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Unit 8 Arizona

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bowhunterjae

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Joined
Jun 23, 2011
Messages
121
Location
Washington State
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.
If anyone would like to share there experiences there, anything from weather to terain I would love to here what you are willing to share.
Good luck to all,
Thank You,
John
 
Congrats on a good tag. You should do well if you do your homework. I have not hunted it, so I have no direct info. I have been through it many times and always thought it looked great.
 
Congrats on drawing. When you say we, who are "we?" How many tags are you trying to fill? Are you hunting with family? Friends? I'm assuming that you're coming in from out of state, where do you hail from? Please pardon all of my questions, I'm just curious to know a little more about you, and what you're looking for from the hunt.

As far as maps and scouting go, make sure to contact the Kaibab National Forest, and have them send you a copy of their Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). It's free for the asking, and you will want one with you. It shows all of the roads/trails that are legal to drive, and what you can take on them-- e.g. under/over 50". If it's not on the current MVUM, it's not legal to drive, no matter what it looks like or the other guys out there happen to be doing. The MVUM also delineates areas where your vehicle cannot leave the road for any reason-- not even to park to hike off to hunt-- you are limited to just passing through in your vehicle. These areas are not marked on the ground or any other maps, they are only on the MVUM.

I'm not sure what you're bringing as far as a camp set up, but keep in mind that on the Kaibab you are only allowed to park up to 30 feet from the edge of a road, so if you're hauling a camp trailer, and want to stay legal, you'll be camping right next to a road. I'm not sure how strictly the NF guys are enforcing this. AZGFD officers, by policy, will not enforce travel management rules, but the forest service guys might ticket you.

While the MVUM is useful for the road system, that's really all that it is good for. If you like paper maps, get one of the actual forest service maps. Those ones show more than just the roads-- mountains, canyons, streams, tanks etc. I suggest the Prescott National Forest map, as it shows the entire unit, with the exception of a sliver up by I40 east of Williams.

When you start looking at the maps, you'll see that access is, well, a bit too good. There are roads everywhere, so depending on your style of hunting that can be a good or bad thing.

For weather, bring your rain gear. It might not rain at all, but monsoons can linger well into September. A gully washer at that time of year is still possible.

Congrats again on the tags. I hope you all have a great hunt, and go home with the AZ bulls that you've been dreaming of.
 
Biscuit Hunter said:
Congrats on drawing. When you say we, who are "we?" How many tags are you trying to fill? Are you hunting with family? Friends? I'm assuming that you're coming in from out of state, where do you hail from? Please pardon all of my questions, I'm just curious to know a little more about you, and what you're looking for from the hunt.

As far as maps and scouting go, make sure to contact the Kaibab National Forest, and have them send you a copy of their Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). It's free for the asking, and you will want one with you. It shows all of the roads/trails that are legal to drive, and what you can take on them-- e.g. under/over 50". If it's not on the current MVUM, it's not legal to drive, no matter what it looks like or the other guys out there happen to be doing. The MVUM also delineates areas where your vehicle cannot leave the road for any reason-- not even to park to hike off to hunt-- you are limited to just passing through in your vehicle. These areas are not marked on the ground or any other maps, they are only on the MVUM.

I'm not sure what you're bringing as far as a camp set up, but keep in mind that on the Kaibab you are only allowed to park up to 30 feet from the edge of a road, so if you're hauling a camp trailer, and want to stay legal, you'll be camping right next to a road. I'm not sure how strictly the NF guys are enforcing this. AZGFD officers, by policy, will not enforce travel management rules, but the forest service guys might ticket you.

While the MVUM is useful for the road system, that's really all that it is good for. If you like paper maps, get one of the actual forest service maps. Those ones show more than just the roads-- mountains, canyons, streams, tanks etc. I suggest the Prescott National Forest map, as it shows the entire unit, with the exception of a sliver up by I40 east of Williams.

When you start looking at the maps, you'll see that access is, well, a bit too good. There are roads everywhere, so depending on your style of hunting that can be a good or bad thing.

For weather, bring your rain gear. It might not rain at all, but monsoons can linger well into September. A gully washer at that time of year is still possible.

Congrats again on the tags. I hope you all have a great hunt, and go home with the AZ bulls that you've been dreaming of.
Click to expand...

First off, Thank You! No problem asking questions.
We have two tags, My Hunting partner and I.
My hunting partner and I have dreamed of this hunt for 10 years of applying. We are both avid hunters and we have both been hunting Elk for about 40 years. I have never drawn a premium Elk tag. I hope to make the best of this opportunity without putting to much pressure on us. We both are going to try to enjoy every day of the planning, scouting and hunting that is coming in 5 short months.
As I stated before We are beyond excited! We have already started sorting clothes, camping gear and planning what to bring. We will be setting up a wall tent and a will be bringing an enclosed trailer to haul everything to and from home.
Thank You again,
John
 
My bro just informed me that he drew a unit 1 archery tag with no bonus points. September bulls here we come.
 
Good luck this is a good unit. sounds like you have some good advice from Dan. He knows his stuff.
 
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