2011 September Archery Bull

[yotebuster]

I was fortunate enough to draw a september archery tag this year in a slightly less desirable unit! I was pumped either way! I was up above the rim nearly every weekend all summer and learned a LOT about elk hunting in AZ! Lesson 1: The bulls definitely don't stay put from July and August till they rut! I had 50 different bulls on 6 cams on salts and water that I would've loved to shoot, and of all those bulls, I never saw one that I had on camera during the hunt! I had a couple bruisers that were hitting water like clockwork till the velvet dropped, then gone! Anyhow, the hunt was a rollercoaster for me but was an awesome time. I have no idea how AZ is able to give out so many tags and still have quality hunting! I didn't see a soul scouting all summer, then on opening day it was like someone opened the flood gate! I saw more people in one week of elk hunting AZ then I have in 15 years of hunting general hunts in MT and CO. Here's the weird thing, I saw way more elk too! I tried some quiet areas and was able to get away from the people to some extent, but it's still beyond me how the elk tolerate that much pressure and keep bugling, you guys in AZ have to consider yourselves lucky! I've bumped bulls 7 or 8 miles into the backcoutnry in montana and blown them out of an entire drainage just by having one cow in the herd wind me! Here it's totally different, despite the Indy 500 on quads that went on every morning, the elk bugled right through it! I had an opportunity at a 320 type bull that stopped broadside at 80 yards on a logging road, completely unaware of my presence, but I failed to realize that the overhanging limb halfway there was in the way! He got dang lucky that day. I had another chance at a monster bull that we glassed up in some open country. I was making a stalk on him and something spooked them right past me. I saw him coming and drew back, and tried every different noise I could make as he trotted by at 40 yards. He finally stopped after he got past me behind a tree of course, with his cows stopping at 20 yards staring at me and my drawn bow. Then they all bounced out of my life forever! He was a hammer with huge tops (for me anyhow, I would say he was a 370 bull, which is big for this guy!). Anyhow, the hunt dwindled down till the last morning, after having a rough go and getting screwed up by other hunters with a hoochy momma yet again, I was literally driving out of the unit to the highway to head down to the valley. I was 800 yards from the highway when a herd of cows ran across the road in front of me. I didn't see a bull, but knew that there had to be one somewhere, so I drove past a quarter mile and snuck back around and began flanking the herd in the ponderosas. I'm sneaking along at about 150 yards thinking to myself "this is the stupidest idea you've had all season". I finally caught a glimpse of a bull pushing them, of course it was the smallest herd bull in all of Arizona, but I wasn't about to be picky. They slowed and started feeding along, completely silent, so I slipped out ahead of them and snuck in a bit closer when I reached a thick spot. I couldn't beleive my eyes when all of the sudden a cow came feeding by, then another, then another. I ranged them at 30 yards. The bull finally trudged by after the 9th cow went past. I couldn't beleive it, I was about to kill a herd bull! He took a slightly different course and actually walked right toward me for a few yards, and I drew as his head went behind a ponderosa. He stepped out at 19 yards, slightly quartering toward me. I put it right on the front edge of his shoulder blade and drove a FMJ tipped with a 125 rage crossbow head all the way into his opposite shoulder. He lit out over a small rise and I almost instantly heard a crash, thinking it must be cows running away, I backed out and waited an hour. It wasn't necessary as the broadhead took the top of his heart off and he died mid stride about 65 yards over the rise. Another thing I'm thankful for is driving off trail to get a downed elk! All of the places I've shot elk before you wouldn't dream of getting a vehicle to! I was bound and determined to get this big guy in my truck whole. Using a seriies of straps and ropes, I almost did, I ended up sawing him in half and loading him in, took way longer then it wouldve to just bone him out there, but I really wanted to say that I loaded one in my pickup whole! He was a big bodied dude, but kinda light on the antlers. I took him to millers and he weighed 390 without head hide, guts, feet, or backstraps. I do believe he had to have been a mean butt bull to keep 9 cows in a place where he was 50-60" smaller then any other herd bull I saw! Someday I'll stick a 350 bull, but considering it was litereally the last 30 seconds of my hunt I'm pretty pumped. Side Note: I was worried about the taste of this bull as the 3 year old bull I shot in NM was tough as heck, but I was amazed to find out that he is excellent! Not that I think he's an old bull or anything, but hes defintely more mature then the tough little one I killed in NM, but way way better eating.

[mcelkhunter]

Better late than never!! Very nice bull. Congratulations

[CEI]

Better late than never!! Very nice bull. Congratulations

 

Plus 1!!!

[Elkaddict]

Good job!! Nice bull!

[izquik72]

That is quit a feat to load even half a bull in the pickup by yourself.

Thats a nice bull for the last hail mary

[buckmaster21]

very nice bull

[mitchel]

Awesome hunt and congrats on your success. Hope all your elk dishes are delish!! Thanks for the story.

[papa]

Looks like a good one to me. Great job

[bonecollector]

Thats a nice last second bull, Congrats!

[Pine Donkey]

Nice bull. Thanks for posting the story and pictures!