Last tag of the year for me was filled a couple hours into opening morning. This year we had friends from Montana,Texas,and myself with late rifle bull tags. Everyone showed up early and we did Thanksgiving at our house. Between our guest house,shop,and a wall tent everyone was set for opening day. I'd been watching a real nice main frame 6x6 with 5 nontypical points since mid summer and had eyes on him 2 days before season. With my game plan in mind Friday found us heading up the mountain in the dark. As it got light enough to see I slowed down and started glassing the timber. After picking up a few cows and waiting for them to feed through we spotted 2 of the bulls that have been hanging out with the nontypical. Watched them disappear into thicker timber and move around the ridge. Decided to drop back down a ways around skirt below them and try to catch them crossing a more open area. Moved up a promising cut about 800 yards and heard a few branches break. Got my pack off and settled in. In just a minute a spike fed out at 70 yards and when I was glassing him I spotted elk legs above him. Crawled up to the base of the closest pine and could make out legs and bodies of 3 elk 50 yards above the spike. As they fed I was able to see the nontypical and a nice 6x6 along with a decent 5x5. The nontypical was in such thick brush I couldn't get a shot but he was feeding toward an opening. About 10 yards before he gets there the winds hits me on the back of the neck. The spike jerks his head up and turns to leave and all 3 other bulls throw their heads up and turn to leave. AND this is where I screwed up! Nontypical bull has dark horns 6x6 has light horns and 5x5 has dark horns. Somewhere during the time looking at the spike and back to the bulls the nontypical ended up not being the middle bull of the 3. When the middle bull stepped through a 12" opening I saw dark rack through the pine needles and found his shoulder and let fly. In a split second there was nothing but the wind in the pines and my buddy Eric 5' behind me asking how the shot felt. Felt like I was solid but without hearing a thump I was a bit nervous. Decided to sit tight for 10 minutes and then go see. Working our way up I was looking for blood and also nervously checking the 2 trees for missing bark. Found his tracks in the thin snow and followed for about 30 yards before finding blood. Blood is great at this point but a little confusing. It seems to be going in a very small circle with no trail leaving. I look off the edge and the mystery is solved. He's piled up against a tree about 150 yards down the hill. His last gasp took him over a small bank and onto a steep slope. Quick look through the binos to be sure he's done and I realize I killed the 5x5! For a minute or 2 I was disappointed but remembered just how lucky we were to be hunting elk and thankful for a clean kill and a nice bull on the ground. Not a lot of pics taken because every time we moved him he'd take off rolling or sliding downhill again. After breaking his right side 4th (which we found thanks to Eric's stubborn refusal to leave it!) and damn near my right leg as he rolled we decided to take off his head and drag/slide him to the bottom another couple hundred yards. Quick call to the wife for a ride so we didn't have to go around mountain to get Eric's truck and I was on my way home (house is a mile away and could actually see it from where he stopped rolling the first time)for my side by side and 5 very excited kids. The rest of the recovery was as easy as it gets. The other guys both tagged out in the next 2 days on a nice 320s 6x6 and a 4 point raghorn for the 12 year old hunter in camp. Couldn't have asked for a better way to spend Thanksgiving weekend.

Maybe not the bull you were after, but a fine animal that will fill a freezer! Well done!

Good gosh what an epic year you've had in Arizona!

Congratulations, again...

What a great way to spend a Thanksgiving weekend with friends from out of town.

Fantastic news the 12 year old got it done too.

Just awesome!

Classic case of mistaken identity! Happens to all of us. Glad you could take a deep breath and realize the humor in the situation. Nice bull and excellent eating!

Definitely a case of mistaken identity! Nobody to blame but myself since I squeezed the trigger. Took a minute but we did laugh about it sitting on the mountain. Hard to be upset sitting on a mountain with a nice bull on the ground and a good friend next you. It's been a great year for sure Ty. One of these days we'll bump into each other here in AZ. With my Goulds tag for next spring I'm all set to start again!

Dandy bull, even though not the one you planned on. Can't beat a filled tag no matter what.
Sounds like you've had a fantastic year. Am happy to hear that.

Talked to a couple friends. One's nephew got a 5x6, other guy saw the gut pile the next day. They didn't get a shot, but ,saw around 7000 head on posted pasture. CPW sells tags on the number of game spotted, not what's available to hunt. This was up around Saguache somewhere, I'm not familiar with the area.

'nother friends bunch, only drew 3 buck and a bull tag, no cows on the Trinchera where he owns some land. Filled 'em all, the bull was shot at 425yds or so. Didn't hear how big it was.

From what I've heard this was another light harvest year. Just no snow up high again.

Am happy for you guys,
George

Nice job Lance ! Good thing you climb poles for a living ! Any day elk hunting with friends is better than a day working at the office.

Thanks for posting!

Looks like all that scouting and preparation paid off with a nice bull.

Were your non-resident buddies hunting as well, and if so, how'd they do?

quote:

Originally posted by Southwesthunter:
Hard to be upset sitting on a mountain with a nice bull on the ground and a good friend next you.

And thats what it's all about. Congratulations on a successful hunt and happy eating!

Thanks Tom. Won't be long and you'll have a tag down here. Looked at the hunt recommendations the other day and we'll need to do a little revising of your application game plan for this year. Cody from Montana killed the mid 320s bull and Beau the 12 year old from Texas killed the raghorn. I'm sure we could have gotten a better one for Beau with a little more time. We had a winter storm coming in for the next couple days and they decided to shoot a bull and get on the road home.