2011 Elk Season in Review

Finally got some time to load and go over all my elk footage from this past season. I was able to compile it all into a short 5 minutes. Hope y'all enjoy it!

Rod's Archery Elk Hunt Opening Day

I had the pleasure of hunting the first week of the archery elk hunt with Rod Pue Bicare and his friend Rick. Like most of us who draw an archery elk tag in AZ, Rod had waited a long time for this opportunity and was willing to pass lesser bulls for the chance at an Arizona Legend.

Opening morning we were after a bull we had glassed just before dark the evening before. The first bull we got on that morning we called "Goofy". While he had gathered a fair amount of girlfriends, his left antler came out of his head funky and his eyeguards on that side were extremely short. At 50 yards we decided to pass. It was a great way to start the hunt.

After our encounter with "Goofy", a big herd of elk with several bugling bulls drew us down into a deep hole. We eventually caught up to the herd and watched in amazement as they filed through an opening about 150 yards in front of us. After watching over 80 elk go by without a bull over 300" we were feeling a bit down, however there was still one bugling bull coming that we hadn't seen. That bull finally came through the opening and looked pretty good.





We did get a little footage of him, so we decided we should go back to camp and take a closer look at the footage since the elk were all headed to their beds.
After checking out the footage, we decided to sneak in and try to find him again. We were fortunate to find him in his bed and spent quite a bit of time watching him in the binoculars at about 150 yards again.





We decided he was just a bit too small for the first day, so we walked away from him in his bed.
We continued to chase bugling bulls for the rest of the afternoon, but did not find any shooters.

Notice the same gene this bull shares with the Goofy bull.....

This 5x5 came in to 20 yards!

On our way back to the truck we swung by the spot where the shooter from earlier was bedded down. Sure enough, he was up and feeding with over 50 cows! As luck would have it, we were able to sneak within bow range of him and captured some great footage.





What a way to end the first day of our hunt! I have got to hand it to Rod. Not too many people could have stuck to their guns and let this bull walk. Can't wait to see what he looks like next year!

September 7 Elk Scouting

With the season opening in just two more days, I was excited to see my truck read only 39 degrees this morning as I arrived at my spot. There were a few bulls talking and I did my best to get a look at them without them knowing I was there. The first bull I saw was really lighting it up. He was about a 320" 6x6 with a unique split beam. I decided to forgo trying to film him in hopes of finding his competitor who was also talking a bit. I hadn'd seen the other bull yet, but it was worth the gamble. We are looking for bulls over the magic 350" mark. Unfortunately the other bull was even smaller. I did however get some great footage of him raking and bugling. Later in the morning I was also able to slip in on a couple small 6 points who seemed to be sharpening up their sparring skills. Didn't find any "shooters" this morning, but still had a good time.

The "Bee" Bull

Took my wife and kids out for a hike with me to check one of my trail cameras tonight. When we got close we could here a bull bugling, so we crept closer and got in some cover waiting for the bull to come out in a meadow. After just a few minutes, he followed a couple cows out and put on a show for us that lasted about 5 minutes. On the hike back out I stepped on a bee hive. My youngest son was right on my heels and we instantly felt the pain of the many angry bees. We will always remember this bull as the bee bull.

Sept. 4 Bugling Bulls!

Got into a couple screamers this morning! Both of these bulls were with cows and loved to let everything in the woods know about it. The second bull actually came over the ridge hot on a cow panting and glunking like it was the peak of the rut! I can't believe it is only Sept. 4! If this is any indication, it ought to be an exciting month in the woods!

The "Droopy" Buck

While stalking a group of six bucks this morning, we bumped into "Droopy".  We had to enter the tree line out of sight from the bucks we had glassed at first light in order to get in front of them. For some reason they were not taking much time to feed. Just shortly after entering the trees, we saw him. Unfortunately, he saw us first! We had a stare down for about two minutes as he chewed the remaining grass that was in his mouth. When he was finished, he quickly walked away to our right and we were unable to get on him again.

While looking for "Droopy" this evening, we were able to slip in to 30 yards of this young 3 point.

Lori's Spot and Stalk Muley

After glassing all morning without finding a monster to chase, Jeremiah called his wife. We had glassed a three point at first light and kept tabs on him as the morning glassing session wore on. She decided she would come out and put the stalk on it after she dropped their oldest daughter off at school. Lori arrived with cold drinks :) and we began our stalk at about 9:30. At 11:30 she let an arrow fly!

The arrow is on its way in the upper right part of the pic!

Jeremiah's Close Call

I went out looking for a deer this morning with Shane Koury and Jeremiah Johnson. Jeremiah and I have spent a TON of time in the woods and were ready for some new scenery. Shane took us in to one of his trusty spots and it did not disappoint. Right off the bat we glassed up a couple small bucks and some does. After picking the hillside apart and not finding any more deer, we hiked over the ridge to glass the other direction. Immediately we picked up some bucks. One of them was a borderline buck. After some convincing, Jeremiah grabbed his bow and off we went with Shane on point. The stalk went perfect. The bucks fed over the ridge as we were moving into position. As we worked towards the edge, anticipating a shot opportunity, a doe and small buck fed up out of a cut we couldn't see and busted us! As they bound down the back side they took our "shooter" with them. So close to closing the deal! Thanks for the help Shane!

August 19 Elk

Found this bull on opening morning of the archery deer hunt. He has a great left side but short G4 and no fifth on the right.

One Day Before Archery Deer Season!

Only one day left before archery deer season and I still haven't found "the" buck I want to shoot. I have spent many days looking along with my friend Jeremiah, but a couple shooter bucks we found early on have eluded us for several weeks. This evening we decided to go to another spot that has been good in previous years and came across this group of three bucks. Jeremiah's dad, Mark was with us and is anxious to chase a couple of these four points around opening morning.