Filling the Freezer

[PatrickJr]

My father helped a family friend, Tommy, apply for his first time in AZ. He wanted to hunt elk. My father put him in for a unit that we knew fairly well and he drew the tag. My father also offered for us to help him during the hunt since he hasn't hunted elk in 50 years and when he did, he was hunting off horseback in Montana. Tommy made a scouting trip up there and found some elk, plus a campsite he liked. He headed up last Tuesday to scout for the hunt. Tommy had elk walking through his camp almost every night.

My father and I get up there late Thursday and are at our favorite glassing spot early on Friday. Found lots of antelope and my dad glasses up a nice little herd of spikes and cows. They are about a mile away and we take off. We get to 800 yards of where the were and we can't find them. They moved further east and a truck on a nearby road spooked them, out of the county they go.

Tommy and my father had an uneventful evening sitting a well used fence line while I sat on a hill and got pounded by rain and hail. I saw tree cows but were to late in the day to make a move.

Next morning at our favorite glassing spot again, I find some elk way off, 3 miles or so. My dad stays back to make sure I don't bust these elk. I drive around to a nearby road with Tommy and we start heading towards the elk. My dad lets me know where to walk so I run into the tracks. He cannot see the elk as they went over. I find the tracks and start following. I assumed and shouldn't have that they were on the backside and if we got to the top, we could shoot. When we almost go to the top, Tommy and I look up, we see an elk at 300 yards. It sees us as soon as we see it. To the next county they go. Another uneventful evening ensued.

It is now the last morning my father and I could help, we wanted to leave around noon. Lots of nice antelope bucks again. Finally some elk. I take Tommy around in the truck again. I didn't have service so I never got my dads call, he was trying to stop me because we spooked them with the truck. When I did get service, he let me know what I'd done. I saw some elk running through the trees a long ways out. Wind going straight north, we got the wind right and started heading west with Tommy in my back pocket. After a good 40 minutes I get to an outcropping and see an elk. Start working in. Tommy told us that he can only shoot 300 yards. We get to 350 and I tell him there aren't any more trees to cover us. He must shoot now. Finally a cow separates herself and is quartering to us and to the left. I give him the go ahead. Cow drops. I'm just happy it finally happened. Tommy did really well for being 71 years old!

Props given to my father for doing the majority of the knife work, and because he had Tommys Filipina wife over his shoulder yelling in his ear every time he left a little piece of meat on the elk. I would have snapped if I were him. But now she has more protein than she can handle.


Florentina, Tommy and I


Hind on my back

 

[CouesPursuit]

Good for you guys, well done!

[hoghntr]

Nice job!

[bgshooter]

Congrats!!!

[rph]

Sounds like a fun hunt.

[nw07heavy]

Congratulations, nice elk.

[azruger]

Congrats. Meat in the freezer!!

[Will K]

Congrat's.

[Matt Meyer]

Congrats on the nice elk