# Goosefreak's Arizona Hunt..



## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

Where to begin!! 

Well, I found out that I drew that Arizona unit 27 early Archery hunt back in the spring (with 3 pts) and I was floored! I had that same tag back in 2004 and to this day, that 2004 Archery hunt was out of this world Elk hunting and rut action.
So when I drew this tag, I was reliving the though of my 2004 hunt all summer long.

It was a hot and dry summer! I have a lot of family that live in AZ, one uncle in Snowflake, AZ so he's in the unit a lot. Our family has hunted unit 27 for 30+ years and we know it really well. we have taken several bulls out of this unit.

fast forward to Wednesday Sept 9th. My dad and I loaded up the trailer and both our trucks and we set out after work for AZ. We drove to Monticello and pulled over for the night and continued driving the rest of the way on Thursday Sept 10th.. We got to camp and set everything up. I shot my bow for a bit to make sure everything stayed good during travel. We mad it to camp with enough time to go out and scout a little bit. We picked a place of interest and set out. We got to the spot and listened. We could hear 3 bulls bugling and we saw one of them pushing cows. 
we went back to camp and shortly after, my little brother and my uncle from Snowflake shows up. We made a plan for Friday morning (the opener) we went back to where we heard the bulls bugling and got onto them but, they were only in the 300-320 range so we moved on. 

At that point, the hunt got TOUGH! it was hot and dry the whole time i was there. The bulls would bugle for the first hour or so of the day and hardly at all in the evening. Some mornings were better then others. We passed on a lot of bulls in the 310-330 range. Some of those bulls were HOT. We called in a 340" 6x7 to 18 yards but he was in the thick brush and caught our wind and bolted out of there. That was intense! he was Hot and bugling all the way in. 
he basically came running in! We got a bunch of footage of some of these bulls so, when I get another minute I will put them all together and post them.

We had a lot of ups and downs on this hunt, (more downs then ups) We were finally able to find a 350' bull. He pushed his cows down in the timber and bedded up.. He was pushing his cows HARD, he was basically B-slapping his cows all over. We went to make a play on them. We were going to drop down in above them and get close and do some fighting cow calls and bugles to get him pissed off. Wind was right. The plan would have worked out so good, it was just one of those things you knew would work.. Half way through the play, there were some deer that busted us and alarmed the elk! They worked farther down the ridge and we decided to leave them and try and get back on them that evening which we did.

That evening those elk came out of the canyon into the flats and there were 3 bulls bugling including the 350 bull. We used their sounds to our advantage and worked our way around them and waited for them to come to us.. We heard them bugle close so I snuck up about 20 yards in front of my uncle and brother and we waited. I could see a bull coming! catching glimpses as he walks by the trees. I can see he's got good front ends and his left side has a good 5th/6th split so im thinking that he's the 350 bull so, as soon as he goes behind the next tree I started into my draw stroke at the same time I hear my uncle behind me saying "no, NO, NOO!" at which point I noticed the bulls right side was a little crabby in the back.. I had him at 30 yards for a perfect shot but, I let him walk. (We got that on video) So we keep moving and get back on the 350 but, he's not doing what we want him to and he wont leave his cows.
However, we got in on him pretty close and just started sweet talking him every way we could. After a few minutes he finally shows up but he's hanging up in some trees. He eventually looses interest and turns to leave so, I need to act. I had 1 shot through a 12" gap but, I couldn't pick up the bull on my range finder because of all the limbs in the way so, I ranged a tree that I thought he was standing by and I dialed in my sight and settled in for the shot. I released the arrow and shot over his back!! I went to where he was standing and the elk was quite closer then I thought he was...DARN! it happens.. wouldn't be the first time I missed an elk.
he was a good bull!

Anyways, we continued on several ups and downs passing on smaller bulls, very little bugling in the evening.

My uncle said that this year was the driest and hottest year he's seen in this unit in 30 years, Half the water tanks that we typically hunt around were dry and the grass that should be 3 feet tall was only 12inches tall so, it was rough conditions all around.. Bad year to have a tag but, I'd rather have a tag than not.

It made it even more frustrating having my uncles there, every time we hiked or drove past a spot they would talk about the times where "there was a 390 bull over there" and " we missed a 380 bull over here" and "giant bulls everywhere"
in fact the bulls were still there but, all the small bulls had all the cows and it seamed like the big bulls were still isolated. We were experiencing Pre Rut conditions.
I hunted HARD for 7 straight days, WE hiked 10 miles a day in some of the most prime elk country that unit 27 has and passed on quite a few bulls. I had the entire hunt off and i'm halfway through it. I was about to loose all my help because my brother, dad and uncle could only stay the first week, which was fine. I have no problems hunting solo. I do it quite a bit.

The day before every was supposed to leave, we hit another spot. We called in a small bull with cows. Another kick in the balls. We had a lot of frustration on this hunt. When people say you need to be mentally tough, this is the kind of tough they are talking about. 

We made our way down the ridge to where we could overlook a series of deep canyons. We set up our 15's on the tripods and immediately picked up a bull that would push 380" he had cows and was in an area we were certain he wasn't getting any pressure. We watched him for a good while. The whole time we were sitting there we had a bull bugling in the canyon below us. Every time my brother bugled, this bull below us would bugle back.

We decided we were going to try and make a play on that 380 bull, and we were planning on it taking the whole day. My uncle stayed up on the ridge watching the big bull that was moving away from us into some thick timber but, he was being vocal. Once we dropped down into the saddle below us about 600 feet where the smaller bull was bugling, my uncle got us on the radio because he lost sight of the big bull and it might be too far and too much for us to get a visual back on him so, my uncle said "hang tight and call that smaller bull in while i try and find the big one"

My brother bugles and the smaller one that was below us in the canyon answers back so, my brother stays put and I move up about 50 yards. My brother keeps bugling and every time the bull answers back. He sounds big which doesn't mean a whole lot.

pretty soon I could see movement down below me. At this point, me the bull and my brother are in a triangle shape position about 50 yards apart from each other. I ranged a spot on the ground I could see he was headed for and it was 51 yards. The bull steps out and I see he has a good back end and over all just a decent bull. A good 6x6. Everything started going through my head about how tough the hunt has been, my help is leaving in a day or 2, my brother is with me calling this bull in, he came in screaming the whole way. I hiked my a$$ of hunted hard! and on top of that, he's a decent 6... SO, I decided it was time. I drew my bow back and that bull walked right where I had ranged. I whistled at him and he stopped. I settled my 50 yard pin right perfect on the crease of his shoulder line and 2/3 of the way up on his body and let one fly.

My Arrow hit perfectly where I was aiming and that bull turned and ran 15 yards and stopped, so my brother bugled and I cow called at him to keep the bull calm and suddenly the bull falls over and death groans for about 20 seconds before he gave up the ghost. luckily he didn't run further down the draw.. We took our pictures and we boned him out. My uncles hiked down in with empty packs and we got him and the cape all out in 1 trip. about a 3rd of the way up the hillside I thought I was gonna die. It was steep, like the hillside in your face steep. Man it was rough, it took about an hour to go 350 yards up to the top of the ridge.

I'm happy with him, I hunted hard and passed on some bigger but, in the end I was successful and I now have a ton of meat to feed my family with!

another notch on the belt!


----------



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Beautiful bull man, congratulations


----------



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Great story and bull.

You make it sound almost too easy

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk


----------



## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

That is a GREAT bull.
Congrats !!


----------



## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

You've had a great season so far!


----------



## silentstalker (Feb 19, 2008)

Great bull! Congrats!


----------



## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

There is nothing more satisfying than finding success after an extremely hard hunt. Good job sticking with it. That is a dang nice bull. Congrats!


----------



## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Congrats on a great bull - thanks for sharing the story and pictures!!


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

I love it! Thanks for sharing, and nice bull!


----------



## BGD (Mar 23, 2018)

Awesome bull and awesome story. Thanks for sharing your story!


----------



## gander311 (Dec 23, 2008)

Great story, and great bull. Thanks for sharing. 

So with the bear and bull tags notched, do you get to switch to waterfowl gear now?


----------



## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

gander311 said:


> Great story, and great bull. Thanks for sharing.
> 
> So with the bear and bull tags notched, do you get to switch to waterfowl gear now?


yup! Waterfowl next! and lots of it! I am going to Southern Arizona for Christmas this year. Im going to buy an Archery deer tag for an OTC archery hunt that is going on around that time of the year. Its a tag for any antlered deer, Muley or Couse. They are rutting that time of the year down there.

If I'm lucky, I might be able to get a bomber buck!


----------



## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Goosefreak's excellent adventures. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I'm tempted to head back down to the border on another coues hunt. I hurt so bad and was so scraped up on the last one that it took me a while to heal up, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. 

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk


----------



## Slayer (Feb 3, 2013)

Goosefreak, Thanks for sharing. I had that same hunt in 2012. Looking forward to doing it again someday. Good job!


----------



## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

Great bull. Congrats


----------



## pollo70 (Aug 15, 2016)

Awesome ! nice Bull.. thanks for sharing.


----------



## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

Nice write up and a great bull! Thanks for taking us along!


----------



## Wire (Nov 2, 2017)

Awesome bull and great write up. Sounds like you had a good time.


----------

