Not the toutle bull I wanted

[nontypical176]

Well after so many years of putting in for the toutle unit I finally draw a Muzzle loader Toutle tag.  Of all the years I could have drawn this had to be the one.  Stuck working in Colorado since July and couldn't make it home until Friday Oct. 1, the 2nd being the opener.  Never work this far from home, but thats the way it goes.  I drew the tag with my buddy who also drew a cow tag somewhere?  Anyhow too the hunt.

I get home and start throwing my gear in the truck and running around making sure nothing is forgotten, my buddy did a little scouting but we werent sure which gates would be locked and Asshauser(Weyerhauser) didn't change their recording til late in the evening and so it was that our origional walk in plans were out....They were opening the gates to all comers.  So we decided not to camp and just face the crowds for the first day and wow were there a ton of people.  It was hard to tell who was hunting and who was just out screwing around.  We thought about camping on the state land between the South fork of the toutle and the mud flows but there were so many people over there it was crazy.  We just did what we could to stay away from the crowds.

The Weather.  Dang it was like summertime all the way up to the final day of the season.  Should have been out there in a tank top, and shorts.  Slept in the back of the truck with one little old blanket on me and was almost too warm.  Trying to sneak up on anything was tough and the bulls had the cows well hidden.  Nothing wanted to move in this heat.  During the week, the gates remained open, but the WDFW had sent us a stupid little piece of pink paper saying we were ok to be in there, but I saw more rigs without than with it.  The map they give you was put together by third graders and don't even show the state land.  Glad I knew the area, from living farely close.  Pretty dissapointed with the WDFW.....again, but I don't want to get into that.

We didn't see many bulls and most of the hunters we talked to hadn't either, I met cow hunters that ate their tags.  Day 4 I put a couple guys on a spike I'd sptted off the end of a landing and they shot him.  I kept holding out for bigger, but day 5 of 7 rolled around and I was finally hearing some bugling.  Got a bull to holler back at me and then here they came.  I wasn't ready but 2 cows came over a hill, then 2 more and then 8 cows with a bull centered in the middle of them moving like a school of sardines.  The cows were just feeding along but the bull had his head on a swivell looking for his oponent.  At one point he was at the back of the heard about 90 yards out broadside and I let him have it.  One shot through the shoulder he walked like he wasn't hit about 40 feet and then dropped.  Not the Toutle bull I waited all these years for but.......Meat on the table.

[nontypical176]

This was the first day me and my partner weren't hunting near eachother.  I couldn't get a hold of nobody to help pack and he was just 250' to a road.  So I gutted him and started dragging......whole.....alone.  Man them elks is heavy, but I got him to within 100' of the truck, 6"s at a time until I could reach him with my cable.  The hardest part was getting him into the danged truck.  I won't pack another out alone...wasn't worth it.

My house is actually in an either sex unit.  Sometimes elk move through there and when I got home from Colorado, my game cam shows pictures of elk about every 4 days.  I told a good friend "Go up to my place, sit on the porch, check the cam, I left a key, you know where the whiskey is, shoot an elk."  So he did.  That Monday of the season he checks my trail cam and this is what he sees.

[nontypical176]

Elk parading round my house for over 12 hours....5 point bull humping right in my front yard.  Elk crap everywhere, trees desimated.  And so my buddy goes up into some timber by my place the next day and this is what he gets.

[nontypical176]

So.......I shot a rag horn with my toutle tag.  I posted on another thread that if I didn't shoot a 5 point in the Toutle I'd do a full body mount on my next rag horn......but if I was from the south my bull is a 7 pointer so I was saved by a technicality.  Can you believe it, the partner that got a Toutle tag with me missed an oportunity at a big bull the last day, but gets nothing, I shoot a rag horn and my good buddy with a general tag in an either sex unit blasts a 5 point by my house.  Gotta smile.

There are no pics of people with the elk because I didn't ask my friend for permission on his and nobody was there to snap a photo of me with mine.

[Machias]

Congrats, that's a fine bull, taste MUCH better than tag soup.  I would not be disappointed one bit.

[scout88]

cant beat a hunt where you bring home the backstrap! congrats on the bull

[archery288]

Congrats on the bull!  It's better than nothing.. Also a pretty normal bull for the Toutle..

[Jellymon]

Im just glad we can still elk hunt in this state.

[Todd_ID]

Buddy of mine had the same tag and the exact same story, or pretty close.  He ended with a bull just a tiny bit bigger than yours but still a raghorn.  He, too, was disappointed in waiting all those years to draw a tag and have a raghorn to show for it.

[BLKBEARKLR]

Seen plenty that size when I was in there during early archery season and passed on them. I did get a chance to get onto a nice 6x6 heavy framed, but could not take a shot. Oh well its hunting congrats on  the bull you took.

[Alan K]

Toutle to me is more of a guaranteed bull tag rather than a trophy tag.  Sure there are some big bulls in there, but there are big bulls in every unit. 

My dad drew the rifle tag a few years back and he passed countless rag horns all season.  He ended up just eating his tag because we didn't see anything like he was hoping for.  With the rifle tag you wouldn't necessarily expect to see any big bulls with the herd but we hunted hard trying to find one of the big boys broke off from the group after the rut but no dice.

I think the rifle Toutle tag should be in the bull elk category not the quality bull category. 

[nontypical176]

The toutle became special permit when the Mt. blew in 80.  I think it should be general hunting except from the south fork of the toutle river to the mudflow.  WDFW won't let that happen because of $$$$$$.  Its a huge unit that they can't manage.  Open it the general hunters.

Big bulls in every unit for sure, especially since they made it 3 point or better in the west(love that rule).  This is a bull my toutle partner got last year while we were hunting late muzzle loader in the general unit, me in the picture.  We seen 2 bigger than this during the early archery, same location, but didn't know anybody with the bow tag.

[nontypical176]

Picture of bear tracks I found after sneeking through a canyon.

[bowhunterforever]

Congrats he will eat good

[nontypical176]

I was glad to find this site.........about 3 months ago.  I've been working out of town and its helped me not feel so down about missing my favorite time of year to be home.  This is a great site for information.  Before this hunt I bought a new Knight Bighorn 50 cal., had a wolverine, just had to have a better M.L. for the occasion.  Looking on here I found lots of stuff on bullets and loads, threw out my pellets and went with 100 grains 777 loose, threw out my bullets and bought the Hornady SST's, wanted the Barnes, but the 300 grain Hornady's are carried at the local stores.  They shoot accurate and this is what my bullet looked like going through the shoulder and stopping just inside the hide on the other side.  Completely destroyed the heart and other vital organs.

Thankyou HuntingWashington.com and members.  Even though some of us don't see eye to eye, most conversations are great.  Hope you've liked my pics.....I've certainly enjoyed yours.