KHunter AZ Kaibab bison

[Khunter]

well I haven’t even finished my Colorado llama-poweded elk bowhunt story yet.

We hunted 24 days on that one and now I am off to Arizona to hunt bison after a very long week of late hours getting some work and home tasks done.

free range bison with a bow has always been on bucket list so I’m gonna have a heckuva good time giving it a go.

season ends October 21 and the cell coverage is terrible down there so may not see any updates until after that.. I missed opening day today but I’ll get after it tomorrow after about two or three hours of sleep.

 

[Dave N]

Good luck! (I prefer chocolate!)

 

[Busyfarmin]

Good luck! That should be a great time

 

[rmyoung1]

Following! Good luck, @Khunter

 

[Oak]

You’re going to have to drive right past my house on your way home. Might as well offload some of that nasty bison meat here.

 

[noharleyyet]

So two stories pending for trick or treat. That’ll work, good luck @Khunter

 

[Wallydeuce]

Good luck K. I hope your research pays off. I'm rooting for you and following along!

 

[kansasdad]

“Cocaine”doughnuts for the win. Looking forward to the recounting of the adventure(s).

 

[Buschy]

Wishing you the best and no one will put in more effort. Good luck Kirby.

 

[Khunter]

had to resort to burning my spare tire to stay warm. lol

no bison sightings yet by me or among the 10 tag holders.

The other guys except for the governors tag bull bison tag holder who is bow hunting think I’m nuts for bowhunting the tag.

 

[Wallydeuce]

Good lord dude. At the altitude you're hunting, I don't see it melting enough for you to get into those hidy holes the Bison are tucked in to. Hope I'm wrong.

Cheering for you. Good luck!

 

[Khunter]

Day 6pthe season and no bison spotted yet. Weather gets better for bison movements out of park each day in coming week. A crisp 12 degrees and clear this am. Mr. Buddy heater in the tent is a wonderful thing.

Snow ended up 8-12 inches in the kaibab areas I am hunting. But melting. Got to 40 this afternoon.

 

[KayakMacGyver]

Best of luck! That weather looks rough for my wimpy Florida butt. Hope you find em soon!

 

[Khunter]

Hunted 13 days all with my back a complete wreck I attribute to driving most of the night to arrive, sleepimg 2 hours then hopping in a blind on a waterhole to sit in a crappy chair from dawn to dusk. still tryimg to get back straightened out 3+ weeks later.

Ended up getting to know @NVDesertHunter during the hunt and we hunted together a few days which was fun and a highlight.

The two of us where the only hunters out of the 10 cow hunters to even “see” a cow bison during the season. Yes that sighting is in quotes, see 3 paragraphs down for the “sighting”. We also saw a group of 3 mature bulls and were only ones to see that as well. One couple that drew together got a broef glimpse of a yearling bull which was the only other sigting besides ours on a 2 week hunt. Kinda brutal for a $3,300 tag, and to me more imortantly, my bucket list free range archery bison hunt.

I put up 2 game cams in typically ‘good’ spots that produced zero bison sightings. Also had permission and access to check a pile of an outfitter’s cams which only produced a pic of a solo yearling bull bison.

The snow ended up a heavy 8-12 inches and my understanding is that historically puts the kibosh on bison movement out of the park into the forest where we could hunt them. That was vpcertainly our experience.

One evening after @NVDesertHunter and I had sat a water and salt together in a spot that in fact had a herd of pcows/calves visit overnight a few days prior, and had the lone young bull visit midday the day prior we hunted till could not see to shoot and were walking out a 2 track about 300 from the blind and with headlamps on literally bumped a large cow/calf herd at 20 freaking yards! that was painful and I swear it seemed we could here the crashing hooves busting deadfall 3 miles away and minutes after they bolted.

Did a ton of walking/still hunting and also sitting water and salt to no avail. and almost no fresh sign. Most of the kaibab where expect to find bison near the North Rim Grand Canyon NP boundary is THICK timber choked with underbrush..Not ideal bowhunting or any type of hunting conditions, but gave it all I had till dark thirty the last night. I think @Dinkshooter texted my inreach a day before the end to say”You are a stubborn one Mr. Wynn”. Uh , yeah I am that….

As you might imagine in a random group of hunters, in these conditions with almost no fresh bison sight or sighting, the last day effort consisted of just 3 hunters, me, @Non-Lead Hunter and A really cool guy and awesome scuptor Tom White. A lot of attrition throughout the 2 weeks.

Met some great guys during the hunt and most of the tag holders coordinated and communicated regularly to increase the odds for ll of us to have success. Just did not pan out.


Posting some pics in next post…

 

[Khunter]

@NVDesertHunter brought some homemde hooch to a dinner we had with a couple that both had tags



@NVDesertHunter. on a da we did a lot of still hunting trying to conjure up bison.








Me and @NVDesertHunter sharing a blind in a spot where tleast some bison had frequented (at night)







The whole of the hunt consists of trying to catch bison wandering outside the Grand Canyon National Park into the Kaibab Nat Forest. The bison livein the Park so it is a crap shoot at best. ost hunters get skunked on average. I hoped to beat the average but did not.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Sounds like fun, hurts like H3LL!

 

[kansasdad]

You gave it your best effort.

Perhaps time to ask Santa for a better blind chair!

 

[rtraverdavis]

Hell of an effort. Sorry it didn’t pan out.

 

[Wallydeuce]

I'm posting this from Kanab. Was hoping you would have zipped one and taken me up on my offer to help you pack a bison out. Sorry it didn't work out. Hell of a hunt though, eh?

 

[CouesKelly]

Stubborn bison! Sorry to hear it didn't come together for a happy ending for you. Good job giving it your all.