Team Kendrick Outdoors

37B Youth Hunt Camp

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:48:00 +0000

This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in the 37B youth hunt camp put on by the AZ Game and Fish Dept. My friend Chris brought his daughter Cidney and I took my daughter Grace to the camp. We met up at the camp Friday evening and had just enough time to setup my Bighorn II tent before dinner was served. All meals were provided by Red Bear Outfitters. They did an awesome job and the food was outstanding!

We took the girls out rabbit hunting and showed some other kids at the camp how and where to glass for animals. The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves and had a great time. The Game and Fish Dept did a great job by putting on this camp and I look forward to taking my kids to future camps. You can find out more about the AZ Game and Fish Mentored Hunt Camps by clicking HERE.

Here are some of the pictures from the weekend.

Chris and Cidney at camp

Grace doing some glassing

Grace and Cidney collecting rocks

Grace and her prized 'crystals'

Dads and daughters

Bedtime

Grace and I glassing

The girls in Chris' jeep

Shooting the .22

Both girls did great shooting the .22

Plinking with the bb guns

Playing with fire

Chris enjoying an after dinner snack

All in all we all had a great time. Grace is already bugging me about when we can do another one of these camps. I'm looking forward to many more in our future.

Two New Elk Magazines!

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:19:00 +0000

Just in time for the long wait for the elk results to be posted and the longer wait to hear the first bugles of September, there are two new magazines dedicated to elk hunting to help you make it through the spring and summer. I've only had a chance to flip through each one of these, but from what I've read so far they both appear to be great magazines.

You can go HERE to get more on Elk Hunter Magazine and HERE to get more information on Extreme Elk magazine. Enjoy!

Archery Whitetail Success

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:14:00 +0000

Today when I walked in to the CrossfitNOW gym I noticed that Patrick, one of the coaches, was not there and his wife Heather, also one of the coaches, came up to me and said "So, funny story..."

Turns out the funny story was that Patrick went hunting without her knowing today and was late because he ended up getting an arrow in a nice whitetail buck this afternoon. Sounds like a great tardy excuse to me!

Congrats on a great spot and stalk buck

And while on the subject, if anyone in the Tucson area is looking for a way to get yourself in to great hunting shape then i would suggest checking out CrossFitNOW. The gym has great coaches, atmosphere, and all the motivation you need to keep yourself in shape during the off season. In fact, rumor is Patrick was able to carry out the entire deer down whole and on one shoulder. There is no physical proof of this though...

Triclawps Review

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:03:00 +0000

This past Fall I was able to try the new and improved Triclawps gun rest system on my elk and deer hunts. For those of you that are not familiar with this set up it is a very easy and secure way to gain a steady rest in most any hunting conditions. Its newer light weight design makes it easy to pack and quickly assemble to most tripod attachments.

On my coues hunt I made a clean shot at 270 yards and was able to plant my gun up above the brush that would have prevented me from laying in a prone position.

On the same hunt my buddy Blake was able to take his first ever animal by using the set up for a shot at 353 yards. Again, only one shot was needed.

But so far the most impressive showing I have seen was on my elk hunt where I placed a friends 300 RUM on the Triclawps and was able to harvest my bull with a 500 yard shot that I know I wouldn't have been able to make otherwise.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to pick up the suggested tripod and attachment system that is recommended for this system but it was still very effective on my SlickPro this season. Hopefully by next year I will have the full system and can add another review. I suggest picking up one of these Arizona made products before next season and check out all that it has to offer by visiting their website (www.triclawps.com) or on Facebook.

Saw Some Sheep Today...

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:23:00 +0000

I went archery deer hunting with my friend Mike today. The highlight of the day was seeing some desert sheep on the cliffs above us. Here are some pictures. Sorry for the quality, but several of them were digiscoped through my 15's. There were about 17 total hanging out together. Mainly ewes and lambs, but a couple of small rams were in the group also. Three of the ewes were collared. It is always fun watching sheep interacting with each other and navigating the steep terrain they call home.

I Finally Did It!

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:28:00 +0000

I'm not really sure where to start with this story, but I think the title says it all. I finally did it!

This year has been a fantastic year for me both personally and professionally but I have to say that December 1 was by far the highlight. One would try to figure out how that is possible since it is over a hunting trip but the thing is, it is much more than that. Hunting has been a part of me since I was a kid because of my Papa, Dean Flaming. In fact, the story has been told to me that when I was just a couple of weeks old he had shot an elk and proceeded to drive straight to my parents house in Phoenix just so he could take a picture with me and the elk. And there is proof of this...

And from there I was able to be a part of the tradition.

As I grew older I remember many a days sitting it the front seat of his truck as we rolled down the road to one of our fishing holes that we would so often frequent. I was always fascinated with his hunting stories and we always talked about the day that we could go hunting together and I could shoot an elk of my own. Unfortunately, that trip never happened for the two of us.

About 15 years ago now I started getting in to hunting myself right before my Papa passed away. I remember these dove hunts well because he would sit in the back of the truck and laugh and my new found shooting "skills". That distinct laugh can never be forgotten and it still fills my head from time to time when I accomplish something that I want to share with him.

From there my hunts slowly expanded to other small game and then to big game hunts towards the end of my undergraduate days, where I ran in to Jay. The two of us were pretty much on the same level in the fact that we both liked to hunt but were not quite sure what we were doing yet. So each year we started venturing out a little more, helping on hunts, and trying to learn as much as we could.

We still laugh at our experiences on our first big game tag when Jay was able to take a bull elk in 2002.

The proceeding years found me trying to hunt and help as much as I possibly could: elk, deer, antelope, javelina, etc. Out of all of those it was elk hunting that seemed to just hold a special place in my heart for a handful of reasons. Beyond the size and majestic antlers they possess, big bull elk remind me of my Papa and a goal that we had set together. I have had two elk tags in my pocket over the past 15 years and was not able to fill either one of those. And I know we all experience the feeling of not being able to fill a tag but those two have stuck with me. So this year with the start of my residency and unsure of my available time off I opted to apply for the late season bull tag in the unit that my family had hunted elk in for so many years. When the the Game and Fish came out with the results this year and I saw that I had drawn my tag I just knew that this year was going to be the year.

As I rolled in to camp on Thanksgiving evening it hit me that we were having a true elk camp this year with Jay and Ron there to help and several of our other friends with their own tags. With the anticipation of the season we were excited to be seeing plenty of elk at the beginning of the hunt. We were glassing up some smaller bulls and plenty of cows the first couple of days but as the days wore on it started getting tougher and tougher to find animals. Some of our old honey holds just weren't holding elk this year and the new areas we were exploring we turning up much of the same. Also with the hunt progressing through the days most of my help had to start getting home to tend to work and families. The only two of us left on the hunt were myself and my buddy Mark as we searched from sun up to sun down looking for a bull to take home with us.

On the final day of the hunt I found myself glassing from a hillside in an area where we had seen a really nice bull earlier in the week. As the morning wore one and all I could find were cows my thoughts started wandering to the idea of having to go home with my third unfilled elk tag. Worried that holding out for a good bull was going to bite me in the ass again this year I was able to snap out of it when I spotted a handful of cows feeding through an opening just underneath my position. As I watched them and praying that at least a spike was following behind, I caught movement at the bottom of my binos. When I panned down my heart nearly jumped out of my chest as I saw the top of a set up antlers working through the thick junipers. As the bull worked towards me he would disappear from time to time in the dense cover and every time he would reappear a sense of relief would get my excitement going again. I know this episode probably lasted no more than 5 minutes but my recollection of it seems like it took much longer. All I know is that he finally hit a small opening and a shot from my gun echoed across the valley he was in. As the bull disappeared I frantically glassed the area looking for his tines racing through the trees but I couldn't find a thing. After a couple of frantic phone calls to Jay and Ron explaining my situation I decided to drop in to the flats and see if I could find where I had hit the bull and hopefully find some blood. I never did find the small opening he was in or a drop of blood....but I did find this as I came around a tree.

There are no words that can describe the range of emotions I felt when I walked up on my first bull. Before I could lay my hands on it I had to make a couple of phone calls to some people that I could share the moment with because something like this could be appreciated alone.

Once I finally did hold on to my first elk I couldn't have been more excited and appreciative for the experience that this animal had provided me.

One of the phone calls I made were to Mark who was able to come meet me and help with the quartering and pack out. As we started cleaning the animal so did the snow and dumped about 3 or 4 inches on us over the next several hours. And honestly, it felt great!!

I would like to give thanks to my friends Jay, Ron, Mark and the rest who helped on this hunt and those who have been able to provide assistance and knowledge through the years. Most importantly I would like to thank my Papa who was the one who planted the seed that has grown in to the passion that I have for hunting. The harvesting of my first elk turned out to be a very special moment for me that only a few could truly understand. With my experiences over the years all I could keep thinking to myself in that....I FINALLY DID IT!!

Another Serving Of Tag Soup..

noreply@blogger.com (Team Kendrick Outdoors) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:59:00 +0000

This was supposed to be a redemption year... Last year I drew the late Arizona archery bull tag, and although its not a prime tag by any means I did my homework, found the elk and had some good opportunities. So this year I said to myself that I would give it a shot again hoping with some actual vacation time to take I would be able to seal the deal.

Scouting is key for this hunt. Its a unit that I know very well and spend a lot of time in. Using the knowledge from years past I focused my scouting in these areas and finding bulls wasn't a problem.

A decent Bull we called in while scouting in mid October

Id found some decent bulls and some were hitting the tanks pretty regular. We had had a good monsoon in late summer but the fall had pretty dry, up until the week before the hunt. Snow covered the ground leading up to the season opener and the elk quit hitting the tanks because of all the standing water. So it looked like it would consist of the usual spot and stalk which is fine with a spotter but down in the PJ country by yourself, glassing them is one thing, cutting them off heading to their bedding areas by yourself is another.

After the initial snow, temps came up and made for a sloppy commute

I had help on the weekends from Rob and Ron as spotters and opportunities were constant. Continuously changing wind directions made for a handful of blown stalks. Overall I was able to make multiple stalks with and without help. When the winds picked up we were able to find bulls bedded out of the wind and worked in on them.

I can never really complain about getting out in the field and even though I eating tag soup again this year, I got to spend some good times with great friends and was into elk everyday. A successful trip in my book. Here are a few pics I took along the way.

Elk from years past at our Elk hunting camp

Part 3: The Finale

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:25:00 +0000

B Wilde and Stan each had limited amounts of time they could hunt and were able to get it done. I on the other hand had the week off with plans of hunting until Wednesday and then heading north to meet Jay for the start of his archery bull tag. And I've got to say, this happened to be one of the most rewarding hunts that I've been on in a long time. I hunted as hard as I could each day, saw a good amount of deer, and had an opportunity at a great buck that I missed on Monday morning.

I was able to glass him up from a long ways out and make a good stalk to where he and a smaller buck had been feeding. When I reached my planned location that brought me back in to view it turned out that I was within 125yards of where he had been feeding. The buck wasn't there but I was pretty sure I knew which tree he had gone to bed under. After 20-30 minutes of trying to pick him out I tried relocating to my right, which was the move that caused him to come firing out of the tree like a bottle rocket. I quickly ranged the ridge he would be coming up and got a bead on him hoping he would stop. And when he did stop I didn't think too much about it and shot....and missed. He did stop one more time and I might have missed again before he was gone for good. All i know is that the ground he covered in 20 seconds took me over an hour to cover to confirm that I indeed missed. But I know where he lives and will be back next year to find him again.

After the miss on Monday I got a text from B Wilde giving me grief for missing a buck since he is shooting 100% right now (he's 1 for 1) and that all I needed to do to shoot as well as him was to "Close my eyes and let it ride..." Sounded like sound advice at the time.

Wednesday morning was my last day to hunt and it was time to bring home some meat. Fortunately I was able to glass up a buck in one of our favorite spots and he was in a stalkable location. After a quick relocation on a ridge above where he was feeding I was able to close my eyes and let it ride from 260yards, which dropped him in his tracks. (He's lying just above the two bushed at the bottom center of the pic)

Seeing this guy up close made me realize just how big the buck was that I missed but I was extremely happy to take him home with me.

A full pack is a great way to end a week of hunting!

This hunt got my fire going again for chasing these little coues deer and I can't wait to get after them again next year. In the mean time, I will see if I can scratch this hunting itch with chasing bulls this weekend. Hopefully there will be some more pics to share next week!

Part 2: Those are Deer??

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:33:00 +0000

Two years ago I took a handful of my classmates from dental school out on a whitetail hunt, and Stanley was one of them. As a farm boy from Washington, he is used to hunting some pretty flat and forgiving terrain around the fields of his hometown. During our first hunt in Arizona he wasn't quite sure what to make of the hills and overly aggressive vegetation that we have here. When we located a group of does and a forky on the first morning he laughed and asked "Those are deer?? They look more like greyhounds!" He then proceeded to shoot right over the top of the small buck...

Stanley is now in residency with my here in Tucson and he decided he wanted to give these little deer another try this year. I'm pretty sure our constant talk of hunting in the office is a large part of why B Wilde thought he wanted to try a hunt with us.

The week before the hunt we were able to bring his boys out with us to shoot the rifles and let them poke a few holes in some milk jugs with their BB guns.

During the first day of our hunt Stan hiked in with our buddy Joe to an area over the ridge from where B Wilde and I were set up. As they reached their glassing point there was a buck feeding just underneath their position and Stan quickly set up for the shot, and dropped his first coues deer. It happened so quickly that I don't even think they picked up their binos at any point before the shot.

It also happened so quickly that I didn't hear the shot over the ridge from my position so it made for a great surprise when we met up at noon and we had two bucks packed and headed for the truck on opening morning!

Here's a pic of their two bucks

Coues Hunt Part 1: Close Your Eyes and Let it Ride

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:30:00 +0000

This past deer season was very successful for several reasons and I feel deserves to be discussed in several posts. The first installment is about my co-resident, "B Wilde".

B Wilde grew up bird hunting with his Dad but had never been big game hunting before. When he asked if he could tag along on a deer hunt sometime it so happened to be right when we were applying for Left Over whitetail tags so he added his name to our application. Once we got the tags you could tell that he was pretty excited and as the season got closer we had a few things we needed to do to get him ready. We arranged for him and his son to meet me and our other friend early one Saturday for a Boys' Day Out to shoot the rifles and get some things ready for the season.

Opening morning of our hunt found B Wilde and I glassing an area I had scouted during the preseason and it didn't take long for us to find a buck feeding with a single doe on and adjacent hillside. We were able to get a little closer and set up for a 340 yard shot which was all it took for him to secure his first buck!

He was able to make it look really easy and made a great shot on his first big game animal, and afterwards gave me the quote that "All you have to do is close your eyes and let it ride." This would come in handy a few days later...

Arizona Spring Draw Results are up!

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:09:00 +0000

Arizona Spring Draw Results are now up online.

You can check to see if you were drawn by clicking HERE.

Good luck to everyone!

Success Comes in Many Forms

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:12:00 +0000

I recently got home from helping my dad on his limited opportunity elk hunt this past week. He had an any elk tag up in northern AZ and it was a challenging hunt. I had a lot of fun, as did he. First couple of days we didn't see any elk, but plenty of sign. Sunday things finally turned for us when a friend of mine, Jeff Schorey, came out and glassed with us. Jeff glassed up 3 elk, with one of them being a decent bull. These elk were over where we had been hunting the previous two days, but we'd never been able to find them. Monday I actually heard some bugles while glassing, and Tuesday we ended up seeing 9 elk, all but 1 or 2 of them were bulls. We were into elk the rest of the hunt except for Thursday morning, the last opportunity for my dad to hunt due to appointments he had that afternoon.

An old brick kiln

Inside the brick kiln

He had a couple of close calls, just not close enough. In all, I counted that we had 23 elk sightings between my dad, me, Jeff, and Terry Hartsburg, who came out Monday through the end of the hunt to help out. (Thanks Terry for the help!) Several of these sightings were of the same elk on multiple days. Glassing was key for us during this hunt. Trouble was we were spotting the elk 2-3 miles out, and they were usually out in the open with little cover to allow my dad to get close to them. We sent my dad on some seriously long stalks. I don't want to make excuses, but the full moon and warm temps didn't help matters as the elk were bedding early and coming out late.

In all, my dad had a great hunt and he was just happy he was able to be out there after his heart attack this summer. You can read about that by clicking here. Three months ago he was seriously wondering if he'd even be able to hunt this year. Seeing my dad out there on that hunt hiking and doing everything necessary in an effort to be successful made me realize that the real success wasn't in him downing a bull, but him coming back from his heart attack to being out there doing what he loves to do. Based on the time we got to spend together and the enjoyment we got out of the hunt, I'd definitely call the hunt a success.

First Deer!

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:32:00 +0000

Houston's oldest son Braedon turned 10 this year, and of course Dad got him out in to the woods to chase some deer. Not only is it an impressive first buck but it was a fantastic shot at 625 yards! Congrats boys on a fantastic experience. And on a side note, for those of you who know Houston and have seen his pictures over the years I am pretty sure this is the first one that has him smiling in it...

Opening Weekend Duck Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Team Kendrick Outdoors) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:11:00 +0000

Headed out for opening weekend of duck season up here in northern Arizona. Met Joe and Scott at dark thirty and headed to claim a piece of real estate.

As shooting light filled the sky and legal shooting hours approached the whiz of ducks flying over fill the air.

The sounds of three shot salutes filled the air all round us and it kept the birds moving around. Overall had a great morning. Only 5 ducks were taken but it wasn't really due to lack of shots...

Bailey did outstanding and even though she didn't get to head out last year she picked up right were she left off.

It was a fun weekend and good to be out on the water again. Looking forward to the next one.

AZ Spring Draw Reminder

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:58:00 +0000

Just a reminder that if you are going to be putting in for the AZ Spring draw for 2012 that you need to have your application in by next Tuesday, October 11. Back again this year is the online application process so it could make it easier for you.

http://www.azgfd.gov/eservices/draw.shtml

Good luck!

November Elk Scouting

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Woods) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:59:00 +0000

Well, rifle bear season opened up last Friday and I headed out for the weekend to see if I could find a bruin. It was more of a dual purpose trip, the other reason being to scout for my mid November archery bull hunt. The rut is in full swing here and the bulls are going absolutely nuts! I know by the time my hunt rolls around the rut will have dwindled off but going on what I saw last year they will still be in the somewhat general area come early November.

This was an area we have seen a few bears before but this weekend none were seen. It was hard to concentrate on looking for them when there were bulls in every direction screaming!
Antler growth was good this year and we saw some quality bulls.

Ron came up on Saturday and while having a late lunch at the trucks we heard a couple bugles that sounded pretty close. We got up on the hill and made a few calls just to see if we could put some eyes on them. After a few bugles and a couple cow calls they came in on a string and I was able to snap a couple shots of one of them. The first one came in so fast my camera was still in the truck. So after he ran off I got my camera and watched this guy come in from about a 1/4 mile out.

Video of Ron's 2011 Archery Elk

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:29:00 +0000

Here is a short video that Jay put together of my hunt.

Ron's 2011 AZ Archery Elk Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:52:00 +0000

I felt very blessed to have been drawn two years in a row for AZ archery bull elk hunt. I had previously figured this would be the ‘year of the deer’, but I quickly changed focus once the elk draw results were out and started preparing for my upcoming elk hunt. While September felt a world away, it quickly came and was upon me before I knew it. Even though I had made several pre-season summer scouting trips to my unit, I didn’t feel quite ready. I didn’t have a particular bull picked out yet, but I told myself to be patient as I had taken off 3 weeks for this hunt, the week prior to scout, and the full 2 weeks for the hunt itself. If I tagged out early that would just be a bonus as I’d be able to dedicate more time to my dad’s and/or friends’ elk hunts.

Elk Camp

The weeks leading up to my hunt were busy with work, last minute preparations, and squeezing in as much family time as possible since I knew I could potentially be away from them for two plus weeks. The time finally came to load up the trucks and set up elk camp. My wife and kids accompanied me up to help set up camp and hang out for Labor Day weekend. I appreciated the help in setting up camp and it was nice to have them up there for a few days. Sunday was the first day up at elk camp and even though I knew scouting time was precious, I chose to just hang out in camp with the family for most of the day. It was nice to unwind and relax some after the hectic previous few weeks. Rob and Joe had pulled in late Friday night from Rob’s Utah trip where he had harvested his ‘camp buck’.

Camp consisted of my Cabela’s Bighorn II tent with Vestibule, my popup canopy for my kitchen, and a borrowed propane heated shower. I was going to be as comfortable as possible for the potential 3 week hunt.

Careful What You Wish For

I’m not sure when it was, but I believe it was sometime on Sunday as I took the family out for a drive commenting to my wife, Karly, that it would be nice to get a little bit of rain each day to quiet things down and settle the dust. Little did I know how that would ultimately affect me. The next couple of days I spent glassing and checking out new areas. Jay and his family came out to elk camp on Labor Day. It was good seeing his family and the kids enjoyed each other's company. That afternoon the rains started. They wouldn’t let up until Friday, Sept 16.

Karly and the kids went home on the Tuesday following Labor Day. I escorted them into Flagstaff and we had an enjoyable breakfast at Mike and Ronda’s. I then got a tire patched up at Discount in Flagstaff since I had picked up a nail somewhere along the way.

The week prior to my hunt I checked out some places I’d been before, and a few new places. I had a list of areas I wanted to check out and there were more things to do than what I had time for. The anticipation built as I checked places off that looked promising and I either saw elk or heard bugles. I literally looked high and low in the unit. One memorable day was hiking up to 11,500 feet to check out a spring I’d heard about, but had never been there. I hadn’t planned on hunting it for my elk hunt, but curiosity got the best of me and I turned that into an eight plus mile hiking day. It was neat to see a spot seldom seen by others and realize how hard the early settlers worked to access water for their livelihood.

Even though archery deer was open the week prior to elk season and I carried my bow with me everywhere I went, I wasn’t really focusing on deer at all. The elk weren’t as plentiful as I was hoping and even though I had a couple of semi close encounters, I never got to draw back on any deer that week prior to the opener.

The Opener

Opening day finally arrived. While I had been seeing elk and a few spots looked promising, I didn’t have as clear of a plan as I had hoped. I hit the low country opening morning, hoping to find a bull that I’d seen early the week before. That evening I met up with Jay and we hunted a spot that had been good to us in years past, but the only thing we ended up seeing that first night was a bear.

Rob arrived later Friday night and after too little sleep we were up hitting an old hotspot. Things looked up on the way up the mountain as Jay gave out a bugle and got a response. We hustled up a little higher and not expecting much, Jay gave out another bugle and got another response, this time much closer. We hunkered down in the meadow we were in and waited. It didn’t take very long and I heard footfalls coming from an approaching bull. I put my binos up in time to watch him stop and let out a bugle followed by a few chuckles. He wasn’t the biggest bull in the woods, but I figured with my good friends (meat packers) there I shouldn’t waste a given opportunity. I had ranged some trees at 50 yards and when the bull walked in front of the trees I drew back, catching both Rob and Jay by surprise. I surprised them even more when the bull stopped and I let loose with my arrow. Not hearing anything but the arrow hitting a couple of branches, we figured I missed, but waited and followed up on the shot. No blood was found, and when we found the arrow, it was totally clean. I’m not sure how I missed, but miss I did… Rob and Jay consoled me in the fact that I’d be happy later that I missed that bull, but it was unsettling that I did miss him. That would make two misses in as many hunts with my new bow. Not a comforting feeling…

The rest of the weekend was spent glassing and hitting other good spots. The elk were keeping quiet and our midday glassing only turned up lonely cows, spikes, and rag-horns up feeding. We had tentatively planned an overnight trip up on the peaks, but figured we’d be tied down to one particular spot for both an evening and morning hunt if we did that. It proved to be the correct choice as we had a heck of a storm hit Saturday night. It seemed like it lasted a while and was one of the most intense lightening shows I’ve seen in a while.

Rob had to leave midday Sunday, and Jay left shortly after. While they were with me they provided me with a couple of opportunities, the first at the bull I missed Saturday am, and the second on the world record smallest spike. Saturday night we had the spike walk by us at maybe 10 yards. Rob was whispering in my ear, “I dare you!” Needless to say, I didn’t bring a towel with me to wipe the milk from his lips before taking trophy pics, so he got a free pass that night.

Mid Hunt

I had originally planned on being alone most, if not all of the week. It turned out I never was alone very much. Brad, a buddy from work, came up Monday morning and hunted with me through Wednesday, helping out by glassing and giving moral support. It was nice to have someone else in camp and be able to bounce ideas back and forth. I ended up hitting a spot several nights in a row that I could only hit in the evenings due to logistics, and it was about the only place I’d found that had rutting elk. I had a few close encounters those few days, but never with a bull worthy enough. One night I passed up a raghorn a couple of times that I bugled in. I was too high up and away from the truck and there were bigger bulls in view.

The one thing constant and somewhat challenging everyday was the rain. It rained every day in the afternoon and evening, some nights, and most mornings. Luckily, the roads in most areas I was hunting were pretty good. There were only a couple of spots where the roads got bad on me. While hunting my evening spot it was almost a routine that I’d hike up in the afternoon and get to my clump of trees just as the afternoon rain and/or hail storms hit. It got a little exciting up high a couple of times with the hail and lightening!

Wednesday night I camped out of my truck to put me closer to my evening spot and I wanted to do some ‘scouting’ to see where the elk were going back into bed, allowing me to set up in a good spot for them to come down the mountain on Thursday night. Needless to say my plan was thwarted by the rain Thursday morning as it socked the mountain in with clouds made glassing impossible. I instead checked out a few other areas and met up with another buddy from work, Curt, who came up that morning to spend a few days with me.

Lucky Day

I was glad to have Curt’s help on the elk hunt as I knew he loved chasing bugles and working elk in the rut as much as I did. We had a few hours until I wanted to start up to my evening spot, so I showed him around a bit. We hiked up a different trail for a mile or so to listen for bugles and see if we could get anything to respond to me. I glassed up a cow on an open ridge ahead of us. We continued up the trail and at the bottom of the ridge she had been on we let out a couple of bugles, getting some responses. We now had a decision to make as it was getting late in the day. Turn around now and get headed over to my afternoon spot, or stay here and work the bugles to these unseen bulls. We decided since we had at least 2 bugles above us, we’d stay on this side of the mountain for the afternoon and evening and see what we could do.

We continued up the trail and eventually popped out in the meadow we’d first seen the cow in. Curt spied a cow and calf across the draw approximately where we’d heard the bugles come from. We knew we had to close the distance, but we’d be in the open for about 300 yards or so. While watching the elk to see if they’d go behind any trees and give us our opportunity to close the distance in the wide open, some clouds moved up the draw, filling the opening between us with moisture. We couldn’t see the cows, and they couldn’t see us. We hot footed it down the trail to a stand of young Aspens where we figured would be a good spot to get set up. Curt got above me and prepared to bugle and rake a tree to try and draw one of the bulls over our way. I set up along the trail and proceeded to range a few trees to get some ranges determined.

I set up in the higher stand of Aspens to the right of the trail

Curt bugled and raked a tree and the bulls responded. He bugled a time or two again and we didn’t really have any response from the bulls. I figured we might be too far away and was considering getting up and going to Curt to tell him we might have to close the distance when a bull sounded off right below us. I readied myself and then saw antlers through the trees down below and off to my left. I realized this bull would pop out in the open a little further out than I wanted, so I got up and crept closer to him down the trail, only moving when I couldn’t see his head. Right before he came out of the trees and onto the trail I drew back. He walked up on the trail and took a few steps towards me before turning to go further up the hill. When he turned broadside I picked a spot and released my arrow. I saw it sink in to the fletching on his left side. The bull spun, and ran down the hill. I moved over to where I could see down the hill and watched him run down the hill, stumbling right before he went out of sight behind some trees. My arrow hit a little further back than I had wanted, but I hoped his stumble meant he wouldn’t go far.

Curt is standing about where the bull was when I shot.

I went up to where Curt was hidden behind his tree. He said he saw the bull’s antlers and then heard a swish of the arrow and heard the bull run off. I told him I hit him, but wasn’t too sure about the shot. We gave him some time, but with the quickly approaching clouds and rain, not too much time, about 30-40 minutes. There was good blood right where I shot him as well as good blood in the thigh high grass. I started down the blood trail with Curt hanging back 20-30 yards observing the big picture. It wasn’t too far down the blood trail and Curt got my attention and signaled ‘bull down’. I was elated. He hadn’t gone but maybe 150 yards and piled up under a tree. He crashed not long after I saw him stumble.

I couldn’t believe how everything came together that afternoon that allowed me to shoot my bull. From going up that particular trail, seeing the cow the first and second time, the clouds moving in at the right time, being set up in a good spot, and having a horizontal shot on a steep mountainside. I was truly blessed that everything came together the way it did.

The Recovery

I shot my bull up at 9800 feet and recovered him at 9600 feet. Of course he crashed into some trees, so we moved him slightly and took pictures, sent some texts, and then got to work on him. I’d shot him about 2:30pm. We quartered him out, caped the skull, hung the quarters in the trees (hoping a bear didn’t snack on him overnight), loaded up the head and horns on my pack, and Curt loaded a 50 lb bag of meat into his pack. We knew the trail was straight down below us and it was a shorter distance to drop straight down than take the main trail above us, so we dropped down the ridge and did more slipping and stumbling down the hill than we did walking. After making it to the trail it got a lot easier to walk. We got back to the truck about 11pm that night. We then headed back to camp and got some sleep to rest up for the pack out ahead of us the next day.

Friday morning we gathered up the necessary supplies from camp and headed back up to where I’d shot my bull. On the way in there was a truck and horse trailer ahead of us. They turned down the same road we were heading down and I joked with Curt that I should ask them if they do any meat hauling since I saw they had mules in the back of the truck. When they pulled off to the side to let us pass, I couldn’t help myself. I asked them if they haul meat off the mountain and they said they were on their way to haul down an elk a local guide’s client had shot the night before. They said they’d cut me a discount since they were already there if I was interested. I told them I’d think about it and Curt and I headed up the mountain to my bull, hoping to find everything as we’d left it, unmolested by bears.

Nothing had been touched, and after our 3 mile hike up the mountain, I decided it would be worth the cost hire the mules to pack my bull off the mountain. I did some calculations and figured it would be about a 9 mile round trip (3 miles up and 1.7 miles down for at least 2 trips), which would make for a long day of packing meat. I have no doubt Curt and I could have done it, but when we got back to the truck I pointed out that we both had smiles on our faces and I doubt that would have been the case had we hauled the meat down ourselves.

Looking Back

Overall, it was a great hunt! It was tough, both mentally and physically. The rain made it hard a few times and I met a couple guys who headed home to dry out after a few days of the rain. I was in much better shape after my hunt and had lost about 5-6 lbs over the course of the 2 weeks I was scouting and hunting. I don’t think equipment makes a person successful, but I know having the right equipment definitely made a positive impact on my hunt. The several things that come to mind are my tent (no leaks at all with the 10 days of rain), the propane shower I borrowed from Curt (kept me clean, refreshed, and feeling good), my KUIU and Stika technical clothing (managed my sweat, the rain, heat, and cold temps very well), my rain gear (no leaks, kept me dry and breathed well), and my bow (I’ve had 3 shots this fall and while I missed 2 (operator error), I don’t think any of the three animals heard my bow and didn’t really know what happened based off their reaction).

I’d like to thank my wife and kids for their support as well as the good friends who came up to help me on my hunt. Thanks Jay for taking some great pictures and video. Many of the above pictures were taken by Jay. My overall goal for the hunt was to be safe, have fun, experience the hunt to the fullest, and be successful, hopefully with a branch antlered bull. I met all my goals and then some. Someday I hope to experience the second week of the archery elk season, but I definitely can’t complain about the last 2 years!

He Doesn't Suck!

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:24:00 +0000

This past archery season our buddy Matt was able to lay the hammer down on a great AZ bull. Updates we were getting from him through out his scouting and first week and a half of the hunt displayed what many people saw this year, spotty rut activity and a lot of rain. After going through the highs and lows of what is elk hunting he was able to give this bull a ride in to town.

Congrats bud on a hard earned trophy!

Doubling Up on the Elk

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:41:00 +0000

My friend Andrew drew his first elk tag this year and took advantage of it to the fullest. Originally from Wisconsin, he spent as much time as he could learning his area and how to go about hunting bugling bulls with a bow. He and his friend John were both able to take home some great bulls and provided a story they would like to share. Congrats guys!

John and his bull

Andrew with his trophy

36 Hour Tag Out – Written by Andrew Daniels

This year I was fortunate to draw my first bull elk tag for the archery rut hunt along with my buddy John (his second) up on top of the rim. Not wanting to eat tag soup I put in countless hours of scouting and talking to guys who had hunted elk trying to get as much advice and information as possible. The scouting started a few months prior to the hunt and all it took was to get within 50 yards of a bull for the first time for me to be completely hooked.

Our hunt gave us a bunch of close calls early on, but we were never able to get a shot off. We had started to drive ourselves crazy trying to chase bugles. Then, starting the afternoon hunt on September 14^th everything changed.

I had never experienced anything like this. There had to be 6 to 8 bulls around us. It seemed like we were hearing them bugle in all directions. Hunting in thick PJ with hills and valleys made it difficult to pinpoint the bulls. Then, John and I decided to chase two different bulls that were close just to see if one of us could get close. They weren’t responding to calls at this time and we didn’t know what else to do. So John took off and so did I. John came and found me with about 30 minutes of light left so I knew something was up. He started jumping up and down telling me he shot a nice bull. John was able to get close to his bull twice. He had to run several hundred yards to get ahead of his bull, only to get busted by a cow that walked 9 yards in front of him. As he saw the bull heading away he knew he had to move. John ran ahead of them again by making a giant half circle and what do you know, here they were walking at him again. This time, being camouflaged better, the cow had no idea he was there. The 6x6 bull came in as if on a string and he put an arrow in the vitals at 20 yards. We tracked the bull for less than 100 yards when we saw him at the bottom of a ravine. Our celebration was short lived as we heard a bull bugle within 200 yards of us. We chased off after it trying to get me a shot. With light fading the bull was within 30 yards of me behind a juniper not offering any shot. The bull winded us and he was gone. At least we knew where we would head the next day.

John and I decided to forgo the morning hunt as we needed to get the meat back to town so it wouldn’t spoil. That night it was like the bulls all shut down and weren’t talking. This was somewhat disappointing after the previous night of hearing well over 100 bugles. The next morning would be different.

We got to a bend in a four wheeler trail about 45 minutes before light so we could listen to them bugle and figure out where to start our hunt. To our surprise they sounded like they were less than 200 yards right in front of us. This would be the longest 45 minutes of my life trying to wait for first light. Just as I could begin to shoot, the elk seemed to be heading away from us. Down the trail we went, not running, but walking as fast as we possibly could. It took us a mile and a half to get close to them again. We had gone from PJ to an open ponderosa area. One bugle rang out to our right, and one bugle close to our left. Now what. We decided to continue down the trail so we wouldn’t be seen and try to get between them. Just as we did John looked up and saw a bull and cow heading into the PJ ahead of us 200 yards away. We were still behind them. We took about 4 steps down the trail when I looked up and saw a nice bull headed our way. I told John to stop and the bull was motoring right at us from about 150 yards away. The path the 6x6 bull took was blocked by a dead pine tree so he had no idea we were there. John told me to draw and I was just waiting for him to range for me. The bull just kept coming. When the bull got to the pine tree 50 yards away, he began to turn. He made a few more steps, John told me he was at 40, and the bull stopped in his tracks. Standing there at full draw I couldn’t believe this was happening. I picked my spot and let the arrow fly. The arrow hit right behind the front shoulder and we could see the blazer veins sticking out as he trotted away. “Oh my God I smoked him John!” This is apparently what I said after I shot but I don’t really remember as I went straight into shock from what had just unfolded. John stopped him about 100 yards out with a cow call and we could tell he was hurt bad. The elk made it to the top of the hill before going out of our view and I hit my knees in disbelief of shooting my first bull elk. We backed out and gave the elk some time. Meanwhile 3 hunters approached us. It was a father with his 20 and 11 year old sons. After finding out I just shot a bull, the father asked if they could follow us tracking so he could teach his youngest boy how to track a wounded animal. They followed behind us and right at the top of the hill my bull was down. It was without doubt the most exciting kill for me since my first buck when I was 13. The father and his sons then helped us quarter the animal. They also went and got their quads to pack it out for us as we would have been backpacking it over 2 miles to the Jeep. A perfect end to our 2011 elk hunt.

It’s hard to believe that after all of the preparation, and hiking 12-15 miles a day during our hunt, that John and I tagged out in 36 hours. Two 6x6 bulls down. A huge thank you to my buddy John for helping me bag my first AZ bull elk. Also, a big thank you to Rob Matthews for answering about 100 questions I had over the past few months and teaching me more about how to approach my rut hunt.

2011 archery bull elk

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:40:00 +0000

After a week of preseason scouting and on the 6th day of the hunt, I tagged out on this bull on the afternoon of September 15. I'll have more details in a follow up post.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Second Utah Installment

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:07:00 +0000

Jay was able to punch his tag on buck during the opening weekend in Utah and I unfortunately came home with nothing more than close calls and a few misses. This past weekend I decided to head back up there to change my archery luck and get the ball rolling in the right direction for the Fall. After stopping by Mesa to pick up my riding partner Joe, we were able to make it up there by 4:30am on Saturday. This offered a whole 45 minutes of "sleep" before I started slipping down the hill to get set up on a hill side where we saw a group of nice bucks the first weekend. The deer were there and I was able to get close to some nice deer but was unable to close the deal in the think scrub oaks.

By 10:30am my feet were getting awfully heavy and the lack of sleep was starting to catch up. We decided to head up into the pines and find a place to nap the afternoon away and gather a little energy for the evening hunt. Turns out we chose the right spot to nap as when I woke up I found a small buck feeding just 50 yards away and apparently unconcerned with my groggy presence. After putting Kade in the drivers seat of my truck I slipped around the front of the truck and was able to place an arrow in his chest at 40 yards. He's not big and I can't brag about a crazy long and intense stalk...but I am extremely happy with bringing him home. I've spent a lot of time hunting over the years and have had what I consider some bad luck with my bow, so it was nice to break the curse and place a great shot on a deer that took him down quickly.

The funny part is that Joe slept though this whole ordeal and did not believe me when I tried to explain what had just happened. It wasn't until I took him to the bloody arrow that he came to, and instead of following a blood trail we were able to follow Kade's lead as he was already standing next to the deer 50 yards away.

Ended up spending quite a bit more time driving to and from than I did hunting but it was worth it. Love that hunting season is now here! Headed up north again this weekend to meet up with Ron for the start of his Elk hunt.

Aim Small, Miss Small

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Matthews) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 05:36:00 +0000

You often hear the saying "Aim Small, Miss Small" when it comes to shooting archery. A couple weeks ago Ron took it to a new level when we took a time out from scouting for his upcoming Elk hunt. Thankfully I was able to get a picture of this awesome event.

Only concern I have is Ron might need to crank up the poundage on his bow as the penetration leaves a little to be desired...

RoadPro Truck Stove Review

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Green) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 05:07:00 +0000

I was first introduced to the RoadPro Truck Stove while archery deer hunting with Jay and a couple of his buddies in January a couple of years ago. We were riding around in Jay's buddy's Rhino and he stopped, fiddled around in the storage compartment for a bit, and then when we got to our next glassing spot, he started handing out warm burritos. Those really hit the spot on that cold afternoon! When I saw what he used to heat up the burritos, I knew I had to get one.

The RoadPro Truck Stove (I personally call it a truck oven) now has a permanent place in my truck. The RoadPro Truck Stove heats up to about 300 degrees, and will reheat or cook small meals. The truck stove is powered from a 12 Volt outlet (uses about 12 amps). My personal favorite use is to heat up burritos for a morning, midday, or dinner meal. A lot of my scouting trips now consist of making up some burritos, and throwing them in the ice chest for the weekend. When I'm driving in the truck and feeling hungry, I throw a burrito in the truck oven for about 20-30 minutes, and then enjoy a nice hot meal. No mess, fairly quick, and very easy. A few of my hunting buddies even joke that our hunting location has to be at least 20 minutes from where ever we are staying so we have enough time to heat up breakfast burritos in the morning, or cook burritos for dinner on the drive home. Since getting my truck stove, a couple of friends have been so impressed they've gotten one also. I picked mine up at a Love's Travel Stop (truckstop), but I've seen them on Amazon.com also for cheaper. The only downside to the truck oven is the latch is pretty weak and care should be taken not to break it. 8"x3"x2" disposable aluminum pans are also available for additional convenience and easier clean up.

(Water bottle shown for size reference)

Below is one of my favorites to heat up in my truck oven; Elk Burritos! My wife makes these up in batches and then freezes them. I grab them out of the freezer as I need them to take with me on hunting or scouting trips.

First, cook the meat, in this case it is shredded elk with green chile.

Next, put the meat, some cheese, and sour cream on a tortilla.

Finally, roll up the burrito and wrap them in aluminum foil.

I can guarantee these are very welcome on a cold hunt when near the vehicle and able to heat them up in the truck stove.

Bonzai Utah Deer Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Woods) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:36:00 +0000

Headed up to Utah last weekend with Rob, Joe Houston and Richard for the Utah archery deer opener. Due to some vacation issues Rob and I were only able to hunt the weekend. So we made the trek up there last Friday night and pulled in at about 3 AM for an hour and a half of sleep and then hit the hills. With a 36 hour window to hunt, the goal was to just fill a tag. Had a great time with some great friends and had a little taste of success. Just wish we could have had more time to enjoy the experience. Here is a short picture essay of our weekend adventure. Jay

I have to say a big thanks to Rob and Joe for helping me follow the blood trail and recover this buck. Just as the wind was about out of my sails fresh eyes and motivation were the key to finding this buck.

I bumped the group of 5 bucks that I had glassed up. Ended up crossing paths with them again and this guy gave me a 30 yard shot. He spun as the arrow flew his direction which made the hit slightly back. Persistence was the key to recovering him and we were able to find him a few hundred yards away.