Unit 40 Elk Muzzy Hunt

I'm back home in AZ after an unsuccessful 7 day hunt with Allout Outfitting. The crew at Allout ran a very good camp and worked very hard the entire time. Generally the rut just seemed to be uneven or delayed and hadn't really kicked into gear.

There were 3 hunters in camp and only one filled. He was a celebrity hunter with a cameraman and shot a 358 bull on the evening of the first day.

Once he filled I had two guides working for me most days. These guys were awesome in their knowledge of the area and deciphering what the elk activity was by listening to them.

Most activity was on the private ground. The bull that was killed was called of the private, jumped the fence and was taken at 35 yards. On day 3 we called a three year old 5 point over the fence to within 5 yards. He hung around us for a minute or two within 20-30 yards.

Unfortunately that would be my only opportunity to kill an elk. Most activity was in the early mornings until about 8:00-9:00. We were up at 4:00, out of camp at 4:45 with a 45-90 minute drive to various hunting areas.

There were two things I wasn't prepared for: 1. How thick the oak brush was. I had a heckofa time following my guy in the woods in the predawn light without our headlamps on. We also had numerous bulls willing to play with us that we just couldn't see. 2. Dealing with the 5-6 hours of downtime in the middle of the day. In most all cases we were so far hiked in, and far from camp that it made no sense to return to camp. We'd find a shady spot with soft ground and have lunch and nap. It was hard to pass that much time. The guys didn't want to speak without whispering which made talking frustrating.

The guides think the first and second rifle seasons are going to be huge.

Unit 40 on public land during muzzy season is a tough hunt

I've heard nothing but awesome things about the Allout crew. But as coloradoboy stated, 40 public is hard as nails. I helped a guy last year archery after I got my bull. He ended up getting a barely legal bull on I think it was the last week of the hunt, he did unguided public land and he was about as deep in public as you can get in 40.

I've met the Allout guy(seemed great) as well as Biggerstaff while deer hunting 40. If you were going to go guided you probably should have tried to go with biggerstaff for all the private access he has. Look at his IG. They are putting big bulls down almost daily. No joke.

A hunt with Biggerstaff on private is easily twice the price of a hunt with Allout on the public. That's just out of my reach. I rolled the dice and came up empty.

CHWino_1 said:

A hunt with Biggerstaff on private is easily twice the price of a hunt with Allout on the public. That's just out of my reach. I rolled the dice and came up empty.

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I get that, but the only real reason for a guide in 40 is to get on or thru private. All the accessible public is no secret and is accessible without a guide. I would not hire a guide, just saying if I was going to in 40 the #1 and only reason would be to access elk that public can't

BTW when I met biggerstaff his client just shot a bull that my son had watched for over an hour on public, along with about 10 other decent bulls. He doesn't just hunt on private, but he can access tons of land private and public. With that said we could have killed all those bulls before they were even out of the truck.

How much does Biggerstaff cost for a elk hunt?

Craig said:

How much does Biggerstaff cost for a elk hunt?

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Bout 10k.