Post by: Wyoming08 on October 07, 2010, 10:59:50 AM
This was in the South Cache unit we were basically in site of Bear Lake on the southwest side. We had only seen 2 other bulls in the area above Randolph where we first started the hunt. One was pretty good and the other was a good herd bull that my buddy caught through a spotting scope herding his cows back into the trees. We spent another full day trying to get in on that bull but he would not come out of the pines anymore though you could hear him grunting like crazy.
The bull we found was in an area we had decided to descend into on foot because we had heard a good bull bugling in the area during the morning. He was still at it in the afternoon and we were probably a canyon or two over when we came upon this burn area right after a heavy rain storm. Lindy spotted a doe deer out feeding and I saw 2 cows and a calf elk. We obviously decided to sit tight and watch the area. About 15 minutes later I looked back toward the ridge (the one from pic 2) and saw this bull feeding in the lush chokecherry bushes. I told Lindy and she about had a heart attack on the spot. I could see that his fourth’s were good and that his sixth’s reached back pretty far on his body and that they were all nicely polished. We moved in a little closer and ranged at 450yds. I had Lindy set up in shooting sticks and told her to take the shot as he was broadside and feeding. She had shot well during some practice at 400 yds and I had no doubt she could kill the bull if she could settle down. She picked out her own rife a few years back though I suggested the caliber, a pretty little Rem 700 with a black laminate wood stock in.270 Win and I loaded her up some 150 grain Nosler Partitions at just over 2900 fps. She was pretty wound up and just as she was squeezing the trigger but I had her pull off because he moved into a stand of trees and then turned and started making his way downhill. It looked like he would come right to us so I picked out a spot where he would clear the bushes and ranged at 300 yds and told Lindy when he stepped out there to kill him. What we didn’t know was that the chokecherry was 6 to 7 feet tall and we lost sight of the bull for about 10 minutes. We could hear him sometimes and I thought maybe he would bed back down and we would be forced to wait him out until evening again. It was about 5pm. We kept watching and luckily Lindy caught sight of him to the far right where he had come out of the bushes and was now headed into the bottom of the canyon that separated us from him. We jumped up and moved as quickly as possible to try and cut him off because there was thick aspen cover where he was headed and we knew we would lose him if he made it there. About 2 minutes later as we were moving across the open sage flat where we had been, we came face to face with him at about 80 yds (or closer) and we dropped slowly to our knees in the sage. He had cleared the bottom of the canyon and came onto our side obviously oblivious we were right there. I checked through my binocs quickly to make sure it was the same bull and asked Lindy if she liked him. She said yes and I said drop him now. Her shot hit just low in the front shoulder but cut through one lung and was fatal. He didn’t go right down but I saw him buck and could see the wound impact as he trotted off just a short distance. He stood there a few minutes and then laid down in the sage. His head was up for a bit and then he laid it down but he kept snapping it up every time that other bull would bugle. It was kind of sad to watch and when we were certain he wasn’t going to bolt I walked over and put another round in and he expired quickly. All in all it was pretty intense. Lindy says she is now fully addicted to elk hunting. It was awesome to be a part of and cool for just her and me to experience.
It was a bit of a challenge getting him out because the canyon we were in had no good way of getting out or in without going totally cross country for a good mile. We spent a day and a half trying to find any decent trail into the area and finally did. But that was after I had already carried a hind quarter on my pack with no trail up and over the ridge which sucked. When we found the trail I carried the head out on my pack and then we got the rest the next day. Some people that were camped next to us came the last day and carried one front shoulder and a bag of tenderloins.
Post by: coop2424 on October 07, 2010, 11:06:14 AM
Post by: Wyoming08 on October 07, 2010, 11:18:20 AM
Post by: jackelope on October 07, 2010, 11:24:52 AM
Maybe I'll change it.
:dunno:
Post by: Wyoming08 on October 07, 2010, 11:56:15 AM
Post by: coop2424 on October 07, 2010, 12:05:08 PM
I had to make it in Pink cause Brandon's Wife Shot it. :IBCOOL:
Well that is great but us colorblind can't read the damn thing.. At least post pics for us that can not read it..
Post by: BlackRidge on October 07, 2010, 12:15:43 PM
Post by: coop2424 on October 07, 2010, 12:21:29 PM
Post by: Wyoming08 on October 08, 2010, 04:46:10 PM
Post by: BENCHLEG on October 08, 2010, 05:22:09 PM
Post by: dougedoug on October 08, 2010, 05:25:28 PM
Post by: 400out on October 08, 2010, 05:41:08 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 08, 2010, 05:42:54 PM
Post by: bowhunterforever on October 09, 2010, 12:40:56 AM
Post by: SirSpencer on October 09, 2010, 07:56:06 AM
Post by: Clipboard guy on October 09, 2010, 06:48:39 PM