Thanks to some great advice from several members of this site, I had an incredible experience.
I was able to scout 7.5 days and enjoyed seeing lots of bulls, some of which were bigger than 300 mark that others told me I shouldn't pass on. There were lots of moose around which was also a treat to see.
I found this bull in a nasty little area that was pretty hard to see into (I got off course in the dark and ended up on a face where I could see into his hide hole). I was really concerned about getting him out if i killed him, but I ran into a really nice young man that told me to call him if I got one and he would help me with the pack out. With that I headed down the next morning, found the bull, watched him bed, made a 2.5 mile hike up and around to get above him, and found him in his bed at 2:30.
Packout was brutal, a little over 2 miles and about 1500 ft of elevation. The next day that guy was true to his word and even brought a friend and we finished the pack out.
Nothing appeared wrong with this bull, he had all of his parts and was in excellent health (re: FAT). Just still in perfect velvet.
On a sad note, a bear got to the antlers overnight even though I had moved them from the carcass and stripped off about half of the velvet.
I was able to scout 7.5 days and enjoyed seeing lots of bulls, some of which were bigger than 300 mark that others told me I shouldn't pass on. There were lots of moose around which was also a treat to see.
I found this bull in a nasty little area that was pretty hard to see into (I got off course in the dark and ended up on a face where I could see into his hide hole). I was really concerned about getting him out if i killed him, but I ran into a really nice young man that told me to call him if I got one and he would help me with the pack out. With that I headed down the next morning, found the bull, watched him bed, made a 2.5 mile hike up and around to get above him, and found him in his bed at 2:30.
Packout was brutal, a little over 2 miles and about 1500 ft of elevation. The next day that guy was true to his word and even brought a friend and we finished the pack out.
Nothing appeared wrong with this bull, he had all of his parts and was in excellent health (re: FAT). Just still in perfect velvet.
On a sad note, a bear got to the antlers overnight even though I had moved them from the carcass and stripped off about half of the velvet.