What are realistic expectations for unit 1?

[JakeL]

So I'm relatively new to elk hunting, and just drew my first elk tag in AZ. It's unit 1 early archery. I am super excited because I had absolutely zero expectation for drawing. But I'm also apprehensive because this year will be a difficult year for me to get any scouting in. So for now I am going to begin preparing mentally.

 

For those familiar with the unit, what can I expect? Does it feel pretty crowded with 300+ tags on that hunt? Are the stories of hearing dozens of bugling bulls 360 degrees all around you every morning complete fiction? Is almost every one of the 150 bulls tagged there each year a 300+ bull like the magazines and youtube videos show? Of course everyone's hunt is different, but how many bulls could be encountered within a typical day? What's the usual ratio of mature bulls to spikes and raghorns? (I consider any bull with around 5x5 or 6x6 frame mature).

 

The success rate last year was 6 in 10, how many of those 6 were over 250, 300, 350?

 

How many shot opportunities have you had in your hunts? How many of those were bulls over 250, 300?

 

So far, I don't really have any expectations. But I do have hopes. I hope to have at least one good close encounter per day. I do hope to at least have one good close encounter with a mature bull at some point in the hunt. And I would be absolutely tickled to tag any bull with a fully developed frame (so basically even a smallish 5x5 would be lovely). Would my hopes be fairly realistic expectations? Hopefully I will have a couple friends with more experience there helping me. Any way it goes, I know I will have fun.

[wapitibob]

I hunted it last year, getting there on the 10th. First place I went to I drove my quad past a herd standing about 100 yards off the road. I went around the corner, shut the quad off and there were probably 6 bulls going off right ahead of me. I was into bulls every day, all day. Calling didn't do a whole lot so I ended up sleeping in and sneaking on the bulls as they bedded down. I shot the bull in my avatar at 12:00 noon, sneaking in and shooting him at 10-15 yards on day three. I had other hunts lined up and not being hung up on score I whacked him. If you have the time a 320 bull would be expected from my experience. I did run in to some hunters but one area was well known as a rifle area so people were expected. The other spot I ran in to a guy and he had walked in about 2 miles to get there. My experience was that most locals didn't do much walking especially when elevation was involved.

I would have a bunch of spots picked out and would be adaptive, calling doesn't always work like in the videos. These Elk know what you are and they recognize the other bulls are too. Forget the moon and don't worry about any rain, you should have a good hunt.

If I don't draw NM I may bring the wife down for some calling and picture taking. If I do and you're solo I can give you a cpl spots if you're having trouble.

[Couzer]

You can expect a 350" + bull if you scout hard. If you don't spend much time scouting good possibility much much smaller and maybe even tag soup. There are a few big ones in there 370 - 400 plus bulls

[Pine Donkey]

Last year bulls were everywhere, very active and aggressive during the first three days. After that, things slowed down, but we were still in bulls everyday. The last couple days things picked up again. In the first 3 days we called in a dozen bulls, with the biggest at about 320. We did work into some bigger bulls that were vocal, but not interested in our calls.

 

 

I hunted all day long 10 of the 14 days. I prefer to get away from the roads and as a result only ran into one hunter out in the woods. There are plenty of hunters in the closer areas and those areas hold a lot of animals. I only saw one bull that would score above 400, but I did see a lot of "good" bulls. The majority of the bulls were 6 points, with many in the 280-300 range. 320-340 is a realistic bull for most hunters. Bigger bulls are a definite possibility, but they that a lot of work and a little luck.

 

There are a lot of good posts through the years about unit 1. Do a search and enjoy. Good luck!

[Coues79]

I live in the unit and had a very productive fall seeing some very very large bulls.... everyday, unpressured. Depends on where you are. There are a few limited places to find pockets away from folks.... the rut can be amazingly fun when the animals aren't as pressured when you find these pockets.

 

Not sure how many 400" bulls will come out of 1 this year... there were a ton of giants killed last year out of the unit... add a record dry winter and spring.

[JakeL]

Sounds pretty good so far. I really don't care about score or inches, in fact I have previously sworn that no animal I kill will ever have a tape measure taken to its antlers. I simply like hunting mature animals. It sounds like there is no shortage of those. One theme to many of the post I've read about unit 1 is that some areas are typically more crowded than others. I've been around enough to know not to ask for honey holes, so I won't. But what are the areas that get more pressure? Are there certain roads, hills, flats, etc that I can count on company?

[rageinthesage]

For your first elk tag even though its a really good one, I would just try to get that first notch under you belt.

[Becker]

Concentrate on finding the cows. If there are cows there will be bulls. Since you are not looking for the new world record I would imagine any good group of cows will have a bull with or around them that you would likely want to shoot. With the amount of tags like mentioned before in this post, calling can be productive early, but everyone is so hot to trot to call in a big bull that the bulls tend to get quiet pretty quickly. They are not dumb unless the rut is going off the chain. Even then I think the BIG boys are always somewhat suspicious. The whole unit is good elk country so I don't think there is a bad place to go. The last time I hunted it was the year of the fire. The rut was pretty spotty for us. We went 3 days without much action and the places we went were crawling with people. We branched out and did some late night scouting/listening sessions and managed to get into some of the craziest rutting activity I have ever seen. Bulls screaming non-stop all day long for two days. My wife had the tag and she managed to slip an arrow into one of the bigger bulls we had seen. The main meaning behind this story is don't get stuck in one particular spot, unless you are after a particular bull. Adaptability is key if things are NOT going the way you like. Focus on what the bulls want AKA the LADIES, and you should do just fine!

 

 

Here is the bull Jody ended up killing on that hunt!!!

 

[cmbbulldog]

Your expectation should be somewhere between have an unbelievable time in the woods with family and friends to the time of your life in the woods chasing elk with your family and friends. If you happen to kill an elk, then that's great to.

[cmbbulldog]

Becker - Awesome bull

[Swivelhead]

Hunt as hard as you can and good things will happen. The whole unit is an elk pasture. Likely, you'll see bulls that will knock your eyes out!

[ciomber]

I had that hunt the year after Wallow fire and it was incredible fun. Rutting was crazy, bulls going off all afternoon and evening. We scouted around Greens peak and St peter dome area which had alot of hunters set up on day one of hunt. The good thing is there are tons of area on foot that get you away from roads and hopefully hunters if your willing to hike up the hills. Great unit, good luck and have fun, should be a blast.

[trphyhntr]

So I'm relatively new to elk hunting, and just drew my first elk tag in AZ. It's unit 1 early archery. I am super excited because I had absolutely zero expectation for drawing. But I'm also apprehensive because this year will be a difficult year for me to get any scouting in. So for now I am going to begin preparing mentally.

 

For those familiar with the unit, what can I expect? Does it feel pretty crowded with 300+ tags on that hunt? Are the stories of hearing dozens of bugling bulls 360 degrees all around you every morning complete fiction? Is almost every one of the 150 bulls tagged there each year a 300+ bull like the magazines and youtube videos show? Of course everyone's hunt is different, but how many bulls could be encountered within a typical day? What's the usual ratio of mature bulls to spikes and raghorns? (I consider any bull with around 5x5 or 6x6 frame mature).

 

The success rate last year was 6 in 10, how many of those 6 were over 250, 300, 350?

 

How many shot opportunities have you had in your hunts? How many of those were bulls over 250, 300?

 

So far, I don't really have any expectations. But I do have hopes. I hope to have at least one good close encounter per day. I do hope to at least have one good close encounter with a mature bull at some point in the hunt. And I would be absolutely tickled to tag any bull with a fully developed frame (so basically even a smallish 5x5 would be lovely). Would my hopes be fairly realistic expectations? Hopefully I will have a couple friends with more experience there helping me. Any way it goes, I know I will have fun.

will depend largely on how good a hunter you are.