azhuntnut

It was one of my old interlocks I had laying around. It shot about a foot low and a foot right of my target.

It seems like the antlers over there always have alot more mass to them. I can't wait until next year to start looking for fresh sheds. David

Thanks Jimmy for taking the time to score it for me. I also appreciate you passing along your knowledge for hunting elk in general. I learn something new each time I talk to another hunter. I heard about the big bull you guys found for the RMEF elk raffle tag. Do you know if anybody had put a tag on it yet? Josh, I can't wait to get out there next year and try to find some of the sheds from the other bulls I saw. I hope I can find the non-typical I saw a couple days before the hunt. I will be up there on next Sunday in your neck of the woods lookin for a spot to park the trailer and see if I can find a few deer for that buddy of mine. Thanks for the help, David

Well I finally shot my first bull. All of the time and hard miles walking paid off. I heard this bull last weekend and thought he sounded big, so I started following the herd. I spent about twenty hours following this herd around, but this bull would never give me a look at him. Finally on Wendsday morning I got a short 3 second look at him and he looked pretty good. Thursday morning I stayed out of his area and chased another big bull around until 9am. Thursday night I sat on a drinker and heard my bull about a half mile away bugling, but stayed put. Friday morning I got into my area and noticed somebody was already there. I heard two different bulls bugling, but they both sounded about the same. These 2 guys started cow calling to them, but I already knew these bulls would not come into calls. I got set-up to intercept them going to there bedding area, but they missed me by about 75 yards. At this point I decided to give chase, which you can guess how hard it is to keep up with these animals. The bulls split up, but stayed within 200 yards of eachother. Now I new one of these bulls was a huge 9x10 non-typical, but they both had the same growl in there bugle. I picked the one that sounded a little easier to get to and headed out after him. I would cow call very softly every once in a while and sometimes he would answer. He only bugled about 10 times in a 3 hour period. I eventually got up with the herd at about 7:45am and noticed a spike feeding in the bottom of two ridges. I just stayed put when I heard the bull grunt a little on the hill accross from me. The spike ended up feeding up the hill towards me and the cows started to follow. They slowly fed right above me and then stopped and stared right down at me for about 10 minutes. My legs slowly went to sleep as I sat there motionless. I thought for sure they were going to wind me, but they never did even with the wind blowing right at them. I think it was because before I left for my hunt I dryed all my cloths in cow elk urine wafers and added a few to the back of my hat. I also wore some of that Xstatic clothing under my cloths. Eventually the cows moved a little passed me at 15 yards and started to bed down. Then the bull walked up after waiting for his cows to settle down at 34 yards. He looked straight at me for about a minute and went back to feeding, I actually thought about passing up this bull since I had seen two others bigger, but thought this bull is huge so I better shoot. I drew back on him, but couldn't see because the sun was right in my eyes. He heard me draw and stared my way, so I held back at full draw for about 30 seconds until he looked away. I then let down and tilted my hat to keep the sun out of my eyes and drew again. By this time he had made a step and turned up away from me a little, but with the sun I didn't notice the angle. I let the arrow fly and he bolted. I didn't sound like I hit him, so I bugled right away and then started cow calling to settle the herd down. I couldn't stand up and look up the hill because my legs were completely asleep. After about a minute I noticed the cows walking along the top of the ridge, so I started softly cow calling to keep them settled. They walked off, so I moved up to look for blood, NONE. I searched for my arrow and couldn't find it either. I started to get worried that I missed, but couldn't understand how I could miss a shot that I have practiced 100's of times over the last two months. It was 8:21 at this point so I sat down and waited, after about 5 minutes I heard the bull growl a couple times and thought he was coming back. I waited a bit and heard nothing, so I walked up to the top of the hill and saw him laying down about 20 yards away. I walked up to him real slow and saw no signs of life. I noticed my arrow was still in him. It had hit right behind the last rib and angled toward his opposite shoulder. It took out his heart and right lung. The arrow actually backed out just enough to let the broadhead tear up his heart like a blender. He ended up running only 60 yards. I was using a Magnus Stinger 100 grain broadhead shooting 248fps with 70 pounds of kinetic energy. I took a few pics and started walking out to get my quad and all of my equipment to get him quarted and carried out. I got back at 11am and got started the big task and got done at 4:45. I was able to get him all loaded up on my quad and make a slow ride out of the forrest. I figured I spent 14 days scouting and walked over 80 miles to get this bull and it was the best miles I have ever walked. Thanks to the members that gave me ideas on which areas to check out. I haven't scored him yet, but he made my 350 inch minimum. I will post the final score when I have it. I wish the pics were better, but it was really bright out. David

Congrats on the bull. Its not that easy to shoot a good bull with a bow and you managed to do pretty good. David

Let me send you my address. Give the make-a wish foundation a try and see what type of program they have. My brother had cancer when he was 13 and they provided a shopping spree for him at Phx Sports when they were still in business. I have also heard about youngins going on hunting trips, but I don't know who the foundation was. David http://www.wishaz.org/wishing/wishing05.html

I wish camping was the only problem I had to deal with on my hunt. Two nights before opening morning some Jackass decided he was going to shoot about 80 rounds from his pistol at 8pm. There was a big bull hanging in the area, but never came back the entire time I was there. The day before my hunt he decided to practice during lunch hour. I am sure it was them *&^%$ animal activists trying to ruin everybodys hunt. Five years ago in 5bn they actually camped about 50 yards from us and played there guitar and drums until about 3:30 in the morning. We got up at 4am and I rode my quad right through there camp at 4:30. I was hoping that guitar was on the ground somewhere so I could run over it. AAAAAAhhhhh, now I feel much better. David

Pictures like this always gives me hope that I might get drawn one day. Great looking animals. David

I had a .44 mag and did not like it at all. It had way to much kick to enjoy shooting it. I had the Ruger Vaquero with a 7in barrel. The blackhawk should be fine for hunting. The Bisley just has a little more hook to the handle. I would think the .357 would be plenty for anything here in AZ. Make sure you get something with a rubber handle to help with recoil. If you want something that has some good penetration and knockdown power, then take a look at the .45 long colt. I have seen testing with this caliber that performed better than the .357 and .44 magnum. David

Josh, I will send the picture over to you. That would be great if I have a picture of the bull and on my wall. I originally thought this bull would score about 376 inches, I guess I was close. David

I think they might be different just because the seconds on the live bull seem a little shorter than mine and it looks like a small horn sticking out on the left side of the live bull. They might be the same bacause I couldn't find the bull again in the same area. David

Now why can't my cameras ever get cool pics like that. I always get cow elk licken my camera or hangin around. That is a cool pic. David

Thank you Deerslam I appreciate the comment . I am very happy with my trophy bull I shot, and the hard work finally paid off for me. David

I figured some of the records would fall this year. I spoke to a friend of mine today and he said there has been at least 10 huge bulls taken out of 9 and 10. He has been chasing a bull for a week now and can't get in on it. If the elk are this big, just think how big the coues will be. David

I have THE BEST OF THE WEST video and it is amazing to watch. You can tell this guy has shot a ton of rounds to became so good at shooting at long ranges. The scope on his gun I am sure must cost over $1500.00, but it is bad***. I started using a Burris scope a couple years ago with the ballistic plex and I have had no problem shooting clay pigeons at 300 yards with my .243. The crazy thing is I am using a $220.00 dollar NEF single shot rifle to achieve this. I also have a Browning A-bolt in .300 win mag that reload bullits for that I am very confident with at 400 yards. I practice with these guns quite often during the year. It is no problem for me to shoot 50 rounds each through them during every session. If you want to shoot long range at a live animal, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Happy shooting, David.

you could try the area around Stockton Pass, or the road going to the top of mount graham has some areas above the apple orchard with some deer. David

I like those daggers and how symetrical his frame is. You can tell there is some good genetics in that area. Doesn't it feel good to shoot a nice animal like that with a bow? Nice bull. David

I friend a mine drew a 6a whitetail tag for the October hunt. He wants me to come along a help out. I have never hunted the south end of this unit before. Can anybody give a good area to start glassing for some deer. A couple roads we can drive into would be fine or even a mountain range and then I can start from there. He doesn't need a huge deer, just something worth shooting. I am not looking for a honey hole, just a starting point. Thanks, David

We talked about that last night and decided he earned those battle scars so he should keep them. I don't know what the shrikage will be, but that doesn't matter to me. When I started this hunt I wanted to shoot a bull bigger than 350 and I have met that goal and then some. David

I need to find a place at the south end of 6a where I can get my 32ft fifth wheel in to set up a good camp. It would be nice if I could just pull in and not have to back in. Kind of like a half circle. I tow my quad behind the fifth wheel, so it make it kind of hard to back up. If you have any ideas, please let me know. If it is close to where I can start glassing that would be even better. Thanks for all of the help, David.

The verdict is in. The unofficial score came out to 370 1/2. His main beams were over 52 inches. He had about 4 1/2 inches broke off of his right G-2 and about 4 inches on his right G-4. I looked like he broke them off over a month ago or more. Its going to be hard for me to beat this one. I can't even explain how happy I am right now. I will wait the 60 day drying period and have Pope and Young put a score on him for the books. Thanks for all of the congrats, it really makes a fella feel good. Now if I could just draw a coues tag. David

We didn't get a chance to put the tape on him tonight after we got done skinning the skull and cutting off the horns. We will have to wait until tomorrow. I still think he will be in the 360's, but I can always hope for more. I decided to mount him looking to the left with the ears back a little(semi-sneak). We aged him at about 7 years old based on a book he had. I think I will still take a tooth into G&F and see what they come up with. David

When I drop him off at the taxidermist today, we are going to gross score him. Who wants to guess his score? I will post the results tonight. The person closest will receive a signed photo .

A friend of mine told me that on opening morning last year on his elk hunt, one of there guides showed up with four clients to hunt the same area. David

Here is a pic from the side. David