Just got back from a week of elk hunting. It was alot of fun! I ended up shooting a 5 point bull in a spot I said I definitely wouldn't shoot a 5 point
. I was already 4 miles in the canyon and glassed up a really good 6 point but he was another 2 miles away so I knew there was no way I was going to get anywhere close enough to shoot. I watched him and some cows go into a big patch of pines and came up with a plan for the next morning to come in from another spot and try to get a shot. Dad had dropped me off up on the top and I was walking down towards the bottom of the canyon so I told him I was going to walk to the bottom and then it was 4 miles out to get to the road so I'd be a while. I was about 150 yards from the bottom and heard crashing going up through a small patch of pines on the opposite side. I hurried and got my bipods down but the hill is so steep I ended up extending them out all the way then setting them on the toes of my boots so I had a rest. As the bull came out I saw he was a 5 point and told myself don't do it. He walked through the clearing and around a cliff so I figured ok good he's gone. Well nope here he came back and stopped broadside in the clearing 250 yards away. This time I didn't have the will power and I don't think anything could have been strong enough to keep my finger off the trigger
. I shot and hit him and just as he was going in the trees I got the 2nd shot off and was 99% sure I saw him drop and could hear the crashing as he rolled. The sound quit and I waited 15 minutes to get up and head to the bottom and now up the other side to where i lost sight of him. In those 15 minutes I thought wow this is really bad you dummy.. that was a horrible idea
. I texted dad and ashleigh on my inreach and said well s#*% I just killed a bull in a bad spot haha. I asked ashleigh to call our friends and see if there was any way they could bring their horses up. The face the bull was on was about as vertical as a hill can possibly be without being a cliff. When I got to him there was no way I was moving him. About then ashleigh sent a text our friends where getting the horses in the trailer. What a relief that was to hear. Ps the in reach paid for itself this trip.. but anyways I knew I had to get the bull taken care of and everything down to the bottom for the horses. Elk are big, and when gravity is working against you with a tree by yourself they are really big and heavy
. After i got him broke down I made 5 trips hauling meat and the head. At that point I was dead. On my last trip up to get the head I heard the horses coming. Woohoo I was pretty much spent at that point. We loaded the horses up and I walked behind them. They even took my pack which was a relief in itself. We made it to the trucks and the work was finally over. If they wouldn't have brought the horses I'd probably still be packing right now so I can't thank them enough. This bull is a long long ways from my biggest but this one Will probably be up there in the memories with my big ones. I've said it every year since I shot my good wyo bull in 2020. Next year I'm not shooting unless it's a 6 point
. As a bonus I got to shoot a coyote and Ashleigh kept us stocked up on grouse.
. Dad drew a archery Arizona elk tag so most of September that's where I'll be, and hopefully my cousin will be in the running for a Wyo moose tag. As of right now that's the plan anyways. I've been pretty selfish the last few years and put alot into my hunts so hopefully this year I can return the favor and help on some of these others.
