Its that time again, just sitting around waiting for the results to be posted to see if I got drawn for Elk in Arizona. Got drawn last year and thinned the herd of an extremly stupid spike that stood downwind at 100 yd.s broadside for about 5 minutes. Damn he tasted good , but now if they don't hurry up I'll just chew my fingernails down to the first knuckle.

Best of luck slots. Let us no how ya make out
Joe

Got the bad news today, they posted the results and I didn't get drawn for elk this year :(, then I broke my toe kicking my stump and spilled my beer!!!!

Oh well I still got a chance at deer and still got some Elk in the freezer.
Hmmm, think I'll make up some chorizo.

Sorry to hear you missed out on the elk Slots...damn bad luck mate. If its any consolation, we don't even have elk here in Australia, so I don't even get a chance mate.

Good luck with the deer draw.

Now for the important issue. Spilled your beer !!!!

First thing, give yourself a BIG bag full of uppercuts. Once you have settled down from that, spend the next hour reaching out and grasping an EMPTY beer can/bottle, raise it to mouth height then lower carefully, placing it back on the table. Once you have completed as many repetitions as you can in the hour, you are then cleared to practice with a full beer for 25 minutes. On completion of that practice you may commence to drink the beer.

Note: You are exempt from the first part of the practice if on spilling your beer you immediately became distraught and dived down and slurped it up the beer where it spilled.

Don't let it happen again Slots...that is bad karma mate.

Cheers, Vince

Don't feel to bad slots, I didn't draw a tag for AZ again either. Maybe next year will be better.

Better luck with the deer
Joe

Been averaging every two years and got one last year so i ain't to unhappy, so now to get started on that chirizo

Hey everyone, quite a while since I've posted here, but hopefully some of you can help me. I just moved to AZ a few months ago with the AF, but naturally missed the draw opportunity. Can anyone tell me what my OTC options are for ANY kind of hunting at this point? AZ GFD website is just hard to get real answers on, so I was hoping some of you might have some ideas. I read about OTC elk, but as mentioned they're for areas with very little elk population (and unfortunately I don't have the time to spend a couple weeks out there...as much as I'd like to). Any help at this point would be greatly appreciated...I'd love to get out and do some hunting this year!

brabus wrote:

Hey everyone, quite a while since I've posted here, but hopefully some of you can help me. I just moved to AZ a few months ago with the AF, but naturally missed the draw opportunity. Can anyone tell me what my OTC options are for ANY kind of hunting at this point? AZ GFD website is just hard to get real answers on, so I was hoping some of you might have some ideas. I read about OTC elk, but as mentioned they're for areas with very little elk population (and unfortunately I don't have the time to spend a couple weeks out there...as much as I'd like to). Any help at this point would be greatly appreciated...I'd love to get out and do some hunting this year!

The draws are in for deer already, they have,nt anounced yet, There is alot of left over tags for muley and white tail (couse deer) very small. If you keep on top of the anouncement date you can find out where the left over tags are. Usually quite alot actually, Theirs some very large desert muleys where I hunt, the draw rate is very high but not alot of people put in for these areas. There was over 80 tags left over for these areas last year. Muleys are in the 190 to 220 plus range. You can e-mail me for the units as I would like to keep it a little bit of a secret. Since you are in the AF I will share this with you.robsf49ers@wildblue.net

robfromaz1977 wrote:

Don't feel to bad slots, I didn't draw a tag for AZ again either. Maybe next year will be better.

Arizona elk populations keep increasing, but, the amount of applications for the draw increase more and the odds of drawing go down. So, you get bonus points (like having an extra application in the draw for every bonus point) for future draws. I know of some that haven't been drawn for eight to ten years. With the expanding range of elk, new areas are becoming good first choices, rather than the standard ones. Talking with game managers that actually are in the field, as opposed to the office workers, can give valuable information as to developing areas.

I returned home late last night from tagging along with a White Mountain Apache G&F counter. We were mainly cataloging elk herds in proximity to Reservation Lake in the 8,000 to 9,500 foot elevation. We had some heavy rains and very muddy roads, but, he had a Ford F250 FWD that chugged along fairly well and managed to pull out a few diesel powered rigs that were far too front end heavy and bogged down.

In two days of glassing and cataloging herds, we counted over 350 elk. The numbers were consistent with last year for this area, higher in one or two areas. The health of these animals was amazing. The rains have given knee high grass in many of the open Alpine valleys and meadows. Fat cows, fat bulls.

The rez gets premium dollars for bull elk hunts, one of many forms of revenge against the non-indians. We spotted several bulls in the 450 class and one that may have pushed the 480 range. Tags, by draw, cost thousands of dollars and are oversubscribed. Oh, and there is a mandatory guide fee in some areas on top of that.

But, if any think Arizona to be desert and baren, I suggest driving to Reservation Lake on the rez. A short drive toward Drift Fence Lake will give an overview of a large meadow, about a half mile square. Be there around late afternoon, binos in hand, and you will count anywhere from 50 to 100 elk. While that isn't too uncommon for some places out west, it is amazing for Arizona to see that degree of concentration.

I guess hunting in most forms in Arizona and contiguous states has been relegated many to sport, being uneconomical to hunt solely for the meat.
A White Mountain prime elk would cost about $350 a lb, once processed! But, the price of statewide deer tags is increasing as well. In our state, those wishing cheap food courtesy of Mother Nature may resort to poaching. Arizona may follow suit and give out some selective Subsistance Tags in the future, but, for now, bring your wallet. Or plastic.

Very intresting post HL. Good info and good read.

Closest to me to take an Elk is on private ranchland....and it starts at $20,000.

www.hunttejon.com/hunt...rices.html

For my money, I'd rather go down to Cary's and do in some oinkers and a few beers.

I've heard several times that for the cost of an elk hunt you could go to Africa and hunt seven species of plains game. I've never figured it all out myself but, if true, I'd be headed to Africa! (Assuming of course that I could even afford to think about it!)

stovepipe wrote:

For my money, I'd rather go down to Cary's and do in some oinkers and a few beers.

If you do, you may be driving I-10 over to San Antonio and, of course, you will come through Phoenix. Phoenix! That's where I live. OK OK, I'll share the gas. Maybe we can pick up more forum members along the way, like in Tucson, S New Mexico, El Paso and my favorite town with a nice jail, Kent, Texas.

Hey, Cary, how many bedrooms do you have? Does Texas have any really good local beer? Will a 416 Rigby kill a hog?

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

I've heard several times that for the cost of an elk hunt you could go to Africa and hunt seven species of plains game. I've never figured it all out myself but, if true, I'd be headed to Africa! (Assuming of course that I could even afford to think about it!)

Idaho is a great place for out of state elk hunters. Tags are available over the counter at the first of the year, first come, first served, limited quantity. Once a tag is secured, you can apply for some of the special area hunts by drawing. License fees are reasonable. But, IMO, someone new to the state will benefit from either a guided hunt or a drop camp.

Cost can be minimized by organizing a group of friends, say three or four. When I guided, we would take drop camp hunters into some prime country. Bring your own food, bedroll, etc. In eight years of guiding, everyone had an opportunity to bring elk meat home.

The state maintains a list of licensed guide services.

Several friends have gone to Africa and to a person they believe it is an experience of a lifetime. Costs vary greatly from economy safaris to those that are completely catered. The attraction is the number of species available. Costs can be offset if you contact some high end interior decorators and find out what they will pay for various tanned hides. Zebra tends to be highly sought after and can actually pay for a huge chuck of the costs.

Some of these hunting opportunities offer memorable experiences that will last a lifetime and are well worth the effort and cost. The value cannot be calculated until experienced. In the years of guiding, I've had many client/hunters come back year after year and some had rather modest incomes. But, once they experienced the Idaho backcountry, for many it became a life changing experience.

Handloader wrote:

stovepipe wrote: For my money, I'd rather go down to Cary's and do in some oinkers and a few beers. If you do, you may be driving I-10 over to San Antonio and, of course, you will come through Phoenix. Phoenix! That's where I live. OK OK, I'll share the gas. Maybe we can pick up more forum members along the way, like in Tucson, S New Mexico, El Paso and my favorite town with a nice jail, Kent, Texas. Hey, Cary, how many bedrooms do you have? Does Texas have any really good local beer? Will a 416 Rigby kill a hog?

Heck yeah I'll pick ya up....

.416 Rigby?

I knew I liked this guy.