jryoung
Well-known member
A simple check of a wrong box and the use of five points in Arizona on a cow tag could easily frustrate most, it did for me back in April when I got notice at the BHA Rendezvous that my bank account was $1,200 lighter (2 tags). Fortunately at that moment I was standing next a guy from AZ who said 85% of my elk hunting is in that unit, give me a ring and we'll get you set up. My frustration subsided a bit, but I still felt a bit of a sting. Another successful draw in Idaho consumed my focus, spring turned to summer, summer to fall, a moose hunt in Idaho with my wife, and elk hunt in NM with a buddy and suddenly I needed to figure out AZ. My wife couldn't join me on this hunt so we turned her tag over to Outdoor Experience 4 All and am hoping someone deserving got a great hunt.
I started to get serious about scouting, the unit has minimal physical distinction, water tanks everywhere, as well as roads. The AZ G&F website has some detailed thoughts about where to hunt elk so I doubled up on my research with their notes, figuring theirs would be needed to taken with a grain of salt as everyone else read them too. Talking with my Dad about my plans he said he didn't want me to go alone, so a few thousand airline miles and a nominal fee and my longest hunting partner was suddenly in the mix and on a plane 48 hours later.
Dad has been hobbled, he got bionic hip #2 earlier this spring to pair with #1 and his fused back, but like most of his generation, he's tougher than he is smart. I'm thankful for his determination, I know my elk hunts with him are well into twilight, and are likely numbered in the single digits. Any adventure with him is a blessing, let alone one in a new place, foreign to us both.
I hit the road from CA and was at PHX 12 hours later to pick him up, we finished the day off with another three hour trip north to the southern rim.
Snow had fallen earlier in the week, and I was reminded that there was a bull hunt (the one I meant to apply for) in the unit the week prior. Everything looked promising, consistent tracks of groups of elk everywhere we went. A large portion of tracks lead to an area where it was noted as their winter range. We set up on a glassing perch the evening before the opener, covering a lot of acreage in our location everything was still. A couple of bull hunters came up out of a draw in front of us and noted that there weren't many elk seen the last couple of days, pressure had pushed them to retreat to cover. I was able to spot an elk that came out of cover just before last light, I figured sitting in the same spot in the morning would be the best bet.
The opener was quiet, one or two shots from a distance, a few deer and no elk at the end of our binoculars. I figured with most of the tracks headed in a single direction it was time to head that way for the afternoon and get to the opening where I saw the elk the evening before. Getting to the bottom of the ridgeline, it was clear none of the elk that came off the ridge intended to stop. We also discovered another fun hunt challenge, in that AZ residents don't know what a Motor Vehicle Use Map is or do they obey roads clearly marked as closed. One of the reasons I wanted to check a particular spot out was that because it had an elk it in the night prior, but was also a little over a mile from the nearest open road.....except for this guy. As he puttered up to us, I said "isn't this road closed"? "Nope, it's not posted." "Nothing south of road 123 is open, it clearly marked, we'll unmarked on the MVUM." "Well, everyone else is driving it" "I understand, you may want to ask a warden or ranger if you see them then, it'd suck to get a ticket". This would be the theme for the week, physically marked, or on the map, no one respected the closures and it was a bit frustrating.
Day two lead us further north, a late start lead us to getting to the FS road after day break. About a mile short of our road a lone cow was out in the middle of a clearing. I waited for cover to pull the truck over, grab my rifle, and run back to get a look at her. Wanting to get well clear of the road I worked down an embankment which cut off my shooting lane, I could only see her head. Somehow I thought I could continue to drop into the wash, and come up the other side for a look, but the tree line behind her was closer that I thought and by the time I was up, she was gone. That afternoon I decided to poke around on the hill where she was headed, it was filled with tracks, promising openings, and the sweet smell of elk. I figured we had found a spot to play cat and mouse and confirmed it when I bumped a group of elk coming out after dark.
Day three found us in the same spot as before, the fleeting snow, now almost a week old was still a strong indicator for fresh elk sign. New tracks had the granular snow kicked up in front, and often a small patch of it on the bare ground where a hoof first hit dirt after a patch. I decided to take off on a fresh set and chase it into the wind. This would be the first "stalk" of many where the elk were headed straight into the wind. It seems obvious for them to do so, but I haven't come across it before with such consistency. Maybe it was due to limited topography of the area, the lack of a lead cow as nearly all sign was singles or pairs. I'm not sure, but it kept me guessing the rest of the week.
Days four and five brought more of the same, a fresh set a tracks in the morning, dead into the wind with no elk at the end of them. We knew we were close, we just couldn't turn them up. As we were approaching nearly two weeks of constant pressure, they weren't making any mistakes. All hunters we came across were in the same boat....to be fair thought we only saw one other out on foot, everyone else was on the road. On Tuesday, I had trailed a set of tracks for a bit over a mile, they were consistent into the wind, but weren't moving terribly fast. As they were headed for a draw I though I might have a chance. As I crested the rim, and began glassing below and onto the other side, I heard the rumble of a motor. Surely some asshat, driving up two different closed roads into this small draw. They turned their rig around, and parked. As they were gathering their things, I wanted yell down and tell them don't worry, there's no elk here...anymore.
Frustrated I headed back to the truck, as I got close a pair of coyotes started up on a hill above me, they were close so I trotted closer and set up by a tree. I used my Bitterroot Custom Cow Call to best make a distress call and surely enough the two rounded the corner and stopped 20 yards away. They were beautiful, full winter coats and quickly realized I was not who they thought I was. I was reminded of the lesson that if you intend to make a call, especially on an animal with great eyesight, be ready to shoot. In this case it was my camera, but it was on my shoulder and I only got one fleeing away. They were my first coyotes I've ever called in, it was too cool.
I started to get serious about scouting, the unit has minimal physical distinction, water tanks everywhere, as well as roads. The AZ G&F website has some detailed thoughts about where to hunt elk so I doubled up on my research with their notes, figuring theirs would be needed to taken with a grain of salt as everyone else read them too. Talking with my Dad about my plans he said he didn't want me to go alone, so a few thousand airline miles and a nominal fee and my longest hunting partner was suddenly in the mix and on a plane 48 hours later.
Dad has been hobbled, he got bionic hip #2 earlier this spring to pair with #1 and his fused back, but like most of his generation, he's tougher than he is smart. I'm thankful for his determination, I know my elk hunts with him are well into twilight, and are likely numbered in the single digits. Any adventure with him is a blessing, let alone one in a new place, foreign to us both.
I hit the road from CA and was at PHX 12 hours later to pick him up, we finished the day off with another three hour trip north to the southern rim.
Snow had fallen earlier in the week, and I was reminded that there was a bull hunt (the one I meant to apply for) in the unit the week prior. Everything looked promising, consistent tracks of groups of elk everywhere we went. A large portion of tracks lead to an area where it was noted as their winter range. We set up on a glassing perch the evening before the opener, covering a lot of acreage in our location everything was still. A couple of bull hunters came up out of a draw in front of us and noted that there weren't many elk seen the last couple of days, pressure had pushed them to retreat to cover. I was able to spot an elk that came out of cover just before last light, I figured sitting in the same spot in the morning would be the best bet.
The opener was quiet, one or two shots from a distance, a few deer and no elk at the end of our binoculars. I figured with most of the tracks headed in a single direction it was time to head that way for the afternoon and get to the opening where I saw the elk the evening before. Getting to the bottom of the ridgeline, it was clear none of the elk that came off the ridge intended to stop. We also discovered another fun hunt challenge, in that AZ residents don't know what a Motor Vehicle Use Map is or do they obey roads clearly marked as closed. One of the reasons I wanted to check a particular spot out was that because it had an elk it in the night prior, but was also a little over a mile from the nearest open road.....except for this guy. As he puttered up to us, I said "isn't this road closed"? "Nope, it's not posted." "Nothing south of road 123 is open, it clearly marked, we'll unmarked on the MVUM." "Well, everyone else is driving it" "I understand, you may want to ask a warden or ranger if you see them then, it'd suck to get a ticket". This would be the theme for the week, physically marked, or on the map, no one respected the closures and it was a bit frustrating.
Day two lead us further north, a late start lead us to getting to the FS road after day break. About a mile short of our road a lone cow was out in the middle of a clearing. I waited for cover to pull the truck over, grab my rifle, and run back to get a look at her. Wanting to get well clear of the road I worked down an embankment which cut off my shooting lane, I could only see her head. Somehow I thought I could continue to drop into the wash, and come up the other side for a look, but the tree line behind her was closer that I thought and by the time I was up, she was gone. That afternoon I decided to poke around on the hill where she was headed, it was filled with tracks, promising openings, and the sweet smell of elk. I figured we had found a spot to play cat and mouse and confirmed it when I bumped a group of elk coming out after dark.
Day three found us in the same spot as before, the fleeting snow, now almost a week old was still a strong indicator for fresh elk sign. New tracks had the granular snow kicked up in front, and often a small patch of it on the bare ground where a hoof first hit dirt after a patch. I decided to take off on a fresh set and chase it into the wind. This would be the first "stalk" of many where the elk were headed straight into the wind. It seems obvious for them to do so, but I haven't come across it before with such consistency. Maybe it was due to limited topography of the area, the lack of a lead cow as nearly all sign was singles or pairs. I'm not sure, but it kept me guessing the rest of the week.
Days four and five brought more of the same, a fresh set a tracks in the morning, dead into the wind with no elk at the end of them. We knew we were close, we just couldn't turn them up. As we were approaching nearly two weeks of constant pressure, they weren't making any mistakes. All hunters we came across were in the same boat....to be fair thought we only saw one other out on foot, everyone else was on the road. On Tuesday, I had trailed a set of tracks for a bit over a mile, they were consistent into the wind, but weren't moving terribly fast. As they were headed for a draw I though I might have a chance. As I crested the rim, and began glassing below and onto the other side, I heard the rumble of a motor. Surely some asshat, driving up two different closed roads into this small draw. They turned their rig around, and parked. As they were gathering their things, I wanted yell down and tell them don't worry, there's no elk here...anymore.
Frustrated I headed back to the truck, as I got close a pair of coyotes started up on a hill above me, they were close so I trotted closer and set up by a tree. I used my Bitterroot Custom Cow Call to best make a distress call and surely enough the two rounded the corner and stopped 20 yards away. They were beautiful, full winter coats and quickly realized I was not who they thought I was. I was reminded of the lesson that if you intend to make a call, especially on an animal with great eyesight, be ready to shoot. In this case it was my camera, but it was on my shoulder and I only got one fleeing away. They were my first coyotes I've ever called in, it was too cool.
