It has been an extremely long time since a post.. We had several great deer hunts and some awesome late elk hunts with some great people. We also were able to help Bill Karnes from Texas, who was the lucky recipient of the 2012 super raffle elk tag harvest an amazing bull that we had found. We did not go 100% on our late elk hunts, but we were 100% on opportunity. We were able to watch some huge bulls that are on the hit list next year! With the warm weather and moon, we feel like this years late elk hunts were a huge success. All of the clients had opportunities, and were hunting big bulls. We are excited about next years late hunts as many bulls were located and will be back next year. Special thanks to those who trusted us with their tags, and to the guides that put in days on end to ensure success.
First off we were able to help Melvin on his champ elk tag. What an honor to take these guys who have been around quite some time and still have the will and courage to get out and push themselves. Melvin wanted a bull more than anything, and although his legs could not really function, he was able to harvest this dandy at 83 years young! These champ tags that the AZGFD offers provide those that otherwise couldn't hunt an opportunity to do so. Mel dropped his bull across a canyon at 460 yards! Congrats Mel and thank you for letting us be a part of your adventure.
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| Mel with his big 6x6 |
Next up were the late archery elk hunts. Anyone that has hunted elk in the late season knows that it can be tough, place a bow in your hand and it is even tougher. Dale accidentally put in for the wrong hunt and burned 14 points. He was discouraged that he lost his chance to hunt AZ Bulls. Well, what Dale knew is that he had the heart to do whatever it took to get him a bull. On day two of his hunt, Dale put an arrow in this huge bull as he laid in his bed at 74 yards. The bull didn't make it 50 yards and piled up. This bull scores 350" as is and if he wasn't broken, we figured he would score around 371". Congrats Dale on your awesome late archery bull.
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| Dale with his huge late archery bull |
Mossback AZ Guide Art also had his own late archery tag and had his eyes on some great bulls. With only a couple days to hunt, Art did what Art always does and got it done on this great clean 6x6. Congrats Art on yet another awesome bull.
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| Art with his late archery bull. |
Finally we had the late AZ Elk hunts. Cowen, who is the father of MBAZ Guide Lee had drawn a late season elk tag. With his health not doing so well, plans to hunt certain areas were not an option and Cowen made the best of things and took down this beautiful and unbroken 359" 6x6.
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| Cowen with his awesome late bull |
Rick contacted MBAZ when he drew his late season tag. Rick knew what he was up against, and worked extremely hard and harvested his best bull to date with Drake. This 8x8 is a bull that had been scouted and watched up until the hunt. After many miles of hiking, Rick put this AZ beast down! Congrats Rick on your best bull to date!
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| Rick and Drake with his late season bull. |
Dan also drew a late AZ tag and after several days of hunting, was able to take this clean unbroken 6x7, which is his best bull to date! Congrats Dan, we had a blast hunting with you and your party!
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| Dan with his AZ 6x7. Congrats! |
Bill contacted MBAZ when he found out he had drawn his late tag. At 74 years young, he wanted to come out and see what AZ was all about. Bill hunted hard for several days, and was able to hike into position to shoot this heavy old bull at 420 yards. Congratulations Bill on persevering and getting that big bull you always wanted!
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| Bill with his big bull. |
Lastly, we finished up our elk season with a bull that had been located early on. Bill Karnes, who had drawn the super raffle elk tag, wanted nothing more than a "nice" 6x6 to put above his fireplace. Knowing how special this tag was, we told Bill to wait for a bull that was worthy of this tag. Luck was on his side, as after several months of looking, we had located a clean bull that we thought would work. Bill came out and after several days of hunting he was able to harvest this giant. We have hours and hours of video of this bull, and will post up more pics and video of the bull soon. Congrats Bill on your 407" monster bull!
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| The bull just prior to shot. |
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| Bill with his "dream bull". |
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| Taking it all in. |
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| Jay packing the head out. |
