ltdann
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Since Chuck always claims I blame him for everything that goes wrong, here is my disclaimer. Being of sound mind and really tired body, I fully lay responibility for my shortcomings on Chuck! LOL Now that we've got the obligatory BS out of the way, this is what really happened.....
We were hunting 6A in Arizona, between Payson and Winslow, in the Coconino National Forest. We'd had plenty of trail cam pics and some awesome video since April and they continued up until 3 days before opening day of a seven day season. Then they dried up. Nada.
We hunted the cameras hard and didn't see squat, not even a cow. After a few days of sub freezing mornings, we went to plan B and changed locations. We put this place on the second options list only because it's a morning hunt only, never saw any activity in the evenings.
True to form, we had 20 cows pass withing 40yds of us the first morning at site B. We began to focus on this spot in the morning and Site A in the evenings. I think this was day 3 of the hunt.
Desperation had set in and by this time was I just hoping to fill the freezer, so anything with horns was good.
Tuesday morning, it was 22 degrees and everthing was frozen hard. We slept in a little and arrived with enough light to see the dirt road. We parked and walked the 3/4 mile to our spot, it getting lighter with every step.
There was this blow down across the valley and I saw movement on the slope. Bulls!
We saw two bulls, both bruisers. Neither was a wimp but the bigger was noteworthy.
The antlers were at LEAST a foot or more on either side of the head and swept back to almost the tail. Easily, a 300 class bull. I could see his horns with the naked eye at 475 yds. Chuck with his 12x50's said at least a 6x6
We were standing in the middle of a dirt road when we spotted them on the opposite slope of the valley. They were feeding in our general direction, heading to the bottom of the valley. We waited till they were out of sight and moved about 10 yds to a fallen log and set up.
The ground was frozen and I think they heard us because they didn't pop out where we thought and they crested the slope at trot. We spotted the smaller bull (relative term-neither was a bum) first and he was in the tree line before I could the get the barrel around.
The second soon followed and PAUSED, broad side. I was in bad position, but managed to get the cross hairs on him. He took up a quarter of the scope at 9x so I estimated he was at about 200 yds. I had about a three second shot window so I went for the high shoulder and made the shot.
Chuck immediately said, "what the hell are you shooting at?" He'd not seen the second bull, crest. I told him and he thought it was closer to 300. Still, at 300, I might have connected lower on the body.
We found his tracks (no blood) and ranged the distance at 418. Total miss.
HE TOOK UP A QUARTER OF THE SCOPE AT 418! I grossly under estimated the SHEER SIZE of this beast and I was unprepared for a 400 yd shot. My personal limit is 250.
We never saw another bull even though we continued to hunt the area for two more days.
Thursday dawned clear and bright with the temp around 37 and we were on stand at 0630. By 0700 I noticed a single cloud in the distance and the temp starting to drop. By 0730, the clouds had moved in a solid line and I began to notice the odd snowflake or two.
By 0900 the snow was blowing horizontally and thickly and we decided it best to bail out and get off the Rim. By the time we made it back to camp, there was an inch on the ground. By 1130 when we made to the asphalt, there were 3 inches, with another 4-12 inches predicted. We were stuck on highway 87 for 2 hours waiting while accidents were cleared and the snow plows could get up there.
We saw at least 6 accidents, fifth wheels, trailers and RV's slide off the road or jack knifed. In one case, 2 RV's had slide together and crushed a compact against a rock face. Another case, the guy hauling a trailer had jack knifed and pushed his 4x4's front tires to the edge of a cliff.
In the interest of disclosure, Chuck set up a magnificent camp and we were extremely comfortable, what little time we spent in it. I appreciate all his hard work in the pre-season scouting and hope to return the favor should he draw here.
Az Jim gave us good advice and we hunted one of his spots, but too late I fear.
Things I learned:
1) 6A is serious country. You better have a serious recovery plan before you go. Your not packing out a 700 animal. You can't take the trucks off road, but can use quads. 1000 feet of rope isn't out of the question. Some of the guys took 2 days to recover elk. And that was with trailers and quads.
2) Bring help, you'll need it. Not a place to hunt alone, as much as I like that.
3) if you come from sea level, like I did, show up a 2 days early to get used to the 7500 altitude. I came up two days early and it helped.
4) Be prepared for the worst nature can throw at you. Bring more cold weather stuff than you think you'll ever need. I'm talking serious cold weather gear. Last year, opening morning was -4 and the high was 8 degrees.
5) get a NOAA radio, check it often. We knew the storm was coming but it was MUCH worse than predicted. Two years ago during this hunt, hunters had to be rescued via snowmobile, abandoning their gear till spring.
6) Prepare your truck. 10 ply tires, chains, appropriate antifreeze. Long handle shovel, axe, saw, come along or winch. No cell reception in much of the area and even if you can call, a tow truck may or may not be able to get to you and if they do, it'll COST. Some basic spare parts not out of the question.
7) practice long range shooting, you may have too.
In conclusion, it was quite the adventure and I can't wait to try again. Because you see, I have a plan, for next time.....
We were hunting 6A in Arizona, between Payson and Winslow, in the Coconino National Forest. We'd had plenty of trail cam pics and some awesome video since April and they continued up until 3 days before opening day of a seven day season. Then they dried up. Nada.
We hunted the cameras hard and didn't see squat, not even a cow. After a few days of sub freezing mornings, we went to plan B and changed locations. We put this place on the second options list only because it's a morning hunt only, never saw any activity in the evenings.
True to form, we had 20 cows pass withing 40yds of us the first morning at site B. We began to focus on this spot in the morning and Site A in the evenings. I think this was day 3 of the hunt.
Desperation had set in and by this time was I just hoping to fill the freezer, so anything with horns was good.
Tuesday morning, it was 22 degrees and everthing was frozen hard. We slept in a little and arrived with enough light to see the dirt road. We parked and walked the 3/4 mile to our spot, it getting lighter with every step.
There was this blow down across the valley and I saw movement on the slope. Bulls!
We saw two bulls, both bruisers. Neither was a wimp but the bigger was noteworthy.
The antlers were at LEAST a foot or more on either side of the head and swept back to almost the tail. Easily, a 300 class bull. I could see his horns with the naked eye at 475 yds. Chuck with his 12x50's said at least a 6x6
We were standing in the middle of a dirt road when we spotted them on the opposite slope of the valley. They were feeding in our general direction, heading to the bottom of the valley. We waited till they were out of sight and moved about 10 yds to a fallen log and set up.
The ground was frozen and I think they heard us because they didn't pop out where we thought and they crested the slope at trot. We spotted the smaller bull (relative term-neither was a bum) first and he was in the tree line before I could the get the barrel around.
The second soon followed and PAUSED, broad side. I was in bad position, but managed to get the cross hairs on him. He took up a quarter of the scope at 9x so I estimated he was at about 200 yds. I had about a three second shot window so I went for the high shoulder and made the shot.
Chuck immediately said, "what the hell are you shooting at?" He'd not seen the second bull, crest. I told him and he thought it was closer to 300. Still, at 300, I might have connected lower on the body.
We found his tracks (no blood) and ranged the distance at 418. Total miss.
HE TOOK UP A QUARTER OF THE SCOPE AT 418! I grossly under estimated the SHEER SIZE of this beast and I was unprepared for a 400 yd shot. My personal limit is 250.
We never saw another bull even though we continued to hunt the area for two more days.
Thursday dawned clear and bright with the temp around 37 and we were on stand at 0630. By 0700 I noticed a single cloud in the distance and the temp starting to drop. By 0730, the clouds had moved in a solid line and I began to notice the odd snowflake or two.
By 0900 the snow was blowing horizontally and thickly and we decided it best to bail out and get off the Rim. By the time we made it back to camp, there was an inch on the ground. By 1130 when we made to the asphalt, there were 3 inches, with another 4-12 inches predicted. We were stuck on highway 87 for 2 hours waiting while accidents were cleared and the snow plows could get up there.
We saw at least 6 accidents, fifth wheels, trailers and RV's slide off the road or jack knifed. In one case, 2 RV's had slide together and crushed a compact against a rock face. Another case, the guy hauling a trailer had jack knifed and pushed his 4x4's front tires to the edge of a cliff.
In the interest of disclosure, Chuck set up a magnificent camp and we were extremely comfortable, what little time we spent in it. I appreciate all his hard work in the pre-season scouting and hope to return the favor should he draw here.
Az Jim gave us good advice and we hunted one of his spots, but too late I fear.
Things I learned:
1) 6A is serious country. You better have a serious recovery plan before you go. Your not packing out a 700 animal. You can't take the trucks off road, but can use quads. 1000 feet of rope isn't out of the question. Some of the guys took 2 days to recover elk. And that was with trailers and quads.
2) Bring help, you'll need it. Not a place to hunt alone, as much as I like that.
3) if you come from sea level, like I did, show up a 2 days early to get used to the 7500 altitude. I came up two days early and it helped.
4) Be prepared for the worst nature can throw at you. Bring more cold weather stuff than you think you'll ever need. I'm talking serious cold weather gear. Last year, opening morning was -4 and the high was 8 degrees.
5) get a NOAA radio, check it often. We knew the storm was coming but it was MUCH worse than predicted. Two years ago during this hunt, hunters had to be rescued via snowmobile, abandoning their gear till spring.
6) Prepare your truck. 10 ply tires, chains, appropriate antifreeze. Long handle shovel, axe, saw, come along or winch. No cell reception in much of the area and even if you can call, a tow truck may or may not be able to get to you and if they do, it'll COST. Some basic spare parts not out of the question.
7) practice long range shooting, you may have too.
In conclusion, it was quite the adventure and I can't wait to try again. Because you see, I have a plan, for next time.....
