Big hammer Report post Posted September 15 I Was in 11m this weekend my son had a cow tag, seen one good bull (6x6) pushing a 13 or so cows never bugled tho. the herd my son ended up harvesting out of had another couple of bulls but agin not showing sign of rut activity an it was very dry as well 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nateNAU Report post Posted September 15 Super quiet all around flagstaff as well. Was able to shoot this bull today. 26 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adicted Report post Posted September 15 Congrats. Cool bull Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crazymonkey Report post Posted September 16 My buddy is in 6a and said his brother and nephew just about got run over by a 5x5 and 2 cows on the run Saturday. I haven't heard any updates as of yet. Will check in after dark and see if there's any updates. It's been hot so probably not alot going on yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Tub Report post Posted September 16 A few at dusk and dawn near Flattop in Eagar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildwoody Report post Posted September 16 Going now out here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BugleChaser Report post Posted September 16 Super quiet in 3a/c...generally dry, but a fair amount of surface water left over from previous storm(s). 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
down2hunt Report post Posted September 16 7 hours ago, nateNAU said: Super quiet all around flagstaff as well. Was able to shoot this bull today. Nice, congratulations. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flatlander Report post Posted September 16 12 hours ago, nateNAU said: Super quiet all around flagstaff as well. Was able to shoot this bull today. Nice shot Nate! First archery bull? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nateNAU Report post Posted September 16 2 hours ago, Flatlander said: Nice shot Nate! First archery bull? Thank you guys. It is actually my second. My last elk tag was in 2019 and I was able to take a decent 5x5 with my bow. Any archery kill I am proud of. I have never been naturally good at archery like some people. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seek100plus Report post Posted September 16 We killed a decent 5x5 on Sunday , it was nice to break him down ! Very small amount of Rutty smell , he had 10-12 cows with him . Zero Vocals ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jdown Report post Posted September 16 I was lucky enough to draw bull tags in the same unit in '20, '21 and '23 and my son drew in '22 and all 4 years the rut activity was quite different. '20 seemed to get better as the season went on although pockets of activity from the get go and then shut down and then kick back up and then shut down. '21 was just insane from the start and never stopped. '22 was a wet year and every storm seemed to shut them down but they would start back up after a day or two of dry weather and '23, it just got continually worse and worse with similar reports all over the unit. '22 was the latest in terms of calendar year and we kept thinking it would get better and better like '21 but it just got worse with every storm. I have tried to understand weather, temperature, moon phase, calendar etc on what kicks them in gear and every time I think I have it figured it out - they prove me wrong. I guess they are ready when they are ready. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jdown Report post Posted September 16 I will say, I'm guessing all of the summer pressure has to have something to do with it.. those animals are pushed back and moved daily it seems all summer long. Back in the day, it seemed that 2nd week was always lit up (combination of less woods traffic and later in Sept). But maybe that is just nostalgia. Now it seems 100% hit or miss. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idgaf Report post Posted September 16 This year has been really dry. The nutrition just might not be there. That being said I have noticed that the rut has been getting later and later each year. I have watched full rutting in mid November. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertmafia21 Report post Posted September 16 Bulls weren’t talking much near the roads in unit 1. We did stumble upon a good one though. 11 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites