickings down this way. I know several groups that spent the weekend in the desert and only 2 groups shot quail. No group shot more than 6 birds total. Hopefully all the rain the desert got late summer/fall helps the population in the spring.

I personally use a set of Gen1 Vortex Diamondback 8x42s on my chest for general purpose glassing, and keep a set of 15s in my pack for the distance and glassing sessions.

That ram is a shooter!

I agree with the above. From what ive seen with elk season and coues so far, the grass is tall, water is everywhere and animals a spread out. I'd expect the same thing in 13A. Id be ready to glass like crazy in a new spot every day. Don't be afraid to move. Don't be intimidated by the groups of guides and glassers.

I would recommend Mike at A Head of the Game. He is in the west valley and does a great job. He has done seven animals for me and multiple for my friends. He does a great job, is timely, and his price is fair.

Correct. When I posted my comment the picture wasn't posted or uploaded yet. Thank you.

It counts as your Firearms class. The state recognizes it. Me and my wife got our by sending in a copy of the certificate along with the forms and a check. N. An applicant shall demonstrate competence with a firearm through any of the following: 1. Completion of any firearms safety or training course or class that is available to the general public, that is offered by a law enforcement agency, a junior college, a college or a private or public institution, academy, organization or firearms training school and that is approved by the department of public safety or that uses instructors who are certified by the national rifle association. 2. Completion of any hunter education or hunter safety course approved by the Arizona game and fish department or a similar agency of another state. 3. Completion of any national rifle association firearms safety or training course.

Vortex diamondback are great for kids, not too pricey but also good "enough". Bit if the budget suits you get them vipers which are slightly better.

Finally after 6 days of tough hunting I dropped this bull at 60 yards. Was very lucky to get it on video. 5 hours to break it down and get it back to the truck. They are such big animals! No giants at the end of the rainbow but a good one just over the hill. Also saw a nice MD buck IMG_0326.mov

No smokeless ML allowed in AZ during a ML or HAM hunt. You can use it elsewhere, or on a general AZ hunt. But they do GREAT with BH209 too, so you can go that route. Just did a quick tutorial for a buddy. He shoots smokeless too with H322.

I think rpgs work best and there easy to get.