cgrhunter

I hunted that unit several years a while back. I would avoid 1A anytime around the weekend as I always found it overrun with hunters and a huge number recreationist tearing up the area in ATVs and target practicing. Along about Wednesday when things had calmed down it always got better. As posted above, I would avoid the bugle. It always seemed to me the elk had gotten wise to the bugle and in one case, I was convinced that one group I heard bugling around A1 was purposely driving around bugling poorly in an effort to ruin the hunt (we have run into a fair amount of anti-hunting pressure in that unit, especially to the south). The elk are in there though. Good luck on your hunt.

I hunted the Peaks the last two years. We went 3 for 3 for cows in 2016 and 1 for 3 for bulls last year. The cows were killed from 10,480 at the highest to just over 9000 for the lowest. The cow at 9,000 ft was right at sundown and I'm pretty sure was heading down for water. From what I have seen on my cameras, the cows seem to disappear about the time the rut starts, I'm guessing they running in harems mostly what I get are pictures of lone bulls. When I have gotten cows during this time of year there is usually a bull around as well. As bigorange suggest, finding a bull hunter may be productive. I'll be hunting cows again this year the week before yours.

I've got the first Kachina Peaks wilderness rifle hunt (cow). This will be my third year on the Peaks. A lot of climbing but at least you get to pack the meat downhill.

7Peaks bull tag for 2nd week of October for my daughter and myself...our first bull tag and looking forward to the hunt

The portal link is on the upper right hand corner of the AZ G&F page. You should find a green box title "Sign In to Account". Account signup is pretty quick and has some pretty good historical info (past permits, etc.). Got drawn for rifle cow along with my daughter in 7 Peaks. Will be her first hunt.

I have purchased a couple of reports from http://www.huntunits.com/arizona over the years. Their write up regarding where to hunt follows the standard Arizona Fish & Game hunt unit report so I didn't find too much new info there, however, they do include a detailed list of coordinates and elevations for water sources in the unit. I have found some that they don't include so am not sure what their source is. The list is quite extensive but my experience is it is not "all inclusive". What I do like is the fact that they include elevations so if you want to concentrate say on sources in higher elevations, you can do that very easily. The downside is their report is a locked .pdf file so there isn't any easy way that I have found to sort the latitude and longitude coordinates, they list everything alphabetical. Good luck.

Thanks to all who responded. Just to be clear, when I say that I am not after the monster, yes I'd love to get him and I'm not going to shoot Bambi, but I probably wouldn't pass up his dad or grand dad if he had a nice set of horns. I was in the Coast Guard most of my life and simply didn't get that many chances to hunt and have still to get my first kill with a bow. I am looking into the guide and, if finances will permit, will go that way. Fortunately my wife understands how rare the opportunity is and supports the idea, but with a daughter going into college this year and a son next, $4000-5000 is a ways out of my range. I'll see what shakes out though. Thanks again, Terry

I was blessed with a 13B archery tag this year and am looking for some general information on the unit. I haven't been to the unit before and, given the early hunt dates, am planning on starting my scouting in the higher elevations (say over 6000 ft). I also know that rainfall can have a big impact so will adjust accordingly. I am not looking for the monster buck and don't have a problem hiking a mile or more off the 4WD roads as long as I can get the game back to the truck quick enough that it doesn't spoil in the heat (if I'm that fortunate). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.