My wife and I apply somewhere new every year and do a trip. She has killed muleys,whitetails and bears, but elk has eluded her not for the lack of trying,close calls and plain bad luck. She wants to do AZ elk and its a state Ive never stepped foot in or researched at all. I have hunted many states out west, but AZ has not been one. Looking for advice on units that we could draw in a few years versus putting in for trophy units. We would rather do a fun hunt and see animals over hunting big bulls. We are able to hike in rugged country and spike out. We are looking to do the late rifle hunts. Any help would be great! I have info on WA,ID,UT and NV willing to trade for help. Pm me as I am sure some wouldn't want the unit they hunted posted on a forum. Thanks and happy hunting.
Arizona elk help
- Thread starter HUNTNNW
- Start date
Flatland Crusoe
Member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2014
- Messages
- 572
I think the late rifle hunts are best described as a general unit hunts with definite trophy potential rather than fun hunts with constant action.
Having done the late rifle hunt, AZ doesn't really have a lot of units where you hike in and spike camp to get away from people especially given the high tag numbers during the late rifle hunt. The units have too many roads cut everywhere and shut down or not people will drive everywhere. The few backcountry units in AZ aren't core elk range throughout the unit.
Guys who are successful in Arizona are very dedicated and diligent glassers. Seeing tons of elk wasn't my experience day in and day out in Arizona. The nature of the terrain was that you could often see 1-3 miles but you were looking into 1000 pockets between cedar trees and visibility was often fleeting.
Effort in an Arizona elk hunt is very much mental with the exception of getting an elk out of canyon.
wannakillabigbull
Well-known member
Good stuff by Flatland. I agree that the type of hunt you sound like you're looking for may be tough to find in Arizona. PM sent with my advice on how to approach Arizona.
