Arizona late archery Elk

[robby denning]

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[sneaky]

Anybody taking odds she fashioned a spear and jumped down on it from the cliff like Rambo? Asking for a friend.....

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[dirtclod Az.]

Knife in the teeth blood slinging everywhere.

 

[Jordan Budd]

Alrighty guys. Sorry I didn’t update last night. Getting back down across and up the canyon last night was not good! So that bull was in the thick cover below me and needed to work south or north for any kind of an opportunity. Sun at my back and wind in my face everything was good. He started moving back to the north and we thought he may cross back in my shooting lane from earlier. I had changed from my Crispi Briksdal to my Solomon speedcross shoes for sound and was going from rock to rock as best as I could but the wind was just really dying off. I made it on top of the ledge I had been on before and looked into the lane. No bull, and just then I saw antler tips above the brush with one issue, he was either looking my direction or the other way. Was banking on the other way! I already had my rangefinder in my hand and was trying to get a range but also trying to figure out if that was actually the bull or not, when I looked with some power the antlers looked like sticks and I could see zero body. But still fairly sure it was him I stayed frozen half behind a tree myself and 60 yards of brush between us. After probably 45 seconds he turned his head then he turned to the south and I heard rocks rolling.... started paralleling him to hope that he’d stop in the larger openings I saw him shoot through them and top over the ridge. I ran up to the ridge to some big rocks and started glassing below and saw a bull climbing the north face of the next canyon, honestly thinking it was a different bull I glassed over to him and nope. It was my bull running up the ridge and looking back. So that begun the walk of shame. I know he couldn’t of seen me, he sure as heck couldn’t have smelled me unless there was a weird swirl, the wind was always in my face. We’re thinking he heard something and probably thought it was a lion and bounced. But back to the walk of shame it’s now 4:05 and I’m walking back to my pack. Drank the rest of my water, slammed a couple of bars and headed back down. Waylon directed me down a “better” spot although it was all pretty bad. Gravel type loose rock with larger loose rock and steepness made the sliding regularly occur. I hit the bottom and filled my nalgene with water which I was happy to see. Started up the creek bottom right as it got dark and broke the headlamp out. I knew I probably didn’t want to go back up exactly the way I had come down so I found a slightly better spot and started up. The super loose sand and gravel made it one step up and 3 steps back for a while through some bad brush a lot of it on my hands and knees pulling myself up. Once I got to some larger rock piles I thought I was golden until I hit a big patch of brush that was about 7 feet tall and just super tough to get through. I picked my way as best I could and kept referring to my BaseMap app to maps I’d saved and it appeared like I would come out on a ridge if I kept going. The brush kept getting worse and my patience also when I started lighting up cliffs with my light. I started thinking that this was way worse than the satellite imagery looked and I was going to get cliffed in and have to somehow go back and around. I started making my way around the bottom of the cliff face in front of me and the brush started to clear as I hit the south slope. To my relief I also saw Waylon’s head lamp on the ridge and he yelled to me I was on a good path he thought. He met me just below the rim and we walked the rest of the way to the ranger and drove out. It was 1,047 yards from the glassing point to the bull and while I haven’t totaled the elevation gain and loss yet it took me 3 1/2 hours to get over there and almost 4 hours to get back. I’ve been on some gnarly stuff but that was by far the worst in terms of how long it was bad for. I told Waylon “not to be dramatic but I will not be going back across that”. We’ll find a better way hopefully if the bull comes back.

So today is somewhat of a rest and scout day. I need to shoot my bow after banging it on rocks and dragging it through brush, which it seems to have held up too. Then go glass some new country this evening.

the “lane” I had. I could only see the bulls body and not his legs.

from the bottom looking up to where I had gone down and later back up.


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[robby denning]

Good write up. And satellite imagery always leans soft


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[fiskeri1]

Nice write-up Jordan, this sounds just like my hunt in that area last year. Until you get in there you can't understand how difficult it is to maneuver in that country.

I gave up on "quieter" footwear after one morning as it just didn't make that much difference in this terrain and was much harder on the feet.

Keep persevering!

 

[dirtclod Az.]

You must persevere to endure.
Chief Dan George,

 

[Jordan Budd]

Day 3 wrap up:

Easy day today, reorganized and shot my bow this morning which all turned out well this time. This evening I went and glassed with a fellow instagram'r, Justin, who also has the same tag. He had located a bull this morning but he lost him in some cliffs and didn't feel good about rushing in there until he had a bedded location, but tonight we found the bull again. I'll be sitting on a good glassing knob looking over a ton of country and should be able to see the bull Justin is after also. Giving the big bull from yesterday another morning or so then I'll start looking for him again. This time I think we have a better crossing spot found, thank goodness.

I had contemplated and planned driving closer to the area and pitching my Sawtooth and making a camp but a friend offered their camper in town up for the week, which just sounded better! I'll gladly take the 12 minutes extra commute for some comfort on this one

 

[Jordan Budd]

Day 4 update:

My buddy I glassed with last night met up with me this morning. Found the bull he wanted to go after so I sat in my glass and watched as he looped around above the bull and shot him off of a cliff! It was rad. 74 yard range corrected for 56 yards! That’s crazy! I didn’t see a bull today I haven’t seen already except for the 2 that I would like to kill. The big bull from Saturday has yet to return but I’m almost sure he will. Tomorrow I’m trying a new “hidden” bowl and pine pockets tomorrow, a spot where my buddies here dropped me a pin on. They saw 6 bulls in there last year while hunting deer and 2 were shooter 6 pts 300+. So here we go onto day 5.

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[robby denning]

Good job on his bull. 74 yards is a stretch on a bull and I’d love to hear about his set up (poundage, speed, weight, etc) and shot placement if at all possible.

Hoping you’re next Jordan


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[Jordan Budd]

Good job on his bull. 74 yards is a stretch on a bull and I’d love to hear about his set up (poundage, speed, weight, etc) and shot placement if at all possible.

Hoping you’re next Jordan


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It was 74 but the angle correction was 56 yards. It was crazy steep!

Headed out this afternoon to look for the big bull. We’re shifting focus to him and only him for the next 3 days. Hoping to pick him up tonight!


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[Rick M.]

This thread is so much fun. Thanks for posting, Jordan! Keep at 'em!

 

[Jordan Budd]

Day 5:

Went into a new spot this morning and saw 12 bulls. Biggest was a fairly heavy 5 with a tiny 6th on one side. Pulled out around noon and touched base with my buddies to see what their thoughts were. We decided the last few days we’ll just kick it in more and go find that big bull instead of waiting for him to come back. We dug into google earth and found an old road that runs up to the back of the peak I last saw him under. I confirmed it was a four wheeler trail by getting 150 yards in with my truck this evening, haha. With that plan shot and later in the day, I didn’t have enough time to get back up to where he had been before to glass so I went back sort of into the area of this morning. Climbed up into some rocks and started glassing down the drainage, within 20 seconds I spotted a bull in a small finger bottom and put the spotter on him. Nice 6x6, 290+ probably, with his first point on one side dropping down instead of curving up. Awesome character I love and most likely the second largest bull I’ve seen the last 6 days. Since I was kind of close to the unit boundary I hopped into my maps this evening and unfortunately he’s barely on the other side of the creek and boundary.

So that just means we’re full steam ahead on the big 5x6 bull. Not sure what plans are besides getting somewhere to get eyes on him. Unless we stumble into another good bull, it’s this one or none in my mind. Disclaimer: *or close to a road on Friday.

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[AGPank]

Loving the story and challenges. I hunt 300 acres of private land in CO, so much of the hunt is beyond control.


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[sneaky]

*or close to a road UPHILL from the road

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[realunlucky]

Can wait to see what tomorrow will turn up. Good luck Jordan

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[robby denning]

Those pics show how tough that has to be for a bow hunter. Keep us posted Jordan. Interesting!


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[Jordan Budd]

Alright everyone. Drove all the way back up to where the big bull has been and in about 2 minutes of glassing I FOUND HIM! He came back. Same exact little pocket. He was probably 60 yards below a cliff and if he would have hung around in there and bedded I probably would have headed over. But he fed into the deep darkness of the brush patch from hell and I can’t see him anymore so he must be bedded. It’s discouraging that I’m now 800 yards from him and he feels almost completely out of reach. Trying to find a better way to go over for a stalk but the wind is limiting the easier routes. Fighting that brush is an absolute killer then add it into extremely steep and cliffy terrain and it’s not good! Thinking of taking an easier way off of this side that will add to the overall distance but should be on a trail so probably quicker, then walk up the creek bed below him then head up where I did Saturday. Just going to end up watching him all day I’m betting. I really don’t want to head over without a spotter. Everywhere I’ve been always looks way different when you get over there, but this is like another level.

I promise it’s way worse than it leads on!

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[OG DramaLlama]

Alright everyone. Drove all the way back up to where the big bull has been and in about 2 minutes of glassing I FOUND HIM! He came back. Same exact little pocket. He was probably 60 yards below a cliff and if he would have hung around in there and bedded I probably would have headed over. But he fed into the deep darkness of the brush patch from hell and I can’t see him anymore so he must be bedded. It’s discouraging that I’m now 800 yards from him and he feels almost completely out of reach. Trying to find a better way to go over for a stalk but the wind is limiting the easier routes. Fighting that brush is an absolute killer then add it into extremely steep and cliffy terrain and it’s not good! Thinking of taking an easier way off of this side that will add to the overall distance but should be on a trail so probably quicker, then walk up the creek bed below him then head up where I did Saturday. Just going to end up watching him all day I’m betting. I really don’t want to head over without a spotter. Everywhere I’ve been always looks way different when you get over there, but this is like another level.

I promise it’s way worse than it leads on!

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Can’t wait to see the grip and grin with this guy! Love this hunt.


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[Jared Bloomgren]

Keep at it!