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Well It Happened. Drew an AZ Elk Tag.

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
That is awesome. My experience is that it takes five or six days to figure out where the elk are and what they are doing. With 14 hunting days you should be good.

Are you camping or staying at someone's house?

Elk camp on the unit. Per the AZ Game and fish there are elk all over the unit. Something like 25% of the states elk population is in that one unit. With 700 tags they expect a 40-50% success rate.
 

Thunderflight

Dignitary Member
17,770
167
Shermans Dale, PA
40-50% for archery seems pretty high. That said if you all do well then let I may put in for that unit next year..... LOL

Here are few kill zone pictures for ya.

Button bull 2.png
button elk .png
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
40-50% for archery seems pretty high. That said if you all do well then let I may put in for that unit next year..... LOL

Here are few kill zone pictures for ya.

View attachment 82482View attachment 82485

Bad news bud, start applying next year and you should draw it in 2026. 😅. Seriously, Az draw odds are rough for NR. Average early archery bull has a 35% success rate for the unit. This year however they've had some fires in neighboring units that pushed elk in, the population is up, and they had a really wet spring and summer so the stock tanks are full. This will disperse the elk instead of congregating them around water tanks causing a ton of hunters to chase a big ball of elk and drive down success rates.

download.png
 

Thunderflight

Dignitary Member
17,770
167
Shermans Dale, PA
Bad news bud, start applying next year and you should draw it in 2026. 😅. Seriously, Az draw odds are rough for NR. Average early archery bull has a 35% success rate for the unit. This year however they've had some fires in neighboring units that pushed elk in, the population is up, and they had a really wet spring and summer so the stock tanks are full. This will disperse the elk instead of congregating them around water tanks causing a ton of hunters to chase a big ball of elk and drive down success rates.

View attachment 82487



Negative ghost rider. Guess who has seven points for AZ?:p
 
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Thunderflight

Dignitary Member
17,770
167
Shermans Dale, PA
Cool thanks! I'm probably gonna wait another five or six years before I start cashing in preference/bonus points. I plan on retiring from my government job in five years. If I can pull it off I'll be 57 and retired for good. Then I'll start putting in for tags in AZ, UT, and WY for elk and deer hunts. If I draw then I can drive out a week or so early and hunt the entire season. When I'm done I could head over to an OTC state like CO or ID.....
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
You ran a tape out for your 100 yards? Might want to double check your range finder to make sure it's reading the same.

We did. The tape was to keep a straight line and get us close, then use a rangefinder and set plates in the ground to mark off yardages in 10 yard increments. We took a flat piece of 5x6 stock and welded a spike to the bottom. Ran a weld bead on the top to write the yardage number and then painted them orange. Easy to shoot at known yardages without ranging all the time and the mower goes right over them. ;)