ruthunter

Hey man is there any big bulls in that secret unit?

Yes of course thats what I did azz hat! I am just trying to make you stickflickers aware that these are big animals that ARE tough to kill sometimes even with a gun. They deserve our respect and the propper equipment to harvest them. 300gr setups are NOT ideal for such a heavy boned animal. Both of the archers made kill shots with a 600gr arrow as they both hit bone. Fast and flat may be cool but not optimal imho. The ho hum attitude I am sensing about this is disturbing to me. Yes of course thats what I did azz hat! I am just trying to make you stickflickers aware that these are big animals that ARE tough to kill sometimes even with a gun. They deserve our respect and the propper equipment to harvest them. 300gr setups are NOT ideal for such a heavy boned animal. Both of the archers made kill shots with a 600gr arrow as they both hit bone. Fast and flat may be cool but not optimal imho. The ho hum attitude I am sensing about this is disturbing to me.In all my 30 years of bow hunting I've never met anyone who was shooting a 600 gr arrow. Comes down to shot placement. Game and fish has a 30lb minimum for all big game except buffalo which is 40lbs.I've seen 360 grain arrows kill just as fast as 430 grains.

Small population of elk in that unit..that's why guys are shooting at the same bulls. I know a few guys who have shots bulls in there that had old broad heads in them. The bull I shot had a broadhead in his back left hip from last year. As we we're quartering him up our knife hit an internal puss pocket and puss blew out everywhere. I called game and fish onsite letting him know that we were taking everything but that quarter. He said he was okay with it.

Azkiller...I sent a PM...waiting on response.

Nice! Congrats.

Well guys I thought I would share our success. I was able to arrow a bull that I had on cam from early June. He was by far the ahead of every other elk in horn growth and body size. I was able to find him 3 days before the opener and I sat on him from dark to dark watching his every move. It all came together on Sun morning and I was able to put down a bull of a lifetime. This was a total team effort and none of it would be possible without good friends who were dedicated and willing to help. Special thanks to Brian Rimsza who helped me scout and shared his knowledge of the unit and what I should expect etc. My 14 year old son was also able to get his first bowkill. I was super proud of him for sticking with it in a non traditional elk unit with cactus, chiggers and hot temps. He never complained once and was determined to be successful. Both of us were shooting Gravedigger broad heads and Pse bows. My bull ended up going green scoring 390-7/8".

Never heard of that ranch. Killed it on public land!

Thx for the kind words!

Azkiller..my son shot his at 60yds and I shot mine at 80yds. Both were one shot kills. The bulls bugled a little but not all that great. We were lucky to be able to drive close to my bull. My sons bull took (5) of us to get out and we finally got the meat out to the trucks at 3:00 am.

Hunted 5bs last year and after open weekend all my help left and I killed a bull on day 4 solo. Luckily for me I was able to drive my side by side right up to my bull. Took me an hour and half to skin/quartering it up. I was sore for the next 3 days.

I think a scouting package at minimal is something worth the money. Scouting on your own would cost as much if not more than a a scouting package. I did a scouting package last year on my archery hunt up there and killed a buck over 200".

Those deer up on Black Rock won't be there on the rifle hunt. They spread out before the rut.

I've hunted 5bs for years. Took a bull out of there last year on the Archery hunt. You should be in elk everyday as 5bs has a ton of elk. You will need to weed through all the 250"-280" Bulls to kill a bull over 320". I've seen some 350"+ Bulls in there but for the most part it's a 280-320" hunt. Good luck!

I can assure you guys the grave digger will still be available. It takes time for things to switch over when a company is bought out.

Prime example of why I won't post my trail cam pics online. Good luck hunting! The E-scouters are out 24/7.

Great info^. I think guys automatically think if they draw it they will kill a 200"+. The fact is its hard to do. 13b alone is roughly 100 miles long by 45-50 miles wide. If you have the time and you have a bunch of cameras I think a guy could do just fine up there. I'd bet by all the scouting required that it wouldn't be much cheaper than getting an outfitter. Best of luck.

Congrats on the tag!All of 13b should be looked at during the rut. North and south are both good. If I were you I'd consider a scouting package or outfitter as most outfitters will have there clients on the big deer right away. I had the archery tag last year and it's truley a hunt of a lifetime. Chad Woodruff with Mossbackaz or Tory Brock would be my outfitter of choice also MDA would be a great choice.

Congrats! What were your 1st choices??

I'm surprised Trophyhntr didn't tell you how to properly road hunt for elk..

One thing is for sure. It will happen when it happens.

archery?That is correct!

If it's a maintained dirt road then it would be considered road hunting if you didn't step off the road. I personally would not shoot that buck with a 13b tag.

Look up Chads guide service on Facebook. I believe his clients accounted for 6 of 7 shot over 200".

21 dec Muley!

Hey Trphyhntr I bought a 2nd set of tires for my Subaru you can borrow it. It's all ready for this years road hunting adventures for you. Hopefully you draw that strip tag and you make a video titled "Road hunting the right way" on the Az strip. 😂