Elk camp ended with a "Freezer Bull"

[Goldeneye]

Well here’s my 2010 Roosevelt Bull.  Not a big one, but he fits well in my freezer.  Not the year for big animals for me.

 Got him after an early morning full of fog and drizzle.  Couldn’t see far because of the weather.  As my partner and I eased down in elevation the fog started to lift and drizzle increased.  We decided to move through some big timber to get a look at some reprod we knew was on the other side.  Started seeing elk moving down the mountainside through the reprod feeding down.  Saw a bunch of cows and spikes, then a glimpse of a branch antler.  We continued to follow the herd down the mountain trying to get a clear look at the branch antlered bull.  Well after a while we had ran out of cover and took a rest at the edge where we could. Then we set up to see if either of us could locate the bull moving in the trees.  Just as they were about to go over the ridge the bull showed himself to us by looking around a tree back in our direction.  At this point the drizzle was really messing with my optics.  I kept having to do finger swipes on the lens just to get a window to look through.  I cranked my scope power up on him to confirm him legal as I do not want to make a mistake (range later checked at 274 yds).  After triple checking I settle in on the front of his chest which means I shoot through the fir tree limbs.  Pulled the trigger and the rest is history.  The exit hole was a little bigger than my fist taking out 3 ribs on the way out.  There was a coffee can size chunk of lung hanging out the hole.  He was 3x4, good eater!

The first pic is as we found him.  2nd is my ugly mug with him.  Anyways, that's a wrap on my 2010 big game season.       

[Wea300mag]

Nothing wrong with that, you get to eat well this winter. Congrats.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Nice bull!

[DoubleJ]

Bigger than the bull in my freezer right now.  Come on late archery!!!

[bobcat]

Any elk is a good elk! Man that bull's antlers are sure dark!

[ribka]

Filling an elk tag in WA is an accomplishment. Take a look at the harvest stats
Congrats

[DoubleJ]

He's got orange on but NO TAG ON THE ANIMAL!!!!  I'm calling the warden!!!   

[washelkhntr]

Congrats!

[Hunterman]

Congrats...Nothing wrong with him..

Hunterman(Tony)

[Caretaker]

That's awesome, any elk is a trophy, job well done.

[ser300wsm]

Great job, congrats to you on a fine bull... 

[Charlie]

Congrats! Nice Bull for sure!!

[Hyde]

Sweet!  Way to go!

[carpsniperg2]

congrats on your bull. still beats the heck out of tag soup which a lot of people will be eating this year. so far including myself

[6x6rack]

I love the color of his horns, congrats! Nice Elk.

[zackmioli]

congrats.

[BoomWhop]

Nice Bull.  Good eats

[Jekemi]

Outstanding; Lots of meat on this guy. Did he go right down? How long did it take to get him out of there? Are you going to do a full mount or just the antlers? Good job.

[Hawk I]

Great job. Well done.

[kenjo]

Nice elk. I'll be having tag soup this year. I'm wondering if I should soak it for a few hours, or just marinade?

 

[tntklundt]

Nice job!  A little smaller then the brothers we shot in Margaret but he will taste just as good!

[Goldeneye]

Outstanding; Lots of meat on this guy. Did he go right down? How long did it take to get him out of there? Are you going to do a full mount or just the antlers? Good job.

Jekemi, He went about 20 yds.  No mount to be done.  I started killing bulls when I was 9 yrs old.  A lot have fallen since.  Of those I have 3 elk horn mounts and one elk European mount.  I have one bull that eventually I'll get a cape and do a mount on.  My dad and I combined on him when I was 16.  He's a 7x8 Rosey, many times the size of the rack on this one.  Currently the rack resides in my dad's shop.  The rest of my bull antlers are with me.  Each one has it's own memory.  The one thing about elk racks, they take up a lot of wall space.