EastTNHunter
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- Joined
- Jun 13, 2018
- Messages
- 1,596
Grats!!! Looks like a great bull. What’s the story?
SW Colorado? Updated w Hunt Results !
- Thread starter Trigger50
- Start date
AvidIndoorsman
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- Joined
- Dec 9, 2015
- Messages
- 18,426
Hell of a bull! Nice work.
Browning55
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2019
- Messages
- 100
congrats on an amazing bull!
chuckchili
Well-known member
Congrats on the big bull!
Pahoundsman
Well-known member
Very nice bull, congratulations
We got to our unit 2.5 days early to scout and get used to the altitude being from MN. Plus we wanted to establish a base camp in the area we picked to hunt. 2 days before the 1st rifle opener we spent the day scouting and learning the area. Saw alot of old sign and we picked a spike camp location at treeline. We purposely scouted in the middle of the day to avoid spooking any elk. Friday before opener we packed up to spike camp w 4 days of food. I was just helping and packing on this hunt. Only my friend held the 1st rifle tag. It was about a 2 mile hike up but it was pretty rough and steep country with no trails to follow. 1 mistake we made is we should have just packed up to spike camp thurs to save an extra trip.
We did hear a bugle close to camp the night before opener but he never showed himself before dark.
Opening morning broke w nice weather. We worked our way up the mt in the dark to our morning glassing spot. We were greeted by 2 different bulls bulging in the area. We waited till daylight to break cover to not spook any game out feeding. We made it to a saddle in the mt that seemed like a good game crossing area. Ryan my friend decided to look over a different ridge to the north following a bugle. I stayed in the saddle. 15 mins later I spotted a bull chasing 3 cows our direction. I finally flagged down Ryan and sent him down after the bull. But the elk turned down an avalanche chute and dissapeared. We decided to cross the saddle to the west following another bugle. We talked to the bull several times over the next hr to see if he was moving or bedded. Plus we weren't excited about going after him because he was a ways off and it would be a difficult packout. About 9am we decided to go after him. Long story short we snuck in too close to him and jumped him from his bed. Ryan took a quick shot in the timber but he missed. Opening afternoon we set up watching a different area that looked like a natural trail thru some bedding cover. We only saw a cow and calf. However I met 2 hikers following an elk trail thinking they were on a hiking trail. They didn't have any provisions and the gentlemen seems to be struggling. I warned them they aren't gonna make it to the trailhead by dark but they continued on. Its was a strange situation. Hope they made it out ok. Didn't here a helicopter that night! Haha. At dark we spotted a group of elk come out of some timber about 1.5 miles away. Didn't have time to go after them. Overall day 1 went very good. We saw elk and had a shooting opportunity and didn't have other hunters come in on us. Only heard 1 shot in the distance and saw 2 other hunters in the distance thru the binos.
Day 2 broke very windy ! We hiked up to the saddle and glassing spot but we could barely stand upright w the 40mph wind coming thru the saddle. We retreated down to the same area we saw the elk the night before because it was more protected from the wind. We set up watching the same avalanche chute crossing trail from the night before. We weren't there 20 mins and cows started crossing the chute 300 yds below us. Ryan got ready for the shot on his bipod as the bull followed the cows. Perfect broadside shot at 330 yds but Ryan missed 4 times! I think he gets buck fever really bad ! Wind might have been a factor but it seemed calmer in the draws. Ryan was very disheartened with not connecting so far with 2 different shooting opportunities. We went down the chute to confirm the misses. Suddenly we heard elk in the timber a couple hundred yds away. So we snuck into the timber and I set Ryan up and backed off to call and rake the bushes. After 30 mins of calling the bull haven't moved at all. So Ryan snuck in slowly but jumped the bull w no shot. However a different bull was also responding to my calling so we went after him. We snuck in and again I set Ryan up on the rifle as I backed off to call. The bull was fired up and responded to most of my cow calling and bugles. There was actually 2 bulls. After about 20 mins 1 bull sounded off much farther to my right side than before. He was trying to wind me. So I quickly started retreating in the timber to not get winded. 5 mins later...BOOM ! Ryan shot. I ran up there and didn't find Ryan. 5 mins later. BOOM...THWACK! BOOM...THWACK ! I ran up to the open slope to see 4 cows and 2 bulls crossing the next ridge. None seemed hit at all? I spotted Ryan 100 yds to my left. I yelled "did you get em?"...he pointed to the ridg , I yelled.."did you get him?" Just then his
dead bull started rolling down the slope. I didn't see him laying there below the herd. Well the fun was over! I got my best friend his 1st elk ! There was a good reason we didn't see any other hunters...no one was as dumb as us to go in there.
2.5 days to pack out the bull and camp. It was HELL! Thankfully we bumped into a local landowner that let us cross his land. That saved us 2 miles of packing. It was a great trip overall but a horrible pack out!
We did hear a bugle close to camp the night before opener but he never showed himself before dark.
Opening morning broke w nice weather. We worked our way up the mt in the dark to our morning glassing spot. We were greeted by 2 different bulls bulging in the area. We waited till daylight to break cover to not spook any game out feeding. We made it to a saddle in the mt that seemed like a good game crossing area. Ryan my friend decided to look over a different ridge to the north following a bugle. I stayed in the saddle. 15 mins later I spotted a bull chasing 3 cows our direction. I finally flagged down Ryan and sent him down after the bull. But the elk turned down an avalanche chute and dissapeared. We decided to cross the saddle to the west following another bugle. We talked to the bull several times over the next hr to see if he was moving or bedded. Plus we weren't excited about going after him because he was a ways off and it would be a difficult packout. About 9am we decided to go after him. Long story short we snuck in too close to him and jumped him from his bed. Ryan took a quick shot in the timber but he missed. Opening afternoon we set up watching a different area that looked like a natural trail thru some bedding cover. We only saw a cow and calf. However I met 2 hikers following an elk trail thinking they were on a hiking trail. They didn't have any provisions and the gentlemen seems to be struggling. I warned them they aren't gonna make it to the trailhead by dark but they continued on. Its was a strange situation. Hope they made it out ok. Didn't here a helicopter that night! Haha. At dark we spotted a group of elk come out of some timber about 1.5 miles away. Didn't have time to go after them. Overall day 1 went very good. We saw elk and had a shooting opportunity and didn't have other hunters come in on us. Only heard 1 shot in the distance and saw 2 other hunters in the distance thru the binos.
Day 2 broke very windy ! We hiked up to the saddle and glassing spot but we could barely stand upright w the 40mph wind coming thru the saddle. We retreated down to the same area we saw the elk the night before because it was more protected from the wind. We set up watching the same avalanche chute crossing trail from the night before. We weren't there 20 mins and cows started crossing the chute 300 yds below us. Ryan got ready for the shot on his bipod as the bull followed the cows. Perfect broadside shot at 330 yds but Ryan missed 4 times! I think he gets buck fever really bad ! Wind might have been a factor but it seemed calmer in the draws. Ryan was very disheartened with not connecting so far with 2 different shooting opportunities. We went down the chute to confirm the misses. Suddenly we heard elk in the timber a couple hundred yds away. So we snuck into the timber and I set Ryan up and backed off to call and rake the bushes. After 30 mins of calling the bull haven't moved at all. So Ryan snuck in slowly but jumped the bull w no shot. However a different bull was also responding to my calling so we went after him. We snuck in and again I set Ryan up on the rifle as I backed off to call. The bull was fired up and responded to most of my cow calling and bugles. There was actually 2 bulls. After about 20 mins 1 bull sounded off much farther to my right side than before. He was trying to wind me. So I quickly started retreating in the timber to not get winded. 5 mins later...BOOM ! Ryan shot. I ran up there and didn't find Ryan. 5 mins later. BOOM...THWACK! BOOM...THWACK ! I ran up to the open slope to see 4 cows and 2 bulls crossing the next ridge. None seemed hit at all? I spotted Ryan 100 yds to my left. I yelled "did you get em?"...he pointed to the ridg , I yelled.."did you get him?" Just then his
dead bull started rolling down the slope. I didn't see him laying there below the herd. Well the fun was over! I got my best friend his 1st elk ! There was a good reason we didn't see any other hunters...no one was as dumb as us to go in there. 2.5 days to pack out the bull and camp. It was HELL! Thankfully we bumped into a local landowner that let us cross his land. That saved us 2 miles of packing. It was a great trip overall but a horrible pack out!
nwihunter
Well-known member
Great job!!!
