I was in Arizona near Flagstaff to help out on my uncle's elk hunt. Unfortunately he wasn't able to put one down, but we saw bulls every day. He missed a small 6x6 on the 3rd day. On the 4th day I jumped a good sized 5x5 in his bed at the bottom of a hill from my lookout. The bull saw me as I saw him, and I froze and he stood there at 100 yards staring trying to figure out what I was. My uncle was about 15 feet to my right, and because of the different angle he was never able to see him before the bull took off. The last evening, at the last possible moment, we caught a herd of about 30 elk in an open forest between the heavy timber and the prairie where they feed. There were four bulls in the herd, one of which was a 350" class 6x6. We could only get about 400 yards away before they started getting skittish and heading back into the hills. He got two shots off an old fence post, and made two clean misses.
Sadly no hero shots, but here's some scenery.
Camp.
A cow elk. She was with 2 other cows and a small bull. Couldn't get pics of the others moving through the trees.
One of the taller peaks in the area, 10,400 feet.
A meeting of the minds. My uncle on the left, dad on the right.
A few miles away from the area we focused on there was a weather phenomena called a capping inversion. A pocket of really cold air is held in place by a bubble of warm air. It was about 20 - 30 degrees colder in there than the surrounding area.
The inversion lifted after 4 days and it suddenly felt like I was back in Oklahoma after an ice storm.
Tallest peak in Arizona, Humphrey's Peak, on the left. Agassiz Peak on the right.
This is the point I saw the bedded bull from, he was to my left. This pic was a few minutes before I walked over there and saw him.
Mountain lion tracks a little further down the same hill.
Ooooh, pretty...
The only antelope I saw in Arizona.
These were great boots. Had them for about 10 years and on this trip they decided to stop being waterproof. I put them in front of the fire to dry, and as they dried the seams and seals started breaking and separating. So I threw the bastards in the fire.
Sadly no hero shots, but here's some scenery.
Camp.
A cow elk. She was with 2 other cows and a small bull. Couldn't get pics of the others moving through the trees.
One of the taller peaks in the area, 10,400 feet.
A meeting of the minds. My uncle on the left, dad on the right.
A few miles away from the area we focused on there was a weather phenomena called a capping inversion. A pocket of really cold air is held in place by a bubble of warm air. It was about 20 - 30 degrees colder in there than the surrounding area.
The inversion lifted after 4 days and it suddenly felt like I was back in Oklahoma after an ice storm.
Tallest peak in Arizona, Humphrey's Peak, on the left. Agassiz Peak on the right.
This is the point I saw the bedded bull from, he was to my left. This pic was a few minutes before I walked over there and saw him.
Mountain lion tracks a little further down the same hill.
Ooooh, pretty...
The only antelope I saw in Arizona.
These were great boots. Had them for about 10 years and on this trip they decided to stop being waterproof. I put them in front of the fire to dry, and as they dried the seams and seals started breaking and separating. So I threw the bastards in the fire.
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fires to good for them.
