Utah Elk or Wyoming Antelope

[D-Rock425]

Did you have to ask us just to tease ? as Drock said in page one that's not even a question .

I honestly did not expect to take the Utah tag.  Still not exactly sure why I said yes.  Other than the wife told me to.  And when she tells me to go kill something good things usually happen!  I really am not the elk nut most on H-W are. 

I'm an elk nut i think if i only had one season to hunt it'd be elk season hands down no questions.  My second choice would be bear hunting believe it or not.

[RadSav]

I'm an elk nut i think if i only had one season to hunt it'd be elk season hands down no questions.  My second choice would be bear hunting believe it or not.

Big mule deer top my list of the OTC WA critters.  Then bear, blacktail, elk and whitetail.  When I started bowhunting elk was much higher on my list.  The thought I could poke such a larger critter with a stick and watch him do the "Timber!!" was truly thrilling. 

I remember my big 7X7 Oregon bull like it happened yesterday instead of 31 years ago.  Watching his hair open up as the arrow seemed to just get swallowed by his chest.  The way he just stood there after the shot as if he was too big, too bad, and too ornery to run away.  The way the right front leg buckled three times before the others followed suit.  The way the weight of his antlers seemed to pull him over in a spectacular event much like the falling of an old growth fir tree.  My amazement as I noticed my broadhead sticking in the tree behind where he stood and the arrow dripping of blood as if it had a fatal wound of it's own.  The difficulty I had in closing those few short yards due to the uncontrollable spasms in my leg muscles - the ultimate side effect of the moments emotional magnitude.  Yes!  There was a time when I felt there could be nothing more thrilling than bowhunting elk.

But over the years, with the exception of one opening day nemesis, elk have sort of lost their attraction.  Somewhere along the line the thrill of antler and body size gave way to the thrill of the challenge.  For me the wariness of a big mule deer, the difficulty of the stalk in high mountain huckleberry bear, and the elusiveness of the coastal blacktail all add a challenge the bullish elk no longer holds.  Make no mistake - I still enjoy hunting them!  Just like I enjoy almost all hunting of big and small game.  But as I age the work after the kill seems awful disproportionate to the thrill of the elk hunt itself.  And, they really aren't very smart creatures. 

[RadSav]

    I had to go back and count the years and look at my field notes and P&Y score sheet.  Sure enough...31 years ago!!!  No wonder I feel old

That also means that 2015 will be 35 years since I tagged my first big game critter with a bow.  I always seem to get mixed up on how long it has really been.  99% sure it was the day after setting the clocks forward for standard time in 1980.  School bus driver dropped me off at the gate after school!  Had to wait until I had my drivers license before I could get into the elk woods and get that first one.

So maybe this Utah trip will be a good one to celebrate 35 years of successful bowhunting.  Dell called today and told me he had accepted an invitation for caribou so he could not use the tag.  That means I'm definitely going.  Will be weird knowing the wife is hunting elk so far away by herself.  She will probably whack a monster and I'll come home empty handed.  Further proving that my usefulness around here no longer exists

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

[RadSav]

So is this going to cancel your goal of a 280+ bull in western wa ? I was really excited to see what you could come up with

Long talk with the wife yesterday.  She told me to go for the entire Utah season or a big bull, which ever ends first.  I tried to get her to come along - No!  Tried to talk her into hunting the Muzzy season - No!  So it looks like she is going to hunt elk on her own or with one of our friends during early archery.  That leaves cows only in the late season if we want to hunt together.

If we draw multi-season elk of course all that changes.  After the draw we will talk some more and weigh the choices once more.  I will probably put in for "Points Only" for elk.  I'm good at that since even applying for hunts the past 18 years has only been a point option for me   So maybe I will wait until I return from Utah to make my decision if not drawn for multi-elk.  If I get back early or the business is not a complete mess I may pick up a muzzy tag and still have a chance at hunting those bigger bulls.  I'm sure they will still be there and I'm not too worried about others finding my spots and pushing them out.  There is a reason those big boys are where they are!

[D-Rock425]

You shot that bull before I was born.