Bearpaw's OIL Utah Elk Hunt

[bearpaw]

Come on now, you should get at least a 380 class bull on the opening day of archery; you're a trained professional!

Anything less than 400” from you really disappointing, all the years of scouting the unit, your expert eyes on judging antler size, etc......

Really if you think about it this could make or break your business, who would want to book a hunt with a professional guide that can’t get himself a monster bull in a slam dunk unit.🤣

  I know you guys are poking fun, but I am going to explain how I'm a bit different than some hunters. Size is generally not the most important thing to me personally, anyone who has been in my home knows this, I have some mounts of animals that score OK and other mounts that some hunters would have thrown in a horn pile in the garage or just thrown out. My hunters have taken most of the biggest animals I have hunted including  the former world record cougar. My Idaho moose barely eeks out a P&Y score, most of my hunters have killed larger, but that moose is one of my fondest memories, we grunted him in and I stalked even closer, the bull quit rubbing and stepped out broadside at 15 yards, I made the decision to take him because I was packing a bow that day even knowing I could kill a better bull with my rifle on a different day, I've never regretted that decision.

Almost all of our kids first animals are mounted due to the fact that those were their first kills. Yes, in between some of the bigger bucks are shoulder mounts of a spike, a fork horn, a couple 3x3's and a doe. That doe is one of the prettiest deer mounts in my house and when I go sit in my trophy room I relive the hunts of those small bucks as fondly as the bigger ones. For my family the memories, the beauty of the animal, and filling the freezer are three of the most important reasons for hunting and for putting an animal on the wall. It really doesn't concern me what anyone else expects, I've mentioned what my personal expectations are, I'd love to find a bull over 340 but know there are very few bulls over 360 in this unit, during the archery season I'll take any good 6x6 if I can get him with my bow, an elk is something I've never taken with my bow. During the early rifle season and muzzy season I'll be more selective, I've got mounted bulls from rifle and muzzy hunts, but once I get to the late rifle hunt I'll take a small bull so that we will have enough elk meat in the freezer to get us through the year.

The best part of this hunt is going to be camping with my long time friend John (who guided for me 20 years ago) and his son who has a tag, and then my son is coming on the early rifle hunt, that will be a special time. Then for the muzzy hunt and the late rifle hunt I'll take along one or two of my long time guides. Earlier today I called and lined up the horses for all the hunts, I'll even be able to take along some of my favorite horses, it's going to be a blast and we'll look over a bunch of elk, but when I applied for this unit I knew I was bypassing the opportunity to hunt a premium unit with 380 to 400+ bulls, but there are other hunts I'm hoping to do in the coming years in between my business obligations and I knew I would probably draw this tag this year so I applied for it. It's hunting and I fully understand Ill end up with whatever fate and my available time will allow. Even if I don't get a big bull, this hunt will hopefully be my most memorable elk hunt due to the long anticipation and the other people involved with the hunt.

Here's to the unknown this fall... 

[Boss .300 winmag]

Come on now, you should get at least a 380 class bull on the opening day of archery; you're a trained professional!

Anything less than 400” from you really disappointing, all the years of scouting the unit, your expert eyes on judging antler size, etc......

Really if you think about it this could make or break your business, who would want to book a hunt with a professional guide that can’t get himself a monster bull in a slam dunk unit.🤣

  I know you guys are poking fun, but I am going to explain how I'm a bit different than some hunters. Size is generally not the most important thing to me personally, anyone who has been in my home knows this, I have some mounts of animals that score OK and other mounts that some hunters would have thrown in a horn pile in the garage or just thrown out. My hunters have taken most of the biggest animals I have hunted including  the former world record cougar. My Idaho moose barely eeks out a P&Y score, most of my hunters have killed larger, but that moose is one of my fondest memories, we grunted him in and I stalked even closer, the bull quit rubbing and stepped out broadside at 15 yards, I made the decision to take him because I was packing a bow that day even knowing I could kill a better bull with my rifle on a different day, I've never regretted that decision.

Almost all of our kids first animals are mounted due to the fact that those were their first kills. Yes, in between some of the bigger bucks are shoulder mounts of a spike, a fork horn, a couple 3x3's and a doe. That doe is one of the prettiest deer mounts in my house and when I go sit in my trophy room I relive the hunts of those small bucks as fondly as the bigger ones. For my family the memories, the beauty of the animal, and filling the freezer are three of the most important reasons for hunting and for putting an animal on the wall. It really doesn't concern me what anyone else expects, I've mentioned what my personal expectations are, I'd love to find a bull over 340 but know there are very few bulls over 360 in this unit, during the archery season I'll take any good 6x6 if I can get him with my bow, an elk is something I've never taken with my bow. During the early rifle season and muzzy season I'll be more selective, I've got mounted bulls from rifle and muzzy hunts, but once I get to the late rifle hunt I'll take a small bull so that we will have enough elk meat in the freezer to get us through the year.

The best part of this hunt is going to be camping with my long time friend John (who guided for me 20 years ago) and his son who has a tag, and then my son is coming on the early rifle hunt, that will be a special time. Then for the muzzy hunt and the late rifle hunt I'll take along one or two of my long time guides. Earlier today I called and lined up the horses for all the hunts, I'll even be able to take along some of my favorite horses, it's going to be a blast and we'll look over a bunch of elk, but when I applied for this unit I knew I was bypassing the opportunity to hunt a premium unit with 380 to 400+ bulls, but there are other hunts I'm hoping to do in the coming years in between my business obligations and I knew I would probably draw this tag this year so I applied for it. It's hunting and I fully understand Ill end up with whatever fate and my available time will allow. Even if I don't get a big bull, this hunt will hopefully be my most memorable elk hunt due to the long anticipation and the other people involved with the hunt.

Here's to the unknown this fall... 

Well played bearpaw.👍

Here’s to a most memorable hunt with family and friends. Cheers.

[bowhunterforever]

Congrats bearpaw Following along

[jackelope]

Just jumping in here to follow along. Hoping the best for you and your crew on your hunt, Dale. You've earned a good hunt for yourself. Hope you kill a monster.

[pianoman9701]

Best of luck, Dale. I'm sure you'll make good use of that tag. 

[bearpaw]

I've been frantically trying to get work projects finished before I start hunting.

My friend in Utah tried to get in the area we plan to bow hunt a week ago and there was still too much snow. He finally got in yesterday, they saw two raghorns and a few cows, no big bulls spotted yet, he also said the two raghorns were both bugling. He's taking his camper up later this week for a base camp during archery season. I'm going to watch the weather, I don't want to hunt elk when it's too hot due to meat spoilage concerns.

[trophyhunt]

Ahh the sweet sound of bugling already!! You have to be pumped, looking forward to your hunt.

[mfswallace]

 

[baldopepper]

Great time coming your way I'm sure. I couldn't agree more with your opinion on what constitutes a trophy.  I have several racks that are not close to B&C category, but hold memories far more important than their size. Some taken by hunters who've passed on but time spent with them around the campfire live on in those very personal trophies. Curious what unit you drew but understand if you'd rather not say

[Fl0und3rz]

Congrats Dale, looking forward to following along.

[wheels]

late on the congrats  but sounds like an awesome time coming this fall  be some good memories cant wait to read the story 

[Ironhead]

Congrats on the Utah Elk tag Dale. The hard part is done, now the fun begins. Good luck to you!

[bearpaw]

My friend who's son has a big bull archery tag has been out hunting off and on since mid August, the smaller bulls are calling some but the big bulls won't call in yet so he told his son to go back to work until the rut gets going better. In the meantime I've been trying to finish summer projects.

My dodge truck I normally use for interstate travel was in the shop getting the front end rebuilt, fuel system revised, and the in-tank fuel pump replaced. Because one of my guides was unavailable for a hunt I headed to Utah in one of my hunting suburbans towing one of my vikings to guide the hunt. It's a father and son for an archery elk hunt, the son's first ever hunt, we planned to hunt an any bull area with OTC archery tags. On my way from WA I had a little trouble with the engine missing going over 4th of July pass so I added some fuel additive and it seemed to run better. I made it to my destination without further problem but the area I had planned on hunting there was no rutting activity. In the meantime my hunters flight had been cancelled and delayed for a day so their hunt was reduced from 6 days to 5 days. I contacted them and told them I thought we should hunt a different part of Utah where waterhole hunting would be more effective and my friend had been hearing a few young bulls bugling, I told them there would be more elk but with their OTC archery tags they would be restricted to cows or spikes in that unit. they said that was fine.

I decided to take my ford f-350 on this trip but before I got to Salt Lake a brake seized up and was smoking so bad I thought the truck was going to catch on fire. it was Sunday and no repair shops were open so I waited and let it cool off and drove slowly back to swap back into the suburban. This made me several hours late, so instead of meeting for the morning hunt I met them for an afternoon hunt, now we were reduced to 4.5 days of hunting due to their delay and my delay, but finally we were on the mountain hunting. We spotted one raghorn bull that evening and made plans for the following morning hunt. Right off in the morning we spotted several groups of elk and formulated a stalk that didn't work and then another hunt in which we called in a 5x5 bull which we couldn't shoot with their tags. Then later we called in three spikes (all of them together in a group) which they could shoot but the aspens were too thick and neither hunter could take the 40 yard shot in the heavy cover.

Over the next couple days we had more failed stalks and hunts and no luck at the water holes. There is one little waterhole that I watched a cow come into a couple days before so last night I put them on that water hole and I sat up high where I could watch the whole area. About 10 minutes before the end of shooting time I saw the cow headed in on a fast water walk. She suddenly stopped about 120 yards from the natural blind we had built and stared, then she turned and ran down about 200 yards and stopped again. She stood a couple minutes then suddenly whirled again and went out to 300 yards and stopped. By now we were out of shooting time so I went and picked up the guys. We discussed what had happened and determined that she probably winded them because she came in from a different direction than we had expected. We didn't get any elk and they wished they could stay longer because we saw a lot of elk, but the father has a tight schedule that wouldn't permit extending the trip, so instead I think they will be back next year for another hunt and they are both going to try and draw big bull tags.

During this bow hunt I saw about 20 bulls including two different big bulls that I plan to check back on when I come back down again hunting for myself. I also told my friend about these two bulls. They have a big bull of their own spotted but if it don't work out this weekend they might try going after the two bulls I spotted.

Between my friend and I we've probably seen about fifteen 6x6 bulls and we currently have three very good bulls in the 330 to 360 class spotted, hopefully we can get one or two of the big ones between the two of us this season.

I've got to run back to WA to finish some projects but broke down in the suburban, the fuel pump went out! Two fuel pumps and a seized brake in a little over a week!
So I'm sitting in a repair shop while they fix the suburban then I'm headed back to WA after I get the f-350 into the shop to fix the brakes.

It's been a crazy week and a half with auto repairs.

[trophyhunt]

Damn, sounds like fun! Except the car problems, hope that gets better.

[bearpaw]

Damn, sounds like fun! Except the car problems, hope that gets better.

   me too, I had them check the suburban brakes too, found out why it's pulling right, going to be here a little longer while they install pads, rotors, and front bearings that were about shot too! Best to get it all done while I'm here!