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Hi all - long time follower of the site, first time posting because I FINALLY drew an elk tag. I wanted an elk tag this year before my wife and I have kids so I put in for the peaks and 6A early season rifle bull. My credit card hit and I am 99% certain its the peaks. I am in very good shape however I know I will need to step up my workouts for this hunt. I usually OTC deer hunt in 7E so I know the neighboring terrain. I scouted it last year in late august. Saw more bulls than cows, saw a bachelor herd of rag horns with a respectable 6x6 and caught a beautiful 5x5 on game camera. My questions are: is there a recent burn area in the peaks? Does calling in early October work? I see the archery bull and the rifle cow will encompass their first 3 weeks and the neighboring unit 7E, will also have had their archery bull hunt in September as well. Will this drive the elk up the timberline 10-11k feet? I've watched all of Randy's videos on the hunt. Seems like a true old school hunt, no vehicle access, hiking in and out, which I love to do. I get the feeling that people who are desperate (including me) to get an elk tag put in for this unit but turn back when they actually see the work involved. Any advice or information will be awesome, I love hunting, dreamed of elk hunting with my dad since I was a young boy. Now I got the chance and would love to make it good, memorable hunt with him, and I'd appreciate any input. Thanks!

Hello, I am selling this unique photo of a bull I took in September, this bull was hissing at a smaller bull that was to my left and it made him look mean. This is a 11"x14" print in a perfectly matched frame and I'm asking $45. This would look perfect in a "man cave" or someones cabin. Let me know if you are interested in purchasing this. Thanks, Darren

Hi everyone, new to this forum. Hope everyone's faring well in this coronapanic. I've always hunted small game over the last few years but got pulled for the Nov/Dec bull elk hunt in Unit 3A/C. Does anyone know 3A very well? I was hoping to learn how to hunt this area, in general. I see many Pronghorn, not bull elk. If anyone is hunting or scouting 3A and doesn't mind someone tagging along this year, let me know. I'd love to learn the area. Thanks

Hello, I have a Archery Bull Tag for the San Carlos Reservation Maylay Gap unit from 9/21 to 10/6 archery bull elk. I have never been there and could use any advice that anyone has. I am open to using a guide as well. If anyone has any first hand experience it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hey everyone who reads this, just wanted to introduce myself since I just joined. I’m 24 from Arizona lived here my entire life I mainly fish all year around but I just started to get into hunting and putting in the for the draw. Finally drew a tag after my 3rd year of putting in and got drawn for unit 10. I have the late rifle hunt, November 30th - December 6th. My dad and uncle got drawn for the Unit 10 October 19th antlerless elk hunt and we were just there with no luck. We stayed off the private ranch there in unit 10 and came up short. Came across some tracks and about a week old elk droppings all over the place but could never get on any. Other hunters we ran into out there said the same thing, that they didn’t even glass any up. We coverd a decent amount of ground but couldn’t locate any not sure if it was the weather or the foot traffic but I was curious if anyone else who had that hunt had any luck and If anyone had any advice for unit 10 in general. Is it worth paying $110 to hunt on the private ranch and then making my dad pay another $80 just to assist and go with? I’m not looking for anybody’s secret area or them to give me everything they know about unit 10 just some over all general advice for unit 10 since I’m new to this I know how forums go, was part of the azbasszone for years so I’m not looking for handouts. I know it’s the late hunt and weather can play a factor on where they go but just thought I’d give it a shot if anyone has any advice or past experience. Thanks for reading, Taylor

So I am getting anxious to see how the bulls are looking this year and was going through some of my pics from last year and found this bull. Has anyone seen velvet like this before?

Just got drawn for 7E late season bull, 1st time in unit. Tactics and Incite is appreciated!

Good luck to everyone that have elk tags this year! Here is a few Pictures of some of the elk we have done this past year. Cole

So I have been debating what units I will put in for for elk. I am not as familiar with unit 22 and was considering a late archery hunt in 22. What do you guys think? I am worried about it because some people say it has been extremely over hunted. Any info will help, thanks!

I remember the first time my buddy and I stepped foot into this unit we walked up a ridge and found just under 20 sheds on it in two days of prowling around. From that moment on I knew this place was something special and I had a new place to hunt. The better news is that it is in a unit that has about a 50% draw rate so I wouldn't have to play the odds for long. I was fortunate enough to pull the tag this year, second year of putting in for it 1st choice. In my mind, "Any Elk" meant "Any Elk with Antlers" right from the get go. I knew there were bulls in this area and while there are some giants, they are few and far between. I just wanted a bull and knew I had to do some homework to pull it off. My finace' and I hiked into the area this summer to do our little bit of scouting and research. I ranged all my points, getting potential yardages and finding the best vantage points. Finding water sources was key in figuring out patterns and why these bulls did what they did. The area is nothing but a boulder pile with extreme cover and deep pockets, elk paradise. I figured the potential longest shot would be just under 850 yards, better have a gun to handle it. As the hunt was getting closer I decided to utilize a Western Precision Rifle built by Brent Jacob out of southeast AZ. I have been around the rifles for a few years, working with DC Outfitters on their late bull hunts. I knew the capabilities of the guns and I knew they would not let me down if I did in fact end up having to take a long range shot. We did no other scouting besides that one trip in during the summer, either the elk would be there or they would not. I was a bit nervous leading up to the hunt as the weather had been pretty warm and a ranch near there had shut down all hunting for the year, so there was no pressure to push those bulls into their winter range, which this was. The other thing I was paying attention to was the moon, full while I would be there...not really desireable. Despite the fact that this hunt lasts a month, I had to get in early due to work schedules and what not so I was at the mercy of the elk gods on this one. With the hunt starting Friday I decided I would leave home on Wednesday morning, this would give me that evening plus Thursday to do some scouting. On my way in I stopped at an intersection to stretch and I look up and boom!! There is an bull elk bedded in the rd! This is a great sign and after a long day of driving I am pumped to get into the "good stuff" just a ways away. I arrive at about 3:30 pm and hike to the top of a small knoll facing south to glass for the rest of the evening. I see no elk, bummer. But, I did glass a deadhead...it was so late when I spotted it I decided I would get it midday Thursday. Time to get back to camp and get it set up. My hunting buddy showed up that night and we knew where we would be glassing from in the morning and also made it a point to plan our day around the deadhead. We awoke Thursday morning at 4 am and trudged our way through boulders, brush, and cactus to get to our first glassing point. The moon helped light the path and we made it just on time...to glass, and glass, and glass, and see nothing. About 10 am we decided to rim around and see if we could cut any sign in what I thought would be the best area within this range. One track, big..but only one fresh track. We decide at this point to go get the deadhead and head back to camp and regroup. Turns out to be a heck of a deadhead, old heavy 8x6. His right is chewed up but all in all I am jacked to find this. We took turns hauling it back the 3 miles to camp. That is my buddy taking his turn packing it, he is 6'1'', gives you some idea of how big it is. That afternoon we decided to drive down to a spring in a canyon we had glassed from up high. On our way down we notice there are elk tracks in the road so things are looking up. We get to the spring and there are some elk tracks, fresh elk tracks at that. We decided to go a round about way back to the 4 wheeler. We get about 50 yards from the water and sure enough a bull elk jumps out not 10 yds in front us! Perfect, this is what we need. We hastily back our way out of there and hope we didnt disturb it enough to push that elk or any others that might of been there out. We spend the rest of the day checking a few other things out but at this point we know where and how we are going to hunt opening morning the next day. Opening morning, alarm goes off at 3am, time to roll. We have a heck of jaunt up a steep face to get to a bluff overlooking the spring. We get there at 5 am under moonlight and as quietly as possible. We settle in and wait for first light, listening and taking in the majesty of big country under a full moon. First light comes and we are hearing a rock roll under us to the left every so often. Neither of us can get eyes on anything. It starts to get cold, my buddy is shivering like crazy and I am getting frustrated cause we are not seeing anything. Finally, there is an elk...a good elk...a one horned elk! Dangit! Not the one for me. Keep glassing, there has to be more, we hope. 10 minutes go by and sure enough my buddy glasses two bulls under us on the same slope! They are rag horns though, opening morning I can be a little picky! These little bulls head straight for the one horned bull across the canyon. Nothing happens for awhile, we are watching those elk and glassing for others. At one point I am watching the bigger one horned bull and he stops and looks south down the canyon...hmmm. I pan to the left and not a 1/4 mile down here comes two more bulls! Another small 3 pt and a decent 6x7...I try not to get too excited. He is palmated on the right, isnt a monster, but he is a good bull. He is just under 900 yds away when I spot him and they are moving to the other bulls we were watching. We decide to be patient, the elk arent nervous and we are in a great spot to keep watching and hopefully bed them...this gives me time to make up my mind. Shoot a bull on opening day, or try to hold out for a bigger one? This is a limited opp hunt so there aren't supposed to be options like this, especially on the first morning! Well, I decide he is exactly what I am after and I would be proud to harvest him if my rifle functions, if I dont flinch, and if I hit him. He beds at 748 yds, the Western Precision Rifle will have no problems at that range. But, the bush in front of the bull will cause some problems so I have to wait. Well we waited a long time on opening day but I ended up punching him at the 750 yd range and a final round at 300 yds. The rifle performed perfectly and everything came together nicely. It was a great hunt and I am blessed to have great friends and a great fiance' that helped make this all come together. Thanks for taking the time and best of luck in the woods and all your other paths!

I had a great three days chasing down bugling bulls, my favorite time of the year to be outdoors with camera in hand!

Well we finished the hunt a week ago this morning and it was just a super fun hunt! The bull we got was just the icing on the cake. We saw bulls just about every time we went out and many times they were being pushed because of so many tags given out for that hunt, but whatever. As we were nearing the end of my extra help on the hunt I decided to take the bull that I got since I knew that after that day I would have to do all of the packing myself. Here is just a fun no so serious video of when it all went down.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEdL1leglGg Hope you Enjoy!

The HPO team has been out hitting the hills, mountains and flats this summer in preparation for our up coming hunts! Here is a little video of "The Class Of 2014" We also are scouting for deer already and the Arizona results should be out any day! Please give us a call to see what we have to offer for your 2014 tag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmbFPYB64LI&list=UU7Qk3aMvlRDWl9uQwpalbUA

UPDATE: My dad talked with the producer this week and the editing of the show is complete. They are saving this hunt for the season finale and are very excited about how it turned out. I added a picture of the bull that was taken. I still don't want to share any details because I want you to watch the show (it will be available online shortly after it airs). Trust me when I say you won't want to miss it! It is slotted to air Thursday April 24th at 7:00pm AZ time. Thanks guys. My dad and brother were selected to be on Outlander Limited Draw this last year. They had a December rifle bull hunt. They killed one bull and got it all on film for the show. Keep your eyes open for their episode to air in the coming weeks. I believe they are saving it for the final episode. I'm not going to spoil anything but you won't want to miss it!

I've been considering a scouting service for my elk hunt this year. A package runs $300. I work at a lake so summer is real hard for me to get out and scout as much as I'd like to. Also my father has never killed a big game animal. We've hunted every year together, but I really want him to bag his first Elk. Opinions and advice is so greatly appreciated! Since joining this site years ago I've made so many great friends. Love my CWT family. Any help would be awesome!