sambo3006
Active Member
- Messages
- 372
I cashed in my NR elk points this year since I was never gaining ground on the upper tier hunts. I used more than needed, but I wanted to ensure that I drew. I had never hunted this unit before, but was lucky enough to team up with a couple of great guys, one of whom had the same tag. We all scoured OnX while preparing for the hunt and had some areas in mind. While we didn't hunt together, we shared information, and some of that shared info led directly to me getting my bull.
I had arrived two days early to scout, and had located some promising looking areas, including where I got my bull. I hadn't seen any elk in there, but had been seeing some at higher elevation. I was making two to three mile loops in the morning and evening in different areas, and while I was seeing elk, they were all cows and one spike. On day four of the hunt, I decided that I was going to take the first legal bull I had the chance at.
I hiked about a mile up a ridge in a light snow up to a beautiful looking spot that had patches of dark timber and meadows with scattered aspen trees. I found some fresh elk tracks and was able to slip in on a very small bull, but was detected by a cow that trotted off and alerted the bull. I figured he was about to run, so I tried to thread a shot through some tree limbs. Just as the shot broke, I saw my crosshairs wobble, and sure enough I nailed a tree limb. After the hike back out to the trailhead, I barely got my truck back down the super slick dirt (now mud) road. No way to get back up there in my truck.
My new friend who also had a tag had taken a nice looking 5x5 bull that morning pretty far back in, and his partner shared with me that some elk had been spotted in one of my original spots. I decided to go in there the next morning.
After about a mile hike, I was in a great glassing spot before shooting hours. As it got light, I sat there and glassed for about an hour. I hadn't seen any elk, so I decided to drop off the back of the ridge and loop around about a quarter mile to see some new terrain. After the loop, I had the sun at my back as I eased back up over the ridge top. Just as soon as my head cleared the top of the ridge, I spotted a bull down below. I immediately dropped to the ground and crawled up about 20 yards behind a tree trunk. I peeked around the tree trunk and the bull was still there, but tree limbs obscured a shot. I dropped back down and crawled up another 20 yards behind another tree trunk. Again, I peeked around the tree, and now the bull was in the clear. He was broadside, looking in my direction, but I don't think he could see well due to the sun in his face. My heart was pounding the whole time, and as I slowly eased my rifle around the tree, I told myself to keep it together and make a good shot. I steadied my rifle against the tree and squeezed off the shot at a little over 200 yards. At the shot, the bull took off running. I jacked another round in my rifle and was about to shoot him again when he stopped, wobbled and crashed to the ground with a loud whoomp.
I was so excited when I walked up on him. A nice 6x6! I estimated him to be in the 270" range. I texted my new friends, who responded that they would head over to help pack. I quartered the bull, removed the back straps and skinned the neck up to the base of the head. Right after I got to the truck to get my pack, the other guys showed up. Perfect timing! When we arrived at the bull, one of the guys said that he thought the bull would be 300" but I was skeptical. I think his short G5s influenced my opinion. Between the three of us, we managed to get it all in one trip. These guys are in great shape, and carried everything except one shoulder and the head, which I carried. I found a nice level route out with the bull along a creek valley, so it was a relatively easy pack out of about a mile. I can't thank these two guys enough. They are some solid dudes.
I carefully measured the bull this morning after watching a refresher video of a B&C scorer doing an elk. I wanted to make sure I was using all the proper landmarks. I came up with 309 5/8". Wow! No ground shrinkage there. I couldn't have drawn up a better hunt. Several days of hiking in beautiful country and an awesome bull at the end of the adventure.
I had arrived two days early to scout, and had located some promising looking areas, including where I got my bull. I hadn't seen any elk in there, but had been seeing some at higher elevation. I was making two to three mile loops in the morning and evening in different areas, and while I was seeing elk, they were all cows and one spike. On day four of the hunt, I decided that I was going to take the first legal bull I had the chance at.
I hiked about a mile up a ridge in a light snow up to a beautiful looking spot that had patches of dark timber and meadows with scattered aspen trees. I found some fresh elk tracks and was able to slip in on a very small bull, but was detected by a cow that trotted off and alerted the bull. I figured he was about to run, so I tried to thread a shot through some tree limbs. Just as the shot broke, I saw my crosshairs wobble, and sure enough I nailed a tree limb. After the hike back out to the trailhead, I barely got my truck back down the super slick dirt (now mud) road. No way to get back up there in my truck.
My new friend who also had a tag had taken a nice looking 5x5 bull that morning pretty far back in, and his partner shared with me that some elk had been spotted in one of my original spots. I decided to go in there the next morning.
After about a mile hike, I was in a great glassing spot before shooting hours. As it got light, I sat there and glassed for about an hour. I hadn't seen any elk, so I decided to drop off the back of the ridge and loop around about a quarter mile to see some new terrain. After the loop, I had the sun at my back as I eased back up over the ridge top. Just as soon as my head cleared the top of the ridge, I spotted a bull down below. I immediately dropped to the ground and crawled up about 20 yards behind a tree trunk. I peeked around the tree trunk and the bull was still there, but tree limbs obscured a shot. I dropped back down and crawled up another 20 yards behind another tree trunk. Again, I peeked around the tree, and now the bull was in the clear. He was broadside, looking in my direction, but I don't think he could see well due to the sun in his face. My heart was pounding the whole time, and as I slowly eased my rifle around the tree, I told myself to keep it together and make a good shot. I steadied my rifle against the tree and squeezed off the shot at a little over 200 yards. At the shot, the bull took off running. I jacked another round in my rifle and was about to shoot him again when he stopped, wobbled and crashed to the ground with a loud whoomp.
I was so excited when I walked up on him. A nice 6x6! I estimated him to be in the 270" range. I texted my new friends, who responded that they would head over to help pack. I quartered the bull, removed the back straps and skinned the neck up to the base of the head. Right after I got to the truck to get my pack, the other guys showed up. Perfect timing! When we arrived at the bull, one of the guys said that he thought the bull would be 300" but I was skeptical. I think his short G5s influenced my opinion. Between the three of us, we managed to get it all in one trip. These guys are in great shape, and carried everything except one shoulder and the head, which I carried. I found a nice level route out with the bull along a creek valley, so it was a relatively easy pack out of about a mile. I can't thank these two guys enough. They are some solid dudes.
I carefully measured the bull this morning after watching a refresher video of a B&C scorer doing an elk. I wanted to make sure I was using all the proper landmarks. I came up with 309 5/8". Wow! No ground shrinkage there. I couldn't have drawn up a better hunt. Several days of hiking in beautiful country and an awesome bull at the end of the adventure.
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