I finally drew a NV bull elk tag (used 13 pts) with my 4th choice, season opened Nov. 6. Just now getting some time to make a few posts (I did have a busy Fall with 6 tags, and also took my granddaughter on her first elk hunt). I had picked a few "mid-tier" units for choices 3-5 since I don't have forever to play this game, drew 121, 104, 108; basically hunted 121. From what I gathered a 330-340 bull would be a realistic expectation, and if I got that lucky such an elk would be bigger than anything I've shot, so that was my original goal, or hope anyway. But by the time the NV season arrived I was having a tough year, and had been gone from home a long time, so it was doubtful I could stick with my original goal. Realistically any mature bull was probably going to be on the menu. I guess I'm just not much of a "trophy" hunter when it comes to elk.
Anyway, the first day I did glass up one decent bull and a small herd of cows, but those were the only elk I saw in the first 2 days. My guess was that it was a ~300 class bull, when I tried to get closer for a better look I ended up spooking the herd. That evening I had a flat on my truck, so I wasted the next morning going into Ely to get a new spare (and a good thing I did). So when the 3rd day rolled around I was tired of glassing and decided I would just sit above the water hole near where I saw the elk on day 1. The wind was not right early so I sat pretty far up the hill (~250 yards), which also let me look over some other terrain. It was dang chilly sitting there but I had no other plan so swore I'd stick it out. I had not seen an elk all morning when at 12:15 I look down at the water hole and a nice bull had just come out of the draw, he was mostly facing my direction. Here is a view from where I was sitting. The water tank is down by the road on right side.
He looked "good enough" for sure, in fact I thought he was way over 300, his rack looked really wide and his tops looked good. He might have been the one I saw on Day 1, but from this vantage point he looked bigger. So I got my gun up on sticks and as soon as he turned more broadside I pulled the trigger. I thought I hit him good, but he was still standing so I sent another round his way and he dropped. Red arrow in this picture shows where he fell, you can see the top of his right antler.
I was very excited and it seemed to take forever to get down the hill and through the sagebrush. When I got to him it was probably the worst case of ground shrinkage I've experienced, he was wide (~44" inside spread) but I guess that made him look bigger than he really was. His mass was sort of light and his fronts were weak. I originally thought he might be better than my #1 elk (about 325), but this bull ended up grossing ~295. Well, so be it, I was happy to get him, I just though he was bigger when I pulled the trigger. Here are few pics;
Since he was so close to the road I thought I could drive up to him, and I wanted to pull him out of the muddy spot he fell in before butchering. So I walked back and got my truck, but when I was driving over to the elk I went down a steep hill and sliced a tire on a rock. At almost the exact instant the tire went flat my ATV (in truck bed) shifted forward and shattered my rear window, DOH! Well I didn't want to waste daylight changing a flat so I unloaded the ATV and drove to the kill site. I pulled the elk out of the mud, but then got greedy and tried to pull him over to the road and dang near turned the ATV over. At that point I decided to slow down and make sure I didn't do anything stupid (like sit on a CACTUS!), got him broke down and hauled back to truck before sunset. Got the flat changed and made it back to camp. Made the long drive home the next morning, after getting another spare.
Well, maybe some day I will just get lucky and shoot something bigger than 325, but I won't be in Nevada. With the 10 year waiting period, and terrible draw odds this was a "once-in-a-lifetime" hunt.
Anyway, the first day I did glass up one decent bull and a small herd of cows, but those were the only elk I saw in the first 2 days. My guess was that it was a ~300 class bull, when I tried to get closer for a better look I ended up spooking the herd. That evening I had a flat on my truck, so I wasted the next morning going into Ely to get a new spare (and a good thing I did). So when the 3rd day rolled around I was tired of glassing and decided I would just sit above the water hole near where I saw the elk on day 1. The wind was not right early so I sat pretty far up the hill (~250 yards), which also let me look over some other terrain. It was dang chilly sitting there but I had no other plan so swore I'd stick it out. I had not seen an elk all morning when at 12:15 I look down at the water hole and a nice bull had just come out of the draw, he was mostly facing my direction. Here is a view from where I was sitting. The water tank is down by the road on right side.
He looked "good enough" for sure, in fact I thought he was way over 300, his rack looked really wide and his tops looked good. He might have been the one I saw on Day 1, but from this vantage point he looked bigger. So I got my gun up on sticks and as soon as he turned more broadside I pulled the trigger. I thought I hit him good, but he was still standing so I sent another round his way and he dropped. Red arrow in this picture shows where he fell, you can see the top of his right antler.
I was very excited and it seemed to take forever to get down the hill and through the sagebrush. When I got to him it was probably the worst case of ground shrinkage I've experienced, he was wide (~44" inside spread) but I guess that made him look bigger than he really was. His mass was sort of light and his fronts were weak. I originally thought he might be better than my #1 elk (about 325), but this bull ended up grossing ~295. Well, so be it, I was happy to get him, I just though he was bigger when I pulled the trigger. Here are few pics;
Since he was so close to the road I thought I could drive up to him, and I wanted to pull him out of the muddy spot he fell in before butchering. So I walked back and got my truck, but when I was driving over to the elk I went down a steep hill and sliced a tire on a rock. At almost the exact instant the tire went flat my ATV (in truck bed) shifted forward and shattered my rear window, DOH! Well I didn't want to waste daylight changing a flat so I unloaded the ATV and drove to the kill site. I pulled the elk out of the mud, but then got greedy and tried to pull him over to the road and dang near turned the ATV over. At that point I decided to slow down and make sure I didn't do anything stupid (like sit on a CACTUS!), got him broke down and hauled back to truck before sunset. Got the flat changed and made it back to camp. Made the long drive home the next morning, after getting another spare.
Well, maybe some day I will just get lucky and shoot something bigger than 325, but I won't be in Nevada. With the 10 year waiting period, and terrible draw odds this was a "once-in-a-lifetime" hunt.
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