***Montana DIY Public Land Achery Elk***

Congratulations! Nothing worth doing is ever easy. It is that difficulty that makes it all the sweeter when you do succeed.
 
I was talking to a lady friend yesterday about the hunt and telling her about just how tough it was. She had a hard time trying to understand why someone would put themselves through something like that with a minimal chance of shooting something, and with a bow! I used a marathon runner as an analogy. You train, plan, focus strictly on the task. The marathon is more than you can bare, but the final result is a lifetime memory and accomplishment. On top of that, the marathon runner is just him and what he accomplishes, when you throw in the fact that you're trying to outsmart such an animal in his territory and get within bow range, the rewards go through the roof!
She actually understood after I put it in those terms.

Reminds me of Robert Roark's quote:
"The things that matter most in hunting are the anticipation and the remembrance, with the actual hunting being in a secondary position."
 
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I was talking to a lady friend yesterday about the hunt and telling her about just how tough it was. She had a hard time trying to understand why someone would put themselves through something like that with a minimal chance of shooting something, and with a bow! I used a marathon runner as an analogy. You train, plan, focus strictly on the task. The marathon is more than you can bare, but the final result is a lifetime memory and accomplishment. On top of that, the marathon runner is just him and what he accomplishes, when you throw in the fact that you're trying to outsmart such an animal in his territory and get within bow range, the rewards go through the roof!
She actually understood after I put it in those terms.

Reminds me of Robert Roark's quote:
"The things that matter most in hunting are the anticipation and the remembrance, with the actual hunting being in a secondary position."
Great quote! Rings very true with me.
 
Congrats on a great hunt, resulting in a well deserved bull and cow for you both. That's one hell of a round trip for you and your hunting partner. Glad things worked out for you. I just moved to Montana in July and can't wait to get my residency in January to go chasing these bulls around the mtns. That is basically the main reason why I moved my whole family to Montana. Chasing big bulls!
 
Congrats. That is quite a trip.

I have been lucky enough to harvest lots of elk in my days and i still get that "Wow" moment when I walk up to them. They are big awesome animals and I hope everyone gets a chance to harvest one.
 
So glad to read of and see your success. This stuff gets in the blood. Odds are it won't be as long when you make the next trip. Very kind of your friend to include you and let you go to school on the knowledge he has accumulated.

Congrats to both of you. Hope there are more of those hunts to come.
 
Over the last few weeks, I have been staring at this rack, reminiscing of the hunt, and hoping it`ll make P&Y, which I think it will. I did use the B&C interactive score sheet to see if I could green score this thing without being biased and adding an 8th here and there!:eek: When I finished, it said that it grossed 352 4/8?, but netted 321 6/8ths. There were 30"`s of deductions on the left side (6x5), which is easy to see! Main beams are 48 4/8 and 47 2/8. Here are some better pics, and I would like to see if any of you elk gurus think he will be close to what I have? If you think I`m over by 100"`s, tell me. I want to know!

I will say that, even if I had taken a rag horn on this trip, I would still be staring at the rack and reminiscing the hunt! To say that I was blessed to take this on my second day of ever hunting elk is an understatement! Although I know most of you guys have taken much much larger! Anyway, I would love to hear ballpark figure of what you think he`ll score?

BTW, elk steaks blows whitetail out of the water! These things are delicious!


Rack staying cool in the camp creek.
 
As a good friend of mine says, nets are for fishing! LOL. Based on what you said and the pics, I think 350 may be a bit high. 320's sounds more accurate.
 
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