2001 AZOD

Archery Elk Hunt

  I woke up sicker than a whiskey drunk hung-over dog on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I had just returned from a bear hunt with Bryant “Opie” Ogle, Chris Burkhart of Magnock, Ladonna and Marvin Weatherhead of Sportway Supplies in Williams AZ, Greg Godbehere – Vortex Pro-staff and our very own Rick Williams of Arizona Wilderness Productions. (see Bear!)

  I had planned to drive home the night before but had to spend the night at Opie’s house because that flu bug was really taking its toll on me. When I got up that morning I thought it couldn’t get any worse. I turned on the radio in my truck and I heard the news about the attack. I would like to say to all who gave ALL, we will miss you, and you were not lost in vain.

  Well sicker than sick I headed down I-10.  Lost in thought about what was going on back in New York. I told myself this has got to be some kind nightmare. Nobody attacks the United States. Who ever did this will pay for this act 10 fold. I was also thinking that my elk hunt wouldn’t happen, and I had better get home and get my bags packed for the deployment to where ever they would send me.

   My unit was not part of the initial wave to be activated so instead of packing my bags to go to war I got ready to go on my elk hunt. This of course was not until Wednesday night after I had healed up from that flu-bug thing that tried to kill me. Going over my list and checking it twice I wondered what I was going to forget this hunt. It never fails. I forget something necessary every time I leave for a hunt. Well it turned out that I forgot my game bags and my sharpening stones. 

The first evening of my hunt I went and checked out a big meadow where I usually see and hear the elk. I didn’t get all the way out of my truck when I heard the scream of what sounded like a big bull. No matter how many times I hear that sound, the first one of the year gives me chills all over. The excitement was really starting to set in. I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep that night so I drove down the highway to go and visit Opie at his camp. We had a nice dinner and started the long “B.S.” session that precedes every elk hunt about who was going to get what and how they were going to do it. When you sit around a campfire and listen to those kind stories you begin to wonder who has the longest line of “B.S.”, fishermen or the hunters. I think us hunters are giving you fishing type people beat.

  Day 1 and we didn’t have any problems getting out of bed.  We had everything packed for the opening day and down the road we went. The area that we had scouted contained a ton of sign and had great potential for someone to at least see some nice bulls. We had entered a dog hair pine thicket about ¼ mile away from the meadow where the elk were feeding the night before. The screams of bulls started to echo up through the ridge we were on and the blood started to rush. As we worked our way through the trees the sounds of bulls bugling kept getting farther and farther away. They were not playing by the rules. The morning hunt resulted in me seeing 2 brush head bulls. I had a cow tag. Danny, the guy I was hunting with, had 2 cows and a calf walk in front of him, he had a bull tag. You know I think you can agree with me on this, MOST ELK KNOW WHAT TAG YOU HAVE IN YOUR POCKET.

  That evening Danny and I decided to hunt where we had heard the elk that morning, hoping to catch them coming back to feed. It wasn’t long when the clouds started to move in and the bulls started to scream. I decided to sit a very well used game trail and wait the evening out. I wasn’t there for more than 15 minutes when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. It turned out to be a coyote starting his evening hunt. I watched him for a while and could not resist the urge to call him in. So I quietly lip squeaked a couple of times and he started to come in. As the coyote got closer he started to circle in behind me so he could get the wind in his favor. He stopped at about 20 yards with the wind blowing in his face and looked long and hard for that mouse he heard. Not seeing what he was looking for he turned around and went on about his business. You all are probably wondering why I am telling you this, well I will tell you. Scent-Lok, it works!!!! The suit I was wearing is made with my favorite camouflage, Predator Camouflage. People, I believe that if you can fool a coyotes nose there aren’t too many other animals that are going to smell you either. (I am not sponsored by either of these companies and gain no profit by saying this. These products work!)

  About 20 minutes after the coyote incident I heard a bull bugle not too far in front of me. I cow called on my Satellite Sizzler call by Modern Call Products and got an immediate response. The big, black mud covered bull emerged through the trees and walked past me at about 60 yards with his nose to the ground like an old hound. Again that proves my theory about the elk knowing what tag you are holding in your pocket. The rest of the evening proved to be unsuccessful except for the sounds of screaming bulls off in the in the distance.

  Day two and we had just as much trouble getting out of bed as the day before. On this day we agreed to hunt in an area that Joe Butler said was decent. Joe had also been hunting in this area for antelope and had turned his antelope hunt into an elk-scouting trip. Joe and I left the truck at about 4:00 AM and walked out to a big meadow to try and hear the elk bugle and try to determine what direction they would be going. Things went as planned. I started to cow call and bugle to start building a conversation with the herd. At one point while calling I noticed that one of the bulls had quit moving by the sounds of his bugling. At that time I told Joe to move ahead me about 80 yards and cow call once in a while. I then continued to bugle and started to rake the trees. I paused for a second to look up and see a really nice bull coming down the hillside and he looked hot. At the same time I also saw Joe moving across a small opening and guess what, I wasn’t the only one watching Joe. The bull busted him and in a blink of an eye he disappeared into the trees. We came up with a new game plan and moved on to find another bull.

  After a quick run over a long ridge we got caught up with another herd. I started an argument with the bull and we got him to stop. After getting set up on a point next to a canyon I signaled to Joe to keep going on to the other side. I really had this nasty sounding bull hot. Joe had just reached the crest of the other side when I saw him draw his bow. Watching ahead, I saw the nice 6x6 walk right in front of Joe’s position. I told myself, “Man we are going to have to pack this big boy out a long ways.” I was surprised to watch the bull walk by Joe and join the rest of the herd. It turned out that Joe had the bull at 25 yards and decided to pass on him.

  He said, “he was really weak on his back end. It was only the second day anyways.”

  We moved on to where Joe said he had seen a lot of beds where we sat game trails for the rest of the morning. That didn’t work so we got was a good afternoon siesta. The rest of the day was pretty fruitless. The only thing I saw was a homely little spike.

  Day 3, I told Joe that we should go back to my old stomping grounds and try and catch the herds coming off their feeding area. We hadn’t got out of the truck when we heard the bulls bugling. Off we went running to get ahead of them.  About 300 yards from the screams of the herd bull I told Joe to slow down so that we can get this one pin pointed. With a few calls from my Bull Thriller we had them located and saw where they would be crossing a long narrow opening. After a more few bugles and cow calls I could see movement of an elk coming my way. I continued to cow call and I got an answer from the cow that was coming to me like she was tied to a string. Just as she got to the tree line I drew my Matthews MQ-32 back and waited for her to give me a shot. She came quartering at first then she stopped, turned and came into the opening at a different spot. That was her fatal mistake. When she turned around and stopped she gave me a perfect, and I mean perfect, broadside shot. At 41 yards the crested Carbon Express arrow tipped with a razor sharp 115-grain Muzzy broad head passed through about 8 inches up from the bottom of her chest right behind the front leg and exited on the same spot on the other side. She had traveled about 100 yards when we had found her.

  The rest of the morning consisted of getting my elk field dressed, skinned and quartered.  Joe and I took it to Ladonna and Marvin Weatherhead processing shop in Williams, Sportway Supplies. They provide and a full service big game guide business and meat processing.

  We had agreed to meet at 3:00 to head back in for the evening hunt. I would be doing the calling. We stopped near a stock tank and I let out a couple of bugles in case there were some bulls coming into the water. There was no response so we continued on to an extremely dense pine thicket. As we approached the thicket I noticed some elk moving through the trees. It was a couple of cows and a calf. One of the guy’s with us had a cow tag. We parked the trucks and moved through the trees calling as we went. We got those cows and calf to come back.  But it didn’t last. They stayed out range and moved on.  

  With all the cow calling going on we had gotten a few bulls interested. The bugling for the evening had started. We didn’t have to go 200 yards when we had the herd moving in front of the shooters. I had Danny off to my left and about 75 yards in front of me when he started to make some unknown type hand signals. I just stayed put and kept calling. I watched as Danny and David “Cricket” Ramirez just stood in one spot for a while and then they shook hands. I walked up to them and saw a nice 7x5 bull laying on the ground with one of Danny’s Easton XX78 arrows tipped with one of Muzzy’s new 100-grain four blade broad head buried in the vitals.   I walked up to the Danny and his first archery bull and got a big hug and a handshake.

  Hey Danny, congratulations on your first bull. You got a good one. Come to find out the bull that Danny had killed walked pass Joe at about 30 yards. Joe said he was going to go home empty handed or with at least a 380 bull or better. Way to stick to your guns Joe.

   The sun was setting fast and we had a lot of work to do. I stayed and got the bull field dressed while Danny and Cricket went around and got the truck as close as possible. It was around 5:00 that evening when the bull was on the ground and we didn’t get to bed that night until about midnight. You know it’s a lot of work but I sure enjoy that part of the hunt even if it’s not my animal.

  I had to leave the next morning.  The hunt was all over for me regardless of what the out come was. I had to get back to my family and job and leave this dreamland where the bulls would scream all day. Man I sure love that sound.  It haunts my thoughts and dreams. I guess it’s time to start planning for next years hunt.

Until Next Year,

Good Luck and best wishes,

Louis Urquides

Hunting Editor for AZOD

Modern Call Products Pro Staff

Equipment used:

 Bow: Matthews MQ-32

Arrows: Carbon Express, by Game Tracker

Broad head: 115-grain, 4 blade Muzzy

Cresting by: Rhonda Crabtree of Corner Archery (Thank You Rhonda). (623) 842-DEER

Calls: The Satellite Sizzler and Bull Thriller by Modern Call Products, WWW.MODERNCALLPRODUCTS.COM