19A Cow hunt starting Dec. 8th

[THREEDFLYER]

19A is the unit I live in and is literally my back yard.....however being fairly new to Arizona I have not had time to give it much attention.

 

Will be an interesting hunt being so darn dry and warm, but going to find a high spot and let my bino's do the walking.

Water is getting scarce in the tanks that is for sure!

 

I chased a nice muley buck out of a tank last weekend when scouting.

 

Have heard that a few have tagged out on this weeks late bull hunt.

 

This is my 1st AZ elk tag and I am not well educated on the unit, but will take the advise of those who have been there and see what comes of it.

 

Stay tuned!

[THREEDFLYER]

UPDATE: Did some glassing in three areas at the north end of 19A including near St. Matthews Mtn, Robert Lee tank and another tank between Robert Lee and the Verde.

Saw a few deer but no elk, this was on Friday.

Today I hit the area near Powell Springs Campground near Cherry. Did not see deer or Elk but I did see a considerable amount of tracks.....but given the dry conditions I have no idea when they could have been made. Saw NO fresh droppings in any area I checked out so far.

 

Back out there again tomorrow!

[THREEDFLYER]

Saw one young bull today......no cows

Took a cruise mid day and glassed up a few guys WAY DOWN in a valley cutting up a cow.....one heck of a pack out for sure, but at least it's meat in the freezer!

[602Huntr]

Making progress! Good luck!

[THREEDFLYER]

Got into my hunting spot this AM only to find a camp with at least 10 tents set up right in the middle of the game trail leading to the spring........not a good surprise!!

Turns out it was a group with the Arizona Conservation Corps who are working the area all this week......REALLY!

 

One of the hazards of hunting public land.

 

Tom

[PRDATR]

Stick with it and you'll eventually get into them.

[THREEDFLYER]

Season wrap up......

Went out the Saturday before end of season and found an army of deer bowhunters in the woods. Apparently AZ Game and Fish decided to start the archery deer season on the 15th when the cow rifle season ran until the 17th.....HUH???? No idea who thought this was a good idea???

 

Anyway, I ended up spotting a herd of 10 elk in Coyote Canyon the morning of Saturday Dec. 16th at a range of 1,300 yards from the rim and could not close the gap. The archery guys were in there before light and had pushed them down into the canyon.....so I gave up on the area by late morning.

 

I relocated for the evening hunt back down to the Goat Peak area and discovered a high traffic area used by all types of game in a saddle which I decided to sit on until dark. I parked at the bottom of the hill which was on a jeep trail off the main road making it obvious that someone was hunting that spot. Just about a 1/2 hour before dark a crew of archery deer hunters trudged up the jeep trail right into the saddle I was sitting on.

 

Two thoughts.....again, why the season overlap? And second what part of a guy being parked on a jeep trail was so hard to understand by these archery guys???

 

Oh well, I have to remind myself that I am hunting on public land and apparently not all of the public knows about hunter etiquette.....

[Flatlander]

That archery deer hunt predates the time when elk even existed on Mingus. It starts the same Friday every year.

In AZ we are kind of spoiled as there are very few general seasons and AZGFD does their best not to overlap hunts.

 

In UT, ID and WY where I have hunted you will have concurrent elk/deer/antelope hunts running with general season tags overlapping with controlled hunts or draw tags. It can be a real zoo, especially when the elk hit the winter ground. Imagine having your limited entry bull tag you waited a decade to draw and on the same knob hunting the same herd is a group of dudes with spike tags they bought last night.

 

As far as etiquette, how were those guys supposed to know if you went up, down, around or anywhere else. It happens, and its aleays frustrating.

 

Hope you enjoyed your time out. Sounds like you learned some good intel for next time. And thats a tag you can draw with some regularity.

[thegunsmith2506]

That is a tough hunt. It took us a few years to figure it out. Best thing to do is get in and fill your tag opening morning. The last 5 tags we have had we filled in the first 3 hours of the hunt. Once they get pressured they change their normal routine. Sounds like you did pretty good to keep on them.

[CatfishKev]

Don't be discouraged. Persistence is key. You now have valuable info that will help you next time. Since you live close spend the rest of they year learning the unit better and elk behaviors and you should be golden next time around.

[THREEDFLYER]

Thanks all for the feedback, I considered this a learning/recon season and yes, I have come away with some valuable intel.

I agree that I need to get it done early in the season if I pursue the tag again in the future and hopefully I can use the knowledge gained to do it!!

 

I concentrate my elk hunting efforts in the state of Idaho as I prefer the non-resident over-the-counter archery ANY-ELK tag and I hit it the last 2 weeks of Sept typically as the rut is gearing up.

 

Happy Holidays and good luck to you all and keep your powder dry!