Wrongway and Ocho

New #5 Typical Archery Elk from Arizona 2007
400 4/8 net P&Y
by Jim Mullins

As our hunting party sat in the shade of a small bush, we gazed through the small openings to our trophy a thousand yards further. This was indeed a trophy beyond comparison; we knew we were hunting one of the rarest bull elk in the world - a straight 6×6 bull that would net score over 400 inches.

This hunt started like many others - somebody gets very lucky, draws an incredible tag and, if I’m lucky, they call me wanting help! That’s what happened when Don Roach from Tucson, AZ learned of his fortune the day the results came out. Don contacted us, checked out our referrals and gave us the green light. My brother Matt was excited to know that we would be hunting his favorite unit and we started scouting immediately. To further prove our dedication to our job, Matt and I would send photos of the bulls we scouted to our clients on a regular basis. We had found an amazing amount of huge bulls and quickly noticed that this was going to be a great year for antler growth. Our team on Don’s hunt consisted of Jeff Wright, Jason Scott, Craig Cormier, my dad Jim Sr., my brother Matt and, without a doubt the funniest and best cook in the world, Zeke!

After extensive scouting, we narrowed our search down to our #1 spot - and with good reason! There were several bulls close to or over that magical 400-inch mark in this area. This is an area that we’ve hunted for many years but, with the type of terrain, most people overlook it and stay away. We had several of these bulls all to ourselves and the excitement for the hunt was building. Several days before the hunt started, Matt put me on a ridge glassing for a huge 380-inch 6×6 that we hoped to reserve as a backup. While I was glassing, I heard a bugle coming in from the flats. I spun around to get the video camera set up when I saw a bull appear. At first I thought he was one of the many 360-class bulls heading up to bed but, as he passed by me at less than 100 yards, I saw that he had extra points on top of a 360-class frame. I never saw the big 6×6 that I was supposed to be glassing, but I didn’t care - this new bull was huge! Matt and I watched the video later and came up with a score of around 415-inches. This bull was a perfect, typical 8×8 except for a broken tine on his right side. Don Roach later named this bull “Ocho Grande” and he became our #1 bull for opening day.

Jeff and I would be hunting with Don Roach, while Matt and Jason headed out with another client. They would be hunting a bull that Matt has a long history with – the rest of the bulls were ours to pursue. Dad and Craig would keep tabs on our plan B and C bulls while we hunted our plan A bulls. We usually hunt the archery hunts in teams of three. This allows one guy to run the video camera while the hunter and the other guide stay back to do the calling.

When opening day arrived, Jeff, Don and I dropped off a rim to intercept Ocho as he made his way up to bed. The wind was wrong, but we hoped we could drop off fast enough to get our wind past the bull as he angled up the ridge. Running down, we soon realized that our plan wasn’t going to work. Ocho knew something wasn’t right and he moved up around us and headed over.

We had located Ocho every day after my first encounter with him, and he was always alone, never bugled much and, when he did, it was barely audible. He acted like an old bull and he had a favorite bedding area, so we felt confident that we would find him again and backed out. Back at camp, we decided to go after a bull that Matt had named “Wrongway” because his beams turned up the wrong way. Don had the opportunity to see Wrongway before the hunt with Matt and we all knew he would be pushing the 400-inch mark or better. However, Wrongway lived in open country and always had a herd of cows with him. Dad had been watching Wrongway and put him to bed that morning, so we all headed out to watch him. We climbed our hill and, as we sat in the shade of a small bush, we all gazed through the small openings to our trophy a thousand yards further. This was the hardest bull to hunt out of all our prospects, but he was definitely worth a try! Our plan was to watch him all day and see what direction he headed in the evening. Just before dark, the herd got up and headed our way. We were sitting in a saddle with very few trees and I anticipated that Wrongway would head through the saddle. Jeff set up behind us to hopefully coax the bull if he held up out of range, while Don and I set up under the only available tree that kept our wind right. The herd was heading right for us and I had the camera rolling. As the herd came closer and closer, I was sure we were going to get a shot when, all of a sudden, they turned hard right and went up and around us just out of range. It was an awesome sight as Wrongway skylined with the sunset behind him - he is a gorgeous bull!

Don, Jeff and I backed out and, even though the plan didn’t work, we felt good about what we had learned. Wrongway had moved through that saddle before and we now had a decent pattern to him. We decided to let him do his thing the next morning and wait to hunt him until that next evening. In the meantime, we decided to hunt a different 390-inch type bull in an area close to Wrongway. But, now that we had seen Wrongway, we really wanted to get our hands on him.

The next morning, we did get close to the 390-inch bull after an awesome long belly crawl by Don. The bull’s cows busted when he only needed 30 more yards to the bedded bull. The video was awesome and the stalk nerve racking, but now we had our sights back on Wrongway and we were eagerly waiting for evening. Craig and two other buddies of ours, David and his wife Jenny, showed up to see Wrongway and hopefully get to watch our hunt from a distance. Our problem today was that Wrongway had picked up more girlfriends and now had a total of nineteen! That’s a lot of eyes out in this open country, but we knew where he would go and hoped for the best.

Evening came and we set up with Jeff up high with the camera, while Don and I picked a different tree on the side of the saddle that the elk went up the previous night. The problem with this location was that if the herd decided to take the saddle, they would be downwind. But, with the angle of the wind, we would hopefully get a shot at the trailing bull before the lead cow spooked. Everything was set, and I could hear Wrongway bugling as he pushed his cows our way. The herd angled up like before, but Wrongway ran up and pushed the cows back down and headed for the saddle! Using a rangefinder, I whispered the yardage to Don as they all passed by out of range. The bull stayed on the opposite side of the cows which put him at over 100 yards but, we had cows at less than 20 yards at the same time! Soon, the lead cow got some wind, spun and took the rest of the herd with her. I frantically did a “lost calf” call on my reed, hoping to at least make the cows question what was happening. Surprisingly, one cow stayed close and the lead cow came back. She was mewing nonstop looking for me, but I had stopped as soon as I knew she was coming back. I could then see the ears of all the other cows coming back into the saddle, and then antler tips! Wrongway was following the cows in and soon, with one cow at less than 20 yards, I could see that we might get a shot. Don drew his bow very slowly and, without any other movement than his drawing arm, he held steady. The cows were all staring at us as Wrongway walked into a shooting lane through all the cows and stopped. I had been whispering the yardage as he came - 100, 90, 80, 70 - Don then asked if he should take him. I said, “Yes,” and the arrow was on its way! Upon impact, Wrongway buckled and hit the ground hard. I jumped up with Don and he put another arrow in him quickly. In less than a minute, Wrongway lay still.

With our buddies running down the hill, Don and I were overcome with emotion and could not believe we had made it happen. We walked around the fallen beast and couldn’t believe his size and beauty. Don had to walk off a ways to take a moment to reflect and I just sat there in amazement that we had Wrongway on the ground. I had dreamed of hunting and harvesting a bull of that caliber all my life and, even though he wasn’t my bull, it felt the same. We all worked very hard and put our knowledge and skills to the test to make that moment happen. Don Roach is the type of guy you like to see get a trophy like Wrongway because he knows and appreciates what he’s achieved. He amazed all of us in camp with his shooting skills, and he is very knowledgeable about elk and their habits. He hired us this year because he had no time to scout and he knew how precious his tag was. Thank you very much Don for placing your trust in Mullins Outfitters and, without a doubt, you deserve that bull buddy!

We never forgot about Ocho Grande during the hunt. David was one of the lucky few who had the early rifle hunt for this same unit. He and his wife were able to find and relocate Ocho several times up to the evening before his hunt started. We all headed out opening day and, like clockwork, Ocho showed up following the monster bull I had initially set out to find the day I found Ocho. This bull is a typical 6×6 pushing the 400-inch mark, but David passed him up at 150 yards - he wanted Ocho. Soon Ocho stepped out, presented a shot and BOOM! David made a great shot and Ocho went down quickly. Ocho is a spectacular bull with eight matching points all the way up. If un-broken, he would have easily scored over 425 gross. He was 415 gross as is! It was an amazing ending to an incredible hunt. We were able to put our hands on two of our biggest bulls this year in less than two weeks apart. Again, I would like to thank these hunters for allowing us to help and also to the Mullins Team, you guys are awesome!

Tags: 2007, archery, arizona, elk, HI34

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