Steve's Trophy Elk Hunt!

I have been hitting the hills a lot the last couple of weeks trying to locate and film some nice velvet bulls, so I figured I would change up this weeks post with an awesome AZ trophy elk hunt! This footage was sent to me from my friend, Jeff Lester of Hunt Hard Outfitters! Great stuff Jeff!

July 21 Elk Scouting

Had a great afternoon in the woods today! I saw several bulls and was able to get some decent video of some of them. Looks like most the growing is done for the year. I can hardly wait for the crisp September mornings!

Lil' Kicker

Found this bull yesterday morning while glassing for a bigger bull that my friend Jeremiah had spotted in the area a few days earlier. The growth is looking good this year. It is fun to see young bulls like this with some cool character.

Band of Brothers

After glassing this bachelor herd up from a long ways off, we decided to get a little closer and try to get some footage. The plan came together perfectly and the herd stayed pretty tight together.

Timber! Russ shoots a 7x7 with his bow!

On the last morning of his hunt, Russ shoots a 7x7 bull with his bow! We were able to call this bull right by Russ, allowing him to shoot a couple arrows, Third shot was the charm as Ben Craft caught it all on film! Great first archery bull Russ!

"Oreo" Bull

Shortly after passing on a couple of decent bulls, including a young non typical, we came across this great bull. Cameraman, Ben Craft, was able to get some footage as I fell back to call and Russ snuck in closer.

His fourth and fifth point were both broken on his right side, but we felt he was still a strong bull. We were snacking on some Oreos while back at camp watching the footage and Ben started calling him "Oreo". We had another couple of encounters with Oreo, but were never able to close the deal.

Golden Boy

I was fortunate to get some great footage of this bull. When I started filming the lighting and "haze" made for what I thought was a great setting. A little while later the sun peaked over the horizon and lit everything up. The result was golden!

First 6 point of the season

I had a little extra time this afternoon, so I decided to go check out some new growth! I apologize for the poor quality. He was a ways off so I had to film through the spotting scope.

Wide 3rds Bull

While archery elk hunting with Russ Palmer in AZ, I was able to call this bull away from his cows first thing in the morning. It was a good morning to be in the woods. Even the turkeys were gobbling.

"Chuckles" the 6x7

While archery elk hunting with Russ one afternoon we came across this 6x7 we nicknamed "Chuckles". After a couple of encounters we were finally able to call him within bow range. When Russ drew his bow the bull stopped, shielding his vitals with a tree. After holding the bow back for too long Russ finally said, "I'm gonna break!" We both busted up laughing as the bull then turned and walked away. After that encounter we referred to him as chuckles.