AzHuntAtty

I drew the tag last year and wasted a long weekend on the west side in March. Never cut a track. The vast majority winter in the park and will start crossing when it warms up. The majority of the animals cross between the park entrance and Fire Point.

First, my hat's off to Rob. He killed a great bull. I think it was the biggest taken? I was one of the unsuccessful hunters and I have to say the shortened season was the primary reason only half of the tags filled. Nearly every unsuccessful hunter I met up there was dedicated to making it happen and put in the time and effort to earn an animal. I put in 16 days of hunting and there were others who put in much more. There were just no animals to kill and the few that were killed (most of which were younger bulls) were killed just yards from the park boundary. Unlike most hunts where hard work, perseverance, and smart hunting pays off, this hunt was totally dependent on weather and water. The late winter and abundant moisture coupled with the shortened season was a disaster. To give you an example, my son and I rode our horses more than twenty five miles and hiked another seven over a two day period in the snow along the park boundary and we never cut one buffalo track. I then sat salt for 12 plus hours a day for nine days and never once spotted a live buffalo. Did a few buffalo cross the boundary during the hunt? Absolutely, but the numbers were so few and the duration and distance of the crossings was so short that success was just being at the right place at the right time. In the last week of the hunt Russ Jacoby (a great guy and very helpful to all tag holders) went into the park and filmed hundreds of buffalo, including some huge bulls, just several miles from the boundary. Unfortunately, there was ample grass and water in the park and therefore no incentive for the herds to migrate north into the national forest. Don't get me wrong, I was super excited for the hunters that were able to kill and my comments are not intended to diminish in any way their accomplishments. Just frustrating that Game and Fish would knowingly stack the deck against the hunters when the objective is to thin a large herd. As I understand it, the majority of animals killed in the past have been killed in the last few weeks of the hunt in June. My two cents is that the season should have remained the same length as it was in previous years if the objective was to kill buffalo. When it became apparent that the buffalo were not going to start the migration north until after the season concluded it would have been nice for Game and Fish to have a mechanism in place to at least have the option of extending the season. So it goes.

Thanks for the information guys. I really appreciate it. I will, of course, share what I learn along the way to any other lucky drawees down the road.

I drew this tag and am starting to gather as much information as possible to prepare. I plan to tackle it on my own with the help of a couple friends. Id like to talk with anyone with experience on the hunt. I'm particularly interested in finding out the optimal time to go to catch them off park. Five months is a long season. Thanks.

I drew. House Rock. Jan 1-May 31. Permit 27. Can't believe it.

I'm interested. Please let me know. Thx

I was up in 21 also. You may want to try calling. Called in a good one with a predator call. Never gave me a good shot.

yeah my dad is trying.the hunt isnt so much physical its mental Is your dad hunting in A or B?

Hey DB I was just teasing him. He's my brother-in-law.... It really is a geat cat

Did that one still have spots on it and milk dripping off its lips when you shot it?

Does the Game Water Book include 13b?

No whitetail hunt for me this year. I drew a tag for carp in some northern unit...13b rifle

This is one of those bittersweet draws. I'm not going to get to hunt whitetail this year because I drew a carp tag....13b rifle

We hunted Friday and Saturday (up high) and the birds were totally silent. I wore out some boot leather and could not get any responses. I did not hear even one gobble in an area where I have always had success in the past. I'm not sure if it was the warm weather, dry conditions, or the late date - or all of the above. We did kill one bird that we jumped while tromping around trying to find a responsive tom. In any event, it was still much better than being in the office.

We went one for two on the juinors' hunt. Going back next week to try to fill some regular tags and some more juinor tags. The toms were pretty quiet until the last day (the first weekend of the juinors' hunt)