seeking help on AZ-22N late hunt for bull elk

[AZ_XL7]

One thing i learned about that unit is get off the road and go where none of the quad and rhino hunters wont go. To many guys are lazy and wont do that. They want everyone else to do the work for them. Just saying

[Mrs125coues]

Time to break out the popcorn................

 

 

LOL...no kidding!!

[Chet]

You just spoke up on a public forum your scouting spots. Why would you do that??? Now anyone who does a google search of unit 22north elk will know where you have scouted and where these bulls are at. There are tons of hunters who are too lazy to find their own spots and cruise the internet looking for everyone elses spots. Do yourself a favor as well as anyone else who has a 22north tag and keep the spots to PM only.

 

Haaa some truth, maybe.......

 

I entered a bass fishing tournament with my brother awhile ago. We pre-fished (scouted) a few days before the tourney and logged our successful spots on gps.

Later at dinner I mentioned that I overheard some other anglers chatting up their favorite honey holes. My brother laughed and said I only heard what they wanted me to hear.

Basically he said anglers are "liars" and if you overhear anything or they tell you anything, it's a lie or a lure to get you to fish some unproductive water while they fish the "hot spots".

 

Might public postings cover this same terrain? I'm sure we are all upfront and honest folks but realistically I'm not going to tell you where I saw that trophy bull until I bag & tag it.

It's all about the scout, the stalk and the shot... Other than that it's pretty much alot of work...

 

Cheers and much success to anyone who is drawn for 22N..........

 

Carlos the Swede

[azpredator@work]

desertyankee - My 11 year old son drew this tag last year for his first ever elk hunt. I spent 19 days in the field scouting the unit and found a few good spots I was confident in for the Dec hunt. He eventually killed his bull on opening morning an hr into the hunt. 332" unbroken 6x7. The bull was still in his core area from September and didn't move much from there. My son drew the same tag this year and we've seen a huge change from last year as several hunters have hunted the same areas that were vacant last year. Most of my scouting each weekend has resulted in relatively few elk sightings and mainly watching the other hunters trying to determine where they are moving the elk. That was my tactic last year as well. I would recommend you finding a packer ahead of season with mules. This year has a lot more growth than last year - generally speaking - so it will be a lot harder to pack out. I used a couple guys that work for the county last year and have to find their number for this year's hunt. They were great. If I knew how to post pics I could show you some - we're keeping an eye on a certain bull right now hoping he makes it through a couple more hunts . Good luck to you - shoot me a pm with your email if you'd like to see some pics.

[bullelk11]

I had the late hunt two years ago and it was pretty tough hunting. hunted in a t-shirt the four days then some weather came in and finally got the elk moving ended up shooting a small 5x5 on the fifth day up until that point I had only seen a spike and a bunch of cows. But since that hunt I have become a little more familiar with the unit went up last sat. glassed up 9 bulls and five cows bulls where decent one of the bulls was really nice a shooter for sure. good luck to you I have the hunt that starts day after thanksgiving. If anybody else has a tag same time send me a pm and if you get one down I might be able to help get it out if need be. no mules but can help pack out

[loco4coues]

I had the late hunt two years ago and it was pretty tough hunting. hunted in a t-shirt the four days then some weather came in and finally got the elk moving ended up shooting a small 5x5 on the fifth day up until that point I had only seen a spike and a bunch of cows. But since that hunt I have become a little more familiar with the unit went up last sat. glassed up 9 bulls and five cows bulls where decent one of the bulls was really nice a shooter for sure. good luck to you I have the hunt that starts day after thanksgiving. If anybody else has a tag same time send me a pm and if you get one down I might be able to help get it out if need be. no mules but can help pack out

 

Between my dad and brother and I we have killed 5 bulls on that hunt over the last few years. We enjoy the hunt and usually don't see to many other people.

 

Bullelk11, if you want to just tell me where that shooter bull is, I will take care of him for you

 

Good luck to everyone who has the tags, we have the thanksgiving hunt this year as well.

[desertyankee]

Thanks to all for weighing in; I've been away from computer today but will offer a few thoughts:

 

1) I've seen tons of elk sign,and elk themselves, everywhere I've scouted so far in 22 North; the "spots" I've mentioned are really no better or worse than the rest of the district. The whole place seems quite elky, and along those lines I also have a hard time believing AZGFD's number of 30,00 elk in the whole state; feels like a serious underestimation to me.

2) Wish I could PM, but as AZGriz points out I can't yet-- but others can certainly PM me their email addresses and I'll be glad to have some private sharing of stories, pix, etc.

3) I too was baffled about uploading pictures by the "URL address" box, until I saw a good tip on the Internet on how to do this: just drag the icon of the picture you want to post right into the web browser window (that little long slot at the top of the page where it says http://whatever/whatever). The URL for that picture will then magically appear in your browser window! Then you just highlight your picture's URL, go to your edit pull-down menu and choose "copy", and then finally go back to the coueswhitetail.com upload area, click in that URL address box, and choose "paste" from your edit menu. Presto--it's there, and through some strange magic your pictures will actually upload-- at least mine did. Hope this helps, give it a try.

4) Glad to hear from others who think that scouting and brush-busting are worthwhile efforts. I've actually kind of enjoyed the way the elk have succeeded in avoiding the tanks, and the multitudes of shooters waiting there for them, in this wetter-than-normal year. Now if AZ would just outlaw baiting, salt blocks, hunting radios and quads, we'd be approaching fair chase.

[AZP&Y]

D Y,

 

Don't overlook the access of the Az Trail that comes through HardScramble. This is Arizona public land at it's best.

 

http://www.aztrail.org/passages/pass_26.html

 

Get in a there a bit. Run your glasses over some nice country... Off the beaten path- there will be no motorized hindrance to your hunt.

 

Good luck!

 

Doug

Arizona Trail Steward

[desertyankee]

Thanks Doug,

I've been intending to see that area since reading (on the Web) a hiker's log of doing that section, from LF Ranch up to Hardscrabble-- and no surprise, they mentioned seeing lots of "small cow tracks" which they eventually figured out had been made by elk. From satellite pix, the area just east of there looks especially interesting.

[Chet]

You just spoke up on a public forum your scouting spots. Why would you do that??? Now anyone who does a google search of unit 22north elk will know where you have scouted and where these bulls are at. There are tons of hunters who are too lazy to find their own spots and cruise the internet looking for everyone elses spots. Do yourself a favor as well as anyone else who has a 22north tag and keep the spots to PM only.

 

Are you for real?

 

Like I said above, he can't PM yet.

 

Unit 22N is such a small area and there are to many tags given out anyways. Do your really think there are going to be any "secret" spots. Get real here.

 

Yes I am for real. It is not the specifics of the unit but rather the ethics of announcing your spots over the internet. There are still "secret spots" left in every unit and it would be nice for people to keep them that way. Secret spots does not mean I am the only one who knows about it, but one of only a very few. Given the odds that each person that knows about a secret spot gets drawn , there is a good chance you might be the only one hunting that certain canyon or area. He did not name anything special about 22 but why would you write anything over the internet about where you did or did not see animals.

 

The fact that he cannot PM yet is not an acceptable answer. All he has to do is post a few times, then he can pm. How hard is that?

 

+1

 

[azpredator@work]

picture test

[azpredator@work]

Well, I can't seem to be able to upload my son's elk from last year so here's the one we are hoping for this year. He broke off 3" of his 5th on his right side as of 2 weeks ago so he's still in good shape.

 

Thanks for teaching me how to upload pics. And yes, I use bait, salt and quads to see as many animals as possible.

[desertyankee]

hey AZPredator,

Nice pix!! Glad I was able to help-- and now if I see that bull I'll know he's yours and hold my fire . I'll probably wind up with something more like this one. . . and still be happy. And seriously, to each his own when it comes to the way we hunt; everyone has his own idea of what makes something a "trophy." I'd certainly agree that a hunt is way more satisfying when you succeed in getting a particular animal that you've already taken the time and effort to get to know-- no matter how you go about it.

[azpredator@work]

picture test

 

Holy crap - it finally worked!

[nanoHunter]

Nice Bull! That is a doozy!