Well the first wave of elk hunts have come and gone for me this year. This write-up is a week or more overdue, I didn't take enough pictures unfortunately and for that I apologize. I was able to play guide for 2 weeks in mid-October, the first 7 days were for my wife's antlerless tag and the next 7 were for an out-of-state friend who drew an any elk tag.
Week 1:
My wife got the bug to kill an elk and she did that last year on a successful cow elk hunt. This year she had the same hunt and as it turns out the bug seems to have left her. We hunted 4.5 days of the 7 day hunt and unfortunately she seems to be less up to the challenge. I love to hunt, my wife can take it or leave it. Last year we were able to drop a cow first thing on day 2 and that is how she likes it. Hunting days on end is not her thing.
The huntress, day 1:
This particular hunt is called a "limited opportunity" hunt by Game and Fish. The area in this unit is much smaller than most in AZ and the terrain is aggressive. There are a good population of elk in the area but getting to them and getting them out can be exhausting. The average fat guy looking to shoot one from the road is going to be SOL on this hunt. For these reasons the post-rut hunts in this area are easy to draw. However, you'll have your work cut out for you. The mantra of hunters familiar with this area is 10,000ft. That's where the elk are during daylight hours and that's where you have to be. I don't buy into this theory 100%. Surely there are elk at 10,000ft on this mountain every day but having hunted elk all over the rest of the state, my observations of elk are: 1. Elk don't typically migrate 3000 vertical feet twice daily. 2. Elk are everywhere, and I can find them.
The view of the hunting area from my front yard (convenient!):
Last year we were able to find a good spot in a recent burn. This area is the lower foothills of the San Franciso peaks and is by far the easiest country to traverse that still holds elk. The problem is that the elk have mostly learned to stay out of this area in daylight hours. They can head north out of the unit before daylight or they can head straight up the mountain to over 10,000ft before daylight. SOMETIMES you can catch them hanging out in the burn at daybreak and that's what we were shooting for. Unfortunately, the elk didn't cooperate. We made the 45 minute hike in before dark 5 times and the only elk we saw were 4 lone bulls. We could have likely killed them all, especially this little 5x4:
Despite my promise not to attempt to get to 10,000ft, we did attempt it several times and largely unsuccessfully. The mountain is so steep and thick it is not feasible for an otherwise in shape person to climb 2000 vertical feet without a good trail. We learned several places NOT to go and my wife thought this was mostly an exhausting waste of time. She was at least half right, but it was good information and saved me time on the upcoming bull hunt.
I was really looking forward to putting some meat in the freezer but the hunt proved to be harder than last year. Some important lessons were learned; my wife is not me and she does not want a hard hunt. Next year will be an any elk hunt in this unit so she can shoot the first elk she sees, or she can put in for easy early cow hunts that are hard to draw. Or she'll sit out for awhile
Morning stars hiking into our morning perch:
Week 1:
My wife got the bug to kill an elk and she did that last year on a successful cow elk hunt. This year she had the same hunt and as it turns out the bug seems to have left her. We hunted 4.5 days of the 7 day hunt and unfortunately she seems to be less up to the challenge. I love to hunt, my wife can take it or leave it. Last year we were able to drop a cow first thing on day 2 and that is how she likes it. Hunting days on end is not her thing.
The huntress, day 1:
This particular hunt is called a "limited opportunity" hunt by Game and Fish. The area in this unit is much smaller than most in AZ and the terrain is aggressive. There are a good population of elk in the area but getting to them and getting them out can be exhausting. The average fat guy looking to shoot one from the road is going to be SOL on this hunt. For these reasons the post-rut hunts in this area are easy to draw. However, you'll have your work cut out for you. The mantra of hunters familiar with this area is 10,000ft. That's where the elk are during daylight hours and that's where you have to be. I don't buy into this theory 100%. Surely there are elk at 10,000ft on this mountain every day but having hunted elk all over the rest of the state, my observations of elk are: 1. Elk don't typically migrate 3000 vertical feet twice daily. 2. Elk are everywhere, and I can find them.
The view of the hunting area from my front yard (convenient!):
Last year we were able to find a good spot in a recent burn. This area is the lower foothills of the San Franciso peaks and is by far the easiest country to traverse that still holds elk. The problem is that the elk have mostly learned to stay out of this area in daylight hours. They can head north out of the unit before daylight or they can head straight up the mountain to over 10,000ft before daylight. SOMETIMES you can catch them hanging out in the burn at daybreak and that's what we were shooting for. Unfortunately, the elk didn't cooperate. We made the 45 minute hike in before dark 5 times and the only elk we saw were 4 lone bulls. We could have likely killed them all, especially this little 5x4:
Despite my promise not to attempt to get to 10,000ft, we did attempt it several times and largely unsuccessfully. The mountain is so steep and thick it is not feasible for an otherwise in shape person to climb 2000 vertical feet without a good trail. We learned several places NOT to go and my wife thought this was mostly an exhausting waste of time. She was at least half right, but it was good information and saved me time on the upcoming bull hunt.
I was really looking forward to putting some meat in the freezer but the hunt proved to be harder than last year. Some important lessons were learned; my wife is not me and she does not want a hard hunt. Next year will be an any elk hunt in this unit so she can shoot the first elk she sees, or she can put in for easy early cow hunts that are hard to draw. Or she'll sit out for awhile
Morning stars hiking into our morning perch: