My 2009 Archery Bull with Story and Pics

[rthrbhntng]

Elk hunting in 2009 Early Archery was a challenge to say the least. I spent 2-3 days a week for 6 weeks prior to my hunt to learn new areas and scout out places I thought would hold bulls. I had this same hunt a couple of years ago and knew much of the unit from scouting for my previous hunt. This year I was determined to find a few new places that held big bulls so if one area was cold I could go to another. In hindsight I am glad I scouted so much, the hot and cold hunting had me moving all over the unit.

This is one of the bulls I kept an eye (or should I say camera) on during my scouting. He would move about two miles every couple of days.

Just before the hunt started another bull with longer tines showed up but I couldn’t pattern him at the water holes. The new bull spent a lot of time in an area where I could glass and keep a watch on him. We spent a ton of time watching bulls in 6 different areas and it paid off by having somewhere to hunt when the elk shut down in a tough hot and cold hunt.

I would be hunting with a good friend, Richard, and all he wanted was to find some nice bulls and maybe harvest a small 6X6. I kept telling Richard that there were a lot of small bulls but in the beginning of the hunt we would be looking for big bulls.

Opening day found us sitting at water trying to see if the bulls I had been seeing on the cameras were still around. Over the Labor Day weekend the area got hammered with rain. Now there was water everywhere and the elk had stopped coming to the water holes. There was no bugling going on in the areas where the big bulls were hanging out. Opening day came and went without seeing a single bull. The next day was more of the same. The bulls were still silent and had moved. We spent a good bit if time glassing trying to re-locate them but never found them until later in the hunt.

Sunday afternoon we decided to check an area that held a bunch of small bulls in hopes that we could find a bull for Richard. We had glassed this area for many days during scouting trips and the day before the hunt.

There had been about 9 bulls around the hills and at the water hole prior to the hunt many of the small bulls had been pushing each other around and bugling. We had only seen a handfull of cow elk in the area. The day before the hunt I glassed up a nice bull that had shown up and was now herding the cows. We arrive in the canyon on Sunday afternoon and as soon as we got there we heard a nice bull bugling up on the side of the hill. I figured this was the bigger bull that had shown up a few days ago. The bull gave us the slip while we were trying to coax him in for a better look and maybe a shot. After going around us, he headed straight to the water. That’s when we heard a lot of commotion coming from the water hole below us. Richard and I hurried to the water hole and ended up about 70 yards away watching 9 different bulls playing in the water and pushing each other around. The big bull was there and he would just stand to one side and bugle and glunk while watching the other bulls. There was a couple of smaller 6X6s in the group and we started creeping forward to get in a better position with hopes that we could get a shot. We made it to 60 yards and while we were glassing the group, the wild swirled and all the bulls ran up the side of the hill and stopped.

I had gotten a good look at the herd bull and judged him to be around 330-340”. I told Richard to get ready because I thought they might come back. All of a sudden the cows and calves were at the water. It was crazy time as the cows and calves played in the water, splashing and running around. One of the cows laid down and rested her head in the water to cool off. The cows obviously made the bulls feel comfortable and so the they started filtering back the the area. This really irritated the herd bull. He came running down the hill towards us screaming his head of and glunking non stop.

The herd bull laid down in front of us at the edge of the water and rolled onto his back and began wallowing and rubbing his head in the mud. I told Richard to get ready. If this bull turned broadside when he got up Richard was to take the shot. I had ranged the bull at just under 50 yards. No such luck, the bull got up and turned straight away and aggressively began herding his cows out of the water and towards the nearest canyon. He had enough of the other bulls messing with his cows. All the elk cleared out and left. “Oh well, that’s hunting”. Richard sat in the trees and I walked down a small meadow that was there. I decided to give a few cow calls to see if any elk were left and low and behold I called in a nice 260” 6X6 to my location, just about in my lap. I ran back and got Richard. We set up to see if he would come back. I started calling and the bull ran right by Richard and again was in my lap, never giving Richard a shot. This was only Sunday night so we had a lot of time to try again. We did have a trail camera at this water hole but I had left the key in camp so I couldn’t get the card out to see what had been happening the week prior.

The next day we were back in the area and Richard went to sit at the water hole while I went up high and to glass the area. We didn’t see or hear an elk at all that morning. I did bring a Double Bull blind and decided to put it up in a tree that was on the downwind side of the tank. We brushed it in and left. That afternoon we came back and while Richard sat in the blind, I was again on the hill glassing. A couple of the smaller bulls came to the water hole but skirted it. We were sure they saw the dark holes in the tree, the blind, and decided they weren’t that thirsty. That night I did change the card out in the camera and headed back to camp.

At camp as I downloaded the pictures, I was surprised that a large bull had been at the water hole on the first Saturday morning of the hunt. I only had three pictures of him and he was a stud bull! I wasn’t sure just how big he was but he had some extra points and long G-1s, as well as a great mane. I really liked the extra point on his left side. I showed the guys and told them that this was the type of bull I would consider taking. I vowed to be watchful and glass the area from far away until I found him. I even went as far as putting the picture on the screen saver of my computer so I would see him when it booted up. My thoughts were that the herd bull had pushed his cows out and the big bull and some of the others may of followed him.

The next couple of days we decided to hunt a different area miles away. We got into some bulls but not close enough for a shot. A couple of the bulls was in the 370” range so we hunted the area for a couple of days. The bulls still weren’t bugling much but we were lucky to find pockets of active bulls. It was tough because we would go back in the mornings and either the elk weren’t there or they would not bugle at all. It was hot and cold as far as rutting goes. The whole time we hunted there was not many cows in the unit so the bulls traveled all the time.

Well almost a week had gone by and it wasn’t getting any better. Thursday morning Richard and I decided to head to a new area that we didn’t know very well. We wanted to arrive at first light and hike in, just at daylight. After about half and hour of hiking, we arrived at an area I had been told held some good elk. Right away a herd of elk with a nice 330” size bull went by us in the trees. We followed them until we came to a real elky area I decided to do some calling. I was immedialty answered by two different bulls. One was above us and one was below. When I say below - I mean down a very steep incline. We worked on these bulls for about 1 ½ hours and never got a good look at them. We decided to sneak out and come back that afternoon. That afternoon a friend, Paul, joined us to do some video taping. After setting up in the elky spot we waited until we heard a bull bugling below us. I started calling sparingly. Soon there was a herd of elk across the opening. I glassed up a pretty good bull. Paul ran the video and Richard set up to intercept the bull if he came down and out. At this time I didn’t think the bull was over 330” so I was fine with trying to call him in for Richard. If he was over 350” I would have made an attempt to try and harvest him myself. After a few minutes the bull had worked his way down the hill and was coming in straight for me, Paul was taping and Richard was ready. I called and ranged the bull at 25 yards and whispered the yardage to Rich, as soon as Richard moved to draw his bow the bull looked over and bolted. I was able to stop the bull and whispered again to Richard that he was 30 yards away. Richard was so intent on getting a bead on the bull, he didn’t see a couple of small branches so when he shot the arrow twirled aimlessly through the trees. Just after this event we had another bull above us on the hill but couldn’t get him to come any closer. The nxt morning we returned and all the elk stayed below us so we went down into some of the steepest country I have ever been in. My friend Chuck had joined us and we had bulls all around us but decided that the country was way to steep to hauland elk out of without ruining the meat, so we looked around for a while then returned to camp. The trail we started into the area on was above us almost straight up about 1 mile and then it was another mile to the trailhead. Crawling on all fours at times was hard enough without an elk on our back. I will definetly consider this area if drawn again but will make a deal with someone that has mules. I don’t think that horses could get in and out of this area with all the blowdowns and steepness. That afternoon we rested and glassed the area where we had our close encounter a few days ago. A couple of small bulls were back at the water hole.

The next morning found us back at the Double Bull Blind without a bugle or an elk. After the quiet morning, I decided to find the bull with the cows and his friends. We drove a couple of canyons away and got up high to do some glassing. As soon as we were set up the herd bull bugled in a canyon right below us. We confirmed that it was a good bull, grabbed our bows and were off. Soon we arrived at the canyons edge and glassed the bull and his cows going into the next canyon and headed for cover. This was the same herd bull from the water hole and he was looking better all the time. I hoped that we didn’t push him too hard. Two days later we decided to check on him again after hunting the canyon with the water hole in it. At 9:30am I got a response to a cow call and we were able to locate him on our side of the canyons. Richard and I started working our way to his location only to be busted by some of his cows. He pushed his herd off the edge of the canyon and as we stood 100 yards above him, we were able to get a good look at him and watch them go straight down and up the other side. During his travels, he was bugling and glunking all the time. We heard three other bulls responding to the herd bull in other canyons but couldn’t see them.

Tuesday afternoon, we went back to where the herd bull was and got on the mountain side up high so we could glass. It was 3:30pm and as soon as we set up the herd bull started bugling. After about an hour, two other bulls began bugling back and forth with the herd bull. As the cows started filtering onto the mesa below us, I noticed a lone cow wandering around and thought to myself that this could get good. Just then I saw two more cows coming out of the canyon on our left followed by what I thought was a 320-330” bull. Now the herd bull with his harem was on top of the mesa feeding and another bull was headed their way. Both these bulls were nice 350-360” bulls. I looked down at a water hole below us and noticed that a cow was headed to the water. I didn’t know if it was the lone cow or one of the cows with the bull from the canyon on the left. Richard and I hustled down the mountain and got set up in some brush near the water hole to see if a bull was coming in. After the cow left, I heard the bull on our left bugling and decided to head towards him and see if I could call him in. I set up with Richard about 60 yards in front of me and started cow calling with a little estrous call mixed in. The bull came barreling on to Richard and passed by him, bugling, glunking, and throwing snot all over the place. He was headed for me. Richard didn’t have a shot when the bull passed him at 10ft but the bull paused at about 30 yards and was looking for me. I heard Richard shoot and started aggressively cow calling to keep the bull in the area in case he was hit. Soon the bull was circling back towards me and stepped out broadside at 40 yards looking for the cow that was calling to him. At this time I still had my bow on the ground and as soon as the bull came to a stop, I noticed that he was not hit so I picked up my bow and sent an arrow on its way. I really didn’t look hard at his rack but had decided that the hunt was winding down and he was a nice 330” bull, or so I thought. The arrow hit its mark right where I was aiming, just above the heart right in the lungs.

Now the tracking started, we gave the bull about 15 minutes, not near enough time in hindsight, and started after him. There was no trouble finding the blood trail, he was hit good, bleeding and coughing up blood. After about 400 yards I was beginning to second guess how good I thought the shot was, when I bumped him out of a small depression and he started up the mountain. I followed him a little more then decided to back out. We went back to camp to get my friend Chuck and some lanterns and lights. On the way back Chuck asked me how big the bull was and I told him I thought he was about 330”. I shot him to make sure I got some meat from the hunt, I didn’t want to go home empty handed. We took up the blood trail with the lights and soon found the elk. All we could say was WOW. I had really underestimated this bull! His body was huge and the rack was big. That is when I noticed that he was the elk on my sceensaver. The same big bull with the point coming off of his fourth from the water hole. To say I was elated is an understatement. I ended up having the bull green scored at 377” gross.

This was the best bull I have ever harvested. I am glad I scouted hard and took the time to hunt hard. I need to thank my wife Dee for understanding my passion for elk, their habitat and my desire to introduce kids to hunting and the outdoors. I also need to thank the friends that I hunted with, Richard, Chuck, Chris and Paul for their help, as well as AZGFD for managing Arizona herds so we can harvest this caliber of bulls. Can't forget Christian and Cory who helped me during my scouting.

Steve

 

[azcouesandelk]

Huge cangrats on the bull Steve! You hunted hard and came out on top with a great bull!

 

You weren't kidding he looks alot different in the trailcam pictures!

[bonecollector]

Thats a nice bull congrats and great write up thanks for sharing!

[cjw2222]

Congrats on a fantastic bull Steve!! I don't know anyone who deserves this more than you. And the pictures came out great!

[azryan]

That is a stud bull Steve. Like Cory said you deserve a bull like that with all your scouting and hard work.

 

Congrats

[Mangum]

Unique bull. That's awesome. I realy enjoyed your hunt story.

[jakehaffey]

Thats the most organized well put together story and pics i have seen! Huge congrats on a great bull!

[cmc]

Awesome bull Steve.... Congrats.

 

Great story, great photos and thanks for sharing.

 

cmc

[Mrs125coues]

Great job Steve...loved the story. Mark and I will post some of his Caribou and our Grand Canyon trip tonight.

 

Kathi

[Ernesto C]

Congratulations that's a superb bull, a job well done. You the man!

 

Ernesto C

[palivs2hnt]

Great write up and a sensational bull! Congrats!

[n777ea]

Very well documented and a great bull! Enjoy the fruits of your hard work!

Enjoyed the pictures and story. Thank you!

[RAM]

Great story, and nice bull. Were you able to get any photos of the bull, post kill in the field?

 

-Ryan

[joeybari]

nice bull great story love to read it made me feel like i was there right with you and that a great thing since i have not got a elk tag in about 5 years great story

[SDHunter11]

Great bull and nice story. Hard work pays off!