creed_az_88

Buff, his arrow stuck in the bull and fell out about 20 yards away from the point of impact. The arrow and the broad head were both unharmed although the broad head blades were beyond dull. It appeared that the arrow had penetrated about 6-7 inches because that much of the shaft was covered in blood and the rest of the shaft had Nothing. We gave the bull a couple of hours before tracking. We ran into him after about a mile of extremely tough tracking and six hours. He was bedded and ran off before we noticed him in front of us. He appeared to not be in too bad of shape and unless infection set in, he should have lived.

65 lb PSE not sure what model. Gold tip arrows 100 grain head. Probably 27 inch arrow. Gold tips are light.

I've cleaned an elk or two in my lifetime. Ive also watched the video in slow motion frame by frame. Either we are interpreting the shot placement on the video differently or we have differing opinions on where the shoulder is located. I started this thread for educational purposes only and posited the video only in response to a few others asking to see it, and not to bash rage. I think rages have their place, its just not in front of a light arrow traveling towards an elk. I believe the thwack is from a rib being hit center on the entrance. I've heard it more than once on multiple double lunged animals including deer.

Definitely not a shoulder hit. I've watched the video many times on a large screen and I'm very familiar with the anatomy of an elk. Its not the broadheads fault like I said earlier, its the light arrow pushing the broad heads fault or more so the shooter fault for such a light setup but the broad head did fail to penetrate because of the setup. .

Here's the video you asked for. My cousin posted it. He left alot out that showed the arrow afterwards and about five inches worth of blood on the shaft and a very disappointed hunter haha. The other shot was a broadside shot that would have been a high lung shot. He left that out also. Iam not posting this to blame the broad head because a heavier setup could have been used but it is definitely an example of a broad head failing to do its job. I have killed a few deer with rage heads however.

Smoke signals Brent.

I know and speak to a ton of az hunters on a daily basis and very rarely if ever do I ever hear any one of them complain about the draw and having to wait on the results or hear any of them cry about how bad the department is. Yet every night I go online to check out what's new on my favorite hunting website and I see a pile of posts about how unfair the department is and how they suck at what they're doing. I pretty much dread clicking on topics about the draw and similar discussions because I don't want to have to sift through the whining to get to any useful information. What am I missing? Why are some of you on this site so upset all the time yet the majority of az hunters could care less about waiting one extra week for draw results. A ton of people have missed out on tags and lost bonus points in years past because of credit card issues so the department is trying to do something good and they get slammed for it. I feel like a few peoples negative opinions on this site give this entire site a bad wrap. I know that I'm being hypocritical since I too am now complaining but I feel like it needed to be said. Its a shame that many good hunters who kill good bucks no longer post on this site because of the drama involved. I usually stay out of it, and maybe I'm adding a little drama of my own now, but seriously, is all the whining necessary? When the results are out after the previously printed deadline, then complain. Until then, be what a hunter is supposed to be: QUIET and PATIENT. P.S. Dont take my rant personal I am working my fifth consecutive night shift. And I do not work for azgfd.

I agree that fixed heads outpenetrate mechanicals but bad hits also benefit from using mechanicals. A gut shot/liver shot elk is almost guaranteed to travel further and bleed less with a shot from a fixed head compared to a big hole from a rage or other similar head. A mechanical may not penetrate a shoulder, although some may be surprised by their capabilities, but at least if the mechanical fails to penetrate on a hit too far forward , the elk isn't going to die. A shot too far forward on an elk with a fixed head may actually be a bad thing considering that the bull may eventually die and not be recovered where a mechanical may not penetrate at all. Tracking a not so well hit bull sucks and I know from experience that it sucks even more when the small 1 1/4 inch hole plugs up with coagulated blood. Elk are big and tough animals but their ribs are not made from steel. They're shoulders are tough for a mechanical to penetrate but a well constructed mechanical shot from the proper set up will never have a problem penetrating an elk's ribcage. There are a ton of bulls lost each year from fixed heads yet nobody bashes fixed heads. Too many lost elk are blamed on the broad head when in reality the fault lies on the shooter and his set up or shot placement. And for those that think that mechanicals should be banned in az, then they should consider leaving they're compound bows and fall away rests at Home on their next elk hunt. Can't have moving parts on their once in a lifetime hunt. Too much risk. An arrow weight minimum would be a better idea than banning mechanicals. Mechanicals have their place in the elk hunting world. They just need to be used properly. By the way I shot my bull with a 100 grain slick trick magnum so I am not one of the can't tune my bow guys that are arguing with no real experience.

Did you not get a tag Brent?

I agree with oneshot although I feel that they may avoid the thicker areas for other reasons also. One being that their velvet is somewhat fragile and daily life in thick brush may cause damage to their beloved horns. Another reason, and in my opinion the most realistic reason, is because once it starts raining green lush grass starts growing in open country where the sun hits. In my experience they graze much more in the summer than they do in the winter and browse more in the winter, meaning more grass in the summer where its open and more leaves like mountain mahogany and similar scrub in the winter. Kinda like Colorado mule deer. While in velvet some bucks leave the cover of brush and trees and spend the summers above timberline in the wide open. Once they rub and the grass starts to mature and seed out, they move to more timbered areas at lower areas. Its kind of backwards here where generally the lower elevations are more open and the higher elevations are denser but it seems to work the same way to me. Although this may not be the case where there are no open grassy country in the vicinity.

So much for drought conditions, those bulls didn't have any problem growing some bone.

Not to mention elk tags for most of us are far and few between so technically its not constantly switching broad heads its switching every couple of years at most.

I use mechanicals for deer because their flight is superior to fixed heads especially in the wind even with a well tuned bow, penetration isn't much of a concern with deer, and the number one reason is cutting diameter. The one and only reason I hesitate to use them on elk is because of penetration concerns and no other reasons. There are a ton of well built mechanicals that have been proven to be strong enough for elk and a pile of other torturous mediums including steel drums. I shot my one and only bull with a razor trick and although it killed the bull dead, I only found one drop of blood in 120 yards of tracking and that was with a heart shot. Luckily the dirt was soft and we were able to track his hoof prints. I truly believe that if I was using a mechanical like I do on deer, I would have been able to follow blood to my bull rather than hoof prints.

Woke up to a lake in my driveway and 1.25" in the rain gauge. We got hammered last night. -cochise county.

I'll see if I can come up with it. I don't own the footage I was just along on the hunt.

Do you prefer the two or three blade

According to the stuff I've read and the maps I've seen of the seismic activity, the center and most heavily shaken spot in that quake was actually in az. Close to Duncan.

Felt it too. I'm at work between Willcox and sunsites and was standing under a 400 ft stack. Let's just say I left the area in a hurry. Stacks still standing fortunately but my az butt didn't know what was going on.

That's an impressive bunch of deer. You could have a 110 club and still not be short on members.

She looks older and older every time we see her with a new harvest.. Pretty soon you're gonna be posting pics of your son in laws kills too. Haha jk Phil. Good job on the bird guys. Sounds like it was a blast. You guys seem to get out and enjoy some quality time together. Cherish it. You're fortunate to have such a good relationship. My little girl is three months old and this post makes me eager to share the same kind of adventures with her. Congrats!

What about the burris c4 in that same price range?

What about the archery state record?

What section did they float? Both the gila and the San Francisco could really use some help. The resources might not be there, but it would be nice to see both arizona and new mexico game and fish work together and stock both rivers in both states with the same fish that have been in those rivers for years. Wishful thinking most likely but hopefully well see a comeback.

Last May a few friends and I loaded up the inflatable pontoons and headed for new mexico. We did a couple day float on the lower box in new mexico from red rock to above virden. We floated through some awesome country filled with animals but the fishing was very poor. We caught less than 10 channel cats the entire trip and one very small flathead. We didn't lay eyes on one carp the entire float which is unusual in unpressured water. We had a good time but the fishing was a real disappointment. Did I miss something? Was there a big die off? Were there fires in new mexico the past few years that killed a lot of fish in the new Mexico side of the gila? Or are there just not much fish in that portion of the river? I have a hard time believing that that portion of the river doesn't maintain a healthy fishery during normal circumstances. Maybe we just didn't have what it took to catch fish. Can somebody please help me out on this one. I'm to this day still shocked we didn't catch more fish. Is the upper portions of the river in better condition fish wise? -creed