Derek Kindsvater and his Father with Dereks mid 380s Bull killed in 2020.
Arizona Elk hunting can be considered the pinnacle of elk hunting. The quality of bulls and the opportunity to hunt in Arizona is greater than ever. We have been extremely blessed with great Guides, great Hunters and great times. Shadow Valley Outfitters has produced many mature bulls during early and late seasons with archery, muzzleloader, and rifle hunters. We are happy to provide any prospective hunters with a list of referrals of clients who have harvest bulls and those who have not. Our hunters will be given realistic expectations prior to the hunt and also prior to booking. Our summers are filled with scouting and keeping track of the Bulls summer growth, the health of the cows as well as the feed and water supply available for the elk herds. Our hunting tactics for elk are a combination of calling, spot and stalk, and sitting a stand. We use our experience to put our hunters in the best position possible to succeed. We guide in most units across Arizona and have guides that are consistently hunting the same units year to year.
4 Generations of Elk hunters with one great bull scoring over 390 in 2019
This is what every Elk Hunter dreams about, screaming bulls with rut action that keeps you up at night. Shadow Valley Outfitters knows how special these hunts are and how difficult they can be to acquire. We believe and have proven this to be the very best time to harvest trophy quality bulls with a Bow, Muzzleloader or Rifle. We have been able to guide hunters on these hunts each year and harvested some of Arizonas largest bulls. We also want to make this a fun and enjoyable hunt by making you part of the scouting and planning process throughout the summer and early fall.
We know that these hunts are once in a lifetime for most hunters so we leave nothing to chance. We have a plan each year to make our hunters successful and execute it with proper planning and preparation. When the hunts throw curveballs we adapt and adjust by falling back on our experiences of guiding these hunts in the same units each year. Having experience in the same units year after year allows us to understand the movement and habit of elk when hunt pressure increases or rut activity changes throughout the hunt.
Mike C. with his giant archery bull from 2020. 370+
Archery hunters are usually very particular and know what they want. They want to be put into position to capitalize on all the hard work and practice that has gone into the prehunt work. The months of practice and hours spent dialing gear to make the perfect shot won't be wasted when you hunt with Shadow Valley Outfitter. We take our job just as serious because we are archery hunters as well. We work extremely hard to give you the best chance to make the perfect shot. We spend the summers scouting to give our hunters realistic expectations as well locating bulls that can actually be killed. We won't just rely on trail camera pictures of nocturnal bulls. Our archery tactics are dependent on our scouting as well. We spend countless days in the field monitoring feed and water conditions that help us predict rut activity and elk behavior.
We use a combination of spot and stalk, calling, sitting water, or still hunting. The 2020 season has turned out to be a historically dry year with little to no rut action. Shadow Valley was still able to harvest some of the biggest bulls of the year because we were prepared and gave our hunters feedback on expected conditions and tactics prior to the hunts start.
Early Rifle and Early Muzzleloader hunts are some of the rarest in the State of Arizona. These tags are the best opportunity to harvest the biggest bulls in Arizona. The hunts are usually the last part of September and the early part of October. This time fame is near the peak of rut activity and the biggest and baddest bulls are out in full force. We love these hunts as it give our hunters the full experience to chase big mature bulls while the bulls are preoccupied with cows and other bulls. Most of the time we have been hunting these same bulls on archery hunts the week before know exactly what bulls we want to harvest with our rifle or muzzy hunters.
We target big mature bulls on these hunts and will tell our hunters to pass on bulls most people would never consider passing on. We spend a lot of time putting our hunters into position to harvest these world class bulls so we ask our hunters to spend a lot of time shooting the firearm they will be using prior to the hunt. We want your first shot to be the only shot and if you need a rifle or recomendation of rifle we are happy to provide that.
Ashley Strutman and her Husband with her late season monster bull from 2019. 370+
Late Rifle hunts are tags that are much easier to obtain with ample tags given through the Arizona Game and Fish lottery system. These tags are throughout the state with hundreds of tags per unit issued. This is a great opportunity hunt and one that you won't have to wait 10 to 15 years to draw. For Residents or Non Residents of Arizona tags can be drawn on a 3 to 5 year basis and some people draw in 1 to 3 years. Our hunting throughout the rest of the season helps us target the best bulls left for the late season hunts. We target bulls in the 330 range but have consistently harvested bigger bulls.
With ample opportunity comes the increase in hunting pressure and more hunters. It's important for us to locate and find bulls prior to the hunt that we can get killed early in the hunt before the bulls are pushed into the darkest canyons they can find. We have consistently done just that and have a proven track record of exceeding expectation on these hunts year after year. We honestly love these late rifle hunts and the opportunity it provides our clients to harvest mature bulls with few bonus points.
