It's about time.....***Final update***

[FANATIC]

I think that last bull is 350 and maybe 360. There's only one way to find out for sure.

 

Your right, I should go back, catch it, tie it up and measure it. That's the only way to know for sure.

[jackelope]

I'll come with you and bring the foxpro to call him in and my big salmon net.

[whacker1]

tag

[jackelope]

tag

The Foxpro and big salmon net tipped you over, didn't it? You just couldn't resist.

[coachcw]

good work boys , go get him !

[jasnt]

Great pics, I'd love to look at that bull threw my sites

[cryder]

So I finally drew a tag. An eastern Washington archery any bull tag. After much debate, I've decided to start a thread to document what could be for me, a once in a lifetime tag.
I'm sure your wondering why this is an OIL tag. It's no goat, sheep or moose.  You see, I'll be moving east once the season is over. That's right, tree stand whitetails from here on.  As a matter of fact, I waited until 10pm the night of the deadline to apply. I decided that if I drew, I'd just beg my wife to stay for my last hurrah.

Fast forward a few weeks, and a few thousand " draw not run" checks.  I'm sitting at work and I get a text that says, results out, but site issue, call this number and give them your wild ID.  I excitedly dial the number and the nice WDFW employee asks for my number. I give it to him and he says " the bad news is you didn't draw your second choice, the good news is you drew your first!" . I couldn't believe it. 

I almost immediately started obsessing over google earth and topo maps looking for areas to check out.  I found a few and off I went to put in a couple cameras.
I figured I would have to move them around a little to find some elk but turns out, I scored right away. I waited about 3 weeks and returned to find 750 pics between the 2 cameras. One spot loaded with cows and calves, the other.....bulls.

Of course this wouldn't be a hunt thread without pics, so here are some samples of the trail cam pics. I'll leave out the cows and calves cause everyone knows what they look like.




Some small, some pretty good, and then there's this guy. I'll show a couple of this guy cause if you are like me you'll want to see a couple angles.








I almost fell over when I saw this one. I've got about 50 pics of him. If you care to guess the score, fire away. There are 3 decent bulls and one big one. I couldn't find pics of the 4th 6x6.

So there you have it. The beginning of my Washington swan song. Follow along if you like. I'll update as I scout more and will try to update during the hunt too. Wish me luck.

[robrunwild]

Awesome elk porn!

[FANATIC]

Awesome elk porn!

Thanks! Hope to have more for you once the season starts.

good work boys , go get him !

Thanks coach! We will try!

[FANATIC]

Well, the count down has begun. Leaving Monday for 2 weeks of elk hunting bliss. Gear all together, food ready, bow shoots good, now if I could figure out how to focus on anything but elk hunting, I'd be good. My wife thinks I'm crazy. She says all I do is stare at maps and google earth. I tell her I'm just thorough.

[lagnar]

I stare at the same maps, If ya need someone to help haul out anything let me know, Don't need anything in return. looks like you set up a camera right in their bedroom. awesome.
I'll watch for updates, hope you have a great two weeks, and shoot the biggest one near the end of the hunt.

[lemondog]

Good luck Dennis! nice bulls for sure. Stick to your plans and don't give in if it goes quite for a few days....it will happen.

[Ironhead]

Good Luck Fanatic. Tags like this require a monster mental tude. As Dan said above, stay the course. The hardest part was drawing the tag. I'm excited to see the grip and grin shots.

[borntoslay]

congrats on moving east brother. I cant stand the big east side cities.  Come getcha some of this laid on back! 

[FANATIC]

Thanks for the pep talk guys! I'm gonna try and stay positive and focused. Last minute preps right now and roll out in the morning. Ill try and update while I'm out if I can get a cell reception. Wish me luck and good luck to all you archery hunters!