"Phil's Arizona Trophy Bull"

Limited entry elk tags are hard to come by, especially in Arizona. After five years of applying, Phil Petroe finally drew an archery elk tag for one of the best units in the state.

After some hard preseason scouting, things weren't looking too good. There was lots of elk sign, but Phil still hadn't found any bulls. Opening day started out pretty well with some "music in the woods".
Bulls were bugling all over and Phil was feeling much better about the hunt. Right from the start Phil had decided that he would be content taking any bull. His primary goal, harvest a bull with his bow!

He tried his hand at bugling and had many answers, but none of the bulls were knocking down trees to get to him. On several occasions, Phil had young bulls within' shooting range, but the cows always seemed to screw it up.

On the final day of Phil's hunt, he took along his buddy Albert. The plan was to use the cow call instead of the bugle in hopes of drawing a bull away from his harem. It didn't take long before they had a big herd bull within' 30 yards and Phil made a great shot, hitting the bull in the vitals. The bull only made it a 100 yards and Phil's hunt was a success. Phil writes, "I was ecstatic, my first bull, a monster bull that made the record book." The bull green scored 310 7/8 P&Y points.

Written by Brian Latturner as told by Phil Petroe