Markleo21377

The quiet areas are great places to start but remember to be flexible. Lot's of guys and gals have the same idea. Rocky Park Rd is a good place to access rattlesnake snake from the north and will typically have less guys especially if it's wet. Second week tends to have a little less pressure and can be great. Here's a few bulls we've had opportunities at in 6a last couple years. PM me as hunt draws closer if your struggling.

Hey bro, What hunt did you decide on for him?

Awesome! The antelope I killed last year is still the talk of our friends on how amazing it tasted. So good even my wife who usually doesn't hunt has been putting in with me for Wyoming!

Howdy everyone, Hope all of you and your families are well! Took my boy, Max and 2 neighbor youths, Stella and Aislen down on the youth deer hunt last November with only 2 1/2 days to hunt. Was going to be a tall order to shoot 3 bucks as my help fell through, so we would be hunting together in one group. 11 year old Stella was up first as Max had just killed a good buck in Kansas and Aislen killed last year on the youth hunt. The first morning found us on my favorite glassing hill looking over approximately 40 deer before we found 2 coues bucks@500 yards. I left 2 kids on the hill and we took off to get closer. We settled in at 200 yards but her inexperience and nerves kept her from feeling confident with the shot.The evening was much of the same with no shot presenting itself that she felt comfortable taking. The following morning we quickly spotted two great bucks that would push the 90" mark. With no cover between us and the deer Stella conceded to let her 16 year old sister take the 650 yard shot. The bullet went just high and the bucks bounded out of sight. That evening we went to some flatter mule deer country and quickly spotted a forky horn. Stella got settled in for the shot at 180 yards and anchored him on the spot with her 6.5. That was followed by alot of dancing and high fiving. That evening was spent dressing him out and celebrating around the fire. The final morning found us back on the glassing hill and just after first light we found another nice coues buck. Max was up and we moved two ridges towards him to get within a couple hundred yards. We got behind the binos and glassed but were unable to pick him back up. It was at this point dad made a rookie mistake and moved to soon to glass a different off shoot of the draw. The buck was bedded in tall grass under a Palo Verde at 150 yards and bounded over the ridge. Max was bummed but we sat down and talked about what I did wrong over snacks. We headed for home already anticipating next year!

So awesome 👍

My 10 year old son has same tag. We plan on heading up the evening before to hopefully get some located on the roost. We will be up off Stoneman lake Rd. Hoping the warm up this week will dry those back roads up a little. Safest place I can think of to do some social distancing.... except those Tom's, hope they haven't got the memo! Take care, Mark

Lance is spot on. Grab a flat line map for sure. I don't know that unit well but once you learn what elk need you will be in good shape. Start with taking your flatline map, locate water and draw a 2 mile radius circle around each one. The circles that intersect are a good place to start. Hills that get the 🌞 most the day or what is referred to as south facing will have good forage and that will have most of the sign. Then move north and find draws with benches that face north. These will be where they bed. Find these areas in places that you figure 70-80% of people would be apprehensive to go and things will start to make sense to you. Good luck and let us know what you turn up👍

Art20, Please don't take offense at people busting your balls here. That's what us hunters do, especially to a someone who uses a term out of context😂 We rag on each other and exaggerate about the size of the one that got away! In all truthfulness, go put some miles on your boots and find elk right now. Get a friend to go with you even if they don't hunt to keep it fun. Get a good map with good topography lines and find elevation that let's you look into canyons. Find water on your maps. Once you do this report back to us. Well ease up on you a bit at that point👍 Take care, Mark

If she is a new hunter the chasing bugles thing is fun and a sure way to get into elk, but can be a little challenging getting an ethical, high percentage shot. Grab a flat line map and check some tanks below the rim for activity. It is usually a little dry in October and those elk will be watering almost daily. I usually set up mid day on a vantage point with kiddos between 100-200 yards downwind of water or area you suspect elk are coming from and have always had great opportunities that way in a more controlled environment. If your scouting doesn't turn up anything you like send me a message and I can get you guys on a couple tanks that are historically producers. Take care, Mark

JimR, That time of year bulls are pretty banged up from the rut and are looking for cover, food, and water where they are most protected from pressure and weather. That is an easy draw hunt and those bulls are more than likely right now in the same areas they were late November. If it were me I'd get a good topography map, find some vantage points, and glass. Look for canyons with good cover and food well off the beaten path. I would observe from a distance as those bulls don't need anymore stress this time of year. Good luck, Mark

Goldtoybox, In my opinion I would put in for 22 north early rifle first choice and 22 south muzzleloader 2nd choice. If you draw I will help you kill the caliber of bull you are looking for. I know both units extremely well and had 22 south muzzleloader last year. I am not a guide just love hunting and helping people out as I find it always is reciprocated in some way. I live less than 2 hours away and am glad to help you from running cameras, scouting, to hunting with you and helping pack your elk out. PM me if you want more info, Mark

Having drawn elk and antelope this year I decided to forgo my usual Kansas archery hunt. This was only my second time in 10 year not chasing giants eastern whitetails out there. I decided to put my 10 year old in though and go on a quick trip to try and bag his first buck. He has harvested two does out there so with his crossbow in tow we set out Nov 4. I have access to 1200 acres of farm ground and on this particular farm have two Summit double ladder stands. Our first evening we had a perfect wind to hunt our favorite stand on the edge of a picked bean field. It wasn't long and two bucks were running a poor doe ragged all around us. It was total chaos for about 5 minutes with Max never getting a clear shot at the bigger buck. About an hour before dark a small 7 point came out and worked a scrape then headed our way. I told Max that we should pass him and see what else might show. After he left Max said " Dad, it's my first buck....I really wanted to shoot him." As I reflected on what he said I felt like a total idiot. I had always told him that although I chose to shoot older age class animals we hunt for the meat. I told him that the next buck that we see that he likes we'll try to shoot. Shortly after saying that we look down the field and see a big 11 point working the same scrape as the small buck had. I let out a few soft tending grunts and here he comes. At 50 yards he stopped and max settled the crosshair. We had practiced at this range many times in our back yard so I had complete confidence in his ability. I gave him the green light and the arrow was on its way. The buck wheeled slightly causing the exit to be a little back. We decided to give him some time and he only went 200 yards. Unfortunately, that was enough time for the coyotes to do a number on him. He scored 140" gross. The next few days we spent on Doe patrol and the second to last night max shot a nice doe. We finished our trip with picking up the newest member of our family, Nolan, a miniature golden doodle. These days I think I get more joy out of these kid hunts than my own. We arrived home and got ready for our next adventure...36a junior hunt.....to be continued......

Hey all, My pop's, Mark senior finally drew his first elk tag as a non resident from Michigan after 6 years of applying. We would be hunting unit 8 for bull elk. As I spend 90% of my time hunting elk in 6a and 22 I had some work to do. I started by looking at topos to find transition areas from fall to winter range and canyons those bulls like that time of year. Mid summer I finally got boots on and confirmed that my research was well directed. Tremendous amount of older scat, great winter brouse, and good thermal cover. Hit the woods one more time in October to cut the canyons apart to log glassing points and it was time to wait. As the hunt got closer we realized the weather was going to be brutal and I now felt even more confident in our location. To make things even better 2 of my best buddies were going to fly in from Michigan to help out. We arrived at camp early Thanksgiving day and set up in the torrential downpour. The evening was spent playing cribbage and yuker, card games for those of you not from the Midwest with the woodstoves keeping our tents toasty. Day 1......woke up to tents wanted to collapse with 7 inches of heavy, wet snow. After cleaning them off we waited for daylight to fully assess and realized with visibility at 100' that we would be better off waiting for a break to head out. That break came at 10 am. We loaded the buggies and the 7 of us headed to the spot I had picked out. After a long hike to our vantage point the snow socked back in and we took refuge under a big cedar and built a 🔥. At 1 the weather broke briefly and we got behind some glass. In 10 minutes we had 3 bulls located and pop's wanted the bigger of the 3. Having never elk hunted before we had decided the first decent 6 point was in trouble. Pop's made a great shot at 400 yards accross the canyon with my 6.5 PRC and the next two days I was extremely grateful for all the help as the packout and drive out was brutal.....another trip for the books!!!!

Hey all, Been enjoying all of the great discussions for many years and finally decided to join. Been in Arizona 9 years now brought here kicking and screaming from Michigan by my lovely wife. I quickly fell in love with this incredible state and have harvested many animals in those years. This year my good buddy and I drew 22 south muzzleloader elk tags, him for the first time and my second. Killed a great bull in there in 2014 so was very excited to get back. We ran 12 cameras all summer and felt like we knew what our expectations should be. We had one bull in particular we were targeting we named El Diablo. We figured he'd go close to 370 and we kept tabs on him all the way up to 2 days before our hunt. Opening day came and we went to where we figured he was living but only turned up a handful of satellite bulls. Day 2......On the second morning I had an old bull with huge 3rds and 4ths at 185 yards and the temptation was to great so I dropped the hammer. Spent the rest of that day with 4 buddies packing him out. Day 3......my buddy and another friend headed to a spot that always had a herd with a great bull and I slept in recovering from the packout. At daybreak we had multiple bulls screaming outside of camp. I grabbed my binos and quickly found a big herd bull pushing cows around. Got a hold of my buddy and after an hour of cat and mouse in 6' Manzanita he dropped the hammer at 35 yards. Spent the rest of the day packing him out. Day 4....we spent the morning of day 4 cutting up and packaging elk as well as dropping off the 4 quarters to a processor in Payson. That evening we decided to go see if we could find El Diablo. We didn't locate him but found another great bull. We had a camp of two guys down the road from us with on gentleman from Wyoming having a tag. I offered to take him in to try and kill that bull the next day and a plan was made. Day 5.......we left before daylight and hiked into the mountain I wanted to start calling from. At light I called in a decent bull but no shot opportunity. I had a bull screaming across the canyon and he sounded mature so we took off. As I got closer I got eyes on him and realized it was El Diablo. He bedded with his cows just out of sight so we found shade and waited him out. At 1 pm he got up to move and Bill dropped the hammer. He had no idea what he killed but I did. After lots of celebration we packed him out and I put a tape to him....366". What a trip!!!!!!

Incredible!!!! Congrats!

I read that article also. Can't imagine what it used to be like😂I had two bulls on camera that would rival unit 9. I have helped people on 22 north rifle and seen some tremendous bulls also and I'm talking about the late hunts. Gotta be willing to put the effort in, hike that extra mile, and sit behind that glass an extra hour!!

Awesome hunt👍 As usual, good things come to those who put the time in. I always say 80% scouting, 20% hunting=100% opportunity!

Howdy all, This year has been one for the books. I for once was one of those guys that you love to hate come draw time. Drew an archery antelope and early muzzle loader elk tag with 4 and 6 points respectively. This was my first time ever hunting antelope and I spent the summer on many grassy hills under the hot sun studying their behavior and tendencies. From all of that my main takeaway was that they are some strange animals. In some ways I felt like they appear at first like turkeys in behavior. From a vehicle you can approach relatively easy and often even appear oblivious. Yet, step onto their turf and they'll catch yah itching your nose at 200 yards. As the summer progressed I compiled a list of the best bucks, water locations, and access. One thing was sure, with the exceptionally dry summer water appeared to be the key to success. I arrived the day before my hunt and positioned myself on a good glassing point. I quickly picked up an old friend with a small group of does. He was definitely the dominant buck in the area and I was pretty sure I knew the water he was hitting, an isolated cattle tank. With the tank being hidden from their sight I quickly set my ground blind and backed out. Day one was spent melting in a popup blind under the sweltering 93 degree heat. At 10 AM they showed up to water and just as they were approaching the tank a large gust of wind made a slapping noise on the side of my blind. They lost their minds and blew out of there. My buddy was glassing from a hill and watched them the rest of the day never returning to drink. Day 2 I was back in the blind knowing that their need to drink was going to be even greater today. At 1 PM they arrived at the water. The wind was gusting again and they still did not like the blind although I had reinforced the stakes and guy ropes. They hung out at 55 yards for what felt like an eternity. I finally decided to take a shot. The buck hopped on a doe and bred her. As soon as he hopped off I put an arrow through his heart!!!!!!

Bigorange, I was actually on state trust land. Definitely a little tricky up there with all of the checker board land. Here's a couple of my suggestions and take aways for any of you reading that may be thinking about this unit: 1) There is plenty of access up there without paying a trespass fee. That being said know the game warden as well as understand A.R.S. 17-304 and 17-316. There are some land bullies up there and I ran into a couple scouting. I was very courteous and polite but I showed them where I was on ONX and they backed off. 2) Don't discount the State land. Saw plenty of great animals on it. Lace up your boots and put some miles on them. 3) Go up in the summer in street clothes and visit with some land owners. Most folks up there are very nice. I had a fair amount of access as a backup plan if things went south on my primary plan.

Awesome 👍

Awesome job and great video 👍

Awesome 👍 congrats young man!!!

Awesome video 👍 kids had me cracking up!!! Congrats

Beautiful Buck 👍 good job young man!!!

Congrats👍they sure grow fast. Memories that last a lifetime!!!