2024 AZ elk chronicles

K

ktg

Active Member
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I was seriously thinking of moving to AZ for 6 months so i could draw this tag as I had 12 points and it took about 21 to guarantee drawing this year. Then I unbelievably drew a random tag. My wife drew it 3 years ago so we weren't going into the unit blind like usual. Bad new is that my youngest son drew the UT youth general elk tag which was right in the middle of my season. My wife insisted that i hunt the whole season in AZ as I told her that was my only regret on her hunt, that we only hunted 10 days. She stayed behind to be his guide and my 2nd to youngest son went with me to AZ for the first 2.5 days of the hunt.

I'm going to chronicle my time in Arizona, a day or 2 at a time, depending on how eventful the day was. Most of these will include text updates sent to my wife so don't expect proper english.
9-13. Friday the 13th. There were gremlins in my truck. We decided we needed to be extra careful on this day. lol.
Tried going to pond. Wind was wrong so we went around the road we took the first time we went there. At the turnoff there were 5 or 6 bugling south. Got 100 yards from a herd. Too many eyes. Chased the others a mile up the hill and gave up. Found 2 bulls bugling this afternoon. Got one to 100 yards and wouldn't come closer. Went to red rock hill. Pond is dry. Nothing down there.
First thing we were walking towards that herd, bugles every direction non-stop and turkeys yapping. Kael stopped and said "this is so cool!" lol. Saw more turkeys and 5 coyotes. I could have shot one at 10 yards but that's when that bull was at 100 yards. Saw 4 bucks, Kael said 3 were 4 points. Small.
While we were calling in that bull, my watch told me this, never seen that before:
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9/14
Started today before light at parking spot for big pond. Nothing there. Drove around to where we found them yesterday. There were bugles way up the mountain already. Drove up there and started after one. Heard a bugle that sounded suspicously human. The elk all moved back down the mountain. Found a couple guys who had hiked in directly upwind of the elk. It all makes sense now. Headed back to truck. Down the hill we went to find the elk again. Started after some again. Spotted a bull a couple hundred yards away. Kael set up and started calling and I moved to a forward position. The bull was screaming! He started to move downwind and towards me. Had him broadside at 70 for several minutes but he was only a 5 on the one side. Pretty wide though. Then he stuck his nose in the air and he was gone. Got after another one but no luck there. By then all bugling had stopped. Jumped a 5 point and a spike late morning. Seems like they're active for about 3 hours in the mornings and 3 hours in the evenings. Time for a nap.
Tonight Kael stayed behind to work on school and I hiked to a guzzler I found by the slash piles. 0.6 miles in. I bugled halfway. Nothing. About 100 yards further up the hill, I jumped 2 cows and a bull. IDK how big he was. Sat on guzzler for an hour. Nothing. Went to slash pile pond. It's dry. Went to another pond. Dry. Drove down the road bugling. Nothing. Decided I needed to be higher elevation. Drove to the closed road at the bottom of the mountain and hiked in. Pretty steep getting in there. 1 mile hike. Right at the top of the trail I heard a bugle that sounded like it was over the next ridge. Started over there just to find out they were on the top on the ridge next to me. Cows busted me and they started to take off. The bull didn't know what was going on so he would run in front of the cows and put his antlers down to stop them. Eventually the cows got around him and took off and he followed. I'd say he was about a 310 bull. I followed them. It was pretty open ponderosa forest. Could see 200 yards pretty easily. I got to the edge of the next draw and stood behind a tree. They were in the bottom and he was screaming his guts out. The cows had me pinned down so I called back and forth with him. After a few minutes I heard a bark behind me. A 5 point had sneaked in behind me. He just kept barking at me till he finally wandered over the hill. The 310 bull wouldn't leave the cows. I had 30 minutes of good light so I decided to try to get closer. Cows busted me right off. They ran up the hill and he was still screaming like crazy while I hiked down the mountain.

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Obviously you didn't do it, but I'd be very careful for anyone considering temporarily moving to a western state to take advantage of the lower point requirement to obtain a prime tag. A well-known hunter moved to Utah a couple years ago, got drawn then moved back. Utah prosecuted him for fraud and he was convicted. A conviction normally comes with fines and the loss of hunting privileges in every state in the country.
 
9/15. Day 3. This was the craziest morning of elk hunting ever. We stopped on the way in and bugled towards the big pond before light. Nothing. Bugled a couple times on the road going to where we found them yesterday. Nothing. Decided to drive down to the private gate. On the way in, Kael spotted a bull on the side of the road in the dark. 8 minutes till shooting time. We drove to the gate and parked. Got out and there's bulls bugling in every direction. We decided to walk the fence line to the west as the wind was blowing towards the north. Chased several herds all morning. We got right in with them. I'm surpised we didn't get busted. We came upon 2 guys who threw a fit when they saw us. Explotives flying, saying we ruined it. lol. Kael asked what we ruined because the elk were still right there and had no clue we were there. IDK. They packed up their stuff and started walking out. A small 6 point jumped the fence in front of us and headed towards the herd. Kael saw 2 fighting at about 100 yards. He said one of them was a monster. (he had binocs) I said let's run in on them while they're distracted. He said there are too many cows, we'll get busted. So we waited. While shadowing the herd, I glanced back and saw a bull walking parallel to us towards the herd. One glance and I knew he was a shooter. All his tines were super long. I gave Kael the thumbs up and estimated him to be 70 yards. Well, he must have been massive because the range finder said 110 as he walked past us. He was broadside in the complete open and didn't care at all that we were there. I figured we had nothing to lose so I gave a cow call. He stopped for 2 seconds, glanced our way, then continued, never to be seen again. We lost the big herd when we started chasing another satelite bull that turned out to be too small. Got in on small herd, again, too small. I could tell Kael really wanted an arrow to fly before he left. Bugling was done after about 3 hours of light, again. For those 3 hours, I don't think there was a 10 second period without a bugle. Some of the bulls were dripping wet from rolling in water. I'll have to find it. Got about 6 miles of hiking in by 9am. Kael was pushing me hard. lol. Broke my phone screen. Had to drive 40 miles to get it replaced. Drove to Phoenix for Kael to fly home for school. Flight was delayed so I didn't get back to room and in bed till midnight. That was a sad drive. Going to be solo for a week. I already felt sleep deprived and I could tell that if I got up at the usual 4am, I would be worthless chasing elk up the mountain so I decided to sleep in.
After thinking about what happened that morning, I believe there was a large herd, or several herds, of cows and a whole bunch of bulls trying to get as many cows as they could. It was complete chaos. I doubt I'll ever have a morning like that again.

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9/16 Day 4.
Slept in today, headed out and was sitting on water at noon. It's the only pond I've found that doesn't have a road going right to it. It's probably 200 yards off the road.
I sat there till dark. About 5pm, I could hear 3 bulls bugling in different directions. One was super gruff, like a cow mooing, but then into a bugle. Each time he'd bugle, I could tell he was getting closer. It became apparent that he was coming in on a trail that I was about 5 feet away from, so I grabbed my stuff and moved to the other side of the pond so he wouldn't smell me. When I saw movement coming down the hill, I threw up my binoculars. Obviously their bugle isn't always an indication of size. haha. He was drinking at 40 yards.
I plan to go to the same area and chase bugles in the morning, then try to find water to sit closer to the big ones we saw.


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9/17. Day 5.
This morning started with rain and wind so it was hard to hear anything else. It took a while to hear a bugle and tell a direction. I'd listen, then drive closer, then listen.... Ended up right at the wallows in the road. Got out downwind to pursue and walked like 200 yards. I looked over and there's 2 dudes sneaking through the trees parallel to my path so I went back to the truck. Drove up the road and there's a herd of elk in the road. Bull was a small 6 so I just drove on.
Rained till 8:45. Coincindentally that's right when they've been going quiet. I got set up on the pond at 9. Sat there all day since I got nothing better to do. Wind blew all day 10-20 mph with gusts to probably 40. Didn't blow the same direction for more than 2 minutes all day so I knew my odds of seeing something was basically 0. I should have just slept all day.
Heard some bugles about 30 minutes before dark but didn't see them. 4 groups of turkeys came to the pond and a bear came in to 25 yards. I think it smelled me and took off.


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9-18-24. Day 6.
I found a bugle right before shooting light a few hundred yards southwest of where Kael and I left the elk the other day. He was across a big clearing, I thought inside the trees. It was still dark enough that I figured at that distance, I'd be safe walking across the clearing. I got part way across and I saw a faint tan spot. I threw up the binoculars and the bull was looking at me, probably 500 yards away. I froze and he just stared at me for minutes. He barked a few times and was gone. That was all for the morning.
I decided to go check out a pond that was about 500 yards from the reservation boundary. As I was walking towards the pond, the smell of elk was thick. I jumped a cow. I don't know if I only saw the last of the herd but a bull started bugling. I called a bit but he made his way off to the southwest. The pond was dry and the regrowth after the burn was a wall of super thick oakbrush about 12 feet tall, so I went back to the little wallow for the evening. All I saw was a spike. He sat in the wallow like it was a bathtub for a bit, then he smelled me and he was GONE! It sounded like he might have broken something trying to get out of there. Almost immediately a 2 point deer came running over the hill. When it got to where the bull smelled me, he threw on the brakes and stood there looking around for a few seconds and then he was GONE! lol. I'm thinking that the full moon and the predicted increasing temps aren't going to be great for calling, especially now that I'm solo. Activity in the mornings and evenings seems to be dwindling. I may have to just sit water.


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9-19-24. Day 7.
First thing this morning the elk were already on the south side of the road headed higher so I drove past them and got set up on another wallow I found. Seems like a lot of them have been hitting water in the mornings. It's looks like a really good spot, but there's a ground blind set up literally 20 yards from the wallow and it sticks out like a sore thumb. I could hear the elk getting closer and closer... and they all went around me, even higher to bed.
I ran to town to do laundry. Running low on clothes.
I was back just below their bedding area at 3:30. I got out of the truck and they were already bugling and starting to move lower. I tried calling. They really haven't responded to calls well. I think there are just too many bulls bugling everywhere so they ignore each other. Tried sneaking in on some and got busted by cows. I ran down and sat on pond. Could hear at least 2 bugling as they came down. Just got dark before they arrived.
There are some quality trees down here.

9-20-24. Day 8.
Saw 1 bull, didn't get a good view of how big it was. 3 spikes. Found an even better wallow. (zoom in to left side of 3rd pic to see water). Probably won't go back to the one with the blind on it. That's about it for today. I assume activity will be getting better with the moon shrinking, but it's getting hotter.

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9-21-24. Day 9.
Found a bull bugling on the hill southeast of the private gate just before shooting light. Wind blowing north so I started sneaking and got directly north of them. Came to a 400 yard wide grass opening. It was still pretty dark but I could see them on the other side through binoculars. Decided my only play was to call. He just looked at me. After a few minutes he followed his cows south into the timber. Another bull was bugling to the northeast so I walked that way about 20 yards and saw him in the bottom of the draw looking at me. He was just a 5 points so I ran back to the truck and hurried out to the main road and tried to guess where the herd was going to cross. I came over a hill and a cow ran across the road at about 100 yards. I grabbed the binoculars to see how big he was when he crossed. Ya, I'd have shot him. haha.
I hurried up the hill to try to get to water before they got there. Found another herd. Started stalking them just to have them run south back down the mountain. IDK why they went that way. Maybe someone else was chasing them too. I hurried to the wallow and sat there for a few hours. It started to sprinkle so I booked it to the truck just in time to miss the hail storm, then more rain.
I decided to check out a couple new spots. Had to wait for a SxS caravan, probably 30 of them going down the road. One spot was a really green area in the middle of the forest. Turned out to be a field of ferns. Seems like there was elk activity there and I could smell elk, but no water that I could find.
Went to check another pond that was off the road. Spooked something just as I got the pond in view but I didn't see what it was. Pond was dry. Went to a spring near an area I've seen cow elk in the road a couple different times. Heard one bugle about 4:30. Don't know where it went after that. Drove around. Heard nothing. Sat at pond but they've moved moo cows into the area. They came into the pond and it was useless after that. I drove around after dark and bugled for a while. Nothing.

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9-22-24. Day 10.
I better give you a noon update so I don't forget details. Alarm went off at 4 and I was all ugh. Must nap today. Got over there and had a hard time finding any bugles. Finally found one after the sun was shining near the turnoff to private gate. Wind was in my face as I headed south. More bugles all of a sudden. At least 3 bulls now. Then more to the east. Then more to the north. Cows busted me at 200 yards on the first herd. There's just not enough cover in this area. Ok, moved to the next group. Got in a little patch of thicker stuff. Got closer. Saw a cow ahead walking broadside to the left. Ranged her at 60 and waited for a bull. More cows... then a bull. Maybe 310 again. I decided that all things considered, if he gave me a shot, I'd take it. Cows busted me and turned going straight away. He followed and I didn't have my call in my mouth to stop him. Ok. More bugling back by hill from yesterday. I kept the wind at 90 degrees to them. They didn't seem to move for 1/2 hour so I decided they must be bedding there. Map shows a spring to the northeast. I decided to go there and wait. I drove up the road and turned left to go down there. As I'm driving in there, I saw a bull trotting by. Small 6. Not interested. Not 2 minutes later I see a bunch of cows. Wait for bull.... yep, shooter, but the cows lead him to the hill above the spring. He sat up there and bugled for 10 minutes while I set up on a sweet wallow at the spring. I heard a weenie bugle. Yep, 2 dudes. lol. After a while they came off the hill where he went up and he's now bugling 1/2 mile away. I sat there for a bit and heard a bugle CLOSE. Wind was shifty. He came to 100 and gave me a look. He was really busted up, couldn't even tell if he was a 5 or a 6. He's a fighter. He followed where the others went. I decided I needed food (forgot lunch) and a nap or I'll be no good later so off to town. I'll head back about 4.
I thought the elk had left the area, but I guess not. Just being quiet. I saw no hunters yesterday till noon. None today till the 2 dudes. Cow hunt must be over.

Got on wallow about 3:30. Heard a bugle to the south about 4:30. Another after 30 minutes. Then I spotted a cow coming into the wallow from the west. Hmm... weird, just 1 cow. Then more bugles from the bull to the south, close. The wallow is in a grassy opening maybe 100 yards wide and 120 yards long. He seemed to be just inside the trees. He bugled over and over, but didn't move. Maybe 5 minutes later, a calf came running in from the west, got to the opening and slammed on the brakes and looked around. Another cow came running in past the calf, then several more cows.... but no bull following. Then the bull to the south came running out of the trees to meet them at the wallow. Had him at 65 yards. I even hooked my release once but I talked myself out of it considering that by then I could hear several others bugling and I had seen bigger bulls in the area. They all drank for several minutes and then left to the east. Then quietly, in sneaked a 4, a 5, and a small 6. More bulls bugling all over. Just before dark another about the size of the one with the cows earlier came in. I assume it was a different bull because he had no cows. Waited for another that sounded like he was coming in but it got dark. Heard 3 more to the north as I was hiking out. I will go there in the morning and just sit, no chasing.
After pondering it, it seemed like that bull was calling his cows to come to the wallow. First they sent in the sacrificial cow. Nothing happened to her so the rest of the cows ran in. All seemed safe so in came the bull. lol.

 
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9-23-24. Day 11.
This morning I sat on the wallow. Heard at least 4 different bulls bugling nearby with several others far away. Only saw 1. He came in to 45 yards. Pretty tempting but Tami and Kotah are flying down this morning. Probably wouldn't be very nice of me to shoot one that's not huge just for them to help pack it. lol. Plus I want Kotah to experience good elk hunting and I'm sure Tami wants to again. I know anything can happen over the last couple days and I may go home empty handed, but I can get lucky at home on an OTC tag and shoot one that big. Asked Kael if I should have shot it. He said no. Asked Kotah if I should have shot it. He said "don't put that decision on me." haha.
Picked up Tami and Kotah in a nearby town after they dropped the rental car. I guess can quit living on jerky and protein bars now. Headed back to the wallow for the evening. Kotah went with me to sit on wallow while Tami went scouting another area for us. On the way in, crap, 2 dudes have parked their truck literally 10 yards from the wallow. Waited for a bit and they apparently aren't moving any time soon. Doesn't matter, the wind is bad anyway. Decided to walk over the hill and look at another water spot that I remember from Tami's hunt here 3 years ago. Not much sign there.
Decided to go northwest a mile to where I had heard bulls earlier. Lots of bulls bugling around the area. Looked back up the draw where we just were 30 minutes earlier. Freak, there's a herd of elk up there. Wind is blowing directly at them so no use chasing them. Set up on the side of a small lake and hoped some would show themselves. There was one bull who tried to bugle but all that came out was a growl. We'll call him the growler. Got dark before we saw anything else. They were close though. Under 100 yards in the trees I'd guess.

 
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9-24-24. Day 12.
This morning was a bust. Saw 3 coyotes (which makes an average of about 1 per day) and some turkeys. They were bugling just a couple hundred yards away but I assume bedded down because they never seemed to move.
Went back tonight. It's freakin' hot. Nothing but 2 cows. With about 1 1/2 hours left, told Kotah "let's go somewhere." We packed up and took about 10 steps and there was a bugle down the draw at maybe 300 yards. We hurried back and set up again. Saw a couple cows coming in. Then the bull. Then they disappeared. Waiting... waiting... here comes the bull. Small 6. 42 yards. Could have shot him 10 times. He left. Sat there 10 minutes. Nothing. Packed up to go somewhere else. I put one strap of my pack over my shoulder and there's a bugle close. Unpacked again and waited. Never saw him. Shooting light was about gone. I had Kotah cow call. Growler was back. Every time Kotah would call, the growler would growl. It got dark so we snuck out. As we were leaving probably a dozen bulls started bugling all around us. Only 2 more days left. Getting a little nervous. Could come back to have all the elk gone, or lose another day to weather, or any other number of things could happen. And I really would rather not spend the last night (Thursday) packing an elk as the boys have a pheasant hunt Saturday morning (their favorite every year) and I don't want to spend all of Friday driving home on no sleep.
The nice grassy areas that are everywhere might look like it'd be fun to go run about in them. I had to warn Kotah to keep his eyes on the ground when walking or he'd break something. Some of the higher country is easy walking but where we're hunting, it's a minefield of lava rocks. I'm shocked that the factory tires on the truck are still intact. Some of these roads are really bad.


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9-25-24. Day 13.
This morning Tami went with me to sit on the wallow and Kotah slept in. Started on the west end of the wallow. Wind was blowing northeast and most of the bulls we were hearing were to the north so we moved to the east end of the wallow. We heard a lot of bugles but we saw nothing.
Went back to room and got Kotah for the afternoon. We decided to go sneak through the area north of where we were, calling as we went, hoping that either we'd get a response and an opportunity, or we'd spook them south and we'd find them at the wallow tonight. It's 83 degrees. Too hot. Found a really nice looking pond but with only 1 more day left, I don't want to leave the area where we know there are elk for an area that is unknown. Finished hiking through with no sign of elk. Planned to be back on wallow by 4:30 but we were a little late. I decided that any 6 point that shows up tonight is getting an arrow flung at it. We set up on the west end. Wind blowing east north east. It's questionable whether it'll swirl into the wallow area, so we moved to the south setup. I like that one the best anyway. It's elevated and closer than anywhere else. After a bit, bugle to the south, wait a few minutes, then bugle to the south but CLOSE! It sounded like not a small one, so I'm not even worrying about a rangefinder. I know the wallow in front of me is 42 yards. Hook up my release and almost immediately see some GIANT fronts coming through the trees. That was the weakest part of most of the bulls I had been seeing. The bad part about this setup is they come into the wallow head on. He walked right in and started drinking. A cow followed and went to the wallow to the left. No shot. Shaking. Keep telling myself to keep it together. Waiting. How much water can he drink? Seems like minutes go by. Finally he has his fill and sticks his antlers in the mud and flings it about and turns facing the cow. Very slightly quartering to, but good enough. I drew my bow, settled right behind the crease in his shoulder, and let it fly. Perfect double lung shot, went through like I was shooting a water balloon. Both he and the cow just raised their heads and looked around like asking eachother "did you hear something?". I've never seen that before. Kotah said "you hit him, right?" lol. I loaded another arrow and let it fly. That time they knew something was up and started walking to the south, back where they came from. Still, they aren't in a hurry. Through the brush in front of me I saw his back legs buckle and I knew he was done. I asked Kotah if he got it on video and he said he was afraid to move thinking he might scare them. I told him that was just fine. haha. Kotah and I packed up and went to message Tami to come down with the truck, then hiked down the road back to the wallow. As we came over the hill, I could see him piled up on the far side of the clearing. No tracking necessary.
We got him taken care of and drove to the 'main' dirt road and hung the meat in a tree to cool overnight. It's a good dirt road, 50mph road.
The next morning just after light, we were back to get the meat. Loaded it up and were headed out. All we have to do now is pack everything in the room and head out. 3 miles from pavement, boom! Flat tire. Crap. Pull out the tools and start to lower the spare and the tool used to lower the spare broke... Long story short, 8 hours later we're back at the room. Decide to stay and leave in the morning. I guess on the bright side, it could have been MUCH worse. I could have still been hunting, we could have been in a spot with no service, we could have been on a realllly crappy road. So, all turned out ok in the end.



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Congratulations, hard earned trophy. Excellent sharing of the hunt. Persistence pays off, again.

You can’t kill’em at home on the couch. Thanks ktg
 
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heck yeah..great story to follow along with and a really nice bull...congrats..
And I might add well earned
 
Congrats! Congrats! Congrats! On a spectacular bull

AND

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For taking us along for the ride
 
heartshot said:
Congrats! Congrats! Congrats! On a spectacular bull

AND

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For taking us along for the ride
Click to expand...
Thanks. I recorded all of it mostly because from past experiences, I know that I forget details quickly. Like the one morning, I sent my wife a noon update so I wouldn't forget details before the evening update. I wanted to be able to refresh my memory in a few years when all the details have faded.
 
Awesome bull, thank you for bringing us along on your hunt! Some day in near future Arizona I hope to go for one of them studs!
 
Congrats on an outstanding, well earned, trophy. Thank you for sharing the adventure with the rest of us. It was a pleasure to follow along as your hunt unfolded.
Well done!

Elkchaser
 

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