I live in one of the best states in the world for elk hunting. The problem with Arizona is that, I live with five million other people. If you want to hunt on an annual basis, you must become an archery hunter. Even then, your odds of drawing a bull tag are about 20 percent. Your odds decrease to approximately 10 percent if you pick the best areas like Units 1, 9, or 10. Units 9 and 10 consistently produce bulls over 380 and beyond. I have put in for this unit for first choice tag for 10 years in a row. I have never been able to draw this tag. On my second choice, I put in for a unit that most people do not want to hunt just so I can go. These units produce much smaller bulls, since bulls must first get to the age of five to eight years, then they must have good genetics. My second choice is Unit 23, but it has too many bulls, meaning bull to cow ratio is too high; 50 bulls to 100 cows. After I drew this tag two years in a row, and harvested two 5 by 5’s that would score about 220, I knew I needed a new area. But I was not likely to draw the best tags, so I was desperate.

Then I received the break that all trophy elk hunters look for. An elk guide that I had fished tournaments against, started talking about his Rocky Mountain Elk foundation raffle tag. He was probably the most reputable elk guide in Northern Arizona. I spent countless hours trying to pry information from Les Shelton about hunt units and the pursuit of the elusive 400-class bull. Then one night before a tournament my friend, Les Shelton, talked about a special place where bulls matured to 400 and beyond. He was pursuing a bull he thought would score about 440. I asked him the unit number, and for the first time Les told me. He usually never reveals his personal spots. Then I asked him if I put in for this spot would I finally see a 400-class bull. Les said maybe, but there are so few elk, I might not find any elk. The next day I went on the Internet to find drawing percentages and found that this is a 38 percent draw. Then I called my brother, Ron Waggoner, to tell him about this new information. My three hunting partners usually let me pick where we hunt, because of all the people I meet and information that I gather. I believe you must have three important pieces of information in order to choose the area that you would like to hunt in the West: personal experiences from people you believe to be credible, drawing percentages, and hunter success rate.

July came to Arizona, and I actually drew the tag. I was so excited, but concerned that I may not be able to find the elk that I wanted. I called Les Shelton to tell him about my luck. He was returning from chemotherapy. Unfortunately he has cancer, and he said he had been dreaming about elk, one of the things that made him the most happy, next to his family. Les told me about one area to look at. He said every time he flew over this spot, he saw two giant elk.

The next day, Ron and I went to the Game and Fish water tank; we were delighted to see several elk tracks. We set a tree stand and left the area. After hunting coues whitetail deer for the last two weeks of August, we went back to the unit looking for more elk, and to check the tank. Archery deer season was in its final week; I was fortunate to harvest a small mule deer buck. At the Game and Fish tank I noticed many new and old rubs. This had to be two things, either the same elk coming back to the same spot to breed, or different bulls coming here because of the cows. I knew that inevitably the bulls would show up.

On the first day of the hunt, I was excited, because the night before the hunt we heard several bugles, and I spotted a 380-class bull with two cows by my tank. The first night at the tank was action packed; over 30 deer came in and eight turkeys that were all mature toms. However, the elk stayed away from the tank bugling until the last possible minute of light. I could not stay in the tree any longer. There were two bulls on opposite sides of the tank bugling challenges to each other.

While I was climbing down the tree, I could not see my tree pegs, so I was sliding down the tree scraping bark off all the way down. One of the bulls must have thought I was the other bull, jumped the fence, and charged up to me within 10 yards. I started to get concerned that I was about to be run over, so I yelled to stop the bull. Then I slowly backed away. As I jumped the fence in the dark; the other bull was still standing by the tank. Just before leaving the tree, the second bull had crossed behind the tree stand, and I think he was the 380 bull I saw the night before. My strategy for hunting Arizona bulls is simple: chase bugles in the morning, and hunt water in the afternoon. Most bulls don’t get cranked up until dark, and will fight and chase cows all night long.

Day two, back to the tank. I parked my quad, jumped off, and grabbed my bugle. The first bugle I made was answered. After talking to him for half an hour, he suddenly left to the north. That night there was no action.

It was now Sunday. I woke to the sound of calling bulls at 4:30. I left camp to the east, where I could hear at least four different bulls. I stopped to listen; I heard the herd bull bugle. My plan was to get closer to him and then start cow calling: my call of choice is open reed call. This sounds different than most calls and for years I have been able to call in bulls and cows year around. I was within 200 yards of the elk, and I could tell that there were two satellite bulls dogging the herd bull. At this time it was obvious the elk were moving west towards private land, so I moved around in front of them and began cow calling aggressively until the herd bull answered. I set up for the shot. The bull bugled as he moved toward me, and now I could see his cows. It was thick with cedars. I did not know how I could get a shot through the cedars. I cannot believe he sent his cows down first to check me out.

The lead cow spotted me kneeling behind a small tree. She watched me for about 10 minutes. My feet were asleep, and I was telling myself to wait and no matter what, not to move. Then the bull appeared, and I thought to myself, what a rack! The bull decided not too stay back anymore, much to my surprise, and moved forward. He lowered his head and pushed the cow away, as they were moving. As I drew back a cow spooked. He began to run, and at 50 yards, stopped. There was a fallen tree between him and myself. As he approached the tree, I released the arrow, and the arrow hit the tree. The bull ran straight away bugling to gather up his cows. Game over, this bull would have scored over 370.

Monday morning passed, with very little action. I was looking forward to one of my best friends, and the man that I work for, coming to help for a few days. I have been blessed to have this man as my employer. Tony Seddon himself is an avid angler and serious hunter. There was a time that I fished the B.A.S.S. pro circuit, and I was off work for nearly threemonths consecutively with no question.

Tony came in around 10 a.m. I told him that Ron needed help setting up a ground blind. He parked his truck and got on a quad. The three of us went to the spot Ron thought might be productive, after seeing a couple of elk here while coming back from another stand. Les had told me, the reason these bulls get big is because after gathering their cows they push them to areas that elk have never been. We finished our twelfth stand or ground blind of the hunt. We decided to rest, and admire the blind. It was set up in the back of a corral looking towards a small water trough. I told Ron this looked like a long shoot, but most of our stands did. I asked Ron what spot he wanted to sit that night, and he picked the Game and Fish tank. Ron went to his tree stand. Tony went to check out a wallow.

It was now Monday afternoon about 3:00 p.m. and I am in the ground blind. I sat in the ground blind for about two hours, cow calling every 30 minutes. I thought this was a great blind, but would tonight be the night? I had a full size chair, ice chest, and all my gear. Then I spotted a cow elk at the tree line; I was jazzed to say the least. The elk were still about 300 yards away and four cows moved into the meadow and fed for about 45 minutes. I kept asking myself why they didn’t have a bull nearby. Then he appeared, and I just could not believe it! This bull had the longest tines that I had ever seen, but his right side was very strange. I had watched the elk for about 30 minutes when the bull decided he was coming to the water. He turned to my right, the cows to my left.

There were two openings to the water, but the bull looked confused like he had never been there. He walked straight towards me and was facing me from about 40 yards on the other side of the fence. What an awesome sight! Then he realized where the opening was, to my far right. He came so close before he turned to the tank I could hear him walking.

My plan was to draw back while he was walking towards the trough. But to my disappointment, the four cows reached the water first. I was afraid the cows would see me draw back because where they were drinking water looked straight into my blind. As the 404-6/8 bull approached, the cows gave way to his dominance. This confusion allowed me draw back. As I was fully drawn, I kept telling myself (repeatedly) not to release until he stops. When he began to drink, I knew the distance was 32 yards. I placed my pin mid chest, just behind the shoulder blade. I was concentrating on keeping an open hand. As I squeezed the trigger, the arrow released perfect, a quartering away heart shot. The bull barely moved, but started to walk away. The bull began hunching up as he walked, and his cows had no idea what the noise was, much less where it came from. At first I thought I must have hit the shoulder blade, because there was no arrow, just a small amount of blood trickling from the wound. And I had never shot an elk that did not run. Nervously I grabbed another arrow and knocked it. While I sat those first couple of hours, I had ranged several landmarks.

The awesome bull had now walked to my 50-yard marker, and was standing broadside. I knew this would be a double lung shot, which I prefer when harvesting elk. The second arrow hit, and I knew it was over. One of his cows finally saw me and she bolted right through a fence, and ended upside down. She had knocked herself out, and was right beside the 400 bull. As I looked out of the blind, I was quite amazed; there were two elk down. The second arrow had killed the bull instantly; the cow had finally regained consciousness, jumped up, and ran away. As I sat in the blind in awe, for first time I felt an emotion that I had never felt before, complete contentment. I never heard him bugle or call, but I think that was his plan, stealth. I realized then that I had finally seen and harvested a 400-class bull. The trophy of North America, my ultimate hunting dream.

I walked out of the blind to the elk and sat down beside him in awe, as the sun was starting to set, I tried to take some photos, but I was not able to move the elk, and the pictures did not turn out. I could not believe all my work had finally paid off.

The future of elk roaming free on public land in the west, with all hunters having the same chance, may soon end. Large outfitter organizations are suing certain states, trying to make sure their wealthy clients will be able to buy trophy elk, regardless of how it may affect the residents of the state that the organization sues. Many ranchers are now growing elk in high fence areas and selling the right to "hunt" to highest bidder. The Wild West is no longer free, but a sure thing of the past. We should protect what we have, while we still have it, and before the rest of the country takes it away.

This bull was officially scored at 404 6/8 gross, 395 3/8 non-typical net Pope and Young. With a main frame 6 by 7 with inside spread of 49 7/8. Both beams tapped at 55 7/8 by current record book statistics this should finish #7 all time non-typical, #4 in the great state of Arizona.