Arizona Elk, take cover, or else
- Thread starter Big Fin
- Start date
Goldtip
New member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2009
- Messages
- 1,142
Congrats BigFin and Larry. Looking forward to the story!
elk_hunter
Active member
Awesome! Can't wait for the stories and pics!
Just gotta post this pic before I fall off the trail laughing. We had to run about 1,000 yards up and down canyons, knowing filming light was quickly fading. Larry was asked to take a shot that was very difficult and the cross-canyon angle put his beak a little too close to the scope.
He turned to me with this smile and said, "I think I hit him." I rolled on the ground laughing hysterically as the blood streamed down his nose and onto the scope and rifle.
Does this look like a happy hunter, or what?
More to follow once we get to town and drop this elk off.
He turned to me with this smile and said, "I think I hit him." I rolled on the ground laughing hysterically as the blood streamed down his nose and onto the scope and rifle.
Does this look like a happy hunter, or what?
More to follow once we get to town and drop this elk off.
And a pic of Larry's handiwork after cleaning the blood off both subjects in this photo.
Goldtip
New member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2009
- Messages
- 1,142
Congrats Larry, thats a happy elk hunters grin for sure!
Bucnutz.wis
New member
I agree !! Good color too...
A well earned battle wound I'm sure... Congradulations !!
Big Slick
Well-known member
Nice job Larry! You missed the glasses with the recoil or that could have really hurt.
montanadogs
New member
Congrats can't wait to hear the story.
elk_hunter
Active member
LOL, congrats!
shoots-straight
Well-known member
See, I told you! Congratulations again!
Where to start?
Yesterday was the best day we had with the elk. We spotted a nice 5X5 in the morning. I had him soooo close, twice, that I thought we would be the deal done. But, given the thickness of this flat terrain, not only did we fail to get the elk, but we failed to get anything for footage.
We had been working a couple spots very hard and in the mornings, we were getting into the elk. We had yet to find an elk for the afternoon/evening hunt. So, we took out the maps and started analyzing every place we had scouted.
It was very hot yesterday, so my theory was that they would come and water in the afternoon. We marked all water sources and by rating the "best" water. Best being defined as fresh and receiving new water at all times, and the surrounding areas and what comfort elk would find when coming into water.
The best water source was tightly fenced and had very little elk sign. Just too much conglomeration of junk to navigate for an elk who was thirsty. To the west of that was the second best water source. Those were the only two water sources in the 20 square mile area and given the amount of tracks in the sand, I suggested to Larry that we go try that source to the west, though we had not spent any time there. He agreed.
Things were getting down to the wire, as we had only two more filming days and no real footage to show for it. Larry agreed that any elk we saw, he would try to take, or at least make a stalk on it, to provide something for TV. I was glad to hear that, as two days earlier, he was saying he wanted the bull he had scouted that was close 350, or he would go home without an elk. Ouch, that is not what a TV guy likes to hear. Thankfully, Larry had realized the difficulty of this hunt and was now happy with any branch antlered bull.
We got up on the rock rims that overlooked the water source. It was a very active windmill and with the wind, the water was pumping clear and fast. Unknown to us, there was another windmill further up the wash, more to our north. We could see the top of the windmill from our position and figured it to be almost 3/4 mile away.
We spent two hours glassing, doing interviews, and preparing for the morning hunt. This seemed to be another one of those evenings where the elk had conspired against us.
Loren, in addition to being a great camera guy, has not spent first 30 years of his life shooting without ear protection, so hears much better than me, and way better than Larry. Loren stated he thought he heard a far off bugle. I did not hear it. We listened intently and then I heard the chuckle of a bugle that seemed to have died down. That was at least a mile off.
Quiet for about another ten minutes. Then two different bugles and not quite as far off. Sounded like right near the other windmill.
I asked Loren what we had for filming light. Since filming light usually ends about a half hour before legal shooting light, the real end of the day for us is based on what the camera guys say, not the sunset/sunrise tables.
Loren said he thought he could film for another 20 minutes, and that would require some close shots, knowing as the power of the lens is dialed up, the light transmission gets much worse. With that, I signaled Larry to load up and grab his rifle. We were on a dead sprint to cover this ground.
We headed north, up and down these rock rims and canyons. It was noisy, hot, and humid. The elk has stopped bugling. I was angling for their last known sounding, and given my poor hearing, that could have been the wrong direction.
After a full sprint for the better part of ten minutes we crested the finger ridge and I spotted three elk below and two of them were looking for the source of clamor and noise coming from our direction.
We hit the brakes and scooted to some cover of pinons. I watched as the bull laid down and started wallowing. The range was not what we wanted - 436 yards. Such a shot, without a solid rest, after having run hard for ten minutes is not conducive to killing elk. But, we really had no choice.
To be continued, as I am exceeding the allowable characters for one post.
Yesterday was the best day we had with the elk. We spotted a nice 5X5 in the morning. I had him soooo close, twice, that I thought we would be the deal done. But, given the thickness of this flat terrain, not only did we fail to get the elk, but we failed to get anything for footage.
We had been working a couple spots very hard and in the mornings, we were getting into the elk. We had yet to find an elk for the afternoon/evening hunt. So, we took out the maps and started analyzing every place we had scouted.
It was very hot yesterday, so my theory was that they would come and water in the afternoon. We marked all water sources and by rating the "best" water. Best being defined as fresh and receiving new water at all times, and the surrounding areas and what comfort elk would find when coming into water.
The best water source was tightly fenced and had very little elk sign. Just too much conglomeration of junk to navigate for an elk who was thirsty. To the west of that was the second best water source. Those were the only two water sources in the 20 square mile area and given the amount of tracks in the sand, I suggested to Larry that we go try that source to the west, though we had not spent any time there. He agreed.
Things were getting down to the wire, as we had only two more filming days and no real footage to show for it. Larry agreed that any elk we saw, he would try to take, or at least make a stalk on it, to provide something for TV. I was glad to hear that, as two days earlier, he was saying he wanted the bull he had scouted that was close 350, or he would go home without an elk. Ouch, that is not what a TV guy likes to hear. Thankfully, Larry had realized the difficulty of this hunt and was now happy with any branch antlered bull.
We got up on the rock rims that overlooked the water source. It was a very active windmill and with the wind, the water was pumping clear and fast. Unknown to us, there was another windmill further up the wash, more to our north. We could see the top of the windmill from our position and figured it to be almost 3/4 mile away.
We spent two hours glassing, doing interviews, and preparing for the morning hunt. This seemed to be another one of those evenings where the elk had conspired against us.
Loren, in addition to being a great camera guy, has not spent first 30 years of his life shooting without ear protection, so hears much better than me, and way better than Larry. Loren stated he thought he heard a far off bugle. I did not hear it. We listened intently and then I heard the chuckle of a bugle that seemed to have died down. That was at least a mile off.
Quiet for about another ten minutes. Then two different bugles and not quite as far off. Sounded like right near the other windmill.
I asked Loren what we had for filming light. Since filming light usually ends about a half hour before legal shooting light, the real end of the day for us is based on what the camera guys say, not the sunset/sunrise tables.
Loren said he thought he could film for another 20 minutes, and that would require some close shots, knowing as the power of the lens is dialed up, the light transmission gets much worse. With that, I signaled Larry to load up and grab his rifle. We were on a dead sprint to cover this ground.
We headed north, up and down these rock rims and canyons. It was noisy, hot, and humid. The elk has stopped bugling. I was angling for their last known sounding, and given my poor hearing, that could have been the wrong direction.
After a full sprint for the better part of ten minutes we crested the finger ridge and I spotted three elk below and two of them were looking for the source of clamor and noise coming from our direction.
We hit the brakes and scooted to some cover of pinons. I watched as the bull laid down and started wallowing. The range was not what we wanted - 436 yards. Such a shot, without a solid rest, after having run hard for ten minutes is not conducive to killing elk. But, we really had no choice.
To be continued, as I am exceeding the allowable characters for one post.
I looked at Larry and told him this would be a very long shot. He was trying to catch his breath from both the excitement of finally having an elk in our sights and the triathalon I had just put him through.
I looked at Loren and he said, "Take 'em, I'm on 'em." But, he gave me that look of, this is really far, this is really poor light, but since you have not found any other shooting opportunities in the last week, I am willing to try film this calamity.
With that, I told Larry to shoot when he was read. The bull then laid down again. What the hell?
Now, the bull had disappeared our position and we had to move forward to find a better angle. That meant moving the shooter and camera, all the while a cow and calf were watching us. This was getting worse by the second.
Light was now diminishing to the point where Loren could hardly make out the bull from the cows. I demanded that we take the shot, regardless and if the editors can't make it work, I would take the fall, not Loren.
The bull finally stood up and started raking the grass. I know had my spotting scope tripod set up at chest lever, giving Larry a somewhat solid rest to shoot from. The elk had not moved, but we had closed the distance by another 40 yards. Larry dialed the Leupold CDS to 400 yards and readied for the shot.
I saw Loren still had the "thumbs up" sign, so I put my binos on the elk to watch the shot.
Boom! Dust flew up to the right of the bull. He and his gals looked around as if they had just awaken from a nap. Finally, they understood the gravity of the situation and just as Larry fired again, they moved right. Another clean miss.
Larry looked at me to ask where the bullets had hit. I looked at him and instantly was laughing uncontrollably as I watched blood pour off the end of his nose and onto the rifle. He said something to the effect of, "What's so f'n funny, the damn elk are gettin' away?" I could not stop laughing.
I couldn't even give a cow call. Fortunately, the elk climbed a small ridge behind the windmill and the bull stood broadside long enough for us to get the new readings and focus on him.
Things were now beyond frantic. I told Larry to hold somewhat on the bull, but high. He perched is blood-drenched cheek upon the stock of the rifle, took a deep breath, fired, and the bull buckled.
I was sure I had just imagined the hit. No human could possibly make such a shot, under such conditions, with blood streaming down their nose, after having missed the first two better opportunities, and all the while being under the pressure of cameras recording his every action.
Larry was now yelling for more ammo, the same as I imagine when Davy Crockett was shooting at Santa Anna's soldiers coming over the walls of the Alamo. He had ammo in his coat pocket, but his coat was tucked into the back of his Mystery Ranch pack. I dug out some ammo, while trying to keep an eye on the bull.
The longer I took, the louder Larry demands of "I need more ammo. I need more ammo." I handed Larry three new round of 180 grain .300 Win Trophy Bonded Tip bullets. While he was loading I watched the bull stagger into the pinons and do his best to stay on his feet.
The bull disappeared and I told Larry to refill and we would go check out his bull. Loren asked for a quick interjection to tell the camera what had just happened.
When Larry turned to the camera, Loren said, "What the hell happened to you? Are you OK. Jesus......, that looks like it hurts."
I told Larry to wipe his face and follow me. We scrambled down the hill and up the other side. We had already lost filming light and would have about five or ten minutes of legal shooting light down in this canyon. Off we ran, as fast as our legs would carry us, having already been tapped by the sprint to our shooting location.
We scaled the ridge and found Larry's bull down and struggling. Amongst his busted glasses, split nose and rapidly failing shooting light, Larry finished off the bull and the three of us looked at each other and asked, "Did this really happen?"
So much chaos, that it could not all be captured on film, but Loren did a hell of a job getting as much as he could.
We were ecstatic. Handshaking and backslapping were in order. We tended to Larry's wounds and did our best to patch up for the photo session. It was a hunt that I will never forget.
How Larry made that third shot is beyond me. I am just glad he did it. We reviewed footage this morning and it will be grainy and dark, but you will see just how crazy it was and how long of a shot Larry made.
We quartered the bull and made two loads with camera gear, hunting gear, and meat last night. We got in about midnight, knowing we still had one hind quarter and the head to come out today. We were tired boys this morning.
For those of you thinking these limited opportunity hunts are a slam dunk, proceed with caution. I thought we would be in elk every day. Not the case. In the 13 days of Larry's scouting, our combined scouting, and hunting, we had only found elk on four occasions. The terrain is so thick and flat, that glassing elk is very difficult, especially when densities are this low and there are so many hundreds of square miles to search for them. I can see why the harvest rates are so low and the drawing odds are better.
We hunted our butts off. Probably hunted harder than any OYOA elk hunt we have filmed. I believe that hunting is 70% effort, 25% knowledge and experience, and 5% luck. The 5% luck, whether good or bad, can be enough to offset the other 95% involved.
In this case, we finally caught a break and bull bugled. Without Loren hearing that bugle, we would still be out busting out humps today, hoping for that one good break.
Thanks a ton Larry. This not the 350 bull you saw while scouting, but is a bull any hunter should be happy to take on this kind of hunt, with the time constraints and pressure that comes with filming a TV episode. Can't wait to hunt with you again.
I looked at Loren and he said, "Take 'em, I'm on 'em." But, he gave me that look of, this is really far, this is really poor light, but since you have not found any other shooting opportunities in the last week, I am willing to try film this calamity.
With that, I told Larry to shoot when he was read. The bull then laid down again. What the hell?
Now, the bull had disappeared our position and we had to move forward to find a better angle. That meant moving the shooter and camera, all the while a cow and calf were watching us. This was getting worse by the second.
Light was now diminishing to the point where Loren could hardly make out the bull from the cows. I demanded that we take the shot, regardless and if the editors can't make it work, I would take the fall, not Loren.
The bull finally stood up and started raking the grass. I know had my spotting scope tripod set up at chest lever, giving Larry a somewhat solid rest to shoot from. The elk had not moved, but we had closed the distance by another 40 yards. Larry dialed the Leupold CDS to 400 yards and readied for the shot.
I saw Loren still had the "thumbs up" sign, so I put my binos on the elk to watch the shot.
Boom! Dust flew up to the right of the bull. He and his gals looked around as if they had just awaken from a nap. Finally, they understood the gravity of the situation and just as Larry fired again, they moved right. Another clean miss.
Larry looked at me to ask where the bullets had hit. I looked at him and instantly was laughing uncontrollably as I watched blood pour off the end of his nose and onto the rifle. He said something to the effect of, "What's so f'n funny, the damn elk are gettin' away?" I could not stop laughing.
I couldn't even give a cow call. Fortunately, the elk climbed a small ridge behind the windmill and the bull stood broadside long enough for us to get the new readings and focus on him.
Things were now beyond frantic. I told Larry to hold somewhat on the bull, but high. He perched is blood-drenched cheek upon the stock of the rifle, took a deep breath, fired, and the bull buckled.
I was sure I had just imagined the hit. No human could possibly make such a shot, under such conditions, with blood streaming down their nose, after having missed the first two better opportunities, and all the while being under the pressure of cameras recording his every action.
Larry was now yelling for more ammo, the same as I imagine when Davy Crockett was shooting at Santa Anna's soldiers coming over the walls of the Alamo. He had ammo in his coat pocket, but his coat was tucked into the back of his Mystery Ranch pack. I dug out some ammo, while trying to keep an eye on the bull.
The longer I took, the louder Larry demands of "I need more ammo. I need more ammo." I handed Larry three new round of 180 grain .300 Win Trophy Bonded Tip bullets. While he was loading I watched the bull stagger into the pinons and do his best to stay on his feet.
The bull disappeared and I told Larry to refill and we would go check out his bull. Loren asked for a quick interjection to tell the camera what had just happened.
When Larry turned to the camera, Loren said, "What the hell happened to you? Are you OK. Jesus......, that looks like it hurts."
I told Larry to wipe his face and follow me. We scrambled down the hill and up the other side. We had already lost filming light and would have about five or ten minutes of legal shooting light down in this canyon. Off we ran, as fast as our legs would carry us, having already been tapped by the sprint to our shooting location.
We scaled the ridge and found Larry's bull down and struggling. Amongst his busted glasses, split nose and rapidly failing shooting light, Larry finished off the bull and the three of us looked at each other and asked, "Did this really happen?"
So much chaos, that it could not all be captured on film, but Loren did a hell of a job getting as much as he could.
We were ecstatic. Handshaking and backslapping were in order. We tended to Larry's wounds and did our best to patch up for the photo session. It was a hunt that I will never forget.
How Larry made that third shot is beyond me. I am just glad he did it. We reviewed footage this morning and it will be grainy and dark, but you will see just how crazy it was and how long of a shot Larry made.
We quartered the bull and made two loads with camera gear, hunting gear, and meat last night. We got in about midnight, knowing we still had one hind quarter and the head to come out today. We were tired boys this morning.
For those of you thinking these limited opportunity hunts are a slam dunk, proceed with caution. I thought we would be in elk every day. Not the case. In the 13 days of Larry's scouting, our combined scouting, and hunting, we had only found elk on four occasions. The terrain is so thick and flat, that glassing elk is very difficult, especially when densities are this low and there are so many hundreds of square miles to search for them. I can see why the harvest rates are so low and the drawing odds are better.
We hunted our butts off. Probably hunted harder than any OYOA elk hunt we have filmed. I believe that hunting is 70% effort, 25% knowledge and experience, and 5% luck. The 5% luck, whether good or bad, can be enough to offset the other 95% involved.
In this case, we finally caught a break and bull bugled. Without Loren hearing that bugle, we would still be out busting out humps today, hoping for that one good break.
Thanks a ton Larry. This not the 350 bull you saw while scouting, but is a bull any hunter should be happy to take on this kind of hunt, with the time constraints and pressure that comes with filming a TV episode. Can't wait to hunt with you again.
elk_hunter
Active member
Awesome, simply awesome. Great work and nice job staying with it!
stillkickin
Well-known member
Wow, the stories just keep getting better. Hope it will translate to the show, congrats on a beautiful bull and remodeled nose....
Bwana
Well-known member
Way to go Larry!!! You are obviously THE man and one lucky son-of-a-gun!
Congratulations.
Congratulations.
Wally Dog
Well-known member
Another adventure had by Fin and Company. Great story, Hope the vid works out.
WD
WD
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