Unit 9 Arizona Elk Hunt Success Photos

[Jay Scott]

Darr and I just got home from 30 days of elk hunting.  We have lots of stuff to post about our elk hunts this year in Unit 9 on both the archery and muzzy hunts.  Here is a pic of Lori Benson's Muzzleloader Bull that she harvested on the six night.  Also a pic of Bryan Otts first elk on the archery hunt.  More pics and video to come soon........

 

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[Kaffer62]

Great bulls. Gets me pumped for my late rifle bull tag in 9!

[bonecollector]

Congrats to hunters and guides on some nice bulls.

[Adicted]

nice elk...good job

[diehard]

Congrats to all involved. .....I expected a lot bigger bull's out of 9 though....

[couesmagnet]

Dandy bulls fellas, especially for that dudes first elk with a bow. Love the big 4ths on the muzzleloader bull. Looks like it was a fun and rewarding hunt. Die hard i heard 9 was very difficult this year, those are respectable bulls on any year, and dandy bulls on a tough year. Great job to all involved.

[Jay Scott]

Me too Diehard......There were a couple of giants killed that wandered from their sanctuary in the park in Unit 9 this year. I would say 98% of the rest of the bulls were severely droughted in the fifths and main beams. Worst antler growth year I have seen in 20 years of doing this. Still a great time and a blessing to be enjoying Gods creation during the month of September. I can't wait to hear others perspective on antler growth in Units 8,9,10 and 7W. We saw one bull over 360 between Darr and I in 30 days of working it over pretty good. Got to say Mossback Arizona absolutely knocked it out of the park this year and I take my hat off to them for their success in these conditions. Going to be posting some theories and other thoughts in the coming days. For me it was a good year to learn a few things about elk.......

[couesmagnet]

This seemed to be a very strange year indeed. There were quite a few super giant bulls killed(bulls over 400) across the state. Unit 9 produced at least 2 bulls over 400 ,which is in line for a normal year as far as 400 inchers to hit the dirt. There were a few bulls killed in the middle in 9 (370 to 380), and basically the same went for 10 also. There were also several super giants killed on the reservations (420 plus). there were several awesome bulls to come from 27 and 1, and a couple from 23. It seemed the amount of really big bulls were getting killed as a normal year, but the difference i saw across the board was a big lack in the upper middle class bulls(360 -380). while the drought affected some areas more than others, the normal amount of 400 inchers were taken in spite of this, and maybe an above average amount of super giants were filmed and killed across the state(420 plus). This seems like an anomaly when the drought should have affected the upper end bulls just as the middle end bulls there seemed to be a lack of across the state including 9, 10. & 7 east pumped out a close to 400 bull and another ive heard about in the high 420's. Why were there so many really big bulls killed , and so very few ones between 350 and 380, thats my biggest question. Any thoughts on this jay? The bulls were either really really big, or they were under 350 which is still a stud.

[azborn2hunt]

There was plenty of great antler growth out there this year. My experience was great and have been told the same by others. Over analyzing antler growth and blaming weather this year cracks me up. To Diehards point of bigger bulls in 9... Looks like the guide just had an off year in that respect. "Doing it yourself" next year Mr. Ott? ...

[couesmagnet]

I saw a ton of weak 5ths this year also jay in 23. 80 percent of the bulls with big fronts has week 5ths. Azborn2hunt, i also believe the drought played a role this year, im just trying to figure out how so many 400 inchers were killed but yet the upper middle end bulls seemed droughted to me in their 5ths. If jay and darr spent around 30 days up there and din't see anything over 360 or so the pickings were slim. Jay and darr are tenacious with their scouting , and with spending time with them over the years i have seen very few willing to put the time effort, and money it takes to find big animals. Jays down right methodical with a map, and picking out little holes where the critters live. Darr's a rabid animal also when it comes to finding big critters.

[azborn2hunt]

With all due respect to you cmagnet, I don't know who you are, what you do and what your expertise is(not asking) And you don't know me either. However it seems like you must be the statewide elk check station monitor. Your first post reads like every hunter statewide reports their kill to you so you can measure the antler growth. So if you do have some roll in checking-in elk kills... then my apology. However, I am absolutely certain that you have not seen most bulls taken this year... and the bulls I saw(killed and alive) and the one I helped with... were giants. Just know that not everyone runs to post their pictures online. If we want to talk about what was learned this year, antler growth isn't the topic... Location is. The elk were extremely pocketed this year in the N.az. unit I hunted. Most bulls we found were low in known areas and shockingly pocketed from past years, and they were hanging in places out there I have never seen them in before. Very hard to find. There were Big areas where sign is usually found but weak this year after July ended. For the most part, we found two tiny pockets where the bulls were tearing it up. Water was everywhere in the unit and not the factor contributing to these two small areas. We had a huge monsoon season that changed the landscape and maybe the elk were just hitting old rutting grounds of the past. Healthy grass was abundant in these spots and the only physical thing we found that seemed to be what held the elk out there. We shot a 375 bull and tried getting on 3 others larger (1 was a beast). "Antler growth" was so far from our concerns. Similar stories were told from people we know.

 

To say the guides are so great in their scouting and mapping, and because they couldn't find the trophy class bulls this year... you and he imply the whole state must be suffering from antler growth issues. Then start to discuss poor anther growth/drought conditions. Hey, everyone has an off-year (ask Eli Manning). could it be possible they did too? Putting guides on pedestals makes most of us chuckle. You may be shocked at the number of guys out there (average Joes) who can hunt, scout, read maps, find pockets better than most. And not charge a dime to help a friend. It was a great year for antler growth... pocketed antler growth I guess

[Jay Scott]

CouesMag, I appreciate you trying to substantiate our record. My opinion of our record is that we do fairly well most of the time but some times we don't. I know you guys have killed some awesome animals over the years and you don't have to answer to anyone. As to AZBorntoHunt, you sound like you had a great year and that is fantastic. I still believe Unit 9 was way off of normal on antler growth. I saw many bulls that had weak fifths and short main beams. With that said there were a few giants over 400 killed in the very unit we pounded for 30 days. I obviously did not find any of those bulls but tried very hard to do so. My hats off to the Mossback Az crew for their tremendous success this year on harvesting one giant after another. They always work extremely hard.

 

I am not making excuses for having an off year. It is what it is. My theory is that the bulls had a very weak start and the spring was very dry. Obviously some bulls found a way to pack on the size but the majority did not in my opinion. I think the grass fed bulls were extremely droughted and the few big ones must have found some specific type of browse to get them through. I can only speak for Unit 9 this year as this was the only unit I spent 30 days straight in. Most years in Unit 9 my experience is that there are many 340-360 bulls and a few giants. This year it seemed that there were many 320-340 bulls and a few giants but the gap seemed to fall in the 340-360 range. We have photos and video of many droughted bulls throughout the entire unit.

 

With that being said we gave thanks every night to have the opportunity to chase this majestic animal that God created. It should also be noted that that was the greenest from edge to edge that I have ever seen any elk unit in Arizona. I just think it came to late.

 

Again congrats to Azborntohunt on your success of finding a great bull. I can't wait for next elk season and the adventure that awaits. I hope to keep learning and experiencing the great outdoors for years to come.......

[couesmagnet]

Azborn 2 hunt i dont have a check station set up but i wish i did so that i could have congratulated all the lucky hunters personally. I do how ever know several of the guides across the state and chose to use my phone to call all these great people i call friends and acuantances thru out the hunt for their opinions and just to enjoy some of what they were experiencing on their hunts. I also called my indian friends on the san carlos who are also awesome hunters for their reports. I spent 27 days straight in unit 23 so in reality if it has to be first hand then i can only speak for what i saw in 23. I wish i could have found more big bulls myself but i wasnt good enough to find them this year, just like several other guides. There were however a couple toads killed this year in 23 so i did miss finding those ones, darn it. I saw weak 5ths on a lot of bulls and thats what i saw. The biggest i saw was in the low 380s and we ended up killing a 368 6bull by 6, with a pretty good back end. We are very proud of him, but wish we could have done better. Im glad you had a better year than most, its nice to hear someone was knee deep in giants, thats always a good thing. Azborn2hunt welcome to the site i see these r your first couple posts. Why dont you introduce yourself so maybe i could call you also next year for a report also, the check station always loves a good report.

[couesmagnet]

One more thing with regards to the pedestal comment, i put several of my friends on a pedestal when it comes to hunting and jay and darr are def some of them. Heres several more i also consider worhty of the pedestal, greg crogh, steve chappell,brady dupke,richie hogan,jay lopeman,paul stewert,and many others, just to many to name. I have learned something and in some cases several trinkets of knoledge in some form or fashion from all of them. I wish i could call myself the best hunter out there but im not. When you say there are so many people out there that do it for free and could do this stuff as good or better, i couldnt agree with you more. There are hundreds of average dudes out there that are some of the best hunters and fellow hunter could meet. Ive found that theres just a lot of die hard guys out there with awesome skill sets of their own. Unfortunately we as a group dont get to hear your guys stories like we wish we could cause your not advertising your accomplishments like the guides do. The guys that have the chance to spend a lot of time in the field are the ones i want to learn from and talk to as much as possible, and average jo has tought me as much as the big namers have over my years of guiding. Jsut when you think you have these animals figured out, u learn its them that have you figured out. I spent around 130 in the field per year the last 7couple years or so, and there isnt one hunt i dont learn something on my own or thru someone else.i think jay would agree with the learning thing also. Heres what i learned this year, just because i couldnt find, didnt mean they werent there. Good ole jed larson and his buddy found 2the absolute pigs in places i had been looking. Congrats to them also,what a excellent job they did.

[azborn2hunt]

I was in unit 9 too.

Jay.. these are just man to man observations based on your writings. After all, you did ask for other opinions.

 

You are a very good elk hunter. I happen to know that. A lot of us are. However, most folks are average elk hunters only because that's their choice. The choice is simply... "time spent". Most hunters don't have enough time to be really be good at finding elk. Either because they don't have it at their disposal, or they just don't make it a priority. You and all guides happen to have a commodity that most don't have... something of value. You have 'time'. With it, You have found success. Time spent is the real secret to anyone's success. By spending that commodity, we get a return dividend of know how. Its that simple. Over-rating the need to master an elk call and marketing other gadgets is leading new elk hunters down the wrong path. I say, Simply with a Primos external mouth call such as the Lip Service... and nothing else... a guy with a little know how can down any big bull out there. Knowing how to move on elk is way move valuable than thinking you need to know how to call one in. Know-how comes from a willingness or ability to spend time out there. Most don't.

 

Making excuses?

You have had past successes. So don't be surprised when guys like diehard makes a valid point. You said 30 days were spent in unit 9! Then where's the beef? We expect more from you in unit 9. You have created this expectation that people have of you with all the videos and pics at every turn on the internet with ytube and bloggn'. Its a marketing strategy for you of course. When diehard said he expected unit 9 to have bigger bulls than your archery hunted was lead to... You then implied its not your fault and quickly blamed the "extremely droughted" bulls. You gave a stat that 98% of all bulls were stunted with antler growth. Because I was in the same unit I had to say it wasn't the case. We saw many bulls with poor 3rds, 5ths, and main beams. But we saw the usual number that were jaw droppers too. Our experience in 9 was a complete 360 from what you claimed was a bad year. Maybe we got lucky and found the few rutting pockets way out there. You didn't... no biggy...it happens. Its OK to say it. Its a difficult pill to swallow when there is a rep to protect. My guess is that you will be back in the saddle again next year, doin just fine.

 

cmagnet, You said; "If jay and darr spent around 30 days up there and didn't see anything over 360 or so the pickings were slim" "Jay and Dar are tenacious rabid animals" SO jay is the best... and if jay couldn't find a big antlered bull.... then big bulls don't exist this year. That's an eye roller. Pedestal may have been the wrong term for me to use, and u missed my point. Apparently you're in their fold of guides and there's not much I can say. I have been in unit 9 since I was 10 hunting deer with my dad and bros. Back then there wasn't an elk in the unit. Now its hard to find a deer. I wanted to give my opinion to your coat-tailing with Jay opinion. It was a very good year to see large antlered bulls. It must have been the giant monsoon that changed things up so much and threw most guides for a loop. I smile to know that. you're ok with me saying that right?

 

Jay is right about one thing... Its always great to be in God's country, enjoying His majestic creation!