Well I guess the story would have to start in August when I began scouting. I have never drawn a bull tag and had never even been in the Peaches Ridge units. Fellow Primetime Outdoors member Jason Phelps acquired a couple tips from some contacts he has and off we went. We took one trip in together and I also hiked in another time, solo. We saw a few elk, but no branch antlered bulls. However, these trips helped to learn the area, topography, and logistics of camping and packing a big bull out (hopefully).
The rest of the month I was busy working, getting married, honeymooning, etc… This continued through September and part way into October. I went on another scouting trip on October 8th and 9th to hopefully find some bulls. I ended up seeing five 6x6 or bigger bulls that weekend; two of them still bugling quite heavily. The next weekend brought on a backpack mule deer hunt the ended unsuccessfully, but after that it was time to head back into Peaches for some elk hunting!
We had originally planned to have a whole Primetime Crew join me on this hunt, but due to work schedules and the like it didn’t work out. Jason and I headed in on Friday night and we had just got into the tent when it started raining around 8 pm. It rained all night and into the next morning. I finally rolled out of the sleeping bag and decided to head one direction while Jason headed the other hoping to scout out a big bull a couple days before the season started or lay the smack down on a muley buck if one chose to show his face. This continued on Sunday and by that evening we had scoped out six 6x6 and three 5x5 bulls.
I had told Jay when we were hiking in that I was looking to shoot the first 6x6 I could get a shot at. Of course, we decided to concentrate on those areas holding bulls of that caliber. Sunday night, Mother Nature decided to deliver us about an inch of snow just to make sure we were good and cold the next day. The snow blew about in the wind throughout the morning making it difficult to spot any of the bulls. Jay ended up spotting two nice bulls moving together through an opening. We made a stalk, followed tracks and apparently got busted as we found two empty, melted out beds in the adjacent timber patch. We hiked back to a good viewing point and I spotted a herd with a good bull moving from an opening into some thicker timber around noon. We hiked a few miles and spent the rest of the day peeking through gaps in the fog and trying to stay warm while hiding from the 20-30 mph wind blowing snow all over creation.
We did end up running into a 5x5 next to camp just before dark, but I didn’t get too excited and he ended up moving on.
Tuesday morning I was happy to see clear skies that would be perfect for spotting a bull early and getting on him before he moved into the timber. It didn’t take long as shortly after daylight I spotted what I think was the same herd as the one we had saw the day prior. We walked a quick couple, three miles to get above them and started moving our way down the slope following the timberline as to stay out of the open. Due to the convex nature of the hill slopes it was pretty difficult to see an elk before it was going to be right in your lap. Regardless, I happened to spot a cow at a distance and we stayed just inside the timber edge moving down the hillside. We found a good position to see where the elk would enter the timber or continue feeding in the openings and posted up about 30 yards about apart, scanning the area with our binoculars. The cow was nowhere to be seen.
After about 5 minutes, Jason says, “Elk! It’s a bull!” So I hurried over to him and he began to get the camera ready. I think we both had a hard time seeing his antlers, but at this point all I was thinking is, “He is going down!” The bull moved right to left behind a small noble fir covering his entire body and I ran ahead 15 yards to a break in the topography where I had a better viewing angle. Jay and I had good communication and as soon as the bull was to pop out, I was going to whistle and stop him, so we could capture the shot on film. All went as planned except I didn’t quite hold up my end of the bargain. I missed at around 225 yards! I had felt very confident shooting off of the bench on the range to around 500 yards or so, but this wasn’t the range! I was shooting downhill aiming on approximately a 60-70% slope, leaning across my knee, shooting at the biggest bull I have ever had in my crosshairs. After the recoil, I noticed the bull didn’t move and I cycled another cartridge in the chamber so fast it would of made Bob Munden look twice. The second shot proved just as fatal as the first and as I put the third round into the path of the firing pin I decided that on this shot I was really going to take my time. I took a couple a breaths and squeezed on an exhale. The bull darted to the left and out of sight. Jay said he saw him hunch up good and we headed down to start tracking. It didn’t take long as he only ran about 125 yards or so and then decided to roll another 70-80 yards down the hill just to make sure our legs were really burning by the time we got him out. We boned him and packed him and our camp out. I think Jason and I both are still recovering from the bruises, aches, and pains.
-Trevor Kaech
Overall, Awesome Hunt!!
