Author Topic: 2018 Goose Prairie Archery Bull (Read 10370 times)

fuzznuts · « **on:** March 01, 2019, 05:09:19 PM »

Good evening all,

   This is the story of my 2018 Goose Prairie Quality Archery elk hunt. My apologies for writing this so late but I was too busy to do it last year after hunting season.

   I’ve drawn this tag a handful of times and got into elk, sometimes getting one and sometimes not. I have a reasonable idea of what a guy can expect and just hope for 300” or better.

   This year I arrived at camp to find other hunters nearby. “Not a big deal,” I told myself, I took the whole season off so I should have plenty of time. After a few days of hunting and seeing so many other hunters and not a lot of game, I felt that I need to make some changes to my strategy. Trying something a little different has paid off in the past and hopefully it would this year. “Just keep trying” ended up being the motto of my 2018 elk season. I was putting in the effort, but just couldn’t seem to find huntable numbers of elk. I tried all the tricks I knew, calling, glassing, sitting on trails, sitting wallows, hiking around in new areas, calling at night to locate, etc. You get the point, just not getting into elk.

   Persistence pays off, and my luck was about to change on the 17th. while glassing and calling into the evening in an area that seemed overlooked by others, I saw an elk feeding in a little rocky opening. I quickly made a plan to try to get closer and if I couldn’t by nighttime I would hunt this area for the next few days. I moved 1/2 mile down the ridge to where I estimated he was and gave a few loud raspy cow calls. He started to bugle like crazy; game on! I ran down the ridge trying to get down to this bull but I could tell it was in vain as the sun was setting quickly.

   In the morning I found myself lower on the ridge where this bull was calling to me. I got down to an elevation where I felt I would be fairly close but uphill of where I heard him the evening before. Using the same call, I gave the sexiest cow call I could muster. I wanted this guy to think Miss September was in town looking for a boyfriend. After 2-3 calls, he bugled from a bench a few hundred yards below me and to my left. Doing my best to get the wind right, I ran straight downhill, just over the top of a little finger ridge while giving some excited cow calls. It seemed like he stayed put, calling me to him. Once I felt like I was at the same elevation, I gave more cow calls and started closing the distance while he kept bugling to me. At 100 yards I dropped my pack and went into ninja mode. He kept bugling and I snuck towards him. As I came up over a rise, I saw antlers bobbing in front of me at 25 yards. His head went behind a tree and I knocked an arrow. As luck would have it, he turned 180 degrees and went behind the same tree, giving me the chance to draw my bow. As he stepped out he gave me the chance to take him, my best bull to date.

   I heard him go down 50 yards below me but decided to wait another 15 minutes, just for good measure. I sat there, savoring the moment, thinking about what had just happened. I worked my way down to him and had that indescribable feeling only a hunter knows; Happiness and joy, pride, an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, and a bit of sadness for killing such a fine animal.

   I butchered him up and spent the next two days packing elk. He ended up being a solid 6 point, with a decent amount of mass. One of his brow tines is pretty short, but overall a nice looking bull. All in all I hunted pretty much the whole season and was grateful I was able to do what I set out to do.

   Thanks for reading my story Hunt Wa, hope you enjoyed it! - Fuzznuts

JakeLand · « **Reply #1 on:** March 01, 2019, 05:14:45 PM »

Very nice ! Great story

blindluck · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2019, 06:18:20 PM »

My friend! Awesome story and trophy. You put it all together then made it count, then all alone you handeled that animal from a deep dark canyon to your freezer. You're a true sportsman and hunter. Well deserved bud!! See you on the mountain this year.

DeerThug · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2019, 06:28:28 PM »

Thats Awesome!

elkrack · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2019, 09:28:52 PM »

Great story and bull

Naches Sportsman · « **Reply #5 on:** March 01, 2019, 09:30:34 PM »

Thanks for sharing.

lewy · « **Reply #6 on:** March 01, 2019, 11:04:54 PM »

Sandberm · « **Reply #7 on:** March 02, 2019, 07:21:29 AM »

Really well executed hunt, and a well written report . Thanks for sharing.

Thats cool you didnt let the hunter pressure get you down. You just used that as an excuse to try a new area. As you said, "Persistence pays off". Your a heck of a hunter.

jae · « **Reply #8 on:** March 02, 2019, 08:31:25 AM »

What a Awesome experience!
Congratulations on your success.

bracer40 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 02, 2019, 08:54:44 AM »

Great story and pics! I’m glad you wrote it up late. Sometimes I miss some of the Hunt stories because I’m busy hunting!

fuzznuts · « **Reply #10 on:** March 02, 2019, 11:10:56 AM »

Thanks all for the kind words and I'm glad you liked the story, it was definitely a high point in my hunting career! Here are a few more pics. The first one was as he lay when I walked up on him.

fuzznuts · « **Reply #11 on:** March 02, 2019, 11:38:07 AM »

Guess I need to figure out how to run this thing!

Dan-o · « **Reply #12 on:** March 02, 2019, 12:42:44 PM »

Fantastic bull!

Fantastic hunt!

Fantastic pics!

Fantastic write up!

Fantastic share overall!

Thank you for sharing.

Does your bull ave a big old healed scar on the top of his neck (looks like it in one pic)?

Rainier10 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 02, 2019, 01:56:07 PM »

Great story and bull. Thanks for sharing. Your timing is perfect. Love to see these stories when we have some downtime.

blindluck · « **Reply #14 on:** March 02, 2019, 02:17:21 PM »

Quote from: Dan-o on March 02, 2019, 12:42:44 PM

Fantastic bull!

Fantastic hunt!

Fantastic pics!

Fantastic write up!

Fantastic share overall!

Thank you for sharing.

Does your bull ave a big old healed scar on the top of his neck (looks like it in one pic)?

Looks like the cut up the back of the neck for a shoulder mount, I can see the cut going around the side too.

fuzznuts · « **Reply #15 on:** March 02, 2019, 02:21:29 PM »

Thats exactly what it is, the cuts pre caping

hoyt2002 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 02, 2019, 02:42:10 PM »

Nice job. Thanks for sharing.

bowhunterforever · « **Reply #17 on:** March 03, 2019, 07:35:32 PM »

Great bull

DOUBLELUNG · « **Reply #18 on:** March 04, 2019, 09:52:54 AM »

Thanks for saving this one for later! this site needs as many of these posts as possible, throughout the year.

D-Rock425 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 04, 2019, 09:57:14 AM »

Nice bull.

buggy · « **Reply #20 on:** March 04, 2019, 11:37:38 AM »

Congrats again on the sweet bull! It was nice meeting you up there. Glad that a genuinely nice guy got it done. We ran into some real pricks later on that thought they owned the entire unit. Made me appreciate guys like you as a camp neighbor!

Skyvalhunter · « **Reply #21 on:** March 04, 2019, 11:40:47 AM »

Any of those pricks have a bull hanging?

buggy · « **Reply #22 on:** March 04, 2019, 02:08:17 PM »

No bulls hanging.

buggy · « **Reply #23 on:** March 04, 2019, 02:15:22 PM »

I should clarify that I only met them at a trailhead and did not see their camp but they said they hadn't had much luck. The point is that fuzznuts is an awesome guy and he killed a great bull. I am just happy I was able to meet him and bummed that I didn't get to help him pack it out.

elkoholic1 · « **Reply #24 on:** March 04, 2019, 05:20:32 PM »

very nice bull congrats....

blindluck · « **Reply #25 on:** March 04, 2019, 06:57:21 PM »

Fuzz and I hunted the unit back in 03, this is hard to believe but he showed up at camp one afternoon about 4 days into the hunt carrying a WHOLE 4x4 buck over his shoulders. No joke!!!

grundy53 · « **Reply #26 on:** March 04, 2019, 07:48:31 PM »

Nice bull! Thanks for sharing

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

fuzznuts · « **Reply #27 on:** March 05, 2019, 09:51:01 AM »

Hey guys, I’m blown away by the overwhelming response, thank you so much! Hey buggy, I would have asked but thought you guys would be hitting it hard if you hadn’t got anything yet. True story about the 4 point, back when I was in my prime! Truth be told, probably the smallest 4 point you’ve ever seen!

branches · « **Reply #28 on:** March 06, 2019, 07:07:56 PM »

That was a great hunt. Thank you for sharing your hunt with us.

JWEBB · « **Reply #29 on:** March 06, 2019, 11:39:48 PM »

Beautiful bull! Good work! What did he tape out at out of curiosity?

Shawn Ryan · « **Reply #30 on:** March 07, 2019, 12:08:57 AM »

Nice story and bull. Thanks for sharing. Great time of year to hear a September story.

Gobble Doc · « **Reply #31 on:** March 07, 2019, 01:19:18 AM »

Congrats

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bucks2Ducks · « **Reply #32 on:** March 07, 2019, 06:33:44 AM »

Thanks for posting. Glad you were able to get it done, some nice swords on that bull as well! I was over there hunting with the same tag last year. Wish I could chase Rocky Mtn bulls every year, it was a nice to get out of the wet reprod.

fuzznuts · « **Reply #33 on:** March 08, 2019, 07:41:57 PM »

Not sure of the score but going to take it down to Bighorn show later this month. I’ll put it on here when I find out. -Fuzz

JWEBB · « **Reply #34 on:** March 09, 2019, 12:05:16 AM »

Quote from: fuzznuts on March 08, 2019, 07:41:57 PM

Not sure of the score but going to take it down to Bighorn show later this month. I’ll put it on here when I find out. -Fuzz

Right on!

boneaddict · « **Reply #35 on:** March 09, 2019, 06:16:44 AM »

Sweet!

Fl0und3rz · « **Reply #36 on:** March 09, 2019, 06:54:13 AM »

I'm in awe. Thanks for sharing.

Karl Blanchard · « **Reply #37 on:** March 09, 2019, 06:55:50 AM »

Solid bull man congrats!

Jonathan_S · « **Reply #38 on:** March 09, 2019, 07:24:30 AM »

Nice bull and glad it worked out. So many similar encounters will fizzle out for no apparent reason, I'm happy for you that this one didn't

Nash · « **Reply #39 on:** March 10, 2019, 09:39:23 PM »

Sounds like a great hunt! Great bull!

Watimberghost · « **Reply #40 on:** March 11, 2019, 08:32:17 PM »

Awesome bull! That's a really cool expirience! Hard work and persistence pays off!!

elkchaser54 · « **Reply #41 on:** April 22, 2019, 12:17:59 PM »

Such a damn shame there is only 7 of these tags given out this year.

gee_unit360 · « **Reply #42 on:** April 22, 2019, 02:52:56 PM »

Well done!

Gentrys · « **Reply #43 on:** May 25, 2019, 07:53:06 AM »

Thanks for sharing. A great unit for being able to get away from other hunters.

HillHound · « **Reply #44 on:** May 25, 2019, 08:07:04 AM »

Awesome bull. Great story. I love It when you stay persistent and positive when you have every reason not to, And it pays off.

Gonehuntin01 · « **Reply #45 on:** May 27, 2019, 09:43:10 AM »

Great story and solid bull. Congrats, well done.

Birdgetter · « **Reply #46 on:** May 27, 2019, 01:07:32 PM »

Great write up! Bull has solid mass and frame too.

rosscrazyelk · « **Reply #47 on:** May 29, 2019, 09:03:39 PM »

Very cool. Congrats.

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Author Topic: 2018 Goose Prairie Archery Bull (Read 10370 times)

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