My 2013 Wyoming Elk Hunt - The Novel

[sluggo6850]

wow I couldn't quit reading the story of your success, even with the wife telling me supper is ready. You did a great job of describing the hunt. That is one fantastic bull with some great pictures. I also like the one with the shadow out in front of you. congrats on a bull of dreams!!

 

[npaden]

Did figure out the mystery of the failed bullet. It for sure didn't live up to the 99% weight retention advertised, of course hitting ribs on impact at a sharp angle from 50 yards probably isn't ideal either.

Weighed it at 95 grains for 67% weight retention. Here it is next to another bullet that I recovered out of a mule deer that had picture perfect expansion.

Still much better than the alternative of not expanding like it should have. It more than likely expanded perfectly before being ripped apart going through bone at 3,000+ fps.

 

[noharleyyet]

I like everything about that bull and your hunt. Amazing symmetry. Great to have your family along also.

 

[npaden]

Meat is in the freezer except for some that I took to the butcher to make into jerky, sausage and burger. Ended up with 215 pounds of boneless meat when it was all said and done.

For such a mature animal the meat seemed like it was going to end up pretty good table fare. I cut the neck roasts into 4 roasts on each side ranging from 4 to 6 pounds. One side was 18 pounds and the other was 19 pounds!

 

[bobbydean]

Congratulation, Good story and pictures. I am envious.

It is nice with all your preseason conditioning that you had such a successful hunt!

 

[MT_elk]

Awesome hunt! Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[passinthru]

Great bull and story!

Even sweeter to be able to share camp with your family.

 

[raiderbowhunter]

Awesome bull Nathan!


Joe sent me the pic you sent him, and then told me what he scored the next day. We both nearly flipped when we found out what the tape said!!

 

[HalfAce]

Wow! Both the bull and your write up are trophies. The "shadow" picture of the bull on your pack while walking down the road really shows the bulls size in good perspective.

Congrats on an Absolute stud of a bull and good luck trying to top that whole experience/animal the rest of this season.

 

[BBwheelgunner]

beautiful bull! congratulations!

 

[streamer]

excellent bull what a dandy

 

[oldman357]

Congrats man where are you hunting in New Mexico if you don't mind me asking?

 

[AZ402]

Outstanding, congrats!

 

[1_pointer]

Great bull! Glad to see all that running pay off! That'd be a dream trip for me, to shoot a bull (even one 1/2 that size) with my boys in camp. Super stuff, congrats.

 

[walnuttree]

Wow, great bull! Congrats on such an awesome bull

Enjoyed the story - thanks for taking the time to post.

Sure does make me wish I was out there now!

 

[drthornton]

Awesome Bull and write up...Thanks for sharing!

 

[Bwana]

That is a truly awesome bull and a wonderful story, thanks so much for sharing it with us.

 

[2rocky]

Nice bull, great write up.

You have been hitting the running hard this year and I'm glad to see it paid off!

 

[DBear]

Great story and hunt!

 

[npaden]

Thanks again for the comments everyone. Believe it or not it's been almost a month and I'm still on cloud nine!

Just for grins, I had the rack back from the taxidermist and set it on top of my previous best bull that I was very happy with at the time. Here's a picture of him when I shot him back in 2010. Great fronts on him, decent 4ths, but a little weak on the top end. I scored him at 309, but actually messed up on the mass measurements and measured him like a deer on the mass measurements so if I actually went back and rescored him I think he would end up closer to 300 or so gross.

Still a respectable bull and I'm still happy with him. His great fronts really make him a nice looking mount to have on the wall.

Okay, long winded intro, but here's my Wyoming bull's antlers just sitting on top of my New Mexico bull's antlers. Not a perfect comparison, the antlers on my Wyoming bull are a little forward of the New Mexico bull, but you get a pretty good idea.

Okay, fronts are just a tiny bit better, 3rds are a little better, 4ths are just a little better, mass is quite a bit better, and then everything my New Mexico bull was lacking in the top end is made up for in spades on my Wyoming bull. Almost makes my New Mexico bull look like a raghorn!

I ended up climbing up on my rafters and taking a picture looking down. This really shows off the top end of my Wyoming bull.

Oh well, since I took the silly pictures I thought I would share them.

Nathan