I drew a late season cow elk tag this year in AZ. I've only gone on one elk hunt before and didn't even see one. So I'm basically a completely new to it. I spent a couple weekends before the season scouting, but I didn't see any elk or really even find much sign. A few people familiar with the unit gave me some tips about where they had seen some back during the October deer season. So I loaded up the quad and headed out to where they recommended.
Pretty country - 4500 to 6000 ft.
Day one was neat. Never saw any elk, but I did find some sign, so my confidence was up. Right after lunch, I was riding the quad to a ridge i wanted to glass when I saw something with reddish-tan fur running just ahead of me along the road. Hmmm that deer sure has a long tail. Oh crap! That's a mountain lion! It ran along the trail ahead of the quad then cut across the trail up the mountain. I have to say that once I got to the place I wanted to glass every sound made me jump. Never seen one in the wild before and being 10 yards away was a little intense. Sure wish I could have gotten a picture to prove it wasn't a golden retriever. Also wish I would have picked up one of the otc lion tags!
Didn't see any elk that day, so I decided to try a spot close by, near a wilderness area. I got up the mountain at shooting light. As I was walking in, I was seeing some of fresh-ish sign. I heard some noise from what sounded like a large animal ahead and thought it could be an elk. I started to stalk it. And got to within 30 yards. And spotted a cow! Unfortunately it was a beef cow.
I sat and glassed for about 45 minutes, and didn't see anything. I moved a few hundred yards and crossed over the ridge. I immediately spotted a tan blob moving on the opposite ridge, pulled up my binos and yep! A herd of about 10 cows!
I set up a shot on one that was broadside and hit her a little back. The rest of the herd moved off. She had tried to go with them, but just layed down about 30 or 40 yards from where I shot her. I could see her with her head still up though. I was able get a pretty neat video of the finishing shot. From my prone position, basically all I could see was her neck/head. But that shot got it done.
The national forest I was in allows motorized cross country travel to retrieve elk. I was able to get the quad to within 100 or so yards of where she was laying. My goodness, what a big animal! Biggest thing I've shot previously have been Coues bucks.
As I quartered her up, I told myself that I'm not sure I want to do this by myself again! That was WORK!
All quartered and loaded on the quad! Thank goodness I didn't have to go more than 100 yards to reach it!
Just got done doing the butchering today. Ended up with 141 lbs of meat.
Backstrap
Back Leg
Full freezer
Pretty country - 4500 to 6000 ft.
Day one was neat. Never saw any elk, but I did find some sign, so my confidence was up. Right after lunch, I was riding the quad to a ridge i wanted to glass when I saw something with reddish-tan fur running just ahead of me along the road. Hmmm that deer sure has a long tail. Oh crap! That's a mountain lion! It ran along the trail ahead of the quad then cut across the trail up the mountain. I have to say that once I got to the place I wanted to glass every sound made me jump. Never seen one in the wild before and being 10 yards away was a little intense. Sure wish I could have gotten a picture to prove it wasn't a golden retriever. Also wish I would have picked up one of the otc lion tags!
Didn't see any elk that day, so I decided to try a spot close by, near a wilderness area. I got up the mountain at shooting light. As I was walking in, I was seeing some of fresh-ish sign. I heard some noise from what sounded like a large animal ahead and thought it could be an elk. I started to stalk it. And got to within 30 yards. And spotted a cow! Unfortunately it was a beef cow.
I sat and glassed for about 45 minutes, and didn't see anything. I moved a few hundred yards and crossed over the ridge. I immediately spotted a tan blob moving on the opposite ridge, pulled up my binos and yep! A herd of about 10 cows!
I set up a shot on one that was broadside and hit her a little back. The rest of the herd moved off. She had tried to go with them, but just layed down about 30 or 40 yards from where I shot her. I could see her with her head still up though. I was able get a pretty neat video of the finishing shot. From my prone position, basically all I could see was her neck/head. But that shot got it done.
The national forest I was in allows motorized cross country travel to retrieve elk. I was able to get the quad to within 100 or so yards of where she was laying. My goodness, what a big animal! Biggest thing I've shot previously have been Coues bucks.
As I quartered her up, I told myself that I'm not sure I want to do this by myself again! That was WORK!
All quartered and loaded on the quad! Thank goodness I didn't have to go more than 100 yards to reach it!
Just got done doing the butchering today. Ended up with 141 lbs of meat.
Backstrap
Back Leg
Full freezer