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| Monsoon season hit with a fury and I watched it every day! |
We both practiced and tuned our archery equip most the summer. Hunter really took this hunt to a different level than his past hunts. He wanted a bull and knew what it was going to take to get it done. I was excited to get back to the flat juniper pinyon lands of Arizona and watched the weather religiously. Here is how the weather played out...Driest spring and early summer on record to one of the wettest monsoons in decades. Antler growth wasn’t 100%, but all the green grass should create healthy cows and an active rut.
As we pulled into our camp spot in the afternoon, spirits were high. It didn’t seem right that it had been 7 years since the last tag here. Being there made it feel like I was there just yesterday. The landscape hadn’t changed. The old camp spot hadn’t changed, but look how much has changed in my life within the last 7 years? It felt good to be back.
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I wish I could remember every day, every call-in, but I can’t. Everyday is a blur. A couple of hours of crazy rut in the morning, a long hot afternoon, and a couple hours of cool-off and rut action in the evening! The bulls were very vocal from day one. Each day the bulls were fired up and we were getting lots of opportunity. Hunter had his friend Logan come down and be a part of his hunt for the first four days , while I had Tyler come down and be my caller.
Every night was a blast eating good food and talking about the bulls we had seen. On day 5, I was alone for the evening and found myself on the right ridge. I had passed multiple bulls that were coming down to the evening waterhole. One bull, a 350+ 7x7 with great big swords, along with a couple kickers, fell for my cow estrus and I at 48 yards, I shoulder shot him. I thought the shot looked good but he believe he jumped the string and I high shouldered.
I watched the bull for until dark and he really didn't want to move much. Penetration looked good enough I wondered if it was enough to penetrate its vitals. The next morning, Tyler and Hunter hunted together (Logan had left)and I was going to go and look for the 7x7. I found him that morning alive and he seemed fine. So I hunted the morning having some more great encounters.
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| Lots of this...As much as you want to hunt all day, you end up boogering more elk than anything. Afternoon Siestas were nice |
It was about day 6 when I began noticing herd bulls were breaking antlers regularly. In the mornings of intense rut, the sounds of bugles and clashing antlers dominated the air. A couple mornings were so intense, one morning in particular really stands out. Hunter, Tyler, and I were hunting together and we were in the middle of 30-40 bulls all piping off and chasing cows. If I’ve ever been in a more chaotic elk frenzy, I don’t remember it.
Back to the story...I made my way to the pickup around 11 and planned on meeting up with Tyler and Hunter for an evening hunt. Tyler was driving his pickup down the two track by himself. He stuck his bloody hand out the window with a smile! Hunter killed that morning. Hunter had passed bigger bulls earlier in the hunt but said he couldn’t let this 5x5 walk as it came into a cow call screaming perfectly. He made a perfect 28 yard double lung shot. I couldn’t be more happy for him. In his words "It was the most exciting adrenaline rush I've ever experienced"...and that's how archers are born. Congrats Hunter and welcome to the archery elk brotherhood.
On a side note, Hunter had mentioned while hunting with Logan, he had seen an absolutely huge bull he called Reaper. His ear-piercing high frequency bugle was easy to discern and, according to Hunter, dwarfed the monkey bull, a beautiful 330 6x6 that happened to sound like a chimpanzee when he bugled.
Hunter took his bull to town for processing and Tyler and I spent the day hunting. It may had been my favorite day on the hunt as we had some good encounters with solid bulls. In fact that evening I had passed up a 350” bull with a broken tine, I had a little regret and decided I would try and get on him again as many big bulls were broke. I got within 40 yards of him taking a tree but a calf had me pinned and busted the herd. A couple cows in the herd ran up the ridge to where I had heard a high-pitched bull bugle. The original bull gathered its remaining cows and headed north.
The high-pitched bull rounded up the remaining cows and began working across an open meadow. This was my encounter with the Reaper. I could not believe my eyes...not a broke point and time length for miles! I thought 390+. I ran back to Tyler, slipped my boots back on and said, “follow that bugle!”
That evening I’m not sure how many bulls we walked by but we chased Reaper for 1.5 miles before we got stuck in such a rut craze frenzy of dozens of bulls, his bugle eventually faded into the wide, open Arizona air.
That night while looking for reaper, we called in a heavy ol 320“ bull to 7 yards that was still intact but I passed. I wanted another chance at the Reaper.
The next morning, the rut was intense and we had bulls all around us. Tyler was antsy and wanted to call some in, but I thought we should try and pinpoint the reapers high shrilled bugle. We spent the morning on a couple different points just listening. We heard a couple higher bugles but in the flat thick junipers we never could catch up, none of them sounded quite like Reaper really.
This was day eight, and honestly I was feeling the exhaustion of non-stop hunting and 10 mile days. Everyday had been 90 degrees but this day it decided to rain. We were caught a little off guard clothing-wise as we hid behind the biggest pinyon we could find. We had bulls all around us bedded up.
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| Not real sure what Tyler is doing in this pic, but it looks like he's enjoying himself |
“Hear that bear behind us? Tyler asked. I hadn’t. He said a bull with no bugle had growled multiple times off to our west a few hundred yards. He said it sounds like an old bull. I decided it might be worth taking a closer look at especially with the wind and rain maybe I can get up close. Tyler stayed out while the rain came down sideways. I was soaked to the underwear crawling past a smaller 6-point and his small harem of cows.
I had finally got to the jumper thicket I thought maybe this bull was bedded in when I caught a glimpse of a cow feeding at 40. Figuring the bull would go through the same opening, I began creeping closer so I had a better window for a potential shot. I caught movement in a juniper in the corner of my eye. The big bull had stood behind a juniper 26 yards away and was raking the tree limbs to shreds.
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| Hard to see, but you can see my bulls legs on the bottom right of the juniper. Seconds before I shot |
I pulled up the binos and could see a giant third and lots of mass but through the tree it was tough to discern what was what. He stopped taking and headed right for the 30 yard opening, so I had just enough time to pull back my now, settle the pin, and make a decision. I’ve learned if I get to a point where I’m pulling back my bow...I’m probably going to shoot.
Immediately I noticed there were broke points but his wet, dark colored antlers looked huge. I mewed with my mouth and he never looked at me. Instead he froze and laid his ears back almost as if he knew he was busted. I sent a carbon shaft through his lungs; instantaneously, the rain quit, the sun began to peek through the clouds, and the birds started to sing. It was a surreal moment. It's moments like these that I live for.
I left my bow there and headed towards Tyler. When he saw I wasn’t carrying my bow, he knew and smiled. The bull did a half circle and died 45 min. Later 60 yards from where I shot. He’s an old warrior, probably pushing 360” days earlier but now scarred and broken. I’m sure there were seasons when his bugle was loud and powerful. This season it was merely a deep growl. I feel blessed to take such a bull, even when I knew Reaper was out there...somehow knowing Reaper was still alive brought me both heartache and peace.
What a hunt. Hunter made it up to help pack quarters and then me and Hunter spent the next day hiking and enjoying the country before heading home. I feel like I could write a whole book from the adventures on this one journey. I will keep applying for archery elk and long for the day I get to roll back into camp and breathe that warm pinyon air. Thanks Hunter, Tyler, and Logan for sharing in the adventure.
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