wankerjake
Member
Alright gents, here it is!!! I've been hunting elk for 15 years and drew my first bull tag this year. I must say it was a great hunt. I've killed a number of deer and cow elk, but bull elk hunting is a whole different ball game. These animals are so huge and magnificent and I've never had such an exciting hunt in all my life. I know he's a little guy, we figure a 2 and 1/2 year old with a good rainy season, but I couldn't be more thrilled to have gotten him. Here's a rundown of the story, I'll keep it as short as possible.
Day 1: First thing in the morning we ran on to a big herd. I passed up a spike first thing, which was hard but it is so hard to get a tag and I had all season...anyway it turned out to be a good thing. He happened to be part of a herd of 50 or 60. We chased them for awhile and I ended up getting a shot and a decent six point, but I missed him. He was almost 300 yards quartering to the left a little, standing and lookint back at me, so the only ethical shot I had was at the neck or head. I'm sighted in at 200 yards with my .30-06 and I must of dropped it under his neck. The whole herd immediately got together and ran past us. All of a sudden there were bulls everywhere, 4-5 spikes, and 5 mature bulls, with 40-50 cows. They jumped the fence and ran out into the middle of a huge park. It was quite a sight seeing 60 elk all bunched up in the wide open, antlers sticking up everywhere. Just breathtaking. As we tried to flank the herd in the treeline we heard two shots at the herd, and then another a few minutes later. Then the hollering started. We didn't check it out but it sounded like they got at least one. Needless to say I was bummed, but seeing that big herd was just amazing.
Day 2. We took a short drive from camp and pulled off the road to wait for the shooting light. Before we turned off the engine we could see elk moving up ahead of us. My old man said the two in back were both bulls, so we headed after them. It was pretty open country so we had to just kind of run up on them. The one bull stood his ground as I took aim against a tree. I was just squeezing the trigger when he bolted and ran back to the herd. They started circling around to our left so we ran to head them off. Cought the tail end of the herd at about 150 yards, this little bull at the back. My dad hit the cow call and he stopped. I squeezed off a shot and he just took a few short steps and stopped and looked at me again. The herd ran back to him and he turned with them. He started stumbling with his head down right away but then regained his footing and went about 200 yards before he fell out of sight. I knew I had hit him good and sure enough the herd left and he was laying under a tree dead. We were both surprised how little the antlers were, we thought he was bigger when I was shooting but I wouldn't trade him for any other. Getting him was just as exciting as getting a big one, and he is gonna be great eating. Anyway he's in the freezer now, over 200 pounds of meat, all boneless. Took us about 15 hours to bone out, cut steaks, grind and wrap plus the clean up. They are so big.
Anyway, it was an amazing hunt, got to get out of the damn city and spend some good time with the old man doing something we both love and be out with the critters and the trees and the wind and weather. We saw about 20 bulls in less than three days, and I was fortunate enough to get this great bull. On top of that our freezer is full of the best meat there is. Anyway hope y'all enjoy the pictures!
Day 1: First thing in the morning we ran on to a big herd. I passed up a spike first thing, which was hard but it is so hard to get a tag and I had all season...anyway it turned out to be a good thing. He happened to be part of a herd of 50 or 60. We chased them for awhile and I ended up getting a shot and a decent six point, but I missed him. He was almost 300 yards quartering to the left a little, standing and lookint back at me, so the only ethical shot I had was at the neck or head. I'm sighted in at 200 yards with my .30-06 and I must of dropped it under his neck. The whole herd immediately got together and ran past us. All of a sudden there were bulls everywhere, 4-5 spikes, and 5 mature bulls, with 40-50 cows. They jumped the fence and ran out into the middle of a huge park. It was quite a sight seeing 60 elk all bunched up in the wide open, antlers sticking up everywhere. Just breathtaking. As we tried to flank the herd in the treeline we heard two shots at the herd, and then another a few minutes later. Then the hollering started. We didn't check it out but it sounded like they got at least one. Needless to say I was bummed, but seeing that big herd was just amazing.
Day 2. We took a short drive from camp and pulled off the road to wait for the shooting light. Before we turned off the engine we could see elk moving up ahead of us. My old man said the two in back were both bulls, so we headed after them. It was pretty open country so we had to just kind of run up on them. The one bull stood his ground as I took aim against a tree. I was just squeezing the trigger when he bolted and ran back to the herd. They started circling around to our left so we ran to head them off. Cought the tail end of the herd at about 150 yards, this little bull at the back. My dad hit the cow call and he stopped. I squeezed off a shot and he just took a few short steps and stopped and looked at me again. The herd ran back to him and he turned with them. He started stumbling with his head down right away but then regained his footing and went about 200 yards before he fell out of sight. I knew I had hit him good and sure enough the herd left and he was laying under a tree dead. We were both surprised how little the antlers were, we thought he was bigger when I was shooting but I wouldn't trade him for any other. Getting him was just as exciting as getting a big one, and he is gonna be great eating. Anyway he's in the freezer now, over 200 pounds of meat, all boneless. Took us about 15 hours to bone out, cut steaks, grind and wrap plus the clean up. They are so big.
Anyway, it was an amazing hunt, got to get out of the damn city and spend some good time with the old man doing something we both love and be out with the critters and the trees and the wind and weather. We saw about 20 bulls in less than three days, and I was fortunate enough to get this great bull. On top of that our freezer is full of the best meat there is. Anyway hope y'all enjoy the pictures!
