Opening day found us in one of our favorite spots with good friends Ernie and Judy Rojas who also had tags. Also along with us also was my girlfriend Brittany who had taken the entire hunt off too. Right away we glassed a bull up in our spot but with a better look it was shown he was busted all up. A mature bull, just missing about ten points and a couple inches of beam. We all elected to pass the bull and countinue looking for something better for we had the time to hunt around. Day after day we hiked every canyon and draw making pushes and glassing countless hours for a bull of good quality to put our tag on. Four days passed with nothing turning up but hunters under every tree and rock and very few elk, at this point we had seen six bulls. With our patience fading on us it began to became almost a hassle to to locate elk in areas in past years were covered with elk.
On day four we worked along an area with some fresh snow and the elk tracks we were seeing were runnning all over the country side. The hunters were on the move in the snow and the elk now were being pushed. So we backed off and headed for an area we thought would be the best get away for them. As we neared the draw and worked it down towards the bigger part of the canyon, I glassed down into the bottom and right away noticed a bulll laying down. As we got closer and with a better observation of the hole, five other bulls apppeared. Two bulls worth looking at, a 6x6 and a 6x5 were now below us at 300 yards. As we were trying to get into a shooting position with out being detected the bulls started to get up and act like they move out. I scrambled to get my pack in fornt of me and my rifle on go as my father went for a near by tree for a rest. As the bulls were leaving I whispered I would have a shot at the bigger of the bulls the 6x6 and with the okay from my dad I took the shot. At 375 yards my new 338 mag hit its mark dropping the bull in his tracks. Brittany shouted with excitment, "He is down!!" As I looked at my father and Brittany I had the feeling that I may have jumped the gun and should have let my father shoot. With reassurance from him that he did not have a shot the three of us made our way over to my bull. With high fives and sighs of relief we could not believe that we had finally found a good bull. We had about .8 miles to the nearest road and a little canyon to cross so the pack out was not as bad as we had been preparing for. Looking back I'm glad I took the shot for it turned out for the best for my father. I had harvested the bull that I had wanted from day one, just an un-broken nice looking 6x6. He is no giant by no mean but for my fourth bull I have taken I couldn't be happier.
Day five was mostly finishing up the pack out of my bull and some easy hikes to some glassing points turning up nothing. That night while being exhausted we had came up with a game plan for the following day to get out and give it our all. We made several pushes and hiked every draw out in the area we were hunting in, nothing but a cow and a calf. With the following day being the last day we were starting to realize this might not happen for my dad. It was now 2 in the after noon and we came to the conclusion to head to campand relax and get some good rest and give it hell the next day. As we packed up we couldn't help but not give up so we decided to drive a road back to camp that would allow us to glass some area that we have not hunted this year but very well could hold elk. While driving up the small fingers towards the thick pines I stoppped to glass an area real quick and right away I was seeing horns!! With time running short we got out and put about a 200 yard stalk on what we could see were 3 bulls. We ran out of cover at 380 yards from them and from that point my father took rest as me and Britt glassed for which one was the biggest. Sticking oout like a sore thumb above a small cedar were horns and all you could make out were his fronts were big and he had a big frame. Seconds felt like hours as we waited for him to come out and present a shot. There were seven bulls as we sat there watching two bulls push each other around and the others feeding along. Finally the bull stepped out and my father squeezed off a shot, "high" I said as the bull moved off into the thick cedars. We gathered our gear and headed for the last spot we had seen the bull to make sure it was a clean miss. With no signs of blood we headed up the ridge to get as high as we can with hopes of seeing the bull before it gets dark. As I cleared the trees I noticed horn tips 150 yards on the opposite side from us. We quietly moved over to the top and quickly set my tripod up for a rest. All seven bulls had regrouped with each other and were now feeding parallel to us at 100 yards. After a little confusion trying to find the bigger bull, he stepped out and BOOM! My father let one off that put the bull down in his tracks. As the sun was setting on us and we neared the bull between the three of us I know there were tears we had sucked up to keep from falling for the fact we had accomplished killing two great bulls with my fathers being an exceptional late bull in our eyes. To saver the moment we shot off a couple quick pictures of the sunset and us with the bull. This hunt truly tested our patience and proved to us no matter how many hunters and how many elk we were seeing, that if you hang in there and go with your gut you can get things done. My fathers bull ended up scoring just shy of 340, with only tips barely broke off this was a great bull for the area we were hunting. Our 2010 hunting season ended with a bang with us hovered over his bull and the sun setting knowing that we had just went 100% on all of our hunts this year, nine total Arizona hunts. We also picked up several sheds on this hunt that shows no matter how much traffic during shed season they still get left behind! With shed season right around the corner we cant' help but get excited to get after them! Thanks and enjoy
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