2012 Elk Season Recap Video

A quick recap of the many days I spent in the elk woods this year. It was a great time spent with old and new friends. As worn out as I am, I can't wait until next year! :)

Pete's Crown Royal Bull

Pete travels all the way from Michigan to the White Mountains of Arizona to take his best bull to date. "Break out the Crown Royal!"

 

Raghorn???

I recently came across this footage we shot toward the end of the rut this year. This has got to be the biggest 4x5 I have seen in the elk woods. Would you consider him a raghorn???

Pine Point Bulls

After watching these bulls do the same thing for a couple of days, Fetch and I decide to hike in 1 and a half miles in the dark to ambush them on thier way back into the trees from feeding all night. We came oh so close, but they were just out of range as they entered the pines.

Check out the footage we got of this bull above in velvet during the summer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is_0h48mq8I

Tyler's AZ Rifle Deer

I got to accompany Tyler on his first AZ rifle deer hunt. He had never shot a mule deer. What a way to start Tyler! Gonna be hard to beat this one!

Chad's Archery Bull

After passing several bulls during the morning hunt, Chad elected to shoot this big, long beamed bull. What an awesome day of chasing bulls in the high country! I was glad to be able to capture it all on film!

Ed's Archery Bull

I had the pleasure of hunting with Tom and Ed from West Virginia during the archery elk hunt here in AZ this Fall. I accompanied Jeremiah as he was out with Ed on the last evening of his hunt. We found a lone bull trying to catch up to the herd, but taking his time doing it. With open country and a good wind, I was able to capture Ed's stalk on film as he ended his AZ hunt with an exclamation point!

Dark Night Bull

We finally got to where we could see this bull just before dark while scouting for the upcoming archery elk hunt.

Quick 6x7

We were able to get a little footage of this great 6x7 during our second encounter with him during the archery hunt. He was on the move to a nearby waterhole. We pushed hard to get around in front of him to no avail.

6 Point Passed at 29 Yards

This fine looking bull walked in to 29 yards before catching our wind. Fortunately for him, Tom had decided to hold out for a bigger bull. What a great looking young bull. Hope to see him in a couple years.

10 Feet Deep

This bull lured us in with his deep throated bugle. After setting up on top of the ridge we were able to call him in to 10 feet! Unfortunately he looked nothing like he sounded. I know you can't judge a bull by his bugle, but we had to take a look......

Tom's Opening Morning Pass

At only 30 yards Tom found himself passing up a shot at this six point bull during opening morning of our archery elk hunt.

Busted Fronts Bull

This bull slowly worked his way down to us on Chads last day to hunt. As we were preparing to shoot I relized both his left brow tines were busted at the beam. Upon seeing this and with the rut in full swing, we elected to pass on this bull and continue searching for a trophy bull for Chad to put his tag on.

Sparky

A cool bull we found during this years hunt that reminded me of our hometown Arizona State University (Sundevils) mascot, "Sparky"! Lovin' the mass and "pitchfork" on his right side!

Big 5x6

I thought we had found a "shooter" until upon further review we realized he was without a fifth point on his left side. Maybe next year....

8x9x10 Yards!

After sneaking in close while this bull was raking a tree, we set up and gave a few cow calls. He finally came out of the juniper jungle he was in and revealed himself. Although not what we were looking for, he still got the blood pumping being only 10 yards away!

Capt. Hook

We ran into Capt Hook the first week of the archery elk season while hunting with Tom. He is a cool looking bull with beams that curl down hard after the fifth point. Fortunately for him, a tree occupied his attention just long enough for our wind to shift in his direction. Ten more yards and he would have caught an arrow!

2 Close + 4 Comfort = 6 Yards!

After chasing bugles deep into the timber, we finally got within striking distance. Finally getting situated in the only semi-open spot we could find, I let out a couple soft mews. The forest erupted with bugles from the three bulls we had been following. Two of the bulls split as the most aggressive bull turned and came charging in!

Feelin' Out The Competition

We found these two bulls feelin' out the competition early in the hunt during archery season.

Sept. 10 Elk Scouting

Been a while since my last post. I have been very busy with another project as well as hunting archery deer and scouting for the upcoming elk hunts. Last night I was able to get some footage of a couple decent bulls while looking for a shooter to chase opening morning of the archery elk hunt.

The second bull on the video we called "tilt" because of his 5ths. Check out the side by picture comparisons of him from footage I shot in 2009 to footage from last night.

First Bugle of 2012 Season on Film

While out looking for a big buck this afternoon we heard a faint bugle down the canyon. I couldn't resist the urge to see if I could lay my eyes on him. As I got closer I could hear several different bulls starting to talk with regularity. This little 7x7 was the best one I could see. Just for kicks I let out a few cow calls and to my surprise he bugled right back! Can't wait for Sept 14 to get here!

Aug. 29 Archery Deer

Here is some footage a decent buck we glassed up tonight. He wasn't in a very good spot to plan a stalk or Jeremiah would have probably put an arrow through him. :)

 

AZ Archery Deer First Weekend

AZ archery deer hunt has begun! We have seen several bucks the first few days, but haven't been able to find any of the "shooters" we found while scouting. Here are a few clips and picks from bucks we passed on so far...