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Whip

Preferred Tactics

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I'll be submitting my application soon hoping to draw an early archery tag.  As a NR is been a long wait but I'm hoping I finally have enough points.  Still investigating exactly which unit(s) I'll be putting in for but have gotten some great help here and think I have things narrowed down.  

From what I'm hearing it sounds like sitting waterholes is probably the most reliable method of taking a bull.  I'll certainly do that if that's what it takes but I truly love being able to chase bugles, spot & stalk, etc.  I sit treestands all fall back in Wisconsin and when I get out west I really love being able to get out and about. 

Any tips or advice on how you guys that have hunted here more often have found success?  I've read conflicting ideas on how call shy AZ bulls can be.  Do you cow call, bugle, rake trees, use decoys?   Glass from a high spot and try to intercept?  Stalk in their beds?

I hunt with a recurve, so the need to get close will certainly limit my chances.  The early opening date this year and the full moon might have some impact on daytime activity too.  I'd love to see some discussion on what methods might work best down here.

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If they are very vocal, there is no need for you to do anything else but sneak in on them. If you call, you just alert them and risk them not liking your sound or them not being receptive to whichever type of call you chose and at least half the time the walk or run the other direction. If you are having trouble closing the distance, some soft cow calls can sometimes help draw the bull in once you are close. So pray for a good rut, that you can find the elk and that they are calling and you will have a blast just trying to keep the wind right and sneaking in on them and working the angles to avoid the eyeballs and get a shot. Location bugling can be good when they aren't really fired up and you can't find any elk, sometimes that will help you at least find the direction of a bull since often they can't resist responding to another bull that is far away. If they are NOT calling and it is very hot and has NOT rained in a month, then sitting water can be your best bet. Hiking and Glassing are always a good fallback if the terrain is conducive to it. Trail cameras are now illegal to use for hunting so you can't use those to help you decide what water you may want to sit.

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I’m not sure where you heard to sit water, but know that the rainiest time of year in AZ is archery elk season.  Unless it’s a dud of a monsoon it’ll probably rain every couple days or more.  Obviously if it’s dry it can be a good tactic but certainly don’t count on it.  As far as chasing them goes, just try to head off a bugle, figure out which direction they’re going and flank them and set up in front and let them move past.  They bugle a lot in AZ compared to most places I’ve hunted elk, so just stay quiet and let them tell you where to be. 

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Sure sounds like a blast and exactly what I'm hoping for.  

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1 hour ago, yotebuster said:

I’m not sure where you heard to sit water, but know that the rainiest time of year 

Probably from one of the the thousands of people who have shot elk off water in September in Arizona. 

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6 minutes ago, HuntHarder said:

I'm with you, Sitting water on early archery hunts is almost always productive.  

For sure, some people just don’t like to sit which I get. 

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2 hours ago, yotebuster said:

It is.  How many points you have?

I've got 15 now. That won't get me the unit I had dreamed about, but at my age (67) it's time to hunt AZ.  Points needed for the better units just keep going up faster than I can accumulate them.

Yotebuster, I see you're from Williston.  You don't happen to know Craig Richardson there do you?

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2 hours ago, trphyhntr said:

Idk how anyone could immediately discount sitting water in September like the above poster. 

I certainly won't discount it.  Or maybe a wallow during mid day. Just prefer to be up and chasing them if it can be productive.

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2 hours ago, trphyhntr said:

Probably from one of the the thousands of people who have shot elk off water in September in Arizona. 

I guess I’ve been on 6 rut hunts in AZ and 2 in western NM and had blinds up ahead of time and bulls hitting water most of the summer and never spent a second in any of the blinds as it has rained on every single hunt I’ve been on down there.  Maybe I’m just unlucky, or lucky depending on how you look at it. 
 

Probably should have phrased it like this “I wouldn’t be set on sitting water as there’s a good chance you’ll get rained on during your hunt if it’s September archery”. 

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7 minutes ago, Whip said:

I've got 15 now. That won't get me the unit I had dreamed about, but at my age (67) it's time to hunt AZ.  Points needed for the better units just keep going up faster than I can accumulate them.

Yotebuster, I see you're from Williston.  You don't happen to know Craig Richardson there do you?

Don’t know the name but I don’t get out a lot around here.  Pretty much just work and hunt or head to my farm 3.5hrs away if I have free time. 

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Telling someone not to sit/hunt around water for elk in AZ is like me telling someone not to hunt the last field holding corn for pheasants in ND. It just don’t make sense. 
 

although when I get my tag this year, I’m gonna be sad I can’t use cams to try and pattern them and see the quality using them. 

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Typical early archery for me consists of getting up early, driving around and listening for bugles.  When the sun comes up, I try and get ahead of the herd.  I usually will try and get into shooting distance without calling.  If the bugling stops, a really weak sounding bugle usually will illicit a response.  In the afternoon I will sit water 80% of the time, usually getting into my blind around noon-1 and sitting until after dark.  

If the elk are vocal, I do not mind trying to get them to come into calls.  Each scenario is different, sometimes, just a few cow calls, other times breaking branches, raking and bugling.  I like to feel out an elk and try to figure out if he has cows or not when calling.  Pulling a herd bull away from his cows can certainly be done, but it is very difficult most of the time.  I usually have better luck getting a cow to come to calf calls and hopefully he follows.  

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