Arizona Unit 8 Archery Elk

[bowhunterjae]

I posted this two months ago and received some great help but thought I would repost in hopes of gaining a little more info to relive the anticipation stress.
The following was the original post. NOW IT IS THREE MONTHS AWAY!
I Thank You all that have helped.
We were fortunate enough to draw Unit 8 early archery Bull Elk tags. We are excited beyond belief. Looking forward to all aspects of the hunt. Mapping, Google Earth, Biologists, scouting, and of course the hunt.
we are going to have 21 days off for a 14 day hunt.
I will be obsessing over this for the next 5 months. (NowThree Months)
If anyone would like to share there experiences there, anything from weather to terrain I would love to here what you are willing to share.
Good luck to all,
Thank You,
John

 

[sagebrush]

The moisture we are receiving in AZ, and in particular in 8 and the 5's, is making for some great antler growth this year. All the early tag holders in AZ have a good reason to be excited. My wife included.

 

[bowhunterjae]

The moisture we are receiving in AZ, and in particular in 8 and the 5's, is making for some great antler growth this year. All the early tag holders in AZ have a good reason to be excited. My wife included.

Thank You, I was wondering about that!!!!!!!!!!
John

 

[danr55]

We've had some unusual early season rains, hail and snow even. As long as we dodge the fire issue, this is shaping up to be a banner year in the high country. My wife and I are going camping up on Williams Mt. in July. I'll post more after we get back.

 

[bowhunterjae]

We've had some unusual early season rains, hail and snow even. As long as we dodge the fire issue, this is shaping up to be a banner year in the high country. My wife and I are going camping up on Williams Mt. in July. I'll post more after we get back.

Thank You Dan. I would love to talk again. Have You been scouting in Your Unit?
Thank You again,
John

 

[utah400elk]

Not to sidetrack this thread but...how us the moisture been in Unit 9?

 

[danr55]

Given that 9 is just north of 8 they have both had about the same amount of moisture. I'll have a better feel after we get back from our camping trip.

 

[Biscuit Hunter]

Not to sidetrack this thread but...how us the moisture been in Unit 9?

I haven't been up in unit 9 this year, but I recently spoke with a friend that was up that way. She showed me a video she took while hiking out of the Canyon on June tenth-- the rain turned Bright Angel trail into a river, with little water falls flowing over the steps. I asked about the forest conditions south of the Canyon, and she told me that the forest was very green from the South Rim all the way to the I40.

 

[utah400elk]

That is music to my ears. Thank You! It is a great year to have an early archery tag.

 

[Biscuit Hunter]

Specific to Unit 8, I can say that forest conditions are awesome. There is a lot of water and a lot of green feed. I was up there the weekend before Memorial Day, and the forest was literally saturated. Every little stream was flowing, and low areas had an inch or two of standing water. There were even patches of snow from a storm that had passed through the night before I got there. Things were wet to the point that I confined my vehicle travel to the main roads, as driving the two tracks would have meant rutting them up something awful. I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures, but here's a pretty cool one-- I was surprised to run into these ladies so deep in the pines, well away from any large open areas:








I was back up there this past weekend, and while the ground had dried up considerably, the moisture is still impressive. All of the tanks I visited are full, and there are plenty of pockets of water dispersed in the woods. There were afternoon thunderstorms both saturday and sunday, with enough rain to cool things off and knock down the dust. Here are some pictures from a few days ago:








Even out in the PJ areas there is a lot of fresh green, and in the pines the grass awesome.

bowhunterjae:

I received your PM. Look for a response in the next day or two with some more details. As was mentioned above, I think that you picked a great year to draw your tag. You're right to be excited.

 

[bowhunterjae]

Biscuit Hunter,
Thank You very Much for that information. I am getting mare and more excited.
John

 

[nbell]

Sorry I can't help much. I drew a 7E tag 5 years ago and shot a 340. My dad has a 9 tag this year. Hope your hunt works out. I showed up 5 days before hunt opened and scouted my butt of to find the bull I killed. Best advice I can offer is plan plenty of time, get away from roads and enjoy the hunt. If a guy is willing to go the extra mile in AZ there is ample opportunity. Have fun and good luck.

 

[bowhunterjae]

Sorry I can't help much. I drew a 7E tag 5 years ago and shot a 340. My dad has a 9 tag this year. Hope your hunt works out. I showed up 5 days before hunt opened and scouted my butt of to find the bull I killed. Best advice I can offer is plan plenty of time, get away from roads and enjoy the hunt. If a guy is willing to go the extra mile in AZ there is ample opportunity. Have fun and good luck.

Thank You nbell! I will be there three weeks. I can not Waite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John