Franklin Bull

Behind the Recreation
“Franklin Bull”
World Record Archery Bull Elk

One of the greatest challenges in hunting Arizona’s monster bulls is to draw a tag. Nick Franklin did just that in 2003. He actually drew his second choice hunt. Nick’s brother Charlie had also drawn a tag in the same unit and the two of them began scouting and gathering information from friends and co-workers. This tactic really paid off in the long run. No big bulls were found before the season started, but Nick could tell that the antler growth was looking very good and that it was going to be a great year to have a tag.

At the beginning of the season, Nick was seeing bulls every day but passing on them as he was looking for something bigger and was willing to use the whole season to find a large bull if necessary. About a week into the hunt, Nick’s buddy, Travis Mast, was supposed to come help out, but got delayed a few days due to work. Nick decided that since he would be hunting alone until Travis arrived, he would try out another area. Nick and Charlie had heard of a really big bull being missed in this alternate area several years earlier. Nick ran into another hunter and asked him if he had seen a big bull that was known to be in this area. The hunter claimed he hadn’t seen anything, but the look in his eye had Nick thinking otherwise. This was the area he was going to focus on. That night, Travis showed up around 3:30 a.m. after driving all night to get there. With the alarm set for 4:00 a.m., there wasn’t much time for rest as Travis didn’t want to miss a moment. As they drove out to the area, Nick related to Travis the conversation he had had with the other hunter. He knew there was a big bull in that area, they just had to find him.

Hearing a faint bugle about an hour before daylight, Nick and Travis decided to move up the ridge towards a watering hole and wait. They heard a bugle way off in the distance and the chase was on. They knew they had to get closer and cut the herd off before the elk started to feed away. Stopping just in time to let two satellite bulls walk by, they noticed very fresh sign on the ground and knew they were very close. Passing through some more satellite bulls and closing in on some cows, they heard a big smash as two bulls began crashing and fighting. Travis whispered, “Oh my gosh, he’s huge! I’m counting ten or twelve points!” Just then, another bull bugled behind them and caused the big bull to move into a perfect position as he moved towards them and started raking a tree. With the big bull distracted, Nick used this opportunity to close the gap. Before he knew it, he was within bow range. Everything worked out perfectly as the bull put his head down and Nick drew and released a perfect shot. Time froze, everything stood still, and the next thing Nick knew, he was standing next to the largest elk ever taken by a bowhunter.

Nick’s amazing non-typical archery elk was panel-scored in 2004 and declared the new Pope & Young world record with an official score of 442 0/8 P&Y. Nick’s bull was also invited to the Boone & Crockett panel score and was accepted with a score of 444 4/8 B&C and is tied for #6 all-time.

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