Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: tvandy45 on August 30, 2021, 08:17:33 AM
-
The 2021 Elk season is either upon us or right around the corner! I didn't see a current harvest thread for 2021 and thought i should start one. Please Pin it Mods!
Anyways I was able to get out for the Oregon archery season opener and fate would have it that I punched my tag. I got into this stud 5x5 twice. I got in between him and his cows and bugled in his face. He never bugled back but just decimated a poor unsuspecting alder tree that was near by. With his head down I closed 50 yards and got in tight (15 yards or so). However, he had the high ground and I just wasn't comfortable fitting an arrow through the brush that covered his vitals. He didn't like that he couldn't see the elk that was making the bugle and thrashing sounds and bugged off.
After the adrenaline dump i hung out and gave him about 45 mins to an hour to cool off and started tracking them. About 300 yards down the hill i was bumming a long this old skid road where it looked like they crossed and I heard a snap in the brush 10 yards off the road. I side stepped off the road and tugged tight against the brush. I heard another snap snap and i saw an elk body walking through the brush from right to left at 20 yards. I saw the horns and knew it was him. I was thinking no sh** this guy is going to step out on the road, this never happens to me. As he walked past the last tree before stepping out i drew back, and he took two steps out in the open and i let er fly. I saw the luminoc enter and disappear right behind the front shoulder. He went 30 yards and tipped over. I could not be more ecstatic.
I called my buddy and he rounded up my brother and pops and they headed my way. I was 6 miles in so I was in some trouble if i didn't get any help. We got back to the gate at 3am tired, sore feet, dehydrated and hurting but full of smiles and ready to get back out and do it again!
Cheers to the best time of year!
Lets see those photos and hear those stories!
- Travis
-
Congrats on a great bull! What a way to kick off the season.
-
I think we exceeded the weight capacity of our bike trailer....
adding a couple more
The 2021 Elk season is either upon us or right around the corner! I didn't see a current harvest thread for 2021 and thought i should start one. Mods feel free to pin this if you want.
Anyways I was able to get out for the Oregon archery season opener and fate would have it that I punched my tag. I got into this stud 5x5 twice. I got in between him and his cows and bugled in his face. He never bugled back but just decimated a poor unsuspecting alder tree that was near by. With his head down I closed 50 yards and got in tight (15 yards or so). However, he had the high ground and I just wasn't comfortable fitting an arrow through the brush that covered his vitals. He didn't like that he couldn't see the elk that was making the bugle and thrashing sounds and bugged off.
After the adrenaline dump i hung out and gave him about 45 mins to an hour to cool off and started tracking them. About 300 yards down the hill i was bumming a long this old skid road where it looked like they crossed and I heard a snap in the brush 10 yards off the road. I side stepped off the road and tugged tight against the brush. I heard another snap snap and i saw an elk body walking through the brush from right to left at 20 yards. I saw the horns and knew it was him. I was thinking no sh** this guy is going to step out on the road, this never happens to me. As he walked past the last tree before stepping out i drew back, and he took two steps out in the open and i let er fly. I saw the luminoc enter and disappear right behind the front shoulder. He went 30 yards and tipped over. I could not be more ecstatic.
I called my buddy and he rounded up my brother and pops and they headed my way. I was 6 miles in so I was in some trouble if i didn't get any help. We got back to the gate at 3am tired, sore feet, dehydrated and hurting but full of smiles and ready to get back out and do it again!
Cheers to the best time of year!
Lets see those photos and hear those stories!
- Travis
-
Congrats
-
Nice !! Done the zip tie fix a flat before
-
Congrats, way to start off the season. I hope you didn't have any big hills to go down with that trailer before the tire blew??? I noticed weight in my trailer and down hills is not a good thing.
-
Nice bull congrats.
-
Nice bull!
-
Unfortunately it was mostly downhill on the way out - Which is typically a relief since we can distribute the weight and let gravity due the rest in getting us to the truck. When the tire shredded we had to walk it all the way out which defeats the point of bringing bikes in the first place. Definitely gotta get beefier ones before heading out again.
Congrats, way to start off the season. I hope you didn't have any big hills to go down with that trailer before the tire blew??? I noticed weight in my trailer and down hills is not a good thing.
-
Congrats, way to kick the season into high gear :tup:
-
Awesome work! Congratulations.
-
Unfortunately it was mostly downhill on the way out - Which is typically a relief since we can distribute the weight and let gravity due the rest in getting us to the truck. When the tire shredded we had to walk it all the way out which defeats the point of bringing bikes in the first place. Definitely gotta get beefier ones before heading out again.
Congrats, way to start off the season. I hope you didn't have any big hills to go down with that trailer before the tire blew??? I noticed weight in my trailer and down hills is not a good thing.
and get thorn proof inner tubes. With slim.
-
Yep, put slime tubes on all you MT bike and trailer tires. They flat out work.
https://www.slime.com/us/products/tube-sealant/lawn-garden/tubes/smart-tubes.php (https://www.slime.com/us/products/tube-sealant/lawn-garden/tubes/smart-tubes.php)
-
Nice work!
-
Congrats on your bull and great write up.
-
Nice work!!
-
Opening day 7:15........didn't last long. :) Great morning, bulls bugling on all sides of us. Called in this one as well as another 1x2, a 5 point, a 4 point, and saw 3 really nice 6xs while getting into the spot.
-
Nice spiker
Congrats
-
Nice one Nock ! Tall spikes !
-
Yeeeehaw - Good looking spike! Nice work - those are the absolute best eating IMO
-
Congrats, both are great looking elk
-
Opening day 7:15........didn't last long. :) Great morning, bulls bugling on all sides of us. Called in this one as well as another 1x2, a 5 point, a 4 point, and saw 3 really nice 6xs while getting into the spot.
Holy *censored*! They do exist!!!!
-
Opening day 7:15........didn't last long. :) Great morning, bulls bugling on all sides of us. Called in this one as well as another 1x2, a 5 point, a 4 point, and saw 3 really nice 6xs while getting into the spot.
Nothing better than a spike for eating! Congrats Chris.
-
My brothers Wyoming bull. G3's are 22.5". He is pretty excited about it.
-
My brothers Wyoming bull. G3's are 22.5". He is pretty excited about it.
Nice bull
-
My brothers Wyoming bull. G3's are 22.5". He is pretty excited about it.
Very nice bull congratulations
-
Dang! What unit in Wyoming?
-
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210919/a0e3df689fba2e4fe41e4ec7cc5b1b79.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Nice one :tup: Way to get it done
-
My bestfriend and I were very lucky to be able to kill these bulls this last week. It was a crazy year.
-
Congratulations!
-
Great bulls boys. Very proud of my sons
-
Are those NO-LI hats!? Good choice! Nice elk guys!
-
Great bulls ! Where’s moms elk ?
-
👍 good job fellas
-
Had this guy sneak into the call and killed him at about 35 yards. I was solo, it was evening and I had a lot of work to do so I regrettably didn’t get the field photos he deserved. He aged out in the 12-13 range, was probably his last go around at the rut. Had a shoulder hump like a camel, hips like a Holstein, bad teeth and zero fat. Good run old boy I’m glad to have ya.
-
That a *^%# dragger !!
-
That a *^%# dragger !!
:chuckle: look at the mass on that thing! Congrats!
-
Holy mass!!
-
Nice bull. Lewy
-
Wowzers !!!!!!! Nice bull!!
-
Holy Mass Batman!!! More than a damn nice bull. Good job.
elksnout
-
Had this guy sneak into the call and killed him at about 35 yards. I was solo, it was evening and I had a lot of work to do so I regrettably didn’t get the field photos he deserved. He aged out in the 12-13 range, was probably his last go around at the rut. Had a shoulder hump like a camel, hips like a Holstein, bad teeth and zero fat. Good run old boy I’m glad to have ya.
man that bad boy has stumps coming out of his head. Congrats
-
Sir that is a dinosaur. Congratulations!
-
Totally believe you on the age of that bull! What a hog! My mom's cousin lived in Willard and chased this old boy around the big lava bed for years until one day they met and he connected with his muzzleloader. They aged the bull around 13 years and he had horrible teeth and his rack was just massive like that with a few broken tines. His nose dropped off on the front like an old moose too. Awesome bull!
-
Had this guy sneak into the call and killed him at about 35 yards. I was solo, it was evening and I had a lot of work to do so I regrettably didn’t get the field photos he deserved. He aged out in the 12-13 range, was probably his last go around at the rut. Had a shoulder hump like a camel, hips like a Holstein, bad teeth and zero fat. Good run old boy I’m glad to have ya.
Wow, what beautiful symmetry and mass. Well done.
-
This thread is making us who shot cows too bashful to post pictures! Some mashers! Nice work everyone!
-
This thread is making us who shot cows too bashful to post pictures! Some mashers! Nice work everyone!
Post it up, We all enjoy looking at ALL harvest pics. Heck I posted my "masher" spike/ :chuckle:
-
Well 2021 elk is in the books for me and my buddy this year. It all started in Montana. We started out in the breaks and although we were getting close to elk, we were out of our element. So we headed to the mountains, and the first day there my buddy harvested a very nice 6 point. I called him in to 30 yards the shot was a pass though. He died within 130 yards. The pack out was rough, 5.5 miles and took 2 days to get him out. 2 days after that I harvested another super nice 6 point that my buddy called in to 24 yards for me. The bull only ran 120 yards and piled up. Couldn’t be happier with my bull. Then we headed back to Washington where I had a quality rifle tag. While although there were bigger bulls in there my itchy trigger finger took a nice little 4x5. All in all, 3 bulls in 20 days total and after the first Harvest to the last only took 10 days. What a year!!! Two Pope and Young bulls in Montana and one nice and tasty Washington cascade Roosevelt. This great year wouldn’t have been possible without great hunting buddies and supportive family.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210925/736c4150bb80840e292733e20a04a4dd.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210925/c7863344504910821ae7cae574670260.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210925/087bf5f28d42cf3f1f436b8d737a1dc4.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210925/9da41eeb9154d82c142d65fa39e58757.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Well here is my bull for this year. A very heavy 6x7. It was a Colockum quality archery tag. I will do a separate thread later with the story and more pictures. My quick measurements green scored it at 370 7/8 gross.
-
Very nice
-
Stud bull farmer! :tup:
-
Great bull Farmer72! Congratulations to all who've notched tags! I was so close so many times during archery season but now have to wait till Nov.
-
Congrats to all. An Thankx for sharing.
Great season.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Nice work to all! Absolutely awesome! You guys are killing me as I am in the middle to end process of moving out of state and no time for hunting here and 6 months for Montana residency but will not hold me back next year!! Cheers all!
-
Some nice bulls good job 👍
-
I have had a charmed fall so far. I'll do a write up giving all the credit to the guys who enabled the hunt and kill.
-
Thanks for sharing that monster, Jonathan.
A world class whopper for sure.
-
these are amazing elk!! im brand new to hunting so forgive my ignorance, but for elk like that you have to get chosen for a bull tag correct?
-
these are amazing elk!! im brand new to hunting so forgive my ignorance, but for elk like that you have to get chosen for a bull tag correct?
More or less. But a lot of good bulls are killed in OTC tags as well.
-
nice bulls guys! That is my dream animal to shoot some day! :tup: :tup:
-
That smile says it all jonathon, congrats
-
Wow, some amazing bulls this year!
-
Some amazing animals y’all!!! Congrats to everyone and hopefully lots more lucky huntwa guys and gals this fall.
-
Meat in the freezer!
-
WOW! Elk actually do exist!?!? These are some incredible bulls you guys have. Congrats to all!
-
Congrats to all. Good to see someone has been getting them to hit the dirt. Great bulls!!!
-
That is a crazy cool looking spike Phildo. Congrats
-
Nice work! Well done!
-
Almost embarressed to post this dink from my early archery Colockum tag with all the bruisers posted on here from that hunt :)
-
Great bull man, and I bet the hunt was even better!
-
Almost embarressed to post this dink from my early archery Colockum tag with all the bruisers posted on here from that hunt :)
Dont blame ya, :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
-
Yeah you must have rushed it... :chuckle:
-
This year my goal was to get an elk, period.
So here it is my first elk and first time hunting with a bow. Found a decent sized group of cows in 10 year reprod on the first morning of my hunt and stalked them as they fed down across a creek and up through a clearcut. 4 miles behind a gate solo, so appreciated its compact size. Heard some bulls, I will be back next year!
(http://)
-
Geez, some great bulls this year! Congrats to all who have harvested any elk this year :tup:
-
This year my goal was to get an elk, period.
So here it is my first elk and first time hunting with a bow. Found a decent sized group of cows in 10 year reprod on the first morning of my hunt and stalked them as they fed down across a creek and up through a clearcut. 4 miles behind a gate solo, so appreciated its compact size. Heard some bulls, I will be back next year!
(http://)
Congrats!
-
I say that in Jest. It was a great hunt and had opportunities on some great Bulls but that's bowhunting. This hunt is a really special deal for sure. I don't know where else in this state you can find so many mature bulls.
-
Great looking Cow Skagit, don't get much better eating than that
-
This year my goal was to get an elk, period.
So here it is my first elk and first time hunting with a bow. Found a decent sized group of cows in 10 year reprod on the first morning of my hunt and stalked them as they fed down across a creek and up through a clearcut. 4 miles behind a gate solo, so appreciated its compact size. Heard some bulls, I will be back next year!
(http://)
nice cow,love the meat
-
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211001/ca5860822fb6aa60c3a269a7d1e1a3e4.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211001/e9d370af5989cd713823fb8db5f7e2c7.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211001/02e984144423e0bb4a7a52eb620687f6.jpg)
Peninsula Quality Elk Tag. Full story has its own thread!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Wow what a cool bull congrats!
-
Very nice!
-
Aaahhh! I love those big Rosey bulls!
-
Yep that is a great one.
-
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211001/ca5860822fb6aa60c3a269a7d1e1a3e4.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211001/e9d370af5989cd713823fb8db5f7e2c7.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211001/02e984144423e0bb4a7a52eb620687f6.jpg)
Peninsula Quality Elk Tag. Full story has its own thread!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nice bull!
-
Almost embarressed to post this dink from my early archery Colockum tag with all the bruisers posted on here from that hunt :)
Thats a great bull. Congrats.
-
Spike from this afternoon.
-
Nice, turning lemons to lemonade. Congrats
-
Congrats!!!
-
Spike from toks afternoon
NICE
-
Muzzy opener 2 mornings ago, I found myself tucked into the woods in an area I'd been catching some recent elk activity on one of my trail cameras. The fog was thick and it was chilly, with a layer of white frost covering the ground and surrounding tree branches. Right at sunrise I let out a light bugle to see if anything would respond, but my call was met with silence. I stayed put and listened to the forest wake up around me, taking time to range different shooting lanes around me.
About 20 minutes later a doe and fawn came grazing by within about 15 yards of me. They hung around for probably 20 minutes and I swear we made eye contact multiple times, but they didn't seem overly concerned with the human shaped pile of camouflage sitting up against the tree watching them. Eventually mamma deer winded me and stomped a few times and slowly led her fawn away past and behind me.
I let out a couple of cow calls shortly after that, followed by another light bugle. Silence. I thought about moving but it was still only about 45 minutes or so after shooting light and I knew the elk sometimes moved through the little bowl I was sitting in throughout the early morning on their way up to the higher timber. I decided to stay put and have a snack. Pepperoni sticks and almonds, breakfast of champions.
A few minutes later while I'm crunching away on my food I thought I heard .......... something. I wasn't sure what, but I knew I had heard a noise. I stopped chewing for about 20 seconds and didn't hear anything. Started chewing again and immediately heard the noise again .... but this time I was able to tell that it was an elk chuckling about 100 yards away. I don't know if many of you have tried to call an elk with a mouth reed while having your face stuffed full of almonds, but I can tell you from experience it doesn't work. I swallowed/spit out my food as fast as I could and swished some water around in my mouth and spit that out too and threw in the mouth reed. I let out a couple cow calls that were immediately answered by more chuckling, still about 100 yards out it sounded like. I grabbed the bugle and let out a few chuckles of my own, and those were met with silence.
I sat there for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only about 3 minutes, wondering if I should get up and make a move on this guy or stay put and try to call him in. I decided I'd bugle one more time - a bit more aggressively this time - and see what happened before making a decision on whether to move or stay put. I let out a quick, but aggressive high pitched bugle and dropped it into several chuckles. This was immediately met with screaming mad bugle in return, probably 60 - 75 yards away just on the other side of the hill. He's coming in.
I quickly double check the ranges in my 3 shooting lanes ...... 50 yards, 60 yards, 65 yards. I had a 4th shooting lane that was only 36 yards away, but the sun had just started peeking through the fog and was literally right in my face in that lane. I cow called a couple of times and he immediately chuckled back a couple times, close enough that I knew he was on my side of the hill and that I should be able to see him. I was scanning the woods and that's when I saw antlers trotting up pretty quickly 50 yards straight ahead of me. He was in a bunch of thick undergrowth, facing me, and all I could see was his head and antlers. Gun up but no clear shot. He stands there scanning the surrounding woods for about 3 minutes, chuckling every 30 seconds or so and doing his best to give me a heart attack hoping he doesn't turn and leave.
He finally grows weary of not seeing any elk and slowly turns around. My heart sinks. As he's taking his first few steps away, I grab the bugle and let out a couple quick chuckles. He immediately turns around cuts loose with an ear piercing bugle that carried on for several seconds, with steam billowing out of his mouth. He then proceeded to murder an innocent young tree before lifting his head and letting rip with another ear splitting bugle. Still standing facing me, still in the same thick underbrush. I cow call once, and that did it.
He turns broadside and walks directly into the shooting lane that has me looking directly into the sun. I'm squinting trying to see, and he was kind enough to step in front of the sun and block it out with his body while stopping to bugle one last time. 36 yards, safety off - boom. I'm immediately blinded by the sun again as he darts off, but out of the corner of my eye I catch a quick glimpse of him with his head down running as he quickly hits the thick timber. I immediately pull out my kit to start reloading but only seconds later I hear the unmistakable sound of an elk crashing through the brush, and then the even more unmistakable sound of an elk crashing to the ground. Then dead silence.
I reload and wait about 5 minutes and then slowly start to tiptoe in the direction he went. I hadn't made it 15 yards before I saw him, he had only gone 40 yards and crashed face first into some branches and fell over. My shot was at an uphill angle and had clipped the top of his heart and took out his far lung, he died within seconds.
This was a solo hunt, but I was thankfully able to get the Ranger within about 300 yards of the bull. That said though, I'm only 2 1/2 months removed from having the torn labrum in my left shoulder surgically repaired and the physical therapist just last week cleared me to lift 'up to 15lbs'. She's going to be thrilled to discover how far I've progressed only 5 days later :chuckle: Needless to say quartering that thing out and packing everything the short distance to the quad was no easy task with one arm and maybe 1/4 of use of the other arm. Wife wasn't too thrilled that I didn't call for help, but there's no cell service there and I didn't want to hike over a mile back to the truck and drive out of there to get into cell range. It was supposed to be nearly 70 degrees that day and I made the decision to just take care of it myself as quickly as possible to avoid any meat spoilage. I'm a bit sore but it was entirely worth it. One of my most memorable hunts to date.
Thanks for letting me share, and thank you to the 290 grain Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ for doing its job flawlessly!
-
Recovered from far side shoulder
-
Muzzy opener 2 mornings ago, I found myself tucked into the woods in an area I'd been catching some recent elk activity on one of my trail cameras. The fog was thick and it was chilly, with a layer of white frost covering the ground and surrounding tree branches. Right at sunrise I let out a light bugle to see if anything would respond, but my call was met with silence. I stayed put and listened to the forest wake up around me, taking time to range different shooting lanes around me.
About 20 minutes later a doe and fawn came grazing by within about 15 yards of me. They hung around for probably 20 minutes and I swear we made eye contact multiple times, but they didn't seem overly concerned with the human shaped pile of camouflage sitting up against the tree watching them. Eventually mamma deer winded me and stomped a few times and slowly led her fawn away past and behind me.
I let out a couple of cow calls shortly after that, followed by another light bugle. Silence. I thought about moving but it was still only about 45 minutes or so after shooting light and I knew the elk sometimes moved through the little bowl I was sitting in throughout the early morning on their way up to the higher timber. I decided to stay put and have a snack. Pepperoni sticks and almonds, breakfast of champions.
A few minutes later while I'm crunching away on my food I thought I heard .......... something. I wasn't sure what, but I knew I had heard a noise. I stopped chewing for about 20 seconds and didn't hear anything. Started chewing again and immediately heard the noise again .... but this time I was able to tell that it was an elk chuckling about 100 yards away. I don't know if many of you have tried to call an elk with a mouth reed while having your face stuffed full of almonds, but I can tell you from experience it doesn't work. I swallowed/spit out my food as fast as I could and swished some water around in my mouth and spit that out too and threw in the mouth reed. I let out a couple cow calls that were immediately answered by more chuckling, still about 100 yards out it sounded like. I grabbed the bugle and let out a few chuckles of my own, and those were met with silence.
I sat there for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only about 3 minutes, wondering if I should get up and make a move on this guy or stay put and try to call him in. I decided I'd bugle one more time - a bit more aggressively this time - and see what happened before making a decision on whether to move or stay put. I let out a quick, but aggressive high pitched bugle and dropped it into several chuckles. This was immediately met with screaming mad bugle in return, probably 60 - 75 yards away just on the other side of the hill. He's coming in.
I quickly double check the ranges in my 3 shooting lanes ...... 50 yards, 60 yards, 65 yards. I had a 4th shooting lane that was only 36 yards away, but the sun had just started peeking through the fog and was literally right in my face in that lane. I cow called a couple of times and he immediately chuckled back a couple times, close enough that I knew he was on my side of the hill and that I should be able to see him. I was scanning the woods and that's when I saw antlers trotting up pretty quickly 50 yards straight ahead of me. He was in a bunch of thick undergrowth, facing me, and all I could see was his head and antlers. Gun up but no clear shot. He stands there scanning the surrounding woods for about 3 minutes, chuckling every 30 seconds or so and doing his best to give me a heart attack hoping he doesn't turn and leave.
He finally grows weary of not seeing any elk and slowly turns around. My heart sinks. As he's taking his first few steps away, I grab the bugle and let out a couple quick chuckles. He immediately turns around cuts loose with an ear piercing bugle that carried on for several seconds, with steam billowing out of his mouth. He then proceeded to murder an innocent young tree before lifting his head and letting rip with another ear splitting bugle. Still standing facing me, still in the same thick underbrush. I cow call once, and that did it.
He turns broadside and walks directly into the shooting lane that has me looking directly into the sun. I'm squinting trying to see, and he was kind enough to step in front of the sun and block it out with his body while stopping to bugle one last time. 36 yards, safety off - boom. I'm immediately blinded by the sun again as he darts off, but out of the corner of my eye I catch a quick glimpse of him with his head down running as he quickly hits the thick timber. I immediately pull out my kit to start reloading but only seconds later I hear the unmistakable sound of an elk crashing through the brush, and then the even more unmistakable sound of an elk crashing to the ground. Then dead silence.
I reload and wait about 5 minutes and then slowly start to tiptoe in the direction he went. I hadn't made it 15 yards before I saw him, he had only gone 40 yards and crashed face first into some branches and fell over. My shot was at an uphill angle and had clipped the top of his heart and took out his far lung, he died within seconds.
This was a solo hunt, but I was thankfully able to get the Ranger within about 300 yards of the bull. That said though, I'm only 2 1/2 months removed from having the torn labrum in my left shoulder surgically repaired and the physical therapist just last week cleared me to lift 'up to 15lbs'. She's going to be thrilled to discover how far I've progressed only 5 days later :chuckle: Needless to say quartering that thing out and packing everything the short distance to the quad was no easy task with one arm and maybe 1/4 of use of the other arm. Wife wasn't too thrilled that I didn't call for help, but there's no cell service there and I didn't want to hike over a mile back to the truck and drive out of there to get into cell range. It was supposed to be nearly 70 degrees that day and I made the decision to just take care of it myself as quickly as possible to avoid any meat spoilage. I'm a bit sore but it was entirely worth it. One of my most memorable hunts to date.
Thanks for letting me share, and thank you to the 290 grain Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ for doing its job flawlessly!
Awesome! Congrats on the bull!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Way to go man, congrats on a great elk.
-
Congrats. Beautiful bull. Great write up.
-
Congrats on a beautiful bull. Love those barnes bullets in the muzzys!
-
Congrats on a great bull and awesome write up.
-
Congrats nice job
-
Cedarpants-
That's a great bull and story! I use the same bullet, have the same results- love them! Congrats! Lot of work for a 1 and 1/4 armed man.
-
:tup: Nice!
-
Thanks for the love all. Appreciate it. Happy hunting and stay safe out there.
-
Nice write-up Cedar pants! Congratulations
-
Muzzy bull. My biggest one so far. Feeling very thankful
-
11 yr old daughter’s first Roosevelt.
-
So............awesome, nice bull!! Good for your daughter and Congrats to you both
-
11 yr old daughter’s first Roosevelt.
heck yeah that’s fantastic!
-
Observatory Quality Rifle Bull for Clayton !
-
Thanks for posting a few pictures. Really struggling getting photos sized correctly to post. Hoping to share the story in the near future.
-
Think I got the pictures figured out.
Stump is his name! As a fresh teenager he was bound and determined to pack out his head and cape. Lucky for him it was a short haul but I'm still proud of him being willing to accomplish this.
-
One more
-
Congrats to the young man!! :tup:
-
That is so.......awesome. Congrats young man and dad!
-
Harvester Hardcast scores again. 160 yards punched through both shoulders. Went about 40 yards. This blind squirrel found a nut this time. Hunted 5 hours or so. over 2 mornings and filled the freezer. Couldnt be happier.
-
:tup:
-
11 yr old daughter’s first Roosevelt.
That’s awesome 👍
-
One more
Nice! Cool to see the younger hunters scoring on nice bulls
-
My first Elk, solo, during early archery. I was so freak'n happy. The meat is wonderful too, it was a younger cow, so it's tender and not the least bit 'gamey'. To top it off, I found my fist shed while I was tracking the blood trail. But I am disappointed that it's over for me till next year...
I don't know how the picture ended up upside down, sorry.
-
nice little shed!
-
Did you drag it by the neck jstrickc? What's up with the hair loss and red neck patches?
-
Did you drag it by the neck jstrickc? What's up with the hair loss and red neck patches?
Sunlight thru the canopy
-
Did you drag it by the neck jstrickc? What's up with the hair loss and red neck patches?
Sunlight thru the canopy
:yeah:
I could barely budge the thing, let alone drag it through the woods. I did have a little buddy hangin out for a while, that frog didn't want to leave.
-
OTC public land DIY Solo…. 1st rifle tag ever. Weird but fun experience. I shot him at 90 yards in the timber.
15 miles and 6000 total vertical getting him out. He made me work!
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211025/8ae6e83ff03556abfc97edde4a193d4b.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
I like the ones I get to pack out like this.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211025/2ac7413a5099563d927567207eb9151e.jpg)
Sent from my H1A1000 using Tapatalk
-
First elk - took 20+ years in Washington.
Modern quality tag.
-
First elk - took 20+ years in Washington.
Modern quality tag.
Nice Bull. Congrats
Which unit?
-
First elk - took 20+ years in Washington.
Modern quality tag.
Heck that's a good first elk! And first post for the site! Great job man!
-
OTC public land DIY Solo…. 1st rifle tag ever...
15 miles and 6000 total vertical getting him out. He made me work!
Hold up. You shot an elk 15 miles in on your first rifle hunt? Daaannnnggg :chuckle:
Great work. Congrats!
-
OTC public land DIY Solo…. 1st rifle tag ever...
15 miles and 6000 total vertical getting him out. He made me work!
Hold up. You shot an elk 15 miles in on your first rifle hunt? Daaannnnggg :chuckle:
Great work. Congrats!
Doubt he one tripped him out. :DOH:
-
First elk - took 20+ years in Washington.
Modern quality tag.
omfg yuge lol nice one grats.
-
In Oregon, our or my season starts in the morning, but spike only but still if I get one it will be meat as we need. I can also still shoot a bear if I see one as well.
SO hopefully I get to post a ELK maybe! :IBCOOL:
-
First elk - took 20+ years in Washington.
Modern quality tag.
Nice Bull. Congrats
Which unit?
Cowiche
-
After 22 years of applying for quality elk in Washington I was lucky enough to hit the lottery and drew my blues mountain tag! This hunt was a dream come true and the guys I hunted with currently made it happen! Huge thanks to my dad for getting me started in the sport and being a outstanding mentor, my friend Aj he is a absolute beast one hell of a packer and selfless person to help all his buddies this year on there hunts, our family friend Devon for always being there to hunt with us and helping pack meat out of complete hell holes, my sister's boyfriend Shawn for making a couple trips before the season to help scout and being there to help with the hunt and lastly my dad's friend Matt he is a outstanding individual and dropped everything to help pack meat for two days! Thank you to you all!(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211031/456297148d11d31b611db9c54993dd99.jpg)
Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
-
Congrats!!
-
Wife’s White River Halloween Bull!!
-
Washington unicorn
-
Here's my archery bull from September. 6x7 from an OTC Oregon hunt.
-
Damn nice bull mister :tup:
-
OTC public land DIY Solo…. 1st rifle tag ever...
15 miles and 6000 total vertical getting him out. He made me work!
Hold up. You shot an elk 15 miles in on your first rifle hunt? Daaannnnggg :chuckle:
Great work. Congrats!
3 miles out with first load. 3 miles back in empty. 3 miles out second load. 3 miles back in empty. 3 miles out last load. The road/truck was 1200’ below the elk so 3600’ descent and 3600’ climbing. Elk can make for work!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
OTC public land DIY Solo…. 1st rifle tag ever...
15 miles and 6000 total vertical getting him out. He made me work!
Hold up. You shot an elk 15 miles in on your first rifle hunt? Daaannnnggg :chuckle:
Great work. Congrats!
Doubt he one tripped him out. :DOH:
I don’t know how folks one trip a decent size bull.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Sweet bull todd
-
Daughters spike from Friday. Snuck into 100 yards off the herd.
-
That is awesome, Congrats to you both!!!
-
Daughters spike from Friday. Snuck into 100 yards off the herd.
congrats,great meals to be had.
-
Boys got it done!
-
Eastern Wa bull tag. Quiet most of the first week then on Friday we found 2 bulls sparring and a 1x2 at 50 feet from us. The bulls were behind a stand of trees and there was a small window where the bigger bull pushed this one into the window. Fearing getting winded, I dropped the hammer on this one. A very exciting hunt to see them going at it.
Tikka T3 .300 WSM with Barnes TSX at about 75 yards.
-
That's a fine looking bull :tup:
-
Really unique fronts on that bull. Congrats
-
After hunting hard and dealing with a few curveballs and some nasty wind and rain all weekend I was able by to fill my tag with a real wall hanger on Sunday evening! :chuckle: :IBCOOL: lol
Not the biggest bull but I’m happy to get the job done. 168gr Berger VLD did a fine job. Dropped him on the spot at just over 200 yds. And he was in a decent spot to pack out.
-
Cool bull non the less!
-
My daughter’s first bull, as he lays.
-
After hunting hard and dealing with a few curveballs and some nasty wind and rain all weekend I was able by to fill my tag with a real wall hanger on Sunday evening! :chuckle: :IBCOOL: lol
Not the biggest bull but I’m happy to get the job done. 168gr Berger VLD did a fine job. Dropped him on the spot at just over 200 yds. And he was in a decent spot to pack out.
Rifle elk camp going 2 for 2 opening weekend made for some great memories. What a killer season. Best season yet. :IBCOOL:
-
A lot of youth's , especially daughters getting their first bulls this year. Way to go to all of you moms and dads getting them out and successful. This truly is what its all about
-
A lot of youth's , especially daughters getting their first bulls this year. Way to go to all of you moms and dads getting them out and successful. This truly is what its all about
I noticed this too. Amazing to see parents bringing there kids and enjoying time together. Way better enjoyment than video games. Way more life lessons and memories. Most of this community on this site seems to be doing a great job involving these youngsters. Others take note. Congrats to the young hunters out there working hard and getting it done. Congrats to the parents that are actively making there children part of there life's with what you enjoy doing and enjoying time together. Always be there for family and you will have a good hunting camp. :tup: to the success of this years hunting season.
-
I found a small Lewis River 3x3 on Nov 10th
-
Well, for the first time in 14 years I struck out. But here is the group photo. We ended up with six bulls. They got one after I left so it's not pictured.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211117/5f251dc6cfa023e3175ba85e0f18ba0e.jpg)
Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
-
Grundy53, thanks for sharing your yearly photo. I look forward to seeing your success photo! You sure had a good run on elk. You'll probably start another long run again next year. Good Luck!
-
My daughter’s first bull, as he lays. AWESOME FOR YOUR DAUGHTER!
-
Grundy53, thanks for sharing your yearly photo. I look forward to seeing your success photo! You sure had a good run on elk. You'll probably start another long run again next year. Good Luck!
:yeah: :yeah:
-
Got er done this year too. All the guys that helped out last year in Green River were in on this one. Thanks again Jon, Shane, Bobby and Keith for getting the bull out of the bottoms.
-
Got a nice young bull in Montana also. Rifle hunt this time.
-
2021 western wa muzzy. Late.
-
Nice bull big wood!!
-
Got a nice young bull in Montana also. Rifle hunt this time.
Looks like he does yoga too
-
2021 East Elk Raffle
Story here
https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,262809.0.html
Video here
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iISNCHY3MuI&feature=youtu.be
-
Show off :chuckle:
-
Show off :chuckle:
I tried to wait until everyone had a chance to post. :chuckle:
-
Show off :chuckle:
I tried to wait until everyone had a chance to post. :chuckle:
What a guy :chuckle:
-
Fantastic Video
Great Bull, great job
-
Show off :chuckle:
I tried to wait until everyone had a chance to post. :chuckle:
What a guy :chuckle:
Now do you have a picture of mister big?!?!
-
Well, for the first time in 14 years I struck out. But here is the group photo. We ended up with six bulls. They got one after I left so it's not pictured.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211117/5f251dc6cfa023e3175ba85e0f18ba0e.jpg)
Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
Man year after year! Congrats the lineup never gets old.
-
Show off :chuckle:
I tried to wait until everyone had a chance to post. :chuckle:
What a guy :chuckle:
Now do you have a picture of mister big?!?!
He's dead. Rifle rut tag holder shot him.
-
Twelve pages of elk. Nice. :tup:
-
Twelve pages of Washington elk. Nice. :tup:
:yeah:
It great to see so many members sharing success photos.
Hoping to see a few more late entries.
-
It was the kids turn this year
-
It was the kids turn this year
Nice bull! Was it a 4x5 or a 4x4? :yeah:
-
Was very happy to help out a buddy with an archery elk tag, he’s a disabled hunter so all legal. 60 yard shot and I got her at the top of the heart, died within a minute! Young cow should be great eating!!
-
Was very happy to help out a buddy with an archery elk tag, he’s a disabled hunter so all legal. 60 yard shot and I got her at the top of the heart, died within a minute! Young cow should be great eating!!
Best eating you can get. Did that a number of years ago. Every meal was 5 star. Congrats
-
150 yard shot. Strong quartered away. Smoked it. Only made it a few yards due to tumbling down the steep hillside. Happened fast. And was happy to be able to be there when my brother filled his bull tag the next day. 2 elk in 2 days. And 3 for 4 on the seasons. With opportunity for the 4th tag holder. Couldn't be a better season. Freezers are full. And I am happy to have a healthy mature cow this season.
-
Nice elk.
-
yup, nice job, cow meat is sooo much better!
-
It was the kids turn this year
Nice bull! Was it a 4x5 or a 4x4? :yeah:
4x4. His first bull. It was a great day!
-
Where's this Mr. big you guys speak of?
-
yup, nice job, cow meat is sooo much better!
There are a lot of variables to meat! We’ve had cows and bulls that ran and ran after the shot and they’re meat was like chewing rubber. I’m guessing adrenaline?! My last 6 point bull was as good as any cow I’ve shot. He never knew what hit him. :twocents:
-
yup, nice job, cow meat is sooo much better!
There are a lot of variables to meat! We’ve had cows and bulls that ran and ran after the shot and they’re meat was like chewing rubber. I’m guessing adrenaline?! My last 6 point bull was as good as any cow I’ve shot. He never knew what hit him. :twocents:
Very true, I'd agree that how quickly they die is very important.
-
Opening day westside bull- My 4th branched bull
-
Opening day westside bull- My 4th branched bull
congrats!