This year I was lucky enough to draw a late rifle bull tag in Arizona Unit 10. I was expecting a tough hunt, most likely seeing more hunters than elk. This ended up being an accurate prediction, except for a little bit of luck on opening morning! My coworker and I headed up for our hunt on Thanksgiving afternoon, which didn't leave much time to set up our camp after the four hour drive from Phoenix. The spot we chose for our base camp conveniently had a large ridge behind it, ideal for glassing in the morning.
We woke up to a cold morning on Friday, frost covering everything and a freezing cold tent. Both of us headed up the ridge, roughly about 300 yards apart. I noticed a lot of fresh sign as I climbed the ridge, so I decided to bump around the top a little more before I pulled out the spotting scope. The first thing I encountered ended up being a young teenager, just randomly walking by himself. He had no rifle, so I could only assume his father had sent him up there to push the ridge. I headed the direction that he had came from, attempting to relocate my hunting partner to find a different spot to hunt.
The next thing I noticed was 3 brownish tan flashes heading through the junipers in front of me. Elk cows I thought, maybe they have a bull with them. I headed parallel to them, across the ridge to the other side. Luckily, the elk turned up the ridge towards me and passed through a small opening in the junipers about 100 yards away. I raised the rifle and counted one cow... two cows ... three cows .... ANTLERS .... crosshairs on vitals BANG! The bull jumped and kicked so I knew I hit him well. He piled up after making it about 20 yards. It was a quick death for sure.
The rifle I was using was my Nosler M48 TGR in 35 Whelen. This is by far my favorite rifle, such that I have given it the nickname "The Colonel". This was the first of many kills I hope to have with it. I was really impressed with its performance on this elk with a 250 grain Partition. The bullet entered the ribcage, clipped the stomach, bisected the lower half of the heart, broke some more ribs on the way out, broke the shoulder into pieces, and kept on going. I didn't find any pieces of that bullet.
My hunt only lasted 30 minutes but it was a fun 30 minutes. Unfortunately my coworker did not have the same luck. We hunted hard for five days more and saw plenty of hunters, mule deer, and javelina, but not a single elk. I also had the opportunity to break in my Canam Commander, which is an almost perfect hunting vehicle. All in all, it was a trip to remember!
Wayne
