Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Unit 10 Az early rifle tactics

Yeah, okay.... surely I'm not the only one that thinks this is ironic, but I digress.

270, I'm sorry you got hit in my shrapnel lol. Congrats on your archery tag. I'm a non res so I have been waiting a long time for this tag and just trying to make it the best hunt I can. I'm not into being guided, I think the search is the best part of the hunt. I'm looking into as many sources of information as I can to develop a game plan. I'm only about 6 hours away from the unit so I will be able to get some scouting done before the hunt. I'm actually thinking of asking Pajama to come be camp cook!

No worries man, I better quit being mean to him . Obviously you know it, but that tag you drew is a world class tag. With only a handful of tags instead of the usual hundreds during the late rifle hunt, your competition shouldn't be bad. Like Peeshooter advised, it's a unit with lots of roads, it might be hard to get away from them without a conscious effort. I'm with Peeshooter in that it's obnoxious to put scout an area, just to find lot's of people there. Finding several areas to keep in your back pocket should help alleviate that frustration. There should be plenty of elk,and great potential for world class bulls. I'd be careful not to settle for a mediocre bull if I waited long for the tag like you have. Be sure to research the Boquillas ranch. If I understand right, it covers nearly half the unit. I believe there's a fee to hunt it, but I'm sure it's worth every penny. You might contact a few of the game and fish officers assigned to the unit. Hopefully they'd be willing to point you in some good directions for access to areas to scout.

^ Ignore the chick with the dick.

depends on where you are going in 10, that is a big unit. Keep in mind that a good part of the unit is on the boquilla's ranch, which requires a permit. Also keep in mind that weather changes everything, the mud in wet weather is to be seen. Those areas towards the east of the unit seem to me to be more and more restricted.
There are some world class bulls living in the unit. I have not hunted the north of it but have been on the boquilla's and i am trying to think around round mountain, if i remember right. Keep in mind forest service restrictions on what roads one can use today, some are restricted. You really need to locate the elk. That is a LOT of area, and you ain't gonna walk it all. Best idea is first to locate where the elk are at in the unit. Strangely enough, i have shot a couple of elk within about 15minutes of williams, but they were not trophy elk. Recovery is an issue. I was hunting in 8, an adjoining unit a few years ago, during a blizzard. Couple of yahoo's walked about 3miles off a road and popped an elk. They didn't get it out in an hour or two. keep in mind the private property no hunting restrictions more so on the east end, and on the boquilla's they have definite restrictions on entry plus having to pay the dinero.

Here is more info on Boquilla's:

http://huntbigboranch.com/

Thanks for the info guys. The Big Bo is definitely in my plans. The weather is a real concern. I have heard from others as well that it gets sloppy and then your huge hunting unit becomes small real quick. I've got a few areas on the Bo I'm going to check out already. Hoping to find a good location for camping while I'm there that has at least some good areas close to it.

I had that tag 2 years ago and didn't kill one. Passed several "350" class and finally missed a bull I thought was 370 the last day. Hunted the boquillas most of the time. Hard to get away from other hunters when lots of the elk go out in the flats at night to breeding places. 2 partners killed Bulls that we ambushed on their way to water and breeding sites in late afternoon. Both east and west of Keeseha are good starting points

I have hunted 10 when I lived down there for a while. Lots of roads. The way it is set up now, I would hunt the boquillas. It is a minimal fee, and 4 wheelers are prohibited, as are horses from outside the ranch. They had problems with sickness being brought in and infecting their horses, or so the story goes. So I'd try to formulate a plan for retrieval. You might check with the ranch to see if they have any suggestions.

You have better resolve than me lol. I put "350" as the goal to shoot for so if I see one close to that I think my tag will be punched!