TXinTN
Member
As I have learned so much from this site over the years, I wanted to share my first elk hunt and pass along a few tidbits that might help some others in the same boat. A bit about me, born and raised in Texas, I grew up hunting whitetails. Dreaming of hunting out west, I finally found the time and money to get out for a few pronghorn and mule deer hunts over the last couple years in Wyoming and Montana. I learned something every trip while I started building points in Wy and Az for elk. One of the many things I learned from this forum was the availability of the Non Res Hunter Ed class that Don Martin teaches in Kingman. I was able to attend last year. Great class, learned a lot, and got my permanent bonus point. I thought it would help me in a few more years with drawing a late season tag that seem to be 5-7 years away. Imagine my surprise when in year 2 of applying I get a credit card hit that can only mean I’m going elk hunting in Arizona!!
I wish I could say I put a bunch of effort into getting ready for my hunt this fall, but a move from Tennessee to Texas, and the time we spent trying to get a new house built prevented me from doing any more that e-scouting with On-X and google earth. I really wanted to try and make a scouting trip a few months before and get a feel for the unit, but I didn’t. I think it would’ve helped tremendously, and I regret not doing it.
On to the hunt...
I convinced my Dad, who is 72 to join me, and we left my house in Granbury, Tx around 4am. Google showed a 15 hour drive, and not wanting to find a campsite in the dark, we elected to grab a hotel in Flagstaff, so we could spend the next day scouting the unit and finding a place to pitch the tent. We spent the day before the season opened driving the unit, learning the Forrest Service roads and even saw a few cows and a spike. As I knew already, the unit was pretty flat, and we didn’t see much opportunity to glass. My plan for the first day was to make a couple loops, still-hunting into the wind as much as possible and fine some sign, or even better a branch antlered bull. This was a unit with huge trophy potential, but my goal was to not shoot a spike, beyond that I was hoping to get an elk on the ground and get the experience of dealing with getting him cut up and packed out. We found a place to camp, off one of the main Forrest Service roads.
Woke up opening day to 4” of snow.! We stomped around in the snow, cutting a few fresh sets of tracks the first day, but failed to find any elk. Morning of day 2 brought more snow, as well as what was there from the day before was frozen crunchy. After another morning still-hunting in the snow, we decided to try something different. Heading about 5 miles south and 1000 feet lower in elevation, we got out of the snow. We were seeing a lot more elk sign, and even started smelling elk. We jumped a group of cows on our first loop and felt some encouragement we on the right track.
Headed back to the truck for some lunch and a nap. The afternoon plan was just to still hunt into the wind and we did that til we came across an open meadow with lots of sign. We decided to sit on the edge and just watch til dark. That was the plan til an hour before dark and it was getting windier and unbearably cold every time the sun would go behind a cloud. We decided to start moving again to get some blood flowing. We hadn’t gone more than a couple hundred yards, when I caught some movement and 4 cows were walking about 80 yards out and hadn’t seen us. We let them pass, and then kept moving in the direction they were traveling. Another hundred yards and I spotted some movement, and put my binoculars up, thinking it was probably the cows again. The elk moved into the open and there’s antlers on his head! I eased up toward him to get a rest on a tree, and as I did he moved behind a juniper bush. I could see his back end, but no shot. I waited a few minutes, debating holding tight or trying to move to get a clear shot. I decided to wait him out as I thought as long as he went left or right I would eventually get a shot. Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and looked to his right and his twin had stepped out in the clearing. I shifted the rifle crosshairs to his vitals and shot. The bull stumbled slightly and then ran around a big juniper with his buddy, out of sight.
I felt good about the shot, so we gave him a few minutes before heading over toward where we last saw them. Halfway there, I could see he was down not 50 yards from where he was standing! After some back patting and picture taking, we took a minute to wrap our minds around the size of him. His head looked as big as a horse, and it was a bit overwhelming thinking about getting him quartered out and in the truck. We went to work, doing the gutless method, just like the videos, ha ha. Best thing I did was throw a little 4x6 tarp in my pack. Worked great for having a clean place to lay the meat as it came off. 5 hours from the shot, we were back in the tent and plumb wore out. It was a great time, and we were glad to be heading home the next day, as the forecast low was supposed to be 8 that night!
I wish I could say I put a bunch of effort into getting ready for my hunt this fall, but a move from Tennessee to Texas, and the time we spent trying to get a new house built prevented me from doing any more that e-scouting with On-X and google earth. I really wanted to try and make a scouting trip a few months before and get a feel for the unit, but I didn’t. I think it would’ve helped tremendously, and I regret not doing it.
On to the hunt...
I convinced my Dad, who is 72 to join me, and we left my house in Granbury, Tx around 4am. Google showed a 15 hour drive, and not wanting to find a campsite in the dark, we elected to grab a hotel in Flagstaff, so we could spend the next day scouting the unit and finding a place to pitch the tent. We spent the day before the season opened driving the unit, learning the Forrest Service roads and even saw a few cows and a spike. As I knew already, the unit was pretty flat, and we didn’t see much opportunity to glass. My plan for the first day was to make a couple loops, still-hunting into the wind as much as possible and fine some sign, or even better a branch antlered bull. This was a unit with huge trophy potential, but my goal was to not shoot a spike, beyond that I was hoping to get an elk on the ground and get the experience of dealing with getting him cut up and packed out. We found a place to camp, off one of the main Forrest Service roads.
Woke up opening day to 4” of snow.! We stomped around in the snow, cutting a few fresh sets of tracks the first day, but failed to find any elk. Morning of day 2 brought more snow, as well as what was there from the day before was frozen crunchy. After another morning still-hunting in the snow, we decided to try something different. Heading about 5 miles south and 1000 feet lower in elevation, we got out of the snow. We were seeing a lot more elk sign, and even started smelling elk. We jumped a group of cows on our first loop and felt some encouragement we on the right track.
Headed back to the truck for some lunch and a nap. The afternoon plan was just to still hunt into the wind and we did that til we came across an open meadow with lots of sign. We decided to sit on the edge and just watch til dark. That was the plan til an hour before dark and it was getting windier and unbearably cold every time the sun would go behind a cloud. We decided to start moving again to get some blood flowing. We hadn’t gone more than a couple hundred yards, when I caught some movement and 4 cows were walking about 80 yards out and hadn’t seen us. We let them pass, and then kept moving in the direction they were traveling. Another hundred yards and I spotted some movement, and put my binoculars up, thinking it was probably the cows again. The elk moved into the open and there’s antlers on his head! I eased up toward him to get a rest on a tree, and as I did he moved behind a juniper bush. I could see his back end, but no shot. I waited a few minutes, debating holding tight or trying to move to get a clear shot. I decided to wait him out as I thought as long as he went left or right I would eventually get a shot. Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and looked to his right and his twin had stepped out in the clearing. I shifted the rifle crosshairs to his vitals and shot. The bull stumbled slightly and then ran around a big juniper with his buddy, out of sight.
I felt good about the shot, so we gave him a few minutes before heading over toward where we last saw them. Halfway there, I could see he was down not 50 yards from where he was standing! After some back patting and picture taking, we took a minute to wrap our minds around the size of him. His head looked as big as a horse, and it was a bit overwhelming thinking about getting him quartered out and in the truck. We went to work, doing the gutless method, just like the videos, ha ha. Best thing I did was throw a little 4x6 tarp in my pack. Worked great for having a clean place to lay the meat as it came off. 5 hours from the shot, we were back in the tent and plumb wore out. It was a great time, and we were glad to be heading home the next day, as the forecast low was supposed to be 8 that night!
