Couple of Az. Bull Harvests
Elk
Contributors to this thread:
1 is the Auction tag and the other is the Raffle tag.
Enjoy,
Robb
Don’t forget this raffle tag bull either. I wonder if the dude from Nebraska who won the 2019 super raffle tag last Thursday will be after a velvet bull Aug 15? I’d rather hunt from September 20 or so on my own for a few weeks.
Looks like the moisture is paying off
Great Bulls, Congratulations to the hunters!
Great Googely Moogely!!!!
What Irishman, you wouldn’t put your canon in front of the elk to promote proof or whatever that is? We all know how easy it is to get within range of elk during July. Good on the raffle winner.
Congrats to the shooters! All beautiful bulls!
I love the Brotsky jab!! "Shooters" not hunters!! Still impressive animals!! Shawn
Some monsters, congrats to the hunters.
Not really trying to jab them, it's their tag and their hunt, they can do it how they please, doesn't matter what I think about it. I sincerely thank them for their generous donations to AZ conservation, they killed some magnificent bulls.
Shrewski, most bulls here are about rubbed out around August 10.
I always wonder about the guys who drew the unit those bulls were killed in, had scouted, found the same bulls and were just waiting for opening day to, hopefully, get a crack at him. Then the "special" tag holder and his posse comes along in July and BOOM!
Those are crazy impressive. This "raffle/auction game" has been going on for decades. Not a lot the average Joe can do about it. I would just be excited to know these kind of animals are out there and I might stumble upon one...lol
Got to love the use of the classic hunting rifle.
midwest, I agree with you. I personally don't mind as much that the rich can buy the tag without waiting for years like the rest of us, but I don't like that they can hunt before the regular season begins, and I really don't like that they can hunt 365 days per year. After I'd waited 33 years to draw the tag, the world record desert sheep was taken out of my unit in the year before my season opened. Often, in sheep hunting, that could potentially be the only really big ram in a given unit. So, you've waited your whole life for the tag to just end up with a permit for a unit that no longer has a really nice ram in it. Not only can the auction hunters hunt year round, they can also hunt any unit in the state, so there's no real way to predict which unit they might go into when you're applying for a tag.
I'm guessing part of the reason these auction tags fetch so much money is that they can be used 365 days per year, used before the season opens and in any unit. Probably wouldn't get near as much money if those advantages were not part of the deal.
They didn't use to be year-round tags, in AZ, and they still fetched plenty of money because there are only a few of them available and people could bypass the decades long wait for some of these tags. Even if there would be a slight dip in revenue (I personally don't think that would occur), I think it would be a worthwhile trade-off not to screw over the every day hunter that waited years for those tags. Afterall, those hunters are the core group of people paying most of the costs of managing the wildlife not the comparably tiny percent of income derived from these auction tags.
I wonder if these tags are tax deductible as a charitable donation?
These bulls killed probably didn't rut in the units they were killed in. Guys running cameras have had big bulls disappear, only to reappear in another unit 20 miles away. Most guys, like Randy and them, don't start looking for bulls in a unit till later, when bulls move in to the unit to rut.
Most of the tag holders don't hunt the bulls late in the year when they are all busted up. They choose to wait and hunt them late summer when they are almost done growing until mid rut before they get broke up. I've always been amazed the bulls these guys pass up while searching for one particular bull. And once one particular bull is killed, word gets out quick and it's a mad search for the second or third hit list bull. These outfitters have a lot of guys out looking everywhere for bulls. I'd like to see some of the video they have on these bulls. Truly some great animals. Wished they'd of lived just a few more months to pass their genes on.
Another guy voting against letting guys shoot them with a rifle in July on their summer meadows. Money corrupts.
midwest's Link
I remember the hunt c3 was along on in NV with a friend who had an archery tag. He filmed a huge bull and they were working on getting an archery shot at it when it was shot with a rifle right in front of them by the $100K Heritage tag holder. That would suck.
At my link...
I don't like a lot of things about these hunts, particularly the July rifle hunting and the use of a bunch of guys out finding animals. It certainly takes the hunting part out of the picture. It really is just shooting. The one thing I don't worry about is them not passing their genes along. Bulls as big as those have been breeding for years and the genes don't change when the animals get older.
Any idea what the 2nd bull would score? That thing is unreal.
Pope and Young used to put an asterisk by your name if you used a high percentage let off bow. I wonder what Pope and Young, or Boone and Crocket put by your name if you shoot an animal with one of these tags before the regular season begins? A whole string of asterisks?
Irishman
They put NOTHING by your name
In each case,B&C or POPE & YOUNG these all are legal kills and qualify to to go in the respective books.
Franklin--------->
It has to be north of 400 or they wouldn't have harvested it.
Good luck, Robb
It’s a business, has nothing to do with what hunters think is ethical or fair.
There is a great chance that in this year, 6 bulls over 400 will be killed before the archery season opens up. That’s pretty incredible. While I’m not nuts about the hunt for these great bulls and how it sometimes goes down, I’m willing to get passed that for the thousands of dollars it brings to AZ wildlife management. There’s simply no other way to generate that type of revenue. Also, the three tags per year makes it “reasonable” and not out of hand. Congratulations to the hunters and especially the guides who e spent weeks and months keeping tabs on these bulls. It’s not as easy as some would suggest.
I'm more impressed with pics of 330" archery kills on public land during the regular season than bulls that were shot in July with a rifle. I know the guides worked hard for it, but It feels like it's just a step or two above shooting one in a game ranch over a feeder...
Animals in velvet do nothing for me personally, but congratulations to them.
Most every August I try and get out here in my home state to try and harvest a Bull in Velvet as we have an opener around August 15th and some bulls are still in velvet.....
Granted it is an OTC/Any Bull unit and bow not any Rifle gig!
So far No velvet bull for me--------->
Good luck, Robb
How many 400 inch bulls are running around AZ on any given year? 10? 20? I dont have any real idea, but am sure there aren't that many. Seems like theft to me if AZ sells a handful of them to rich guys before anyone else has a chance. Takes those bulls out of contention for average guys that have been giving the state hundreds of dollars for 20+ years just for the chance at one. There are better ways to make money to help a public resource.
Decades ago it was the "rich guys" that were supporting the wild sheep herds. If it wasn`t for them buying $250,000 auction tags there might not be any sheep to hunt.
These raffles and auction HAVE a purpose and are used by just about every wildlife agency. These $$$$ don`t go into someone`s pocket....they are used for the betterment of the animals and habitat.
Is it only 2 elk tags awarded per year? Each valid for 365 days? So, if the two tags bought/won in 2018 wait until summer 2019 to harvest and the two 2019 tags both harvest in autumn 2019 then 4 elk in 2019 but only because the 2018 did not shoot an elk in 2018. Personally, am okay with two tags per big game species as long as are no less than 10x that in the public draw. Thank goodness AZ is not screwed up like UT that gives away 100s of primo tags for a dang regional trade show. SFW tried to hoodwink AZ a few years ago with saddling up next to key politicians to fast track a bill through to slush fund the money to SFW from a truck load of primo tags. So, two tags is okay by me.
TW, it is as you say. In a "poor antler year" the auction winners save their tags until the following year, so there are often double the amount of people hunting pre-season some years.
Franklin, you can have the "rich guys" buying the tag and contributing to the animals without giving away the farm by allowing them to hunt 365 days. They paid plenty for the tags before they had year round poaching (sorry, I meant to say "hunting") just by getting to skip the years it takes to draw a tag and getting to hunt statewide.
If I was the "lucky" hunter, I'd probably be thinking, "is this all there is?"...after all the back slaps, I'd probably be seriously depressed.
I'm hunting large bulls this year, but in all honesty, I'd almost be as happy hunting cow elk with longbow. It's a pretty darn good hunt.
2 auction tags per year and one super raffle tag per year.
A lot of good comes from the money Game and Fish gets from the proceeds from these few tags from each species.
I will heartily support the “thank God” AZ did not take the bait Utah did.
One of the bulls above harvested in AZ scored 444 4/8 and one of the other ones above was scored at 417 5/8. Sure are some monsters in AZ this year.