Phil4
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2015
- Messages
- 254
Had a great trip to AZ with my old man last week to AZ. We drove from IL and it was the first time hunting elk or the west in general for both of us. We’ve had hypothetical plans to hunt “out west” since I was a little kid and we finally did it. I wanted to go OTC in CO and figure it out on our own. My old man was insistent on lower elevation and guided for our first one so we ended up going outfitted in AZ. Drew the tags our second year which was very lucky. Anyways I’ll shut up and show some pictures but if you are on the fence about heading west or just think you can’t make it happen I’d implore you to do it. It was an amazing trip and awesome to get out there with my Dad!
First day saw a 5x5 and passed...started to regret that a couple days later.
Day 2 got growled at by a mountain lion but unfortunately never saw him (I had a tag).
Walking up on my first elk, taken on my 34th birthday (day 4) I was pumped!
Shot him from the ridge in the background.
495 yards 7mag, 2 shots with Barnes LRX 139 grain. 1st shot through the lungs, second one (unnecessary but always heard keep shooting til they’re down) through the liver and put him back in his bed he stood up from. Both pass through with liver hanging out of the second exit wound. Exit holes looked like the bullets performed as advertised.
Pressure was off now with some meat coming home, stopped regretting the earlier pass, time to get the old man tagged out! Rode mules in about 4 miles to get that bull. I’m not a good mule rider....
The spot my dad shot from.
Second to last night a big bull came in right before dark to a small clearing and my old man got it done with the 30.06 with 180 grain accubonds. Required some blood trailing in the morning but had a great outcome!
He’s missing half his left antler, but he’ll fit better in the house that way! He was a beast not sure on what he’d have scored with both but an impressive old animal for sure.
Outfitter was Diamond and they were a great group of guys. If I could change anything it would be to bring less stuff! For example I had 4 pairs of hunting pants and wore 1.
An unbelievable trip overall. Hiked our asses off (I lost 7 lbs in 7 days) and hunted daybreak to dusk for 6 days. We found my dads bull the morning after he shot it so he tagged him on the last day of the season. 2 bulls coming home and about 20 hours of butchering later the freezers are full.
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First day saw a 5x5 and passed...started to regret that a couple days later.
Day 2 got growled at by a mountain lion but unfortunately never saw him (I had a tag).
Walking up on my first elk, taken on my 34th birthday (day 4) I was pumped!
Shot him from the ridge in the background.
495 yards 7mag, 2 shots with Barnes LRX 139 grain. 1st shot through the lungs, second one (unnecessary but always heard keep shooting til they’re down) through the liver and put him back in his bed he stood up from. Both pass through with liver hanging out of the second exit wound. Exit holes looked like the bullets performed as advertised.
Pressure was off now with some meat coming home, stopped regretting the earlier pass, time to get the old man tagged out! Rode mules in about 4 miles to get that bull. I’m not a good mule rider....
The spot my dad shot from.
Second to last night a big bull came in right before dark to a small clearing and my old man got it done with the 30.06 with 180 grain accubonds. Required some blood trailing in the morning but had a great outcome!
He’s missing half his left antler, but he’ll fit better in the house that way! He was a beast not sure on what he’d have scored with both but an impressive old animal for sure.
Outfitter was Diamond and they were a great group of guys. If I could change anything it would be to bring less stuff! For example I had 4 pairs of hunting pants and wore 1.
An unbelievable trip overall. Hiked our asses off (I lost 7 lbs in 7 days) and hunted daybreak to dusk for 6 days. We found my dads bull the morning after he shot it so he tagged him on the last day of the season. 2 bulls coming home and about 20 hours of butchering later the freezers are full.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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