hawkeye Report post Posted September 27, 2009 If it could go wrong, it did go wrong. After 30 years of bow hunting I had more trouble getting into bulls than I ever have. The hunt has been pushed up so much, that with the late rut it was hard to get into them. I was hunting in 3c and never have seen so many hunters. On the 7th day of the hunt I shot a nice bull about a 340 calss bull. I hit him high and the blood petered out after about 200 yards. We continued to track most of the day, and had to stop at about 4:00 due to a lightning storm hitting very close. Well we looked some the next morning and lost all track from the hard rain the night before. That evening we went back to the same area and hunted. When we got back to the truck a Game and fish officer named Erik checked us and I told him I had hit a bull the day before and didn't find him. He told me they had found a dead bull not very far from where we were and told me if I could describe the rack I could have it, as they had cut the head off. I told him exactly where I hit him and he told me to describe the rack. I told him I was looking for a shooting lane and that I didn't get much time to take full stock in the rack, but that with the shot placement and location of the bull I was very sure it was mine. He told me I could buy the rack at auction. I told him to kiss my a$$. He told me he would e-mail me some pictures of the bull. He lied about that too. He didn't do crap. Well that put a bad taste in my mouth, but it gets better. On Thursday night on the last day of the hunt, my son and I were hunting about a mile below Black Canyon Lake and We were set up in a thicket and after sitting until about 30 minutes before dark, my son did some cow chirps and got an answere about 50 yards behind us. After sitting a few minutes he bugled. Then it happened. An arrow came slamming through the brush just above my sons head. We yeld and crawled about 30 yards. We never got an answer and we couldn't glass up the culprit. We walked the 2 mile walk back to the truck very upset about what had happened. After the amount of people we encountered and almost dying I think my archery hunting career is over. I will be selling my new Admiral bow and most of my equipment on ebay. If I do anymore hunting I will go out of state. I can't believe the game and fish wanted me to kill another bull after agreeing to tag the first one. I guess they would rather get the money from the antler auction. With the amount of hunters in the field it is just a matter of time before someone gets shot, and my son and I came close. Archery hunting has been a very large part of my life and I am sad to see it end. But the amount of enjoyment recieved compared to the greif and dealing with the all the crap it's time to call it quits. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ultramag Report post Posted September 27, 2009 I agree it was a tuff hunt at best. I call it paying your dues. I don't mean to sound disrespectfull. sorry for the bad time. don't sell your stuff. time for a rebound hunt. you got to have time to eat the apple cobbler try to enjoy yourself no matter what happens. we put to much pressure on ourselfs sometimes got to smell the roses. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matthewp45 Report post Posted September 27, 2009 I do agree with the number of hunters being way to high. Three years ago my friend had a late 22N tag. We had scouted some and had a pocket of bulls nailed down in the bottom of this small rim. Opening morning we snuck down in the dark and got into position. As soon as it got light people started shooting straight over us at the bulls below us. We were 300 yards and they had to be shooting at least 700 yards at these elk. They shot over 20 times at these elk right over our heads as we are running for cover. That was one of many close encounters with the crazy amount of people. That year they split the two late hunts as they do now. There was 250 tags in each hunt and it was insane the amount of people. I looked at the regs this year out of curiosity and the first hunt has 400 tags and the second has 470 tags. I will be really surprised if someone does not get shot god forbid. 400 tags in that tiny unit, it is going to be absulutely crazy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COUESAZ Report post Posted September 27, 2009 Hunters have been shot in many states by other hunters. I see plenty of hunters in Orange vests and hats. A bit easyer to see. I will not wear them but many people do. I bet i almost get hit on the freeway atleast 10 times a day by people with Obama stickers on there cars but i will still drive my truck each day. Anyways if you give up Archery do not take up rifle i do not want anymore competition on tags. Glad you are both OK and to bad you could not have got ahold of the jerk that should not be hunting. Teach him a little bit about life. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted September 27, 2009 What an a$$ the g&f officer was to you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted September 27, 2009 WOW- how is that for memories!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
russd Report post Posted September 27, 2009 i have noticed, as far as elk numbers go, in 5b this year the elk are way down in numbers. where there used to be 3-4 bulls and cows there is maybe 1. maybe. i see they have 500 bull tags for november this year. i located 6 bulls this morning and there should have been twice as many where i was. it is getting harder to get away from the crowd to these days. to many tags equals to many hunters and to many elk killed. seems as always lately it comes down to money. sorry about your hunt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hawkeye Report post Posted September 27, 2009 I agree it was a tuff hunt at best. I call it paying your dues. I don't mean to sound disrespectfull. sorry for the bad time. don't sell your stuff. time for a rebound hunt. you got to have time to eat the apple cobbler try to enjoy yourself no matter what happens. we put to much pressure on ourselfs sometimes got to smell the roses. Oh after 44 years of hunting and 30 of it hunting for archery elk I have paid my dues. I am not quiting because of a hard hunt I am quiting hunting in Arizona. I have no respect for the game and fish dept. And after weighing the enjoyment with the hasle, price and disrespect the game and fish has for the sportsmen of Arizona, they can have it. I will save my money and do some research and start hunting other states. I have a coues tag on the SanCarlos and am looking forward to the hunt. I think my money will be better spent on other hunts out of state. You archery elk hunters should be happy about one less app. I hope you don't become the statistic we almost became. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobbyo Report post Posted September 27, 2009 Hey, I respect your decision. If its a terrible time why do it? Good luck on your Coues hunt. Bob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redman Report post Posted September 27, 2009 There seems to be a very common theme on the quality of the archery hunts this year.... You only hope the person who shot was shooting at an animal, not just taking a shot at the sound or your son, one would think after you alerted the person they would "come clean". Just think, next year the rut will start on Sept 10! While scouting with a friend, we ran into a nice gentleman who was very excited to have an archery bull tag....he said "only 240 tags" this should be a great hunt, we said.....double that number.... there will be that many (240) more cow hunters.....I felt we just took the air out of him like a ballon... Redman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hawkeye Report post Posted September 27, 2009 No he wasn't shooting at an elk. He was shooting at what he thought was a bull in the brush on the final minutes of the last day of hunting. We never heard elk running off. At that range and thick brush we would have heard the noise of elk after we yelled and all of the commotion. The arrow came through the brush about the heighth of an elk. If my son had been standing instead of sitting he would have been shot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Report post Posted September 27, 2009 i have noticed, as far as elk numbers go, in 5b this year the elk are way down in numbers. where there used to be 3-4 bulls and cows there is maybe 1. maybe. i see they have 500 bull tags for november this year. 500 tags? Oh my lord...what has the G&F done. Well if you guys are not seeing them now. In 3 years......it's gonna get UGLY!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GodIsGood Report post Posted September 27, 2009 We had a scary moment because a friend of mine drove up to help towards the end of the first week... we were running and gunning a morning bull that was chuckling and glunking nearby. We had 4-wheeled into a rough area the night before and slept in my SUV... some jerk on a quad drove right up to our trucks - then drove and parked about 25yrds away and started to stalk the same bull I was. Now he couldnt KNOW we were on that bull, but it would have been a reasonable assumption for a courteous hunter [hard to find these days], but parking so close to our vehicles was just ridiculous! I was ahead of their efforts and the bull wasnt interested in cow calls anyway... but my buddy who was throwing out occasional calls was also carrying a Montana decoy. The fella who was also stalking the bull actually came to full draw on my buddy before my friend threw down the decoy and motioned for him to piss off. I think if I use that technique in the future I would have that person AT LEAST have some florescent orange/pink marker tape dangling on his hat or the top of the decoy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapshot Report post Posted September 27, 2009 Very glad you and your son are o.k. That was a scary, and what could have been, a letal situation. People shooting blindly into the bushes have no business being in the field with a license. Sounds like the culprit was throwing a desperate hail mary arrow in the hopes of getting something My hot blooded Norwegian temper would have got the best of me in a situation like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Report post Posted September 27, 2009 Hawkeye, Did you file a report with G&F? I hope this person cannot hunt for the next 10 years! IF my wife finds about this wild arrow, she will stop me from hunting! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
