Junior hunters: Garrett and Kyle bring home harvest and smiles from cow elk hunts

Garrett Herndon continues family tradition with first elk
By Dan Herndon, proud father, Peoria

My son, Garrett Herndon (13), successfully harvested his first elk during this year’s cow season. It started with Garrett attending Alicia Jontz’s hunter education course back in January 2007, followed by a summer of target practice at the Ben Avery Range with my 7mm Mag. The particular gun is special and has been in the family for over 25 years and was used by me to take my first deer and elk. Garrett and I also enjoy reloading together, and we worked up several variations of handloads in anticipation of our elk hunt. We settled on 175-grain Nosler Partition bullets with a velocity of 2850 ft/second and looked forward to harvesting his first elk with a load we made together.

During the first three days of our hunt, we were up each morning by 3:30 a.m. and hiking by 4:30. We consistently saw bulls everyday, with some as close as 10 – 15 yards, but no cows. We even had a black bear, while we were laying under a tree, walk right up to within 20 yards before we had to scare him away. Another afternoon had us joined by a dozen or so turkeys, who shared our same game trail for over 10 minutes.

By Monday afternoon, the winds had died down, and we set up in a blind to watch a favorite clearing until dark. Just before dark, two cows, a calf, and a bull walked out and began to feed. Garrett and my other hunting buddy took aim and prepared to make the 100-yard shots, but had to hold. The calf and the bull were constantly moving both in front and directly behind the two cows. Then the cows switched sides several times, causing Garrett and my buddy to switch and retarget the elk on their side. This went on for 15 minutes like a game of Elk Twister, while we stayed quiet and waited for two perfect shots. The entire time, Garrett was shaking and breathing with anticipation. I sat directly behind him whispering, coaching every step in the back of his ear and doing my best to keep him calm. Then, in a split second, both cows suddenly turned broadside and the bull and calf were clear. We quickly counted to three, and both hunters fired simultaneously. Garrett had successfully taken his first big game animal.

Garrett also learned that the work really begins AFTER you bag your elk. We like to hunt up in a wilderness area within our zone, with our favorite areas typically ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 miles from the truck. The limited foot access makes for a tough, but peaceful and rewarding hunt. We worked long into the night hiking and packing out two elk under the almost full moon. Thanks, AZGFD, for a great time and life long memory for all.

Kyle Stevens’ big year hunting
By James and Joyce Sivley, grandparents, Scottsdale

My wife, Joyce, and I are hunter education instructors and routinely support the Unit Watch for the juniors-only cow elk hunt in Unit 6A. In 2005, our grandson, Kyle Stevens, drew a permit-tag for this hunt and got a shot on opening day, but he failed to connect with his elk. He was not drawn for the 2006 hunt, but 2007 turned out to be his year! First, he drew a permit-tag for the juniors-only spring javelina hunt and harvested a big boar on his third day of hunting.

His success continued when he drew a permit-tag for the 2007 juniors-only cow elk hunt in Unit 6A. This time, he would not be denied and downed a large (335-pound) cow with one shot on the second day of the season. Of course, he was accompanied by his grandparents who witnessed the whole thing. This was Kyle’s first time to harvest a “really big” game animal, and he was ecstatic. Kyle admitted to some “buck fever” tremors on two earlier shot opportunities but said he didn’t have time to get nervous on his successful shot. We were very proud of Kyle for declining shots that were less than optimum. He demonstrated to us that his hunter education instruction had not been forgotten. Kyle did most of the field dressing (first time) and learned just how big a job it is to properly care for an elk and get it back to camp in good shape.

As workers/helpers, we camped at the Mormon Lake Unit Watch campsite headquarters and spent much time visiting with Game and Fish personnel and fellow members of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. These folks are wildlife experts and Kyle gained much valuable information from both the formal presentations and the campfire conversations. There is no better way to instruct and train a young person in outdoor skills, and hunting in particular. Men and women from both these organizations go far out of their way to ensure that each young hunter receives a positive experience from the hunt. Their dedication and hard work certainly impacted Kyle. He wants to apply for the hunt again in 2008 and, at age 15, he should be able to make the junior hunt a few more times.