stanley Report post Posted September 14, 2008 So I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days south of Flagstaff with Amanda and Chef. She is up there on her archery bull elk hunt and invited us to join. No bull had hit the ground as of yesterday afternoon, but lots of fun has been had for sure.... The bulls in the area we were in have definitely NOT started the rut in earnest yet. VERY quiet & a little 'stand offish'.... No bugling at night, and hardly any bugling during the day. Tough archery hunting to say the least.... Most bugling we heard was in response to Chef's calls! It was just enough to keep us busy however, and Amanda is optimistic that the rut will kick-in at some point during her archery hunt! Highlights of the last couple of days for me; 1) Getting back out in the field with Amanda and meeting Chef. I always like spending time with her, and he is a great guy who was a pleasure to meet & spend time with in the field! 2) Hearing Chef describe how a 4X7 bull walked-up on him (10 yards.....) from behind while he was sitting on a log eating a granola bar!!! Those elk can be quite sneaky when they want to be!!!! (I was off in the woods answering mother nature at the time... ) 3) Eating some great food around the fire with Amanda and Chef (They don't call him 'Chef' for nothin!!!!). I can cook a steak just fine, but there's something about having a bonified 'CHEF' cook your meal for you! 4) Sitting there with Chef while watching a VERY nice 6X6 bull from a couple of hundred yards or so, thinking how nice it would be to be on a rifle hunt at that particular moment! Incidentally, Amanda's standards are WAY higher than mine and I think she would have passed on this 330ish bull. She's holding-out for a BIG ONE! So in summary, they're still up there chasing bulls and I'm here..... Amanda is planning on being there for the next week & a half, and I'm pretty sure she'll get into some good rutting action before it's all said and done! I'm hoping to get up there for a couple of days this weekend! Hopefully she'll call me sometime this week with a report! S. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted September 14, 2008 Nice update Stan, and best wishes to Amanda on baggin that "Biggun". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bcoover Report post Posted September 15, 2008 "Amanda" I was just in it. It took the bulls a little time to come around...but when they do it is great. The best of luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted September 15, 2008 Well, I'm back to the daily grind of work. (for now) I will be heading over again to help at the end of the week. Stan, it was great to meet you as well. You are a mighty fine guitar picker and you definitely made the campfires that much more enjoyable! I hope you can make it up again. What Stan said about the rut being SLOW was right, and unfortunately that carried over to Sunday. I believe it will kick in later on in the season. These bulls needed A LOT of persuasion to let us know where they were. We did get into a big herd bull yesterday morning. Once he started bugling he was very vocal and answered my calls on a dime. They were moving fast though and although we paralleled for over a mile, we couldn't close the deal. Amanda did get within 100 yards of him partially seeing his rack but them elk can climb faster than us! Amanda is hitting it hard. She will do what she needs to do to close the deal on the big boy. She's a 'bonified' bugler now too! She has been a great host and camp chef as well. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to tag along. The weather is still pretty warm and the forecast shows it staying that way. The moon is full and bright too. It's still better than work. I wish I was still up there. ...to be continued...next week?... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stanley Report post Posted September 17, 2008 Well, no bull for Amanda yet!! Optimism still VERY high though! It's easy to be optimistic when you've planned on being there for the entire hunt! (talk about dedication..... ) She has had some more excitement, but hasn't drawn on a bull yet. Based on her persistence, I'm thinking it's only a matter of time.... S. PS: Chef, I was thinking about the 6X6 we were watching from that ridge on Saturday morning (can't get him out of my mind...). Maybe that would have been a great time to get that decoy out???? Hind-sight.... live & learn.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted September 17, 2008 tell amanda to hang in there and shoot one. she needs to get her a bull. Lark. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
