Thought I would do a quick write up of my first elk hunt. I'm 50 years old and have lived in AZ for 10 years. Originally being from Central Texas, the only big game animals I've hunted are whitetail deer. When my father would take me hunting for deer, it was about putting meat in the freezer. There was no "trophy" hunting. He never had a mount done, even though he did shoot some really nice whitetails. We stopped hunting together about 25 years ago, as he progressed into failing health.
After moving to Arizona, I started applying for antelope, deer, and elk hunts. Year after year passed and I never got drawn. For 2017, I talked to a friend and we decided to apply together for elk. After looking over the units, dates, and available tags in those units, we decided to apply for late bull hunts in unit 6A and an adjacent unit. There were around 700 tags available in each unit, and based on previous draw success rates, we had about a 12% chance of getting a tag. According to AZGFD, unit 6a holds about 20% of Arizona's elk population, so there is a good chance of seeing some bulls in there.
The draw took place and we got tags! Excitement quickly turned into a several month odyssey of planning, scouting, gun and bullet choices, more scouting, more scouting, and finally the hunt.
I shoot long range steel as often as I can. Before the hunt, I had a 6.5 creedmoor, 308, 7mm Rem mag, and 300 win mag. Gun choice was probably the most confusing and difficult thing for me. Since I had never hunted elk, I started to research online about calibers and elk bullets. That was mistake number 1. Opinions ranged from a .243 or bigger is plenty, to if it isn't .338 diameter, it isn't good for elk. Some say elk are like a tank, and others say they are easy to kill. I got way too wrapped up in the caliber and bullet choice. Since I shoot long range a lot, I told myself that I needed to be prepared for a long shot. That would put the 7mm or 300 WM into play, but they are very heavy and cumbersome to carry. So I went back and forth between a long range rifle or a smaller, lighter rifle that would pack and carry much easier. This was a struggle that went down to the last minute, and I chose the 7mm RM, which was a mistake. I will explain why later.
We started scouting in late summer. Not necessarily scouting for elk, since they were still up in the high country, but just looking for places within the unit. Since there were so many tags, we wanted to get as far out in the wilderness as we could. I had read that the canyon system in the southern part of the unit held good bulls all year, because of how rugged the terrain was. The northern half of the unit is pine forest. It ranges from about 7800' on the north end to around 6500' in the mid section. At that point, the pines transition to junipers and cedars. The terrain also gets much more rocky. There are hills/canyons everywhere. The few forest roads that pass through the area are so rough that you really need a specialized vehicle to drive them.
My long range shooting buddy, who has hunted elk several times and also has a Polaris Ranger, agreed to hunt with us. On our last scouting trip in October, he brought the Ranger and we made the journey to an area we had picked on the map as a possible spot. It was 9.5 miles off the paved highway, and too 2 hours to get there in the Ranger. Super nasty road. Elk sign was plentiful. Fresh elk crap everywhere, a game trail 60' wide cutting through one small canyon, and rubs 7' high on small juniper trees. We decided that area was where we would start hunting on opening day. There were also several small water tanks scattered throughout the area, and since there hadn't been a drop of rain the last couple of months, the water holes would be hot spots for activity. My partner with the other tag wanted to start hunting the game trail area, and I wanted to start near a water hole about a mile off the forest road.
So opening morning comes and we leave camp around 3:30 am. Drive 2 hours and drop off my friend who is hunting. My buddy and I then drive a little farther and start hiking to the water hole. We are about halfway there, and I start to see lights through the trees. As we get closer, I see a couple of large tents and some people walking around. CRAP! Someone setup camp right where we wanted to start hunting. We look at each other and turn and hike back to the Ranger. We really didn't have a plan B. What do we do now? Well, we started looking at our GPS to find another water hole close by, but off the road, and spot one about a mile away, so off we go.
Let me interject here a little about my gun decision. I went with my custom R700 7mm RM. It shoots great. It's the most accurate rifle I own. I've shot it out to 1000 yards on steel and it's just a laser. It also has a Sendero profile barrel and weighs about 13.5 pounds scoped. The weight isn't terribly bad, but it's barrel heavy. I decided to carry it with a sling and the left side flush cups. Bad decision number 2.
After hiking the mile to the water tank, there was no water tank. It was a deep canyon of huge boulders, but no water. As the sun was about to peak over the trees, we just found an opening and sat down. The sun rose and after about an hour, we decided to get moving. We found another water hole on GPS about 2 miles away, so off we went. Over hills, through canyons, over more hills, through another canyon, trying to keep that 13.5 lb rifle on my shoulder. The further we got back in there, the heavier it got. I really wanted to switch shoulders, but couldn't because of the flush cups being on the left and the way it fit on my shoulder with a backpack. So I ended up holding my hand under the butt pad of the rifle to support the weight, and holding onto the strap with my left hand to keep it on my shoulder. Not very comfortable for miles of hiking.
We made it to the water hole and setup on a ridge about 350 yards away. BEAUTIFUL area! Just picturesque.
We sat overlooking that water tank for about an hour. Heard three packs of coyotes barking at each other in the distance. Saw nothing but birds and a couple of rabbits. We decided to start walking back toward the Ranger, taking a slightly different route and staying as high on the ridge as possible. After walking about a mile, I saw this laying on the ground.
It was the full skeleton of a 6x7.
Based on the way the bones looked, the elk had been there for at least a year, maybe more. I wish I would have looked a little closer to see if there was any sign of a bullet hole in any of the bones, or maybe a broad head, but didn't really think of it at the time. I was just trying to keep the **** 13.5 lb rifle on my shoulder.
At this point, we had hiked about 6 miles. We had another 4 or so to go to get back to the Ranger, and there were 2 canyons and 3 ridge lines to go over. My shoulder hated me, and I started to think to myself, "do I really want to shoot something here"? Right then, I really did not want to pack an elk out of the location we were. It is legal to drive off road to retrieve an elk in that unit, but I'm not sure it was possible to actually get the Ranger there.
Anyway, we started hiking, and hiking, and hiking. Up and over a ridge, down through a steep canyon littered with boulders, up the other side just to do it again. It took about 3 hours to get back to the Ranger. We were both exhausted. It was approximately 2:30pm, and sunset was around 5:30, if I remember correctly. There was a water tank just off the forest road about a mile away, and we decided to setup in a tree line there to see if anything came in for a drink late in the day. We heard a couple of gunshots just after sunrise, but hadn't seen anyone or heard any other vehicles all day, so we were in a pretty secluded area. As we sat there, about 20 turkeys came in to drink. They came in single file, then spread out evenly at the water line. After drinking, they single filed back out. It was a pretty cool sight. In all, they stayed about 5 minutes.
Once they left it got really quiet. I heard snoring to my left. My buddy has fallen asleep on the ground. Sawing logs............ He slept for at least 20 minutes, snoring the entire time. He finally woke up, and about 10 minutes later a bull trotted in to the tank. He was an old raghorn, but it was a bull nonetheless. My goal was to put meat in the freezer, and he would do that. I was running off the saying to never pass on something the first day that you would shoot on the last. The only problem was that there was a big pine tree right between us. I watched him for a few seconds and then another bull came in. He was also a raghorn, but stopped perfectly broadside about 130 yards away. My buddy and I looked him over and I gave him the "I'm going to shoot him" nod, and he agreed. I was originally worried about getting "buck fever" if I had a chance to shoot one, there was none. My rifle was setup on a tripod and as I put the crosshairs just behind his shoulder, they were perfectly steady. I thought again for a second just to confirm he was what I wanted, and then I pulled the trigger. The crosshairs stayed on him through the recoil, and I saw him hunch his back and stagger a bit. I knew it was a good hit in the crease, and he was done, but he didn't immediately go down. The first bull ran about 20 yards toward me, and a nice bull that we hadn't seen (that we estimated to be a 6x6) ran out of the trees and joined him. My bull followed them and they all stopped. After a few seconds, my bull developed the Berger wobble and went down. The other two scampered off. As my bull lay on the ground, he still had his head up in the air, and I put one through his neck just to finish him off a bit faster.
There was honestly a bit of a let down once it all ended. I don't know why. Maybe it was knowing there was a bigger bull there, and if I had waited, I could have taken him. Maybe it was just that the long journey was over. The anticlimactic part was that we hiked over 10 miles through some of the roughest country in Arizona, and didn't see anything the entire time, but shot one over a water hole fifty feet off the forest road. I even told my friend that I wasn't nearly as excited as I thought I would be.
My dad got me into hunting when I was 5. We spent a lot of time together hunting deer. He died never getting the chance to hunt elk. I took his old flask filled with whiskey, with the intention of making a toast to him if I got one. I was able to make that toast and that was the most satisfying part of the hunt.
My friend that also had a tag didn't get one. He didn't see anything at all. He is in his late 60's and fairly fit. It took all three of us to load the elk in the Ranger, using some hillbilly ingenuity and a couple of ropes.
So what did I learn from all this? A couple of things.
First, I went way overboard on the rifle, cartridge, bullet selection. I shot the elk at 130 yards. Honestly, in that area, a shot over 300 would be extremely rare. I could have easily just taken my light weight 308 and been much happier during the hike. The elk's lungs and heart were completely destroyed, but it took him about 10 seconds to actually go down and expire. I'm sure a 308, or 6.5 would have done the same job in that situation. Different situations could require a different choice, but I went off the deep end a little buying rifles and analyzing bullets for this hunt. I really didn't need to do that.
Second, carrying a heavy rifle on a sling while hiking sucks. It really sucks. I have an Eberlestock pack with a rifle scabbard. I chose not to take it, thinking that "I need to be ready to take a quick shot". Well honestly, after a few miles of hiking with that rifle, my arm and shoulder hurt so much that I probably couldn't have taken an accurate shot if it presented itself. Carrying that rifle in a scabbard would have made the hike MUCH more enjoyable. I will never take a long hike without some sort of pack/scabbard/rifle carrying system.
Third, no matter how much you plan, something is going to screw up that plan. We didn't have a plan B for opening morning. I would have never thought there would be a camp setup that far in the back county, and exactly where we wanted to start hunting. It was probably an outfitter, as the camp was pretty large. We had to scramble at the last moment and that's not a good way to open a hunt. Always have plan B, C, D, just in case.
Sorry for such a long story. It didn't end with a record class bull. I did learn a lot about that type of hunting, and did get an elk, and my freezer is full, so it was a success and I can't wait to do it again!
After moving to Arizona, I started applying for antelope, deer, and elk hunts. Year after year passed and I never got drawn. For 2017, I talked to a friend and we decided to apply together for elk. After looking over the units, dates, and available tags in those units, we decided to apply for late bull hunts in unit 6A and an adjacent unit. There were around 700 tags available in each unit, and based on previous draw success rates, we had about a 12% chance of getting a tag. According to AZGFD, unit 6a holds about 20% of Arizona's elk population, so there is a good chance of seeing some bulls in there.
The draw took place and we got tags! Excitement quickly turned into a several month odyssey of planning, scouting, gun and bullet choices, more scouting, more scouting, and finally the hunt.
I shoot long range steel as often as I can. Before the hunt, I had a 6.5 creedmoor, 308, 7mm Rem mag, and 300 win mag. Gun choice was probably the most confusing and difficult thing for me. Since I had never hunted elk, I started to research online about calibers and elk bullets. That was mistake number 1. Opinions ranged from a .243 or bigger is plenty, to if it isn't .338 diameter, it isn't good for elk. Some say elk are like a tank, and others say they are easy to kill. I got way too wrapped up in the caliber and bullet choice. Since I shoot long range a lot, I told myself that I needed to be prepared for a long shot. That would put the 7mm or 300 WM into play, but they are very heavy and cumbersome to carry. So I went back and forth between a long range rifle or a smaller, lighter rifle that would pack and carry much easier. This was a struggle that went down to the last minute, and I chose the 7mm RM, which was a mistake. I will explain why later.
We started scouting in late summer. Not necessarily scouting for elk, since they were still up in the high country, but just looking for places within the unit. Since there were so many tags, we wanted to get as far out in the wilderness as we could. I had read that the canyon system in the southern part of the unit held good bulls all year, because of how rugged the terrain was. The northern half of the unit is pine forest. It ranges from about 7800' on the north end to around 6500' in the mid section. At that point, the pines transition to junipers and cedars. The terrain also gets much more rocky. There are hills/canyons everywhere. The few forest roads that pass through the area are so rough that you really need a specialized vehicle to drive them.
My long range shooting buddy, who has hunted elk several times and also has a Polaris Ranger, agreed to hunt with us. On our last scouting trip in October, he brought the Ranger and we made the journey to an area we had picked on the map as a possible spot. It was 9.5 miles off the paved highway, and too 2 hours to get there in the Ranger. Super nasty road. Elk sign was plentiful. Fresh elk crap everywhere, a game trail 60' wide cutting through one small canyon, and rubs 7' high on small juniper trees. We decided that area was where we would start hunting on opening day. There were also several small water tanks scattered throughout the area, and since there hadn't been a drop of rain the last couple of months, the water holes would be hot spots for activity. My partner with the other tag wanted to start hunting the game trail area, and I wanted to start near a water hole about a mile off the forest road.
So opening morning comes and we leave camp around 3:30 am. Drive 2 hours and drop off my friend who is hunting. My buddy and I then drive a little farther and start hiking to the water hole. We are about halfway there, and I start to see lights through the trees. As we get closer, I see a couple of large tents and some people walking around. CRAP! Someone setup camp right where we wanted to start hunting. We look at each other and turn and hike back to the Ranger. We really didn't have a plan B. What do we do now? Well, we started looking at our GPS to find another water hole close by, but off the road, and spot one about a mile away, so off we go.
Let me interject here a little about my gun decision. I went with my custom R700 7mm RM. It shoots great. It's the most accurate rifle I own. I've shot it out to 1000 yards on steel and it's just a laser. It also has a Sendero profile barrel and weighs about 13.5 pounds scoped. The weight isn't terribly bad, but it's barrel heavy. I decided to carry it with a sling and the left side flush cups. Bad decision number 2.
After hiking the mile to the water tank, there was no water tank. It was a deep canyon of huge boulders, but no water. As the sun was about to peak over the trees, we just found an opening and sat down. The sun rose and after about an hour, we decided to get moving. We found another water hole on GPS about 2 miles away, so off we went. Over hills, through canyons, over more hills, through another canyon, trying to keep that 13.5 lb rifle on my shoulder. The further we got back in there, the heavier it got. I really wanted to switch shoulders, but couldn't because of the flush cups being on the left and the way it fit on my shoulder with a backpack. So I ended up holding my hand under the butt pad of the rifle to support the weight, and holding onto the strap with my left hand to keep it on my shoulder. Not very comfortable for miles of hiking.
We made it to the water hole and setup on a ridge about 350 yards away. BEAUTIFUL area! Just picturesque.
We sat overlooking that water tank for about an hour. Heard three packs of coyotes barking at each other in the distance. Saw nothing but birds and a couple of rabbits. We decided to start walking back toward the Ranger, taking a slightly different route and staying as high on the ridge as possible. After walking about a mile, I saw this laying on the ground.
It was the full skeleton of a 6x7.
Based on the way the bones looked, the elk had been there for at least a year, maybe more. I wish I would have looked a little closer to see if there was any sign of a bullet hole in any of the bones, or maybe a broad head, but didn't really think of it at the time. I was just trying to keep the **** 13.5 lb rifle on my shoulder.
At this point, we had hiked about 6 miles. We had another 4 or so to go to get back to the Ranger, and there were 2 canyons and 3 ridge lines to go over. My shoulder hated me, and I started to think to myself, "do I really want to shoot something here"? Right then, I really did not want to pack an elk out of the location we were. It is legal to drive off road to retrieve an elk in that unit, but I'm not sure it was possible to actually get the Ranger there.
Anyway, we started hiking, and hiking, and hiking. Up and over a ridge, down through a steep canyon littered with boulders, up the other side just to do it again. It took about 3 hours to get back to the Ranger. We were both exhausted. It was approximately 2:30pm, and sunset was around 5:30, if I remember correctly. There was a water tank just off the forest road about a mile away, and we decided to setup in a tree line there to see if anything came in for a drink late in the day. We heard a couple of gunshots just after sunrise, but hadn't seen anyone or heard any other vehicles all day, so we were in a pretty secluded area. As we sat there, about 20 turkeys came in to drink. They came in single file, then spread out evenly at the water line. After drinking, they single filed back out. It was a pretty cool sight. In all, they stayed about 5 minutes.
Once they left it got really quiet. I heard snoring to my left. My buddy has fallen asleep on the ground. Sawing logs............ He slept for at least 20 minutes, snoring the entire time. He finally woke up, and about 10 minutes later a bull trotted in to the tank. He was an old raghorn, but it was a bull nonetheless. My goal was to put meat in the freezer, and he would do that. I was running off the saying to never pass on something the first day that you would shoot on the last. The only problem was that there was a big pine tree right between us. I watched him for a few seconds and then another bull came in. He was also a raghorn, but stopped perfectly broadside about 130 yards away. My buddy and I looked him over and I gave him the "I'm going to shoot him" nod, and he agreed. I was originally worried about getting "buck fever" if I had a chance to shoot one, there was none. My rifle was setup on a tripod and as I put the crosshairs just behind his shoulder, they were perfectly steady. I thought again for a second just to confirm he was what I wanted, and then I pulled the trigger. The crosshairs stayed on him through the recoil, and I saw him hunch his back and stagger a bit. I knew it was a good hit in the crease, and he was done, but he didn't immediately go down. The first bull ran about 20 yards toward me, and a nice bull that we hadn't seen (that we estimated to be a 6x6) ran out of the trees and joined him. My bull followed them and they all stopped. After a few seconds, my bull developed the Berger wobble and went down. The other two scampered off. As my bull lay on the ground, he still had his head up in the air, and I put one through his neck just to finish him off a bit faster.
There was honestly a bit of a let down once it all ended. I don't know why. Maybe it was knowing there was a bigger bull there, and if I had waited, I could have taken him. Maybe it was just that the long journey was over. The anticlimactic part was that we hiked over 10 miles through some of the roughest country in Arizona, and didn't see anything the entire time, but shot one over a water hole fifty feet off the forest road. I even told my friend that I wasn't nearly as excited as I thought I would be.
My dad got me into hunting when I was 5. We spent a lot of time together hunting deer. He died never getting the chance to hunt elk. I took his old flask filled with whiskey, with the intention of making a toast to him if I got one. I was able to make that toast and that was the most satisfying part of the hunt.
My friend that also had a tag didn't get one. He didn't see anything at all. He is in his late 60's and fairly fit. It took all three of us to load the elk in the Ranger, using some hillbilly ingenuity and a couple of ropes.
So what did I learn from all this? A couple of things.
First, I went way overboard on the rifle, cartridge, bullet selection. I shot the elk at 130 yards. Honestly, in that area, a shot over 300 would be extremely rare. I could have easily just taken my light weight 308 and been much happier during the hike. The elk's lungs and heart were completely destroyed, but it took him about 10 seconds to actually go down and expire. I'm sure a 308, or 6.5 would have done the same job in that situation. Different situations could require a different choice, but I went off the deep end a little buying rifles and analyzing bullets for this hunt. I really didn't need to do that.
Second, carrying a heavy rifle on a sling while hiking sucks. It really sucks. I have an Eberlestock pack with a rifle scabbard. I chose not to take it, thinking that "I need to be ready to take a quick shot". Well honestly, after a few miles of hiking with that rifle, my arm and shoulder hurt so much that I probably couldn't have taken an accurate shot if it presented itself. Carrying that rifle in a scabbard would have made the hike MUCH more enjoyable. I will never take a long hike without some sort of pack/scabbard/rifle carrying system.
Third, no matter how much you plan, something is going to screw up that plan. We didn't have a plan B for opening morning. I would have never thought there would be a camp setup that far in the back county, and exactly where we wanted to start hunting. It was probably an outfitter, as the camp was pretty large. We had to scramble at the last moment and that's not a good way to open a hunt. Always have plan B, C, D, just in case.
Sorry for such a long story. It didn't end with a record class bull. I did learn a lot about that type of hunting, and did get an elk, and my freezer is full, so it was a success and I can't wait to do it again!
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