Unit 9 Arizona Elk Hunt Success Photos

[coueswt]

What's up with the # of wild horses in 9? I went to an area that has always had 4 or 5 but this year I seen 100+ In the same area. I wanted to ask the G&F but never seen them.

[azborn2hunt]

Those were/are Navaho Indian horses loose. (assuming we are talking about the same area) They shouldn't be there. The fence on the Nav side is not maintained well and the Indians aren't too worried about it.

[rossislider]

Wow, just read through most of the replies on this topic (they were quite long) and I have to say I was pretty surprised with some of the comments directed towards Jay and Darr. I had the opportunity to meet them both earlier this year at a FREE turkey seminar they put on at Basspro. Everything I have ever seen, heard, experienced, and read about their operation suggests top tier guides that have done a lot to help educate fellow hunters and improve upon the sport they love. Keep up the awesome work guys! I hope to have the pleasure and honor of hunting with you some day!

[azborn2hunt]

You wrote:

1) Did you find a specific area where every bull had a big back end and not droughted? ~ every bull? of course not

2) Are you agreeing that antler growth overall was less than normal? I believe it was down overall. ~ we have crossed that bridge

3) Do you agree that there were far less bulls under 360 than a normal in Unit 9? I believe there were far less bulls under 360 this year than normal. ~ I thought your theory of "extreme droughted" bulls means u saw far 'more' under 360

4) Did you find one specific type of browse that you feel the bulls that you found that were over 360 were feeding on? ~ review prev. post. The one constant I found were great grasses and forage in some areas. But grass is a guess. Cliffrose was healthy way out there too.

5) The two bulls that were shot over 400 came from one area, do you feel they fed on something to make them big like normal or do you think their age allowed them to be big regardless of feed throughout the spring and summer? ~You ask "do you feel", What do I have to do with those two random bulls that I didn't hve anything to do with.?

 

6) Do you feel that those bulls over 400 spent the entire summer in one spot then remained there for the rut or do you feel they moved to rut? ~ as you know, some bulls travel far to rut and some stay in same general area. But I will give you this tidbit, these bulls were not in the area during the summer. Not the bigger ones anyway.

7) Do you mind posting a picture of the bull you harvested so we can admire? ~not my bull to post. I have an opinion that you and your crew don't like. Showing the pic of the bull won't change that you still don't like my opinion that there wasn't a unit wide extreme droughted bunch of bulls this year.

 

 

You said: . As to the Google comment, I cannot control google searches. You might have to take that up with Google. ~ nice sarcasm! see you're good at it too.

 

I still believe that this year was way down on antler size quality. Was it still a great fun hunt? Absolutlely. Did we still try very hard to find a good one? Absolutely. Did other hunters give equal effort? Absolutely. Is it my opinion that Unit 9 was nothing like what we are all used to? Absolutely. Did a few fortunate hunters harvest some fantastic bulls? Absolutely. ~ Absolutely... wait no... I just got caught up in your mo.

 

As far as expectations of my findings or performance, no one has higher expectations than myself. I push myself to great lengths to do everything I can to find trophy animals. The reality of hunting and scouting is sometimes you find them and sometimes you don’t. I go out each morning with high expectations for what might lie in front of me that day. I will say again I am so glad that you found a few great bulls. I would argue that if you believe that overall antler growth this year in Unit 9 was anything close to “normal” then we have a different opinion of “normal”. ~True, as guides compete for the biggest bull each year... there's always a "new normal." Tell your cronies not to get their shorts in a wade. Just a joke.

 

You Said, “Location is the topic for me; Elk are mostly grazers. Elk burn a lot of energy in the fall (cows included). God has wired them to know how to find the best energy source available at that time of year. It still amazes me how they find these places for fast. Look for the good grasses (growing densely together in large expanses). Grass is everywhere but there are many pockets that will make you look twice.”

I agree with this last paragraph. ~ Good grasses this year was everywhere. From the pines to the plains. The only thing I observed that was different in the few areas I found were the thicker/denser patches of grass in open expanses. Just an observation, not sure if this made the difference.

 

Elk are plentiful in Unit 9 and this year was no different. ~ yes from east to west

 

I look forward to your pics and response. Hopefully, I can learn something from this. ~ more sarcasm! I accept that! Maybe I dropped you some clues. Where do I send the invoice? right?

 

Jay, You're a good sport to volley back and forth with me. I actually respect you more now than I didn't yesterday... did

 

Kaffinator - I see you're hangin around down below and I got your message. Thanks so much for contributing to the topic! But You're 51 now! stop being a wiener... or whiner... spelling? oh well You pick one.

[azborn2hunt]

ooops... Im meant Bonercollector... not kaffer62,,, Sorry Kaff my very last line was meant for him not you. You're not a whiner at all.

 

And everybody... stop feeling sorrow for the Jay. He's a big boy and has chosen to talk about how we see the hunt this year. I never said he is bad,,, and never mentioned Darr at all. I know ur all used to patting each other on the butt around here and I like butt pattin' too. however a little discussion is healthy too

 

And I contributed to another fellow member by answering his question and wild horses. .. thank you vm

[Seldom Drawn]

A lot of you make some very valid points, but I don't think the growth was that bad.I think with all the moisture and feed everywhere,

and lack of rut activity a lot of us struggled including me at finding the big bulls, we all have are go to spots that produce every year

but his year a lot of areas didn't have the high concentration of elk in them so it made it tougher to find the big guys They went wherever they wanted

with all that water and feed.most units elk were scattered from one end to the other,I spent 30 days scouting and hunting, I just think it was my fault that wasn't enough time this year but who new.when was the last time we got this much summer rain and yes a lot of nine got the rain as well.I think unless you found some of these areas you were going to be hunting smaller bulls the big ones are there most of us just couldn't find what we are use too.

 

Seldom Drawn

[trphyhntr]

wtf is going on in this thread?

 

edit it was also wetter this year in unit 1 than i have ever seen.

[cbryant11]

I know guys that go out every trip and see 380-400 inch bulls, do they have pics to back it up? NOPE, lefs see some pics now that september is over iam having big bull withdrawls!!!!

[Guest 300ultramag.]

I can sense a man-crush............ an admirer of sorts

 

a secret admirer

[8OWHUNT247]

azborn2hunt....... The few posts you have put on here have been a complete waste of everyone's time. I am sure you can go find somebody else to argue with on facebook or something. This site is for friends, family, and the great outdoors. Jay has a reputation that others have given him based on their experiences with him. YOU on the other hand could live in Costa Rica for all we know.

 

Jay, you've conducted yourself as a true gentlemen and I personally look forward to your respected comments and thoughts. Congrats to your hunters and their beautiful bulls.

[Guest 300ultramag.]

It's Muley man

[azborn2hunt]

3owhut- Ur sarcastic too! but I'm OK with that.

 

You said Jay has a reputation that others have given him? saywhat? Like all of us, Jay has a reputation that he created himself. His 'elk hunting' reputation is very good because he is a very good elk hunter. You got all defensive because I have a different opinion than his... and because I seem to use a little sarcasm in my posts, all in fun. I don't want to hurt your feelings when I say; man-up a little, and stop kissing up to a guy that (unlike your post) I probably know better than you do. Jay is a VERY good elk hunter, we all know that. I know from personal experience and most of you assume its true because he has shoved it down our throats with an unusually high volume(for one person) of vanity pics and vids on utube and the blogworld. I read another thread here at the mule deer forum (200" buck in 36A), Everyone there seems to agree that posting pic/vids online is not what most people run out to do when they kill a buck/bull, and actually most refuse to. They have no need to market themselves or a biz so they enjoy their success in a modest way. not right or wrong either way.

 

So we agree he is good at finding elk... with that comes a certain expectation.

RECAP:

Jay posted his archery hunter's bull. Diehard commented that he expected a bigger bull than that. Jay put the blame (his inability to locate a big bull) on nature because there wasn't enough moisture to grow big antlered bulls( not his fault). Jay went on to write about what he called "extremely droughted" bulls this year. I was in the same unit and was lucky I guess because I found plenty of big bulls. So I had to say something here... and offer a different opinion. Someone wrote and implied that if Jay didn't find any big bulls then they didn't exist. I have to roll my eyes at that. At that point I knew what I was up against. I saw a 'normal' quantity of big bulls. Jay said my 'normal' must be different than his 'normal'. My normal is 360+ as a 'big' archery bull.

 

Jay has created his reputation. So as it relates to elk successes... people like diehard questioned what happened with his archery hunter?. I would not have chimed-in if he didn't start blaming "extremely droughted" antler growth AND start a discussion(ASKING for opinions) about the topic. I was there and I disagree with his theory. That's all.

 

Im sorry bowhut, but did you have any good material to add to the topic with your experience of big or stunted antlers this year? or did I just create a brownie-point opportunity for you with the guide...

[8OWHUNT247]

have a great day azborn2hunt

[azborn2hunt]

... that's what I thought.

[Pixman]

azborn2hunt,

So where are the pics of these big bulls that you saw and keep talking about? It is easy to say you saw them but let's see the proof. Just about everyone has a camera or a phone you can take pics with even its not great quality. You stir the pot but don't back it up with any proof so its hard to believe you.