I was somewhat optimistic about my AZ tag. I had never hunted AZ before. I fell some pressure to get it done. The cost of the tag and the expenses related to scouting and miscellaneous were in the back of my mind wondering if it would be worth it.
I figured I would go scout the area for a few days. On the second day of the scouting trip, I found a nice herd of cows. There were about 13 of them with some pretty big ones in the mix. I watched them for about 3 hours and moved on to find more elk. The terrain in the unit had lots of access roads, rolling hills, a bunch of higher peaks, and lots of water. I left the unit feeling good about what I saw.
I arrived two days before the opener with a buddy of mine. The nights were cold from 15 to 10 degrees and low 60s during the day. Sleeping in the truck under the camper shell was pretty awesome but pretty cold. I was glad I bought a 0 degrees sleeping bag. I was prepared for the weather yet I would prepare a little better next time.
The first day of the hunt we could not find the Elk anywhere. The second day we spotted 3 bulls with one of them being a 6x6. The third day of the hunt we saw one more bull sneaking away from a hunter. The forth day we spotted two heavy-duty bucks, a couple of does, and a bunch of Antelope.
The fifth day we found 6 Javalina and two of them were tankers. Later that afternoon we spotted 2 more Bulls with 3 cows at about 1,000 yrds. away. The strategy was to back off, go around, play the wind and ambush them. The Elk never came the way we expected. So we went after them but we never saw them again.
The last day we headed to the same spot and saw a couple of cows from pretty far away. This time we decided for the sake of time to move quickly with the wind on our face. I took my boots off to get close without being caught. I could smell them, their droppings were steaming, I was ready to open fire should one of them come out in the open but it never happened. The spot was like the Bermuda Triangle...Elk would just disappear and appear.
We drove around, glassed, hiked, and tracked through-out the entire hunt. When we talked to some of the locals they said this was a pretty bad year in that area but it usually is not like that.
I left AZ disappointed. Although I saw a bunch of quality game. It was hard to believe that after 6+ days I could not find more cows.
I wish I could say I had fun. Up at 5 am in 10 degrees every day, no breakfast, no coffee, no time for anything but to get to the spot. No breaks in the middle of the day, no lunch, no naps. Suddenly the sun would start to set and hiking out of the spot in the dark in difficult terrain was kind of miserable. Back to the campsite for a quick jetboiled meal some whisky and right to sleeping. No campfires, it was too cold and we were too tired.
Had I filled my tag all of it would have been worth it...but it just didn't happen.
Unfortunately, the images of those huge cows I spotted when scouting have not left my mind and I will probably pursue the tag yet again next year.
I figured I would go scout the area for a few days. On the second day of the scouting trip, I found a nice herd of cows. There were about 13 of them with some pretty big ones in the mix. I watched them for about 3 hours and moved on to find more elk. The terrain in the unit had lots of access roads, rolling hills, a bunch of higher peaks, and lots of water. I left the unit feeling good about what I saw.
I arrived two days before the opener with a buddy of mine. The nights were cold from 15 to 10 degrees and low 60s during the day. Sleeping in the truck under the camper shell was pretty awesome but pretty cold. I was glad I bought a 0 degrees sleeping bag. I was prepared for the weather yet I would prepare a little better next time.
The first day of the hunt we could not find the Elk anywhere. The second day we spotted 3 bulls with one of them being a 6x6. The third day of the hunt we saw one more bull sneaking away from a hunter. The forth day we spotted two heavy-duty bucks, a couple of does, and a bunch of Antelope.
The fifth day we found 6 Javalina and two of them were tankers. Later that afternoon we spotted 2 more Bulls with 3 cows at about 1,000 yrds. away. The strategy was to back off, go around, play the wind and ambush them. The Elk never came the way we expected. So we went after them but we never saw them again.
The last day we headed to the same spot and saw a couple of cows from pretty far away. This time we decided for the sake of time to move quickly with the wind on our face. I took my boots off to get close without being caught. I could smell them, their droppings were steaming, I was ready to open fire should one of them come out in the open but it never happened. The spot was like the Bermuda Triangle...Elk would just disappear and appear.
We drove around, glassed, hiked, and tracked through-out the entire hunt. When we talked to some of the locals they said this was a pretty bad year in that area but it usually is not like that.
I left AZ disappointed. Although I saw a bunch of quality game. It was hard to believe that after 6+ days I could not find more cows.
I wish I could say I had fun. Up at 5 am in 10 degrees every day, no breakfast, no coffee, no time for anything but to get to the spot. No breaks in the middle of the day, no lunch, no naps. Suddenly the sun would start to set and hiking out of the spot in the dark in difficult terrain was kind of miserable. Back to the campsite for a quick jetboiled meal some whisky and right to sleeping. No campfires, it was too cold and we were too tired.
Had I filled my tag all of it would have been worth it...but it just didn't happen.
Unfortunately, the images of those huge cows I spotted when scouting have not left my mind and I will probably pursue the tag yet again next year.
