Bearpaw Fall Season 2011

[bearpaw]

We are underway with our fall hunts and I already have a few good stories to share.

Right now I am sitting in elk camp in Utah it's late at night and I am whipped, this was our second day of hunting, on the first day it was pretty slow, elk aren't bugling good here yet and we never heard a bull until just before dark. About 15 minutes before the end of the day this bull bugles so we beat feet to try and get a look. We are hiking along and stepped up on a big rock overlooking the valley, suddenly Mike spotted 9 cows in the open but there's no bull. We are glassing all over trying to find the bull then all of a sudden there he is walking up to his cows. I checked the yardage, he's over 500, dang it, so we sneak as fast and quiet as possible to cut the yardage, we crawl up to a good rock and get the rifle settled for the shot, I checked the range, it's about 358, good enough, I looked at the bull again through my binos, he is about a 300 maybe 320 absolute tops, I whispered "hold on, I don't think he's big enough". 

I looked long and hard and there's just no way this bull is going to break 320 and it's the first day in a Utah limited-entry area. Myron has waited 11 years to draw a tag and we had already decided we were setting the minimum at 330 going into the hunt. So we both agreed he wasn't a first day bull and watched him walk away. The area we are hunting doesn't normally produce Utah's biggest bulls, but we should be able to take a 330 to 380 bull if things work out right.

Today we saw 5 moose, some mule deer another 300 class bull, a 5x5 bull, and two bear. Still no big bull spotted. Tommorow I am checking two waterholes that should be getting some elk action. Good Night....

[washingtonmuley]

Good Luck Dale

[buckhorn2]

Good luck must be hard to say don;t shoot on a nice bull. Hope you get him a big one.

[fvh40]

Good Luck Dale

[mulehunter]

 

Mulehunter   

[Gringo31]

Always look forward to this thread every fall...

Best of luck Dale!

[bearpaw]

Sitting here watching a watershed and figuring out my new phone, better now the sun is down.

[jamesjett]

Good Luck!!  Thanks for sharing!

[bearmanric]

Good luck Dale. Rick

[bearpaw]

Yesterday we passed a ragghorn  and a 280-300 class bull in the morning and saiw another 5-5 in the evening, can't seem to find the big bulls, they are here because I'm seeing their tracks. Sitting on water again tonight, it's been a slow day for us so far, hopefully we'll have some action now.

[bearpaw]

This is the water we are sitting on right now...hopefully my phone will attach the photo.

[oneezreiter]

That is a crazy view Bear, you all must be "hanging around"

[True Sportsman]

This is the water we are sitting on right now...hopefully my phone will attach the photo.

Even upside down, that looks like pretty country.

[bearpaw]

We are up on a cliff, shooting will be 150-250 if a big bull comes in. Sorry about the upside down pic, just learning this phone, haven't figure how to turn pics quite yet.
better go now, Sun is down about prime time.

[Gringo31]

Jealous!