Since none of my inserted pictures want to work I thought I'd post about my elk hunt.
I took home a 550 lbs cow Elk and my Father-in-Law, Lance took a 300 plus lbs cow elk as well. Loading almost 900 pounds of dead flesh into the back of Lance's lifted full size Chevy truck was interesting.
Let me start from the beginning.
We went out on a Thursday morning and set up camp. Did some scouting in the afternoon & evening. We found a blind that had been set up a few hundred feet from a tank (watering hole). So Friday morning we got up at 0600 and headed out to that blind. Sat there until about 10 and didn't see anything but squirrels.
We drove around Friday and went to an area called pine flats. I have a Captain that took a record size bull elk out of pine flats. So we tried that area. A co-worker has also taken a few elk from that same area too.
We found Hog-Tank and discovered a blind that was partially set up. We finished it and waited all afternoon. I have been told that wild turkey ( not the drink) are hard to hunt in Arizona. They are very skittish and spook at anything.
We built the blind so well that we had wild turkey within 6 feet of us and they didn't even know we were there. As sunset rolled in we watched the turkeys fly up 30-50 feet to the tree tops to roost for the night. We didn't see anything else but squirrels.
While in that blind it rained on us. We heard thunder several times. Turned out one of those times it wasn't thunder but a rifle shot about 2 miles away. A hunter took an elk at sunset. Poor guy had to clean his elk in the dark.
Because of the cloud cover it kept the temperatures warm. It was only in the 20's on Saturday morning. So we went out and scouted some more areas. We didn't want to get too deep into the woods since Christy(my wife), Lexi (my daughter) and Sue (Christy's Mom) would be coming out to our camp for lunch.
I taught Lexi ( my 5 year old ) how to roast marshmallows over a camp fire. She really enjoyed that. The day was really nice it was clear and warmed up 42 degrees for the high. After lunch and the girls left, Lance & I went out and scouted some more.
We set up in a blind on top of a cliff overlooking Round Mountain Tank. Beautiful advantage point looking down on the water. Due to the rocks the wild life only had two ways in to get water. So Lance set up on one side and I set up on the other. Lance had better cover but I was so extremely camo'd that I blended in with the scenery. Lance said even he had a hard time finding me. We ended up staying there until sunset and didn't see anything but squirrels.
Remember when I said the clouds kept the warmer temps up? With it being clear on Saturday the temps fell Saturday night. When we got up Sunday morning it was between 0 & 8 degrees out. We had water bottles frozen in the camper. It was about 15 in the camper. BRRRR!!!!!
Well the camp trailer has a gas lantern built in from the factory. When you light it, it will warm the camper. Well I reached up and went to light it and discovered that the propane regulator and developed a leak and we were out of propane. Yep we pulled our clothes into our sleeping bags and warmed them up before putting them on.
Since it was so cold out we decided not to try our luck at sitting in blinds and decided to scout an area on the other side of the hunting unit.
Well we finally saw some game. But it wasn't elk it was only mule deer. Without much luck we headed into the town of Williams. We went to find some Teflon tape to fix the regulator. The only auto parts store was closed on Sunday. We tried the other 3 open stores in town including a tire shop. No luck. Eddie from Eddie's tire (pronounced "Tar") recommended a " car fix-it shop" just up the road a few miles. We found the shop and they couldn't fine any Teflon tape in their shop. So they gave us some RTV silicone gasket maker.
Well we headed back to camp and did a redneck fix on the regulator and hooked up the other propane tank. It leaked less. So I rigged up the fire pit with the oven rack and we cooked the deer steaks that Lance had shot in Michigan last month. We also cooked potatoes in the hot coals.
Then we made Smores for desert.
Monday morning it was warmer it was only 8 degrees. Since the regulator has a slight leak we would only turn on the gas as needed then turn it off. We cooked breakfast on the stove to heat up the camper a little. We decided since it was too cold to sit in any more blinds we drive around and see what we could spook out.
Our intentions were to scout Pine Flats again. But when we left Forest road 140 and turned left onto 73 south I spotted an elk to my right as we were turning left. I muffled loudly through all my layers of jackets and coats and hood and ..... well any way I yelled ELK!ELK!ELK!ELK!
Lance stopped the truck right there in the road. We jumped out of the truck and there and behold was a beautiful, large cow elk. Totally broadside. I had her in my crosshairs, took the safety off and put my finger on the trigger. Then took my finger off the trigger and decided not to shoot. She was standing perfectly in the center of a highly traveled road. There was a hill in the road just behind her. I just couldn't morally pull the trigger and have a 30-06 round go through her and into oncoming traffic. Remember I'm a trained professional and could hear my Law Enforcement firearm instructors screaming " know your target and what's beyond". Also its not legal to hunt from the road. So Lance and I did the same thing jumped in the truck and quickly got it off into the woods and took off on foot chasing the elk into the woods. I was a little behind as I stopped to grab the GPS and set the trucks location. Well there were two elk that lance saw but he just couldn't get into the right spot to get a shot. So we headed back to the truck. I saw another squirrel.
Well 5 days into our hunt and we finally saw elk. Ok the discouragement level had just dropped. We were on a mission to find those elk. It didn't happen. We gave up on them and decided to give pine flats another shot. On the way there we saw a forest road off to our left and decided to give that road a look-see.
As we were rocking and rolling I was looking off to the right and lance was looking forward and left. I'm in lala land looking for any movement out my window when suddenly I become a dashboard ornament as Lance stands on the brakes. Yep there was a small herd of cow elk leaving a tank and heading up a hill. We jumped out and set up to predict where they would emerge between the builders and the trees. There was only a 15 to 20 foot opening to hit a running target. As the elk sprinted by we fired. The elk didn't drop so we began the chase and fired again. As I climbing the steep hill I spotted blood. YES! As I crested the hill I saw my elk drop. I let out a loud redneck holler. Lance heard me but was busy chasing his elk. She was wounded so he was able to keep up but she was playing hide & seek with him. So he was able to get into a position and make the kill. 0937 hours we both had accomplished our mission of getting an elk. I had forgotten my knife at home so Lance ended up having to gut and field clean both elk while I helped. Turned out that each elk had been shot twice. The first round the we each shot did make contact. Just that the elk didn't flinch and we thought we had missed. I almost doubted my shooting skills for a second.
After our elk were gutted we had to get them into the truck. My elk weighed in excess of 500 pounds and Lance's was well over 300 pounds. Neither of them were near the truck and way off road. We discovered a steep hill off to the west of us. Lance backed the truck up to the hill and lowered the tailgate so it was only about a foot from the downgrade of the hill.
Then we dragged my elk down hill. This beast was so heavy the we had a tow strap around her neck and both of us pulling still had a hard time dragging her down hill. She filled the entire bed of Lances full size truck.
Whew one down one to go. Lance's elk was way back in the woods. Lance was going to find a closer place to put the truck so we didn't have to drag his elk so far.
I stayed with his elk while he went to get the truck. A few minutes later I hear the truck in 4X4 low climbing over boulders. Lance was also squeezing between trees . Had to pull in the mirrors at times and move some logs but he was able to cut the distance in half.
We hooked up two tow straps and pulled with all our might. We finally got his elk into the truck. By 1230 we had both our elk loaded.
A friend of Christy's parents was also out there hunting too. Lance and I helped him clean and load his elk into his jeep. Then we headed back to break camp and head into town.
We dropped the elk off at the butcher shop in Chino Valley. With a hoist and all the proper knives and saws it took the butcher over an hour to skin, de-head and de-hoof each elk.
By the time I got home that Monday night I was purdy dog-gone tired.
