OU812
Handloader
- Apr 18, 2006
- 2,099
- 2
Well I just got back a little earlier and got the truck unloaded. Had a great trip but the weather for the first 4 days was more inline with shorts and tee shirts, got up to 65 one of the days and I brought colder weather gear. Thank goodness I dress in layers so I had some light underarmor shirts with me.
2nd day I cut tracks in the dry dirt along with newly deposited droppings and pee puddles, jumped 2 bulls in a Juniper thicket and all I knew is that they were bulls and bigger than spikes, no shot option. Over the next few days in the same area I cut more tracks but never saw any of the elk, winds seemed to always be wrong and it was noisy.
On 1/2 way through the 4th day we switched to another area where we had killed bulls in the past. Climbed up to my vantage point and took a seat. While getting my binos out I decided to try and contact the wife, she was sick and cell service is very very limited. Had service so I thought I would call the wife real quick and see how she was doing. While talking with her I looked across the draw and saw elk. I tell her I see elk and will call her back, (insert quick tone of voice). Get to looking and see 3 cows and 1 calf, we can shoot cows here on this hunt. They are little over 600 yards but feeding at an angle to me so I set and wait. While waiting I'm thinking I've got lots of hunt left and they are calling for snow and I know where to be when it snows. 10-15 minutes passes and they feed to 450 or so yards and I watch them walk into the bottom out of my sight. Now I'm thinking I hope I did not make a mistake by not taking one of the cows cause there are not lots of elk in the place in which we hunt. As I'm setting there I see and elk come over the ridge so I take a look and sure as could be it's a bull. He follows the same path as the cows but when he stopped at 452 yards I put a 200 AccuBond in his neck and sacked him up, never took a step as I watched him drop through the scope. He is a 3 point but on the one side he broke his eye gard and other point off so he looks like a 3xspike.
Over the next few days of going out with my hunting pard I spotted 2 more bulls together in the same area. On that particular day my pard was up the ridge from me spotted an elk of his own. As we talked on the radios we thought we were both looking at the same elk, we weren't. My bulls walked off, his elk never stepped to offer a shot before dark. Had a great time and it's a tough hunt but we are 5 bulls for 6 years, not to shabby.
The one picture is of a shed we found. matching set, I found one and the guy in the picture found the other.
View attachment 2012 001.jpg
Bill
2nd day I cut tracks in the dry dirt along with newly deposited droppings and pee puddles, jumped 2 bulls in a Juniper thicket and all I knew is that they were bulls and bigger than spikes, no shot option. Over the next few days in the same area I cut more tracks but never saw any of the elk, winds seemed to always be wrong and it was noisy.
On 1/2 way through the 4th day we switched to another area where we had killed bulls in the past. Climbed up to my vantage point and took a seat. While getting my binos out I decided to try and contact the wife, she was sick and cell service is very very limited. Had service so I thought I would call the wife real quick and see how she was doing. While talking with her I looked across the draw and saw elk. I tell her I see elk and will call her back, (insert quick tone of voice). Get to looking and see 3 cows and 1 calf, we can shoot cows here on this hunt. They are little over 600 yards but feeding at an angle to me so I set and wait. While waiting I'm thinking I've got lots of hunt left and they are calling for snow and I know where to be when it snows. 10-15 minutes passes and they feed to 450 or so yards and I watch them walk into the bottom out of my sight. Now I'm thinking I hope I did not make a mistake by not taking one of the cows cause there are not lots of elk in the place in which we hunt. As I'm setting there I see and elk come over the ridge so I take a look and sure as could be it's a bull. He follows the same path as the cows but when he stopped at 452 yards I put a 200 AccuBond in his neck and sacked him up, never took a step as I watched him drop through the scope. He is a 3 point but on the one side he broke his eye gard and other point off so he looks like a 3xspike.
Over the next few days of going out with my hunting pard I spotted 2 more bulls together in the same area. On that particular day my pard was up the ridge from me spotted an elk of his own. As we talked on the radios we thought we were both looking at the same elk, we weren't. My bulls walked off, his elk never stepped to offer a shot before dark. Had a great time and it's a tough hunt but we are 5 bulls for 6 years, not to shabby.
The one picture is of a shed we found. matching set, I found one and the guy in the picture found the other.
View attachment 2012 001.jpg
Bill
who would have thought of that one years ago.
