bigbuckhunter88
PMA Member
You realize it is probably just getting dark nowish in AZ so he is most likely still packing his elk out. Give the man some time Hopp.
AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
This post, Tony's follow up, and JOSHBRNDT have to be my favorite posts of this journal (along with the "You're killin' me smalls." post).
Unfortunately, its tag soup for me this season. But, in no way does that mean I wasn't successful! I got to watch a lone cow elk come into water and play in the tank and then buck and run around like a mustang 65 yards in front of me before she walked 45 yards right past me and fed up the canyon. If I can't fill a tag on my last night, at least I get to have that memory forever! Then I enjoyed a nice walk back to my truck in the moonlight! :way:
When I pulled in the garage tonight, my 8-year old daughter was waiting at the top of the stairs for me. When I had to tell her I didn't get one, she hugged me tight and started crying. After two weeks of hunting hard, I finally broke down and cried with her a little bit. But I got the chance to explain to her that it is about the hunt, itself, more than filling the tag. I told her that tags don't always get filled, but you never lose sight about what the hunt is and how you base your success. She is my world! I have to go put her to bed right now, but when I have time tomorrow (my day off), I will put some final thoughts together on lessons learned, favorite memories, etc. If I don't get to it tomorrow, I'll get to it early next week since I promised my family they would have my complete undivided attention after the last 2 weeks of me not being around (even when I was around).
There is no way I can ever thank you all properly or enough for the encouragement and inspiration throughout this journey. I may not be an elk killer, but I AM AN ELK HUNTER! I'm addicted...
JOSHBRNDT
Active Member
It happens to everyone. You worked hard and had some good experiences. You probably learned a couple of things as well. I try to tell my wife, who started bow hunting 3 years ago, you might not always put an arrow in an animal, but if you take one thing from the hunt that will make you a better bowhunter you have had a successful hunt.
You got to spend some time with your friends in the woods and those memories will always be with you. I'm not gonna lie when you said your daughter started crying, I too got a little teary eyed. I've had my daughter do that to me as well and I know how that feels. But teaching them that it sometimes doesn't work out will make them understand life sometimes is tough and that if you work hard thats all that counts.
Great journal and I look forward to reading your journal next year.
You got to spend some time with your friends in the woods and those memories will always be with you. I'm not gonna lie when you said your daughter started crying, I too got a little teary eyed. I've had my daughter do that to me as well and I know how that feels. But teaching them that it sometimes doesn't work out will make them understand life sometimes is tough and that if you work hard thats all that counts.
Great journal and I look forward to reading your journal next year.
jmoose
PMA Member
Elk or no elk on the ground....I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this thread. I'd say your kids are lucky to have someone like you to teach them how to hunt. your perspective on hunting (and life in general) is something all of us can learn from.
Thank you for taking us along for the ride!
Thank you for taking us along for the ride!
BowHnter
Banned
AZHunter said:This post, Tony's follow up, and JOSHBRNDT have to be my favorite posts of this journal (along with the "You're killin' me smalls." post).
Unfortunately, its tag soup for me this season. But, in no way does that mean I wasn't successful! I got to watch a lone cow elk come into water and play in the tank and then buck and run around like a mustang 65 yards in front of me before she walked 45 yards right past me and fed up the canyon. If I can't fill a tag on my last night, at least I get to have that memory forever! Then I enjoyed a nice walk back to my truck in the moonlight! :way:
When I pulled in the garage tonight, my 8-year old daughter was waiting at the top of the stairs for me. When I had to tell her I didn't get one, she hugged me tight and started crying. After two weeks of hunting hard, I finally broke down and cried with her a little bit. But I got the chance to explain to her that it is about the hunt, itself, more than filling the tag. I told her that tags don't always get filled, but you never lose sight about what the hunt is and how you base your success. She is my world! I have to go put her to bed right now, but when I have time tomorrow (my day off), I will put some final thoughts together on lessons learned, favorite memories, etc. If I don't get to it tomorrow, I'll get to it early next week since I promised my family they would have my complete undivided attention after the last 2 weeks of me not being around (even when I was around).
There is no way I can ever thank you all properly or enough for the encouragement and inspiration throughout this journey. I may not be an elk killer, but I AM AN ELK HUNTER! I'm addicted...
Awesome post! You have life by the horns in more ways than one! Thanks for the excitement!
Shovelbuck
Active Member
It was great tagging along with you on this seasons hunt! Congrats on a successful season!!!:way:
AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
AAR and Final Thoughts...For Now
After reading the last several posts, I’m not really sure what else I can say that hasn’t been said or that I haven’t thought of. Thank you all! This is intended to be my last major journal entry, but I’m more than happy to keep any discussions going or answer any questions anyone has.
This is the absolute hardest I’ve ever hunted and worked to fill a tag, but I still refuse to base my success on whether or not I filled my tag. Throughout the last two weeks, I’ve been doing a running AAR (After Action Review; something we do on fires after every incident) to keep track of what worked, what didn’t, how to improve, ransom thoughts about the hunt, and, most importantly, the best memories. I’ve talked to several other hunters and guys “in the know” and they all said that this has been the strangest rut in a long time and there are several guys with unfilled tags. Its almost impossible to use cow calls to call a bull away from his harem and most bulls all ready had their harems and were guarding them well by the time the hunt started. Going into this, I wasn’t confident in my ability to bugle using a diaphragm and I didn’t want to get a bugle tube. I now know I can bugle like a crazy bull, but having a tube without the reed is a good idea to give me a little deeper sound. I think that would have helped when I was chuckling up close (inside of 60 yards). But that’s a double-edged sword when you are hunting alone because you really shouldn’t be fumbling with a bugle tube when you’re supposed to be getting your release clipped on. Early on in the hunt, when we finally got into the bulls, we should have been more aggressive in catching up to them. I could certainly tell the difference in their reactions from early on to the last few days when I would hurry and get right up in their faces. Although I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, I can certainly be in better shape, especially when the bulls decide to start crossing canyons back and forth or go straight up steep slopes/ridges.
When I found out I got drawn, my best friend (Rob, my son’s Godfather) said he’d make the drive down from CO and hunt with me. Another good friend offered as well. And the guy who actually got me into archery offered to come up and call for me. He’s a good caller and really knows elk here in Arizona. I was going that route and then I decided that, as much as I like this guy, I really wanted my best friend and/or my other good buddy from Kingman to come over because I knew how much fun the hunt would be. My only regret in that department is that I didn’t take my buddy Bill (from Kingman) up sooner. I told my wife that having Bill and Rob with me would have been the absolute best because we are all very like minded in our hunting ethics and twisted senses of humor. In retrospect, though, it probably turned out for the best because we would have been laughing too hard at each other to hunt seriously. Rob and I keep in touch and see each other sporadically, but this was the first time we’ve hunted together in 6 years. He is that friend that will tell you when you are being stupid and not apologize for hurting your feelings because he knows you know he’s right. He also knows (as does Bill) what hunting means to me, but he knows that my family means that much more. In regards to Rob hunting with me, two great things came of it: 1) We’ve promised to not let 6 years go by again between hunting trips. We’re making plans for OTC tags in Colorado next year for the early archery season! 2) He’s finally going to pick his bow back up after about 2 years of not touching it due to a bull he hit too far back and didn’t recover. Those two things right there are two of the biggest successes of my hunt and they both happened in the first 3 days!
On the days I was frustrated or tired and thought about calling it quits, it was my wife, my kids, several of you, and my good friends here (especially Rob and Bill) that reminded me that I don’t know how to quit. Putting the kind of miles an elk hunter can put on in a day (let alone 2 weeks) in the rugged terrain that elk can call home really takes a toll on you, both mentally and physically. I am very thankful for the love and support of my family and friends. I’m also thankful for the wildland firefighter experiences I’ve had. You learn to push through it all and go that extra mile when you’re hungry and thirsty and you learn to keep your wits about you and nerves calm when you are underfed and dehydrated and everything around you is going south.
I told my wife last night that this was by far one of the most fun hunts I’ve had in years and that I’m addicted. I’ll try my luck next year with Arizona’s lottery, but if I don’t get drawn, Rob and I should be heading to Colorado for the OTC archery tags in September. To my surprise, she didn’t argue and was very supportive. She seems to understand my new addiction and I think she saw a side of me that hasn’t been around for quite a while after hunting with Rob. Its definitely good for my soul. I told her, that of all my great memories from this hunt, five stand out at the top of the list:
1) Having that big bull come into 50 yards on the first weekend.
2) Having the big bull standing 60 yards from me with an Arizona cypress tree between us and not being able to move while he just won’t move.
3) Setting up on the bull we’d been chasing and looking over and seeing that spike bedded down 60 yards from me staring right at me.
4) Watching that cow last night buck, kick, and prance around like a mustang.
5) Every minute with Rob.
As I said before, I hunted harder than I’ve ever hunted before. But I learned from my mistakes. I didn’t fill my tag, but my hunt was successful nonetheless. Growing up, my dad instilled my hunting ethics in me from the beginning. He told me he’d never take me hunting if I ever did it “the wrong way”. He explained to me that its never about killing, its about the hunt. That is one conversation I remember vividly. He told me “Son, when I was 19 and 20 years old, I did so much killing in Vietnam, that I’m just tired of killing. I don’t care if I never take another life.” He taught me to enjoy the hunt, itself, and that if you happen to kill (harvest) something, that’s great; if not, enjoy every minute of the experience. Not once did I compromise my ethics, my integrity, my morals, or any of the laws...NOT ONCE! Yes, I would have loved to wrap my tag around one of those giant bulls I had trail cam pics of and I made some mistakes along the way, but at least I did it all while maintaining the moral high ground. I would rather have an unfilled tag and stomach looking at myself in the mirror every day than have a trophy on the wall that I do not deserve. I know my dad was with me every time I was in the woods and there were times I could hear his voice guiding me. It’s the only thing I can figure out to explain how random thoughts like “just back out and come at him in the morning” popped into my head out of nowhere. I honestly feel like I can hold my head up high and I am proud of my hunt and how I conducted myself.
My daughter told me after my hunt was all over that she wants to get back to shooting her bow regularly so she can be prepared for next year when I promised to take her to south Texas for her first hunt. We started making some plans and commitments to each other, but not before I reminded her what hunting is really all about and that its ok to not fill a tag. We always talk about ethics and she gets it. I’m honestly not worried about her at all. She wants to get a deer with her bow and her rifle (she’ll have that this spring when she turns 9). Who am I to stand in her way?
At the end of this month, I’ll be helping a friend on his first deer hunt. He’s never hunted in his life, but decided last year that he wants to start. He was my squad boss in 2011 and I told him I’d be there for him if he gets drawn. After that, if my wife will let me, I’m going to try and sneak away to help my buddy in Kingman with his sons’ hunts in November and December. I’m also holding onto an unused archery deer tag that is good from mid-December through the end of December so, hopefully, I’ll be able to sneak away between soccer tournaments and fill that. If not, no worries. January will bring a combo archery javelina/desert mule deer hunt with my buddy in Kingman. I promised my daughter she could absolutely go on that hunt with me, especially since part of the season (Jan 1-24 for javelina) is during her winter break. Stay tuned and thank you again for all of your support and encouragement along the way!! :way::way::way:
After reading the last several posts, I’m not really sure what else I can say that hasn’t been said or that I haven’t thought of. Thank you all! This is intended to be my last major journal entry, but I’m more than happy to keep any discussions going or answer any questions anyone has.
This is the absolute hardest I’ve ever hunted and worked to fill a tag, but I still refuse to base my success on whether or not I filled my tag. Throughout the last two weeks, I’ve been doing a running AAR (After Action Review; something we do on fires after every incident) to keep track of what worked, what didn’t, how to improve, ransom thoughts about the hunt, and, most importantly, the best memories. I’ve talked to several other hunters and guys “in the know” and they all said that this has been the strangest rut in a long time and there are several guys with unfilled tags. Its almost impossible to use cow calls to call a bull away from his harem and most bulls all ready had their harems and were guarding them well by the time the hunt started. Going into this, I wasn’t confident in my ability to bugle using a diaphragm and I didn’t want to get a bugle tube. I now know I can bugle like a crazy bull, but having a tube without the reed is a good idea to give me a little deeper sound. I think that would have helped when I was chuckling up close (inside of 60 yards). But that’s a double-edged sword when you are hunting alone because you really shouldn’t be fumbling with a bugle tube when you’re supposed to be getting your release clipped on. Early on in the hunt, when we finally got into the bulls, we should have been more aggressive in catching up to them. I could certainly tell the difference in their reactions from early on to the last few days when I would hurry and get right up in their faces. Although I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, I can certainly be in better shape, especially when the bulls decide to start crossing canyons back and forth or go straight up steep slopes/ridges.
When I found out I got drawn, my best friend (Rob, my son’s Godfather) said he’d make the drive down from CO and hunt with me. Another good friend offered as well. And the guy who actually got me into archery offered to come up and call for me. He’s a good caller and really knows elk here in Arizona. I was going that route and then I decided that, as much as I like this guy, I really wanted my best friend and/or my other good buddy from Kingman to come over because I knew how much fun the hunt would be. My only regret in that department is that I didn’t take my buddy Bill (from Kingman) up sooner. I told my wife that having Bill and Rob with me would have been the absolute best because we are all very like minded in our hunting ethics and twisted senses of humor. In retrospect, though, it probably turned out for the best because we would have been laughing too hard at each other to hunt seriously. Rob and I keep in touch and see each other sporadically, but this was the first time we’ve hunted together in 6 years. He is that friend that will tell you when you are being stupid and not apologize for hurting your feelings because he knows you know he’s right. He also knows (as does Bill) what hunting means to me, but he knows that my family means that much more. In regards to Rob hunting with me, two great things came of it: 1) We’ve promised to not let 6 years go by again between hunting trips. We’re making plans for OTC tags in Colorado next year for the early archery season! 2) He’s finally going to pick his bow back up after about 2 years of not touching it due to a bull he hit too far back and didn’t recover. Those two things right there are two of the biggest successes of my hunt and they both happened in the first 3 days!
On the days I was frustrated or tired and thought about calling it quits, it was my wife, my kids, several of you, and my good friends here (especially Rob and Bill) that reminded me that I don’t know how to quit. Putting the kind of miles an elk hunter can put on in a day (let alone 2 weeks) in the rugged terrain that elk can call home really takes a toll on you, both mentally and physically. I am very thankful for the love and support of my family and friends. I’m also thankful for the wildland firefighter experiences I’ve had. You learn to push through it all and go that extra mile when you’re hungry and thirsty and you learn to keep your wits about you and nerves calm when you are underfed and dehydrated and everything around you is going south.
I told my wife last night that this was by far one of the most fun hunts I’ve had in years and that I’m addicted. I’ll try my luck next year with Arizona’s lottery, but if I don’t get drawn, Rob and I should be heading to Colorado for the OTC archery tags in September. To my surprise, she didn’t argue and was very supportive. She seems to understand my new addiction and I think she saw a side of me that hasn’t been around for quite a while after hunting with Rob. Its definitely good for my soul. I told her, that of all my great memories from this hunt, five stand out at the top of the list:
1) Having that big bull come into 50 yards on the first weekend.
2) Having the big bull standing 60 yards from me with an Arizona cypress tree between us and not being able to move while he just won’t move.
3) Setting up on the bull we’d been chasing and looking over and seeing that spike bedded down 60 yards from me staring right at me.
4) Watching that cow last night buck, kick, and prance around like a mustang.
5) Every minute with Rob.
As I said before, I hunted harder than I’ve ever hunted before. But I learned from my mistakes. I didn’t fill my tag, but my hunt was successful nonetheless. Growing up, my dad instilled my hunting ethics in me from the beginning. He told me he’d never take me hunting if I ever did it “the wrong way”. He explained to me that its never about killing, its about the hunt. That is one conversation I remember vividly. He told me “Son, when I was 19 and 20 years old, I did so much killing in Vietnam, that I’m just tired of killing. I don’t care if I never take another life.” He taught me to enjoy the hunt, itself, and that if you happen to kill (harvest) something, that’s great; if not, enjoy every minute of the experience. Not once did I compromise my ethics, my integrity, my morals, or any of the laws...NOT ONCE! Yes, I would have loved to wrap my tag around one of those giant bulls I had trail cam pics of and I made some mistakes along the way, but at least I did it all while maintaining the moral high ground. I would rather have an unfilled tag and stomach looking at myself in the mirror every day than have a trophy on the wall that I do not deserve. I know my dad was with me every time I was in the woods and there were times I could hear his voice guiding me. It’s the only thing I can figure out to explain how random thoughts like “just back out and come at him in the morning” popped into my head out of nowhere. I honestly feel like I can hold my head up high and I am proud of my hunt and how I conducted myself.
My daughter told me after my hunt was all over that she wants to get back to shooting her bow regularly so she can be prepared for next year when I promised to take her to south Texas for her first hunt. We started making some plans and commitments to each other, but not before I reminded her what hunting is really all about and that its ok to not fill a tag. We always talk about ethics and she gets it. I’m honestly not worried about her at all. She wants to get a deer with her bow and her rifle (she’ll have that this spring when she turns 9). Who am I to stand in her way?
At the end of this month, I’ll be helping a friend on his first deer hunt. He’s never hunted in his life, but decided last year that he wants to start. He was my squad boss in 2011 and I told him I’d be there for him if he gets drawn. After that, if my wife will let me, I’m going to try and sneak away to help my buddy in Kingman with his sons’ hunts in November and December. I’m also holding onto an unused archery deer tag that is good from mid-December through the end of December so, hopefully, I’ll be able to sneak away between soccer tournaments and fill that. If not, no worries. January will bring a combo archery javelina/desert mule deer hunt with my buddy in Kingman. I promised my daughter she could absolutely go on that hunt with me, especially since part of the season (Jan 1-24 for javelina) is during her winter break. Stay tuned and thank you again for all of your support and encouragement along the way!! :way::way::way:
BugleMIn
New Member
I just saw this post. I have had some hunts in unit 5bs that were like yours. Hopefully my son can score this year with his rifle. I jumped to the last page looking for the trophy pic, sorry. I'll have to read this whole thread some night while in my treestand.
When we were out scouting in August we ended up staying over at Stoneman lake, at a friends place. Very nice area, not sure if that is still in 6A.
Stay Thirsty!
When we were out scouting in August we ended up staying over at Stoneman lake, at a friends place. Very nice area, not sure if that is still in 6A.
Stay Thirsty!
jkratz5
Well-Known Member
Brian,
Sounds like you had a terrific couple of weeks in God's country. I really enjoyed following the journal, the images and the discussions that followed in this post. Thanks again for documenting it all for us, was like we got to be on that trip with you. Still looking forward to meeting up with you the next time I head to the area.
Congrats buddy
Kratz
Sounds like you had a terrific couple of weeks in God's country. I really enjoyed following the journal, the images and the discussions that followed in this post. Thanks again for documenting it all for us, was like we got to be on that trip with you. Still looking forward to meeting up with you the next time I head to the area.
Congrats buddy
Kratz