Unit 10 Big Bull Success and Family Fun

Travis Bedlion's big bull.

Phil's 400 class bull
Travis with Phil's big bull

We sure had a great time in unit 10 for the late bull elk hunt. My whole family and father-in-law was able to be at camp and enjoy Thanksgiving along with Travis Bedlion and his hunter Phil Burch. We deep fried a turkey and had all the trimmings with it- the best Thanksgiving I have ever spent in the woods! The hunt was a great success as well. Phil harvested and absolute monster unit 10 bull on the first morning of the hunt. This bull scores 380 7/8 SCI and has at least 20 inches of broken points. Travis killed another great bull on the second morning. His bull would have been mid 360's but had broken his right antler off after the 4th point. As most late hunts go in unit 10 most of the bulls were really broken up. I was able to harvest a nice bull with my boys and father in law watching the whole thing early opening morning. The look on my 3 year old Levi's face was priceless after the shot. He was all smiles (and really cold!!) After the shot we went back to camp and picked up the rest of my family so all could enjoy the fun of packing one out (haha). This is also about the time my oldest came down with the flew and started throwing up- he was quite a trooper as he hiked all the way back into the bull and helped pack it out. Enjoy the pics. We had 1000 inches of bone in camp within 24hrs!! The regulations are coming out soon for elk and antelope so if you are looking for a great hunt give Bedlion Outfitters (928-606-1788 Jim) (928-220-1282 Travis) or Preston Mercer (928-970-0041)a call.

Here is a pic of nearly 1000 inches of antler from the first 24hrs in unit 10 during the late rifle hunt.

Levi helping cut up the bull.
All the boys!!

One happy little hunter!

Left over cous tag with the boys

My boys and I were able to spend some quality time together down in southern AZ during the first week of November. I bought a left over coues tag for unit 36A and we braved the nasty storm front that moved in on the opener. My boys Coleden (8), Garrett (6) and Levi (4 in December) all enjoyed the time in the sonoran desert. We saw a lot of does (64 in a day and a half) and one buck. I told the boys that I would shoot the first buck we saw and held true to my word with the buck you see here. I am still surprised that we didn't see more bucks with all the does we glassed, but that's public land coues hunting. I sure wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I enjoyed every minute of it and hope there are a lot more hunts to come (except for the 40-50 mph winds).

6B Early Rifle Bull

Brandt killed a great bull on his early rifle bull elk hunt in 6B. On the first morning of the hunt Brandt was able to connect on a great 364 typical 6x6 bull elk. 6B has been on the declince as of the last few years due to a huge increase in tag allocation, yet Brandt, Travis Bedlion and myself were able to harvest a great bull. This bull had 57 and 58 inch beams, was 44 inches inside and had 29 inches of mass per side. A great bull and a very fun hunt!