shedcrazy45 Report post Posted June 26, 2014 hey guys, I drew a unit 10 late tag and its looking like the growth is going good but on a 1 to 10 scale 10 being best how would you say its going from what you're seeing?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LovinthehuntAz Report post Posted June 26, 2014 I say 7-8. ?? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Dog Report post Posted June 26, 2014 6. Unit 10 typically has larger bulls but this dry spell is definitely taking a toll. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SirRoyal Report post Posted June 26, 2014 Bottom line is the age class of the bulls in 10 is dropping rapidly! You can't keep up this kind of early bull tag allotment and keep killing monster bulls! Horn growth will be about like last year! Although there is always a few monster bulls taken! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rageinthesage Report post Posted June 26, 2014 I haven't been scouting yet but it probably more like 4/5, you have to factor in when its a severe drought like it is, is antler density and just because a bull may look good. On a year like 2005 when Arizona had the best moisture over the entire year bulls had maximum density and tine length and time to grow, so like on a year like this where all the tanks are dry there's no rain to bring the nutrition they need in their food and water (water is stagnant or hauled in), just because the grass is green doesn't mean its full of nutrition that they need. Bulls are all probably losing 10-20" maybe more maybe less in certain areas. All the pix you guys are posting are great pix but they all look super droughted to me. I have a feeling we will see a ton of busted bulls with brittle and frayal antlers. I have a unit 10 archery bull tag as well and I think it is going to be a tough frustrating hunt, but very thankful for the tag and looking forward to it. For example of this I have a set of sheds from '04 extremely bad drought year that scored 362" and a buddy of mine a couple months later picked up sheds from the same bull a 1/4 mile up the draw a few months later off the same bull and they were from '05, those sheds scored 398", 30+" of lost tine length in one year. Don't know why the pic is side ways but the sheds in the first pic on the bottom are the same bull from the bottom pic but the triple brow obviously swapped sides. Both pix are sheds mounted on skulls. On another note his antlers weighed nearly 15 lbs a piece and feel like they were chizzled out of stone and mine were around 10 lbs a piece. Pretty staggering #'s if you ask me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shedcrazy45 Report post Posted June 27, 2014 ya we could have used a lot more rain! but hopefully everything turns out good, I had the same tag 2 years ago and there where some really good bulls along with some smaller ones throughout the hunt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naturebob Report post Posted June 28, 2014 I had a early Bull tag in one of the worst drought years. 1996. Unit one killed a 330 6x6 , very cemetric. not many bulls taken any bigger that year. Iv'e read 10-20% horn reduction in a drought year.Just 10% would of made him a 360. Back then I didn't know the difference, so I was happy. Glad I didn't draw this year , now I got 20 points. Good luck to all that drew, I will be waiting to see results. There will be some biggies I think not just a mass of big ones..................BOB! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mc68 Report post Posted July 2, 2014 Bob, you are spot on from what I have always heard about drought years and horn growth, expect a 10-20% reduction in horn growth...putting that into perspective means a bull that would have gone 400" MAY lose up to 80" this year! If this holds true that bull would score somewhere between 320 and 360 this year. That is a huge difference to a wet year. Not saying all bulls are going to be droughted out, but I am in no way expecting it to be a strong year for top end bulls. As luck would have it, I too drew an archery tag for unit 1. I seem to have poor luck in drawing tags on good years, my last tag was unit 27 during the year of the Wallow fires. The overwhelming majority of bulls I found that year were extremely lacking in mass and length as well. I did shoot a bull on the twelfth day of the hunt that scored 320. I had the bull aged and they told me he was 10+. I have no doubt that on a good year he would have been much larger. I looked at over 40 bulls and the best one I saw was a 350 type bull. Just hoping I can find one this year that has found someone's garden to have kept him going strong:) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alpinebullwinkle Report post Posted July 2, 2014 MC I seem to be having the same draw luck as you, drawing often on the drought years. My last year also was 2011 archery bull unit #27. I viewed the same poor horn quality as you but ended up shooting the second biggest bull I saw during a total 14 day hunt. My last day bull scored 347 and I was very pleased to get him. Not complaining though...as I have been drawn for 19 bull tags in 42 years of applications. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yotebuster Report post Posted July 3, 2014 I haven't been scouting yet but it probably more like 4/5, you have to factor in when its a severe drought like it is, is antler density and just because a bull may look good. On a year like 2005 when Arizona had the best moisture over the entire year bulls had maximum density and tine length and time to grow, so like on a year like this where all the tanks are dry there's no rain to bring the nutrition they need in their food and water (water is stagnant or hauled in), just because the grass is green doesn't mean its full of nutrition that they need. Bulls are all probably losing 10-20" maybe more maybe less in certain areas. All the pix you guys are posting are great pix but they all look super droughted to me. I have a feeling we will see a ton of busted bulls with brittle and frayal antlers. I have a unit 10 archery bull tag as well and I think it is going to be a tough frustrating hunt, but very thankful for the tag and looking forward to it. For example of this I have a set of sheds from '04 extremely bad drought year that scored 362" and a buddy of mine a couple months later picked up sheds from the same bull a 1/4 mile up the draw a few months later off the same bull and they were from '05, those sheds scored 398", 30+" of lost tine length in one year. Don't know why the pic is side ways but the sheds in the first pic on the bottom are the same bull from the bottom pic but the triple brow obviously swapped sides. Both pix are sheds mounted on skulls. On another note his antlers weighed nearly 15 lbs a piece and feel like they were chizzled out of stone and mine were around 10 lbs a piece. Pretty staggering #'s if you ask me. I agree on all things except the grass being poor. If its green right now, it is LOADED with nutrients. There's a reason desert states grow bigger bulls then places that get more rain, they need food that is dense in nutrients, that's what a normal precip year in az gets them. I would argue that it's the lack of grass, or them having to eat dead grass from last falls monsoon that would set them back. If it was all about bulk and lots of grass, the bulls in Montana would be huge compared to the bulls in AZ, NM, and NV. We all know that isn't the case. I've heard a lot of antelope gurus say that a drought year is the best time to find a big one, but that's kind of apples to oranges as well. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shedcrazy45 Report post Posted July 7, 2014 the way I see it a tag is a tag haha, this will be my second elk hunt and I am 17 so I'm not after a giant but for the first couple days I will be looking for something 250+, but a spike on the last day for my first elk doesn't sound so bad either, do you guys think it would be pushing it to try and find a 300+ on a late hunt this year? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
