Funky Oct Cow Hunt?

[Hoss50]

Did anyone else just come off a funky/crappy cow hunt? My friends and I came home Wednesday after hunting pretty hard for cow elk. The season was really bad. Normally we see a fair amount of elk and have had no problem filling tags or at least getting opportunities. 

Opening morning is rained and got super cold, but it had been crazy hot until then. I assumed the elk would still be where we saw them 2-3 weeks ago on my buddies bull hunt. On that hunt it was hit, but we saw elk every day and cows were around. 

This hunt the elk seemed to have disappeared or were being nocturnal. Did the crazy weather and full moon screw up this hunt for anyone else? 

[Crazymonkey]

My buddies daughter in law had the 4a hunt and never really  got a go at it. There trailer  needed tires then the truck had a vibration  that turned out to be a major suspension  issue.  After all that they only got a day to hunt and same deal crazy weather  and no elk . What a big change  from  the archery  hunt. Elk were out and easy to find even with  the bulls not talking  that much. Gotta be the weather  change.

[NOTAGS]

Just got back  yesterday myself. Between Thursday night thru Saturday morning we had about 7-8” of snow/ sleet drop and melt and drop several more times .  27 degrees  in the a  m,  Muddy  as heck. Our usual spots had cattle in them, and elk were not to be found for three days. Finally put two down out of three tags.  Came home and it’s still freaking hot here.

[AZHog]

Hunted high and low in 9 for 6 and a half days and only saw a young cow (maybe 1.5 year old) Saturday afternoon that I passed on.  First time not filling a cow tag in 9 in over a decade.  Drove through the GCNP Tuesday morning and saw a herd of 30-50 at Yaki point turnoff.  Saw small groups the Wed. and Thu. before the hunt, then the weather turned cold and wet Friday morning.  Talked to a few people that had cows down, but there were still a lot of people hunting Wednesday.   

[PRDATR]

 A friends daughter had a cow tag and they hunted three days and never saw one. All I know is they were up near Heber. I squirrel hunted 5A on Sunday with my son and saw two cows and a spike and that was it. They were about 150 yards away on a hill when we got out of the truck. The spike ran off but the cows hung around for a few minutes and weren't very concerned. 

[AZ_SAWBUCK]

It was a tough year. Had an archery cow tag, hunted for 8 days had a few opportunities but it was hot. I should've got one tho. 

Hunted for 6.5 days on my daughters Jr. Cow tag. We only seen elk 3 mornings for about 5 min after first light. 

 

I think the hot weather and no rain are main factors..........

[Hoss50]

Maybe it wasn't just me then. I hear people talk about how full moons don't effect hunts, but I think that is BS. I fully believe that they were watering before dawn and just after dark, at least where I was. 

[Crazymonkey]

1 hour ago, Hoss50 said:

Maybe it wasn't just me then. I hear people talk about how full moons don't effect hunts, but I think that is BS. I fully believe that they were watering before dawn and just after dark, at least where I was. 

The moon definitely  has an effect  on what they can see . That will change  when they feed and water. Seems it went to 💩  with  the weather.  I was in 6a for my buddies  archery  hunt and they filled  5 tags from  Friday to Monday  when I left . Then I was back a few weeks later for my turkey  tag and the elk were still  around  just not as vocal. Deer were out most days and easy to find. Weird year for elk I guess.  Hopefully  next year I'll get a tag and it will  be better 🙏. 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

I went on early archery bull hunts in prime units the last 5 years in a row and for sure this year there was a very noticeable lack of activity and numbers of elk. It was warmer for sure and a super moon. The other thing i noticed is for some reason the woods were jacked full of archery deer hunters both resident and no resident. way more than I remember seeing on Wednesday before elk hunt. Tough to even find a camp spot. Alot of that was the good old squatters (for another conversation). We spent 16 days this year and no filled tag, had some opportunities but not many. Alot of zero bugle days as well. We could find them at night but nothing talking during the day and very little rut activity when we did find them. Alot of spot and stalk due to calls not being effective.

[WHALE]

I can we had the early 22S bull tags and it was the hottest elk hunt I have ever been apart of

[CatfishKev]

At the youth hunt they said usually cows get killed 4 to 1, this year was exact opposite. Kids were having a hard time on elk. When I spoke with Dave (member here) he said all the previous hunts had been tough and a lot of unfilled tags.  

I don't know how to hunt pines that aren't glass able.  I feel lucky we got it done. Tough year for sure.  Sitting water adjacent to cover might be the way to get it done this year.

[Hoss50]

2 hours ago, WHALE said:

I can we had the early 22S bull tags and it was the hottest elk hunt I have ever been apart of

I was a packer/helper on a 23S early rifle bull tag for a buddies son. It was HOT for sure. He had a close encounter on day 2, but they couldn't see if it was a good bull until it was to late to shoot. 

On day 3 he got an opportunity on a decent 6x7 so they took it and he connected. The bulls were deep in a north facing canyon trying to stay cool. They would bugle, but wouldn't actually come to a cow call. If the bull would have shut his mouth, he probably would have lived. He would bugle about every 5-10 min and wouldn't move, so they snuck in on him. 

[Crazymonkey]

My buddies  were 4 elk taken from  the same waterhole  3 bulls one cow on the 6a archery  hunt . One spot and stock and just one tag not filled  but my buddies  daughter  only had a few days to hunt with  school  and activities.  I did glass a big group of elk out by horse knoll that went  south and outa where my buddies  were . They were probably  70yds behind  the elk for awhile  but the wind did them in . Seemed  that there was a guide with  two hunters in the bottom  and 4 spotters working  the ridge and radio in the location  . There was also several  camps in the bottom  and the elk definitely  don't  like that . They were outa there . Not as vocal as they usually  are first 30 minutes  at daylight  then at total dark. My buddy  that shot his spot and stalk was hunting  draws near water . 

[PRDATR]

10 hours ago, Crazymonkey said:

My buddies  were 4 elk taken from  the same waterhole  3 bulls one cow on the 6a archery  hunt . One spot and stock and just one tag not filled  but my buddies  daughter  only had a few days to hunt with  school  and activities.  I did glass a big group of elk out by horse knoll that went  south and outa where my buddies  were . They were probably  70yds behind  the elk for awhile  but the wind did them in . Seemed  that there was a guide with  two hunters in the bottom  and 4 spotters working  the ridge and radio in the location  . There was also several  camps in the bottom  and the elk definitely  don't  like that . They were outa there . Not as vocal as they usually  are first 30 minutes  at daylight  then at total dark. My buddy  that shot his spot and stalk was hunting  draws near water . 

Good area but lot's of lions.

[Crazymonkey]

1 minute ago, PRDATR said:

Good area but lot's of lions.

Yep ! There was a lion kill up the hill from  where I shot my turkey.  My buddy  Chuck  found it and after they tagged out they setup on it . No luck but another  group  of hunters  did have eyes  on it . They said a big cat. You could  still smell dead elk going  to the water but I'm not sure if it was some of the elk the guy down  past us hit . He had a crossbow and said he hit 3 and couldn't  find them.