AZ Youth Hunt question
Elk
It depends, some years they shut up early, other years I have heard bugling as late as Thanksgiving. Who knows why? This last year the Mrs. had a cow tag late Oct. Did not hear one bugle. Had a early bull rifle tag in 2017 that ran from the last day in Sept till Oct 5th and the bulls were still bugling.
If you get the early Oct. hunt there should be some bulls still bugling.
Terry
Make sure to apply him for points. Time flys. My oldest is a senior and has 9 points now. Can’t wait til he has time to cash them in
At what age can I start applying my son in Arizona?
Scott,
I think the chance to hear some bugling bulls is "reasonable" but the rut will not be going like it is in September. I have been on a few of the general hunts for cow that occur a week later than the youth hunts and have heard bugling bulls. Not every night, but definitely some activity. If a cow comes into estrous late or re-cycles because it was not bred on the 1st go round, rut activity could take place. This is spotty activity. Right place at the right time kind of thing. Another thing to take a look at is the odds. I would suspect odds are much better for an archery antlerless permit during the rut in many of the units than the youth general hunts. Those youth hunts can be tough to draw.
Lineman21,
10 is the earliest you can apply a youth for Big Game.
Good Luck guys!
All the youth hunts start on the 11th of Oct. Some last a bit longer than others. Those are likely the areas that are harder to get it done or don't have a general antlerless hunt immediately after. Your son will be at a huge disadvantage using a bow on a hunt where everybody else will be banging away with a rifle. To each his own. Again, I would really look more at the archery only hunts for a better overall experience and possibly even better odds.
Scoot - my 14 year old daughter (at the time) drew a late AZ muzzleloader tag. We had a great hunt and she killed a very nice 6x7 bull but it was not what I would consider elk hunting. We were basically deer hunting as there was no bugling. Now I just put the kids in for early rifle or just points depending on the year so one day we will have a great rut hunt. Don’t get me wrong she had a lot of fun as did I but having bowhunted the rut multiple times it was just not the same. It’s not all about the kill.
Lee
