Backcountry Westside Bull Hunt 2013

[CNELK]

Where do I even start?! I'm sure it's the same for many of you out there as it is for me. With the end of one hunting season it only marks the beginning of another! When the 2012 hunting season came to an end, I had a very successful year with a nice 5x4 blacktail buck and a 5x4 bull. So with my freezer full of meat now the planning begins for the 2013 hunting season! Like every year, it seems like an eternity for the new hunting regulations to come out  Once I had the Regs in hand, now it was time to plan for the hunts I would apply for. After applying now comes the longest two months of my life waiting for the draw results. With endless amounts of phone calls talking to my Dad and other hunting buddies, and day dreaming about what we would draw....or if we would even draw at all. The time finally came.... and after 14 years of waiting I would finally draw my Westside Bull hunt. I would start my scouting out by buying maps and marking out the large amount of private property off of the County GIS map website to eliminate the areas that were not huntable due to the land owner not allowing any access to or for hunting. After little deliberation with my Dad and both longtime family friends, we would decide to backpack into the wilderness. Once I knew the location and destination was decided with the group, I spent countless amount of time on Google Earth studying the terrain, while finding elk and learning more about that side of the unit without being able to step foot into it before my hunt. With all are planning fine tuned and our packs filled with the gear we needed, it was time to say goodbye to our families before we would start our journey into the backcountry! D-Day 1st Nov. 2013 my longtime friend and I would lead the way before my Dad and other longtime family friend would meet us up at camp. Our trip would start out by boating 5 miles across a lake and then backpacking in about another 5 miles to where we would call home for the next few days. With our strong backs and weak minds, we started our ascent up the mountain. As long as it seemed for that day to come it was almost over. With all four of us in camp it was a big relief to have our packs off our backs and camp set up and to refill our spirits with a hot Mountain House meal for what would be a long night to come. Knowing that there was a storm coming in, we tried setting up camp as best as we could to protect us from what would come. Like clock work, the storm came in late Friday night with high winds blowing 50 to 60 mph and what started out with heavy rain and quickly trued into snow. With one of our tents half way collapsed from the poles breaking and almost constant repairs we had to make to our tarps that covered our tents throughout the night and into the next day left us tired with no sleep. Now it's opening day 2nd Nov. 2013 with wind and snow still going strong and showing no signs of letting up, we had to confine in our tents just so we didn't lose our shelter. Sometime around 1500 that afternoon, the winds died down a little to around 30 to 40 mph, but the snow was still constant. Being tired of the confined space of the tent my buddy looked at me said, "Do you want to give it a shot?" Without any hesitation, we were both out of the tent in hopes of finding a good bull. We had left my Dad and buddy behind to keep an eye on our camp with the storm still going on. With elk on our mind, it gave us the drive we needed to push on in the bad weather. We had climbed our way up a ridge behind are camp, only to be blinded by snow and wind. With ice crystals quickly growing in my beard, we decided to head back down to the other side of the ridge to retreat from the weather. On our way back down, we both heard something that would be a game changer. I couldn't believe my ears, I looked at my buddy, and I asked him, "did you hear that bull bugle?!" He responded rapidly with a, "Yes!" We traveled abruptly to where we heard the bugle. We found a herd of elk with four bulls, one 5 point herd bull, one 5 point satellite bull, one 4 point, and a spike with a bunch of cows. With little examination, I knew the herd bull was what I wanted and I told my buddy I was going to take him. With my bi-pod down, I tried to slow my breather and squeezed the trigger. What felt like a good shot and sounded like one too, the bull took off! He had ran off with his herd to disappear for brief amount of time. It didn't take much time to pick him out when they reappeared again, he was rounding the cows up and they started to come back our way. He would then give me the opportunity to send the second round down range to send the final blow that would drop him in his tracks! With a quick exchange of a hug, we moved our way over to where my bull laid, only to find him in a 4' 1/2"  to 5' deep hole with old growth logs on the up hill and down hill side. After a long night we finally made our way back to camp to get some rest. With my bull down, the work would begin. The 3rd Nov. 2013 we spent all day quartering the bull and packing meat to stage it along the trail. On the 4th Nov. 2013 we packed up camp to head down the mountain and go home to get some rest for the next day for our last push up the mountain. We would come back up the mountain to retrieve the meat on the 5th Nov. 2013 to pack meat once again all day until it was all down the mountain. With all of this being said I'm truly blessed to hunt with that group of guys, they are sincerely second to none! I can't thank them enough for their hard work and dedication to see it through that I would be successful. Thank you!

[rosscrazyelk]

Cool looking area.  Congrats on the bull

[zelda02]

Awesome job. Congrats on the bull and great pics.

[Jrod79]

Looks like fun, congrats!

[X-Force]

looks and sounds epic! congrats

[blackveltbowhunter]

Great Bull!! Glad to see ya got some snow on your hunt!

[SemperFidelis97]

A well deserved bull, and a great story thanks for sharing.

[SkookumHntr]

Now thats an adventure!! Way to go!!

[Taco280AI]

Awesome trip

[BENCHLEG]

Nice work and great story your dad is a great man. And you r lucky to have an adventure such as yours with great friends and pops. Wow!! 2 years in a row good spot. Thanks for sharing and welcome. To hunt wa!!!

[kentrek]

That's a solid pack down to the lake..
What was your boat set up ?? Extra batries

Glad to see people whiling to work even with a draw tag

[Ice monkey]

Awesome story! Congrats!


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[HTCS]

Man.....that's cool.  That's what I was going to do this year.  Good job!

[nw_bowhunter]

Looks like a well earned bull! Congratulations..

[fireweed]

What an adventure...had the tag just to the south last year but didn't pull the trigger.  The USFS is trying to get access through that private land to the old trail that used to come in just above the small lake in your pictures.  I encourage all of you to write them to get public access returned.  They are also going to look at adding campsites somewhere along the lake next year, creating a boat in camp or two.