Since I was old enough to hunt big game in Arizona, I have been very blessed by the number of big hunts I have been on. I have had two Arizona archery bull elk tags. My first archery bull tag was in 2016 when I was 14 years old. I drew a unit not known for quality and shot the first bull I saw. That bull ended up scoring 367" gross. A lot of people told me I should find something else to hunt because that bull would be hard to top.
The day before my second elk hunt, I headed up to camp, super excited to be out of school and out hunting an animal I had a lot of passion for from the first time I hunted elk. Along with my dad and Jay Pyburn, I made it to camp and set out to scout for the evening. Jay and I headed to the spot where we wanted him to set up and glass for us in the morning. Once we hiked up the hill and looked around, Jay and I both glassed up bulls and were hearing a good number of bugles before dark. I decided I wanted to hunt there opening morning. We got back to camp and were met by my uncle, Kirk Colburn, who also had a tag, and our other close family friends, Dustin and Katy Kuhns. They said they had found a spot that they wanted to try in the morning, so we all had dinner together and went to bed early to try to be as rested as possible for the big day.
Opening morning, we had a bull bugling about 100 yards away from us that we were sneaking in on. We heard a couple cow calls and then all the elk took off running. The rest of the morning was disappointingly quiet. We went back to the same area that evening and found tire tracks where someone drove in to get a bull. We were pretty sure it was the 6x6 bull we were after. That evening, we heard a couple bugles but didn’t end up seeing anything. We drove back to camp that night empty- handed and agreed to try another spot in the morning.
Saturday morning, we heard one bull bugle a couple times but never got to see him, although we did find a couple of elk sheds. We headed back to camp to try and figure out a game plan for the evening because the rut activity was very slow and we had yet to see a bull. We decided we were going to try a new spot because we had nothing to lose. We hiked into the area that evening and went across a meadow that had a lot of rubs and elk sign. We were there a little early, so we decided to wait because it seemed like a good area to hunt. An hour before dark, a couple bulls started bugling. We agreed that we would work our way towards them. As we snuck close, we could hear a bull raking a tree and trampling around. My dad called to the bull and it bugled back, so I had a feeling it was going to come in. A few calls and several minutes later, I saw something walking through the trees very close to me. The bull came out of the trees at 30 yards head on and was looking for the cow that it thought was there. I stood as still as I could while the bull bugled three times in my face at 30 yards. The bull came out too fast for me to be able to draw my bow without being seen. After what felt like an eternity, the bull turned to go back through the opening that it came through, so I drew my bow to be ready for a potential shot.
My dad continued to call to the bull to keep him interested, and he slowly circled his way around the thicket towards another spot where it opened up. I held my bow at full draw for several minutes, waiting for a shot. The bull was headed right for an opening where I would have a clear shot. My dad was set up a few feet behind me. When the bull was perfectly framed in the middle of the opening, he cow called to make it stop, but the bull was fully behind the tree from my angle. My dad told me the bull was at 60 yards, but I didn’t have a clear shot. The bull started walking again, and I was about to lose sight of him behind another tree. The bull stopped for a second, and I took the shot. I hit the bull but knew my shot was a little far back, so we opted to stay quiet and wait until right before dark to go look for any blood. When we finally went to search, we only found a few little droplets of blood. I was shooting a fixed blade broadhead and got good penetration but decided to not push the bull that night.
The next morning at first light, my dad, Jay, and I went to where we found the last signs of blood. We had a great team effort trailing the bull and were able to find him that morning. I was so thankful and felt so blessed to find him. We took care of the meat and packed the bull out.
My bull officially scored 392 3/8" gross and 383 3/8" net. On my first two elk hunts, I shot the first bull I saw. Sometimes it pays to shoot the first bull you see!
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