AZ elk hunting
05-20-2006, 09:27 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: LaPorte, IN
Posts: 1,111
RE: AZ elk hunting
kerry,
You gotta be crappin me, right? You don't need to worry about an outfitter. You need to worry about drawing a tag.......any tag. Everybody and his uncle and dog are "outfitters" in Arizona. That's because any blind man with a stout cane can locate a good bull in any unit. No need for an outfitter. Easy to be a great guide if you do it in Arizona. The place was the closest thing to a zoo when I hunted there. Bulls were herding cows right through our camp! And we were camped 50' off the main road. On top of that, everybody within 5 miles was coming to the trail behind our camp to cut their firewood, every day. It didn't matter. The bulls would be back there the next morning bugling their heads off. Just draw any tag, get some maps of the unit, and refer to the AZF&G website for a unit summary. They do an excellent job on these. Go the the north/east facing slope of each knob or locale they mention each morning, and you will be in elk.......big elk. AZ is like no other state you have elk hunted in. It's a zoo without bars. Seriously.
You gotta be crappin me, right? You don't need to worry about an outfitter. You need to worry about drawing a tag.......any tag. Everybody and his uncle and dog are "outfitters" in Arizona. That's because any blind man with a stout cane can locate a good bull in any unit. No need for an outfitter. Easy to be a great guide if you do it in Arizona. The place was the closest thing to a zoo when I hunted there. Bulls were herding cows right through our camp! And we were camped 50' off the main road. On top of that, everybody within 5 miles was coming to the trail behind our camp to cut their firewood, every day. It didn't matter. The bulls would be back there the next morning bugling their heads off. Just draw any tag, get some maps of the unit, and refer to the AZF&G website for a unit summary. They do an excellent job on these. Go the the north/east facing slope of each knob or locale they mention each morning, and you will be in elk.......big elk. AZ is like no other state you have elk hunted in. It's a zoo without bars. Seriously.
05-25-2006, 08:20 PM
#5
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2006
Location:
Posts: 6
RE: AZ elk hunting
thanks for the insight. I have drawn and hunted many times in NM and have harvest some good bulls, but nothing of the 350 class or better. Saw what I thought would go 380 last year with no shots and put my buddy on a 340 that he got. The reason I asked about guiding is I know it is so hard to draw and I have been putting in for 6yrs and I know my time will be coming. I don't to waste a tag on a 300 bull by going in blind. I probably will reconsider since I have done all my other hunts on my own.
05-25-2006, 08:30 PM
#6
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location:
Posts: 2,052
RE: AZ elk hunting
kerry I let the record books speak for themselves with regards too which outfitter has the most heads in it. That is why I went with Mick Chapel in Quemado, NM. I hunted with Mick in 98 in the Gila on the NM/AZ border (muzzleloader) and I took a 368" 6x6. (My bull is on hiselk page, bottom row, first one on left!)Mick is a full time outfitter, doesn't do anything else and has been doing it since the early 80s. He told me and mybrother both that we needed to keep putting in for AZ and that if drawn he would take us. He offers AZ hunts and they are in the PRIME areas between the San Carlos/White Mtn and AZ/NM lines.
www.nmtrophyhunts.com
Other than stroking a check too the chiefs on White Mtn. (I have an eye surgeon buddy in Memphis who has 3 over 380" from White Mtn, one is 411 nontyp) I don't think you will have better odds at huge bulls than going with Mick.
Good luck,
RA
www.nmtrophyhunts.com
Other than stroking a check too the chiefs on White Mtn. (I have an eye surgeon buddy in Memphis who has 3 over 380" from White Mtn, one is 411 nontyp) I don't think you will have better odds at huge bulls than going with Mick.
Good luck,
RA
05-26-2006, 08:19 AM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: LaPorte, IN
Posts: 1,111
RE: AZ elk hunting
Red,
I hunted right where you mention, next to the White Mountain Indian Reservation. Unit 1. Our camp was actually within one mile of the reservation border. We could hear rifle shots coming from there when we were there peak rut. They can use them there. In 2002 when I drew, the reservation hunts ran $24,900 for the east side, and $19,900 for the west side. I think they were sold out 3 years in advance. They have a website. We hunted right next to them for $380. I took a 340 bull on the 5th day. If I draw that tag again I will devote a full 2 weeks and hold out for 360+. They are there.
Kerry,
If you want that extra 10-20" of horn, and have the money, you can probably get it by using an outfitter. However, I would definitely draw the tag first, then get the absolute best guy in that particular unit. Not a bordering unit. That unit. An expert. Otherwise,Arizona is full of weekend guides who know they canstumble a client into a 320"-330" bull in ANY unit no problem.Don't worry about the guide now. Just keep applying and worry after you draw.
Have you been targeting any particular unit? We always put in for unit 1 first, then 8, 9 or 10, sometimes 3A/3C. Always archery. I'm sure you know those without maximum points have zero mathematical chance for an early gun tag this year, right? If you're going archery, you should draw within the next 3/4 years. We drew with 5 points.
Good luck to all in the draw.
I hunted right where you mention, next to the White Mountain Indian Reservation. Unit 1. Our camp was actually within one mile of the reservation border. We could hear rifle shots coming from there when we were there peak rut. They can use them there. In 2002 when I drew, the reservation hunts ran $24,900 for the east side, and $19,900 for the west side. I think they were sold out 3 years in advance. They have a website. We hunted right next to them for $380. I took a 340 bull on the 5th day. If I draw that tag again I will devote a full 2 weeks and hold out for 360+. They are there.
Kerry,
If you want that extra 10-20" of horn, and have the money, you can probably get it by using an outfitter. However, I would definitely draw the tag first, then get the absolute best guy in that particular unit. Not a bordering unit. That unit. An expert. Otherwise,Arizona is full of weekend guides who know they canstumble a client into a 320"-330" bull in ANY unit no problem.Don't worry about the guide now. Just keep applying and worry after you draw.
Have you been targeting any particular unit? We always put in for unit 1 first, then 8, 9 or 10, sometimes 3A/3C. Always archery. I'm sure you know those without maximum points have zero mathematical chance for an early gun tag this year, right? If you're going archery, you should draw within the next 3/4 years. We drew with 5 points.
Good luck to all in the draw.