Saddle Mountain Guides and Outfitters >> Elk
 

Arizona is without a doubt the leading western state for trophy class Elk. Both the # 1 typical and non-typical Boone & Crockett world records come from Arizona and in 2003 the new Pope & Young non-typical world record was taken. Each year there are numerous bulls harvested that score over the “magic 400” mark. Herd populations are at an all time high and water and habitat conditions are in the best shape in over a decade. As a result, the expected antler growth will be exceptional this year and the opportunity to harvest a real trophy class or record book bull will never be better.

The majority of these big bulls are taken during the rut in the Sept. / Oct. timeframe. These tags are considered trophy hunt tags by the state and are very limited in the number available to draw for each year. The drawing success rate is about 1% for rifle / muzzleloader and 4% archery. It is not uncommon to go 10 years or more before drawing one of these coveted tags. If you are fortunate enough to draw one of these tags, please do yourself a favor and enlist the support of a professional guide / outfitter. It will be more than worth it in the long run and will give you the best opportunity to fill your tag with the bull of a lifetime. It might be a decade or so before you draw this tag a second time, give yourself every possible chance for success.

Elk are very habitual animals especially during the breeding season. In many cases the cows will migrate from the summer range and will return to their “home ground” for breeding purposes. This can cover many miles. The bulls will become aggressive and protective of their harems once they locate these ranging herds. Lots of bugling and cow chat occurs while patterning and positioning occurs. Temperatures at this time of year are still warm and this will limit the amount of time that the elk are up moving around each day. Being able to put all of this together with a six or ten day hunting season and harvest a real trophy animal requires a great amount of skill, patience and knowledge.

We have many years of experience and success at hunting these fine trophies. Our guides live in the units where we hunt and spend endless hours scouting before the season begins.  We have hours of video footage with some truly remarkable bulls. Our guides are some of the best callers that you will find in the west and have won many elk calling events around the state. All of our guides are experts at scoring to Boone & Crockett standards. In the past we have been very successful at filling tags in units where there is a limited number of elk and hunter success rates are low. If you are looking for some experienced, hard hunting guys to help you fill your tag, we are the outfitter of choice! We guarantee you it will not be a matter of whether or not we see trophy bulls, but which one you choose to harvest.

 If you need help on deciding which units to apply for in the draw process, please contact us and we will be happy to give you our recommendations and inputs.

 Please take a look at our price lists, as we believe they are the most reasonable in the state. If there is something that better fits your needs, we will do our best to accommodate you.

 Remember our motto….Trophy Bucks & Bulls…YOUR Choice !

 Good Luck & Happy Hunting !!!