osu92

Drew a 23 late coues tag. Can't wait. Tagged along with a buddy in 22 a couple years ago and can't wait to get back down that way.

As a non-resident, I cashed in 12 points to archery hunt 27 last year and in my opinion it was a pain in the butt. Not the 12 year wait to hunt AZ that I had envisioned. Big unit but everyone seems to hunt in a pretty small part of the unit. And that includes 3 to 5 helpers for every tag holder plus all the cow tag holders. The terrain really wasn't that bad in my opinion. Sure, some canyons are fairly steep and deep, but that's elk hunting. The bigger issue is the cover. All the brush that's grown back after the fire can be downright miserable!!! It's either that neck-high, super thorny stuff that elk seem to not mind a bit but will tear you up like nobody's business, or super choked out Aspen regrowth. Either way, it can make it a pain to get around. That being said, we were into elk every morning and every evening. Not the rut crazed, bugling bulls like we'd dreamed of. That ended opening morning (did I mentioned there were people EVERYWHERE?). But simply putting on miles and stumbling around like the lost out of staters we were put us into all sorts of elk. We went 1 for 2 with a decent, super unique bull I killed on day 8 of 12 hunted. Now hoping I can get super lucky with no points this year! ;-)

Jay - thanks for putting together these interviews. The one with Brendan Burns was great and I can't wait to listen to this one with Michael. He's a great guy and clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to chasing elk (and deer). I expect with the tags he's got this year, he'll be reaching his goal a couple years early.

As I sit here in my office and look at pictures of bulls or watch videos at home on the couch, it's easy to say that with a Unit 27 bow tag in hand this fall I'll be holding out for a '350' bull. But in reality, at bow range, any +/-325 type bull is going to look big and I'll be at full draw looking for a shot.