bobbydean
Well-known member
One of my favorite hunting threads.
Utah Youth Any Bull Hunt
- Thread starter npaden
- Start date
ashersdad
Well-known member
Hoping it all came together tonight and you’re packing in the dark right now...
Mtnhunter1
Well-known member
I'm pulling for you and your son to at least getting an opportunity to pull that trigger. Keep after it Dad but always remember that young hunters need hunting to be an adventure and not work!
npaden
Well-known member
We just pulled into the driveway and are headed to bed. 2,748 miles on the truck since we left the house ten days ago.
We have work and school tomorrow but I do have some more to add to the story as soon as I can get it posted.
We have work and school tomorrow but I do have some more to add to the story as soon as I can get it posted.
skyfire
Member
Welcome home.
Looking forward to the conclusion of this adventure; this chapter at least.
Looking forward to the conclusion of this adventure; this chapter at least.
npaden
Well-known member
Okay - back to the hunt. Evening of Day 8.
We had talked back and forth with a guy who had offered up his private property to hunt on that was in the general tag area. We really wanted to get one on our own, but we were literally down to the wire now and this was going to be our last evening to hunt. The other youth hunter that had hunted the property earlier in the week didn't see anything at all one day and saw some the next day but wasn't able to close the deal. We knew this wasn't a slam dunk, but thought it was going to most likely be our best opportunity to get him an elk.
We met up with the guy and he took us to his house first and showed us his trophy room. There were at least a dozen very nice elk mounts including one just over 400"! There were dozens more not mounted in the garage. A bison, a moose, and a bunch of other stuff. Very impressive. We didn't have much time as he was trying to get out on a hunt of his own or I could have spent some time looking around.
We then followed him out to his property about 15 miles out of town. The property is in a creek bottom with some irrigated hay fields that the elk come down to at night. The trick is much like where we were hunting the water the previous evenings, having the elk come out before dark is the key. The guy showed us around his property and where to setup and wished us good luck. He was a little concerned about the wind as it was blowing pretty hard and he said that the elk don't really like the wind there and sometimes won't come up if the wind is blowing very hard. He also said that they would blow out of there if they smelled us so be very aware of our scent. SUPER nice guy!
A whirlwind drive around the property, talked to us about most likely areas the elk would come out and where we should setup and the combinations to the gates and before you know it we were there on his property all by ourselves. It was mid-afternoon but we didn't have anything else to do so we decided to go ahead and get our gear and get setup. We parked just over a 1/4 mile from the blind and went over and got setup. I would have never, ever expected to be hunting elk out of a elevated box blind but here we were, setting up in a box blind just as if we were back in Texas!
I didn't feel too bad though because we had for sure put in the effort over the last week.
It was somewhat warm in the mid 70's and the wind was supposed to let up that evening but it wasn't really happening. We messed with the windows in the blind to see how loud it was when they opened and what the wind did with different windows open. We settled on leaving one of the windows open and all the others shut to keep the wind from blowing through the blind right out to where we were hoping the elk would come up. We settled in for a long sit since we got there so early and we had packed our supper and snacks and my son even brought a book to read. I'll be honest, it was kind of a let down sitting in a blind to close the hunt out, but it is what it is and we were VERY thankful to have a chance on at least bringing some meat home with us.
We had talked back and forth with a guy who had offered up his private property to hunt on that was in the general tag area. We really wanted to get one on our own, but we were literally down to the wire now and this was going to be our last evening to hunt. The other youth hunter that had hunted the property earlier in the week didn't see anything at all one day and saw some the next day but wasn't able to close the deal. We knew this wasn't a slam dunk, but thought it was going to most likely be our best opportunity to get him an elk.
We met up with the guy and he took us to his house first and showed us his trophy room. There were at least a dozen very nice elk mounts including one just over 400"! There were dozens more not mounted in the garage. A bison, a moose, and a bunch of other stuff. Very impressive. We didn't have much time as he was trying to get out on a hunt of his own or I could have spent some time looking around.
We then followed him out to his property about 15 miles out of town. The property is in a creek bottom with some irrigated hay fields that the elk come down to at night. The trick is much like where we were hunting the water the previous evenings, having the elk come out before dark is the key. The guy showed us around his property and where to setup and wished us good luck. He was a little concerned about the wind as it was blowing pretty hard and he said that the elk don't really like the wind there and sometimes won't come up if the wind is blowing very hard. He also said that they would blow out of there if they smelled us so be very aware of our scent. SUPER nice guy!
A whirlwind drive around the property, talked to us about most likely areas the elk would come out and where we should setup and the combinations to the gates and before you know it we were there on his property all by ourselves. It was mid-afternoon but we didn't have anything else to do so we decided to go ahead and get our gear and get setup. We parked just over a 1/4 mile from the blind and went over and got setup. I would have never, ever expected to be hunting elk out of a elevated box blind but here we were, setting up in a box blind just as if we were back in Texas!
I didn't feel too bad though because we had for sure put in the effort over the last week.It was somewhat warm in the mid 70's and the wind was supposed to let up that evening but it wasn't really happening. We messed with the windows in the blind to see how loud it was when they opened and what the wind did with different windows open. We settled on leaving one of the windows open and all the others shut to keep the wind from blowing through the blind right out to where we were hoping the elk would come up. We settled in for a long sit since we got there so early and we had packed our supper and snacks and my son even brought a book to read. I'll be honest, it was kind of a let down sitting in a blind to close the hunt out, but it is what it is and we were VERY thankful to have a chance on at least bringing some meat home with us.
npaden
Well-known member
The wind was not following the forecast and it was still blowing pretty good a few hours later. We hit the magic hour and I made my son put away all his stuff and we were on high alert. Where the elk were supposed to come out was difficult to see from the blind so if they did come out it was probably going to be a quick deal with the wind still bad and blowing right to where they were supposed to come out. Sunset came and went and several deer were out in the field including one nice tall narrow buck. I should have taken some pictures of him but it just never crossed my mind. I did have my spotting scope and a small camera that I was messing around with trying to figure out if I could actually film the shot but didn't think to take pictures of the deer.
I was looking all around and ranging different spots and the guy had told us that sometimes the elk will come out of the south or east into the field that was south of the one we were setup on so I was checking that out as well. Some more deer were out in that field as well and I was coaching my son on spotting them and as I scanned back around on the field in my binoculars I see a cow and calf elk walk into the field from the northwest. They were not following the script! A couple more came out then another for a total of 5 and then I saw another light colored one for a second before it went behind a rock. My son was already up and had the gun and was ready to go after them! I told him that the last one might be a bull and lets wait just a second and see. Less than a minute later and it comes out into the field and sure enough, it was a small bull! They were right at 800 yards away, but it looked like we should have a decent chance of putting a stalk on them. The wind wasn't in our favor but we had some topography and some brush that should help out.
So we play fire drill and end up just grabbing the gun, the shooting sticks and I was wearing my binoculars. We get out of the blind and move around and get into some trees behind the blind and start heading toward them. We should have just enough time to get to them, but not unless we walk at a pretty brisk pace. As we got to where the elk were supposed to come out into the field we were watching from the blind we did stop for a second and look back into the area they were supposed to come from but there weren't any there. We keep moving through the brush and sage that was taller than my son and checking to make sure the elk are still there. We then drop down into the creek and we are going to have to cross it and it is about 5 feet wide right where we want to cross it. I moved a bit and found a spot that it looks like we can cross without getting too wet and keep on going. The brush and willows are over our head and pretty thick in the creek bottom but we plow through and find a spot up the other side. By now we are getting pretty close to shooting range I would think but we have been out of sight of the elk for several minutes and as we climb out it is going to be the moment of truth. We clear the tallest brush and the elk are still out in the field just under 300 yards away. We work on getting him setup for the shot off the shooting sticks but there is some tall grass on the edge of the field that is too tall if he sits down to use the shooting sticks. We extend the sticks and he tries kneeling and he is high enough but doesn't feel confident enough to make the shot. We are going to have to move closer.
There are about 5 or 6 deer in the field closer to us than the elk are. I'm worried about spooking the deer off which I would assume would spook the elk off as well. The wind is not great and I'm as worried about it as anything else. We crawl up to the edge of the tall grass and get setup again. This time he can sit like we have practiced and have a clear shot over the grass. The deer haven't spooked and the elk are in the field eating. I'm still concerned about the wind but there isn't anything we can do about it. They are 200 yards away and we are really getting close to the end of shooting light. Of all things the bull has decided to lay down out in the field in a small swell and all we can see of him is his head and antlers. The cows are up and feeding. I'm starting to think that he really needs to just shoot a cow and be done with it. I'm thinking about trying to do some calling to see if that might get the bull to stand and my son has the same thought and looks back at me and tells me to cow call. I let out a couple cow calls and the bull is still laying there. It is getting very close to the end of shooting light now and I'm really thinking my son should just go ahead and shoot a cow but he is holding off. I cow call a couple more times and they are all looking our way but the bull is still not getting up. The wind is blowing their way and I'm still thinking that they may catch our wind any time and bolt. In the scramble to get over to them I didn't bring a bugle tube so I just cupped my hands together and tried to make a decent bugle. First one was a little weak so I did another a bit louder. That got his attention enough to stand up. Of course right then a cow walked behind he so we didn't have a clear shot! The cow moves by and I whisper to my son to take him. He isn't perfectly broadside but I thought he was good enough at 200 yards. Then the bull takes a couple steps our direction and he is pretty much facing us straight on. We have discussed shot placement quite a bit and I whispered that a frontal shot was good if he felt okay with that. He is still setup but not pulling the trigger. The bull then turns nearly perfectly broadside and I whisper much louder "shoot him", still nothing, I whisper again "shoot him!", and I was about to whisper again and the gun goes off and the bull drops!
I start cow calling immediately and the cows ran off about 20 yards and then stopped. The bull is on the ground and trying to get up but can't. We both look at each other in shock and relieve and amazement that it finally all came together and he was able to get a bull elk! I forget the exact words but we talked for a little bit about the week and how good it felt to have finally gotten an elk.
The truck is about 3/4 of a mile from us, nearly all our gear is in the blind we were sitting in and it is getting very close to dark now. I can see the bull laying on it's side through the binoculars and it doesn't look like it is moving anymore. I left my son with the gun and my binoculars and told him that if the bull gets up to shoot it but not to walk any closer to it until I got back. It took a bit longer than I expected to get back to the truck, drive over close the the blind, hike to the blind to get our gear and get the blind all closed up, get back to the truck and then drive back over to where he had made the shot from than I thought. We had asked about what to do with one once it was down and the guy whose property it was said that if one was down in the field he wanted us to drag it out of the field before doing anything with it. I clarified that if we did the gutless method if it was okay to leave the carcass and he said that was fine as long as we got it out of the field. So we drove the truck out to the elk, tied a rope to him and dragged him out. We tried to take a few pictures but the wind was still blowing and where we had drug him there was a lot of fine sand and getting a good picture in the lights of the truck or with a flash with the lights off was a challenge in the dark.
My son joked that this was his hardest pack out ever and it was by far my easiest pack out ever for an elk! I'm sure I will think of a bunch more things to add to the story but I think that concludes things for the most part. We had the elk cutup and in coolers in the back of the truck by about 10:30 and after a trip into town for ice were back at our trailer campsite just before midnight. Didn't set the alarm but were up at 6:30 the next morning and hooked up and pulling out of the campsite at 7:00. Just under 17 hours later we were pulling up to our house. Very tired but with a sense of accomplishment for sure. Lots of work ahead of us still getting him butchered and packaged up and LOTS of stuff to get done at work but it was for sure worth it. Not sure we have spent that much time together in a long time, from before sunrise to after sunset 11 days in a row if you include the time in the truck.
I think he is turning out to be a pretty good kid, just hope I can help keep him pointed in the right direction.
I was looking all around and ranging different spots and the guy had told us that sometimes the elk will come out of the south or east into the field that was south of the one we were setup on so I was checking that out as well. Some more deer were out in that field as well and I was coaching my son on spotting them and as I scanned back around on the field in my binoculars I see a cow and calf elk walk into the field from the northwest. They were not following the script! A couple more came out then another for a total of 5 and then I saw another light colored one for a second before it went behind a rock. My son was already up and had the gun and was ready to go after them! I told him that the last one might be a bull and lets wait just a second and see. Less than a minute later and it comes out into the field and sure enough, it was a small bull! They were right at 800 yards away, but it looked like we should have a decent chance of putting a stalk on them. The wind wasn't in our favor but we had some topography and some brush that should help out.
So we play fire drill and end up just grabbing the gun, the shooting sticks and I was wearing my binoculars. We get out of the blind and move around and get into some trees behind the blind and start heading toward them. We should have just enough time to get to them, but not unless we walk at a pretty brisk pace. As we got to where the elk were supposed to come out into the field we were watching from the blind we did stop for a second and look back into the area they were supposed to come from but there weren't any there. We keep moving through the brush and sage that was taller than my son and checking to make sure the elk are still there. We then drop down into the creek and we are going to have to cross it and it is about 5 feet wide right where we want to cross it. I moved a bit and found a spot that it looks like we can cross without getting too wet and keep on going. The brush and willows are over our head and pretty thick in the creek bottom but we plow through and find a spot up the other side. By now we are getting pretty close to shooting range I would think but we have been out of sight of the elk for several minutes and as we climb out it is going to be the moment of truth. We clear the tallest brush and the elk are still out in the field just under 300 yards away. We work on getting him setup for the shot off the shooting sticks but there is some tall grass on the edge of the field that is too tall if he sits down to use the shooting sticks. We extend the sticks and he tries kneeling and he is high enough but doesn't feel confident enough to make the shot. We are going to have to move closer.
There are about 5 or 6 deer in the field closer to us than the elk are. I'm worried about spooking the deer off which I would assume would spook the elk off as well. The wind is not great and I'm as worried about it as anything else. We crawl up to the edge of the tall grass and get setup again. This time he can sit like we have practiced and have a clear shot over the grass. The deer haven't spooked and the elk are in the field eating. I'm still concerned about the wind but there isn't anything we can do about it. They are 200 yards away and we are really getting close to the end of shooting light. Of all things the bull has decided to lay down out in the field in a small swell and all we can see of him is his head and antlers. The cows are up and feeding. I'm starting to think that he really needs to just shoot a cow and be done with it. I'm thinking about trying to do some calling to see if that might get the bull to stand and my son has the same thought and looks back at me and tells me to cow call. I let out a couple cow calls and the bull is still laying there. It is getting very close to the end of shooting light now and I'm really thinking my son should just go ahead and shoot a cow but he is holding off. I cow call a couple more times and they are all looking our way but the bull is still not getting up. The wind is blowing their way and I'm still thinking that they may catch our wind any time and bolt. In the scramble to get over to them I didn't bring a bugle tube so I just cupped my hands together and tried to make a decent bugle. First one was a little weak so I did another a bit louder. That got his attention enough to stand up. Of course right then a cow walked behind he so we didn't have a clear shot! The cow moves by and I whisper to my son to take him. He isn't perfectly broadside but I thought he was good enough at 200 yards. Then the bull takes a couple steps our direction and he is pretty much facing us straight on. We have discussed shot placement quite a bit and I whispered that a frontal shot was good if he felt okay with that. He is still setup but not pulling the trigger. The bull then turns nearly perfectly broadside and I whisper much louder "shoot him", still nothing, I whisper again "shoot him!", and I was about to whisper again and the gun goes off and the bull drops!
I start cow calling immediately and the cows ran off about 20 yards and then stopped. The bull is on the ground and trying to get up but can't. We both look at each other in shock and relieve and amazement that it finally all came together and he was able to get a bull elk! I forget the exact words but we talked for a little bit about the week and how good it felt to have finally gotten an elk.
The truck is about 3/4 of a mile from us, nearly all our gear is in the blind we were sitting in and it is getting very close to dark now. I can see the bull laying on it's side through the binoculars and it doesn't look like it is moving anymore. I left my son with the gun and my binoculars and told him that if the bull gets up to shoot it but not to walk any closer to it until I got back. It took a bit longer than I expected to get back to the truck, drive over close the the blind, hike to the blind to get our gear and get the blind all closed up, get back to the truck and then drive back over to where he had made the shot from than I thought. We had asked about what to do with one once it was down and the guy whose property it was said that if one was down in the field he wanted us to drag it out of the field before doing anything with it. I clarified that if we did the gutless method if it was okay to leave the carcass and he said that was fine as long as we got it out of the field. So we drove the truck out to the elk, tied a rope to him and dragged him out. We tried to take a few pictures but the wind was still blowing and where we had drug him there was a lot of fine sand and getting a good picture in the lights of the truck or with a flash with the lights off was a challenge in the dark.
My son joked that this was his hardest pack out ever and it was by far my easiest pack out ever for an elk! I'm sure I will think of a bunch more things to add to the story but I think that concludes things for the most part. We had the elk cutup and in coolers in the back of the truck by about 10:30 and after a trip into town for ice were back at our trailer campsite just before midnight. Didn't set the alarm but were up at 6:30 the next morning and hooked up and pulling out of the campsite at 7:00. Just under 17 hours later we were pulling up to our house. Very tired but with a sense of accomplishment for sure. Lots of work ahead of us still getting him butchered and packaged up and LOTS of stuff to get done at work but it was for sure worth it. Not sure we have spent that much time together in a long time, from before sunrise to after sunset 11 days in a row if you include the time in the truck.
I think he is turning out to be a pretty good kid, just hope I can help keep him pointed in the right direction.
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Congrats to you and your boy! Nice bull! Very much a fitting end to all your efforts and you'll both have great memories to relive. I've been thinking about the Utah general hunt myself so your posts were very exciting to read.
Nick87
Well-known member
Awesome ending to a great story! So happy for both of you! I Really enjoyed following along.
2rocky
Well-known member
Congrats! I was pulling for you guys.
Glad you were able to show your son just how tough it can be, and the gift of kindness from the owner.
YOu are raising a good kid there.
Glad you were able to show your son just how tough it can be, and the gift of kindness from the owner.
YOu are raising a good kid there.
MTLabrador
Well-known member
Awesome, congrats!
npaden
Well-known member
We didn't quite hit it as hard as I would have if I was hunting by myself but I was really proud of him for how much effort he put into the hunt with pretty minimal complaining and whining.
I hiked just a couple more miles than him overall on a few times where I hiked back to the truck or the ATV and then drove to pick him up but according to my GPS I put in 6.2 miles on opening morning, 6.9 miles on day 2, 6.7 miles on day 3, 10.5 miles on day 4, 5.4 miles on day 5, only 1.9 miles tracked on day 6 (I forgot my phone that morning), 8.5 miles on day 7 and 6.2 miles on day 8. Total of 52.3 miles for the trip. I would say he did at least 50 miles. A LOT of those miles were off trail, I would say the majority of them and quite a few of them were in the dark as well.
The last thing to close with and I think I have said it already, but the people were absolutely amazing! We met a guy from California who's grandson had the tag and we talked to him a couple times and was a great guy to talk too. A couple different guys on another more Utah based forum sent me PM's after our scouting trip went up in flames and actually gave me GPS coordinates to try. Then to top it all off a guy from that same forum PM'd me and told me to call him because he had some private property that we could hunt in the area if we were having a hard time filling the tag!
Even before the hunt started I mentioned here on Hunttalk that we were having a hard time finding the bullets that we figured out his gun liked and a couple forum members came through with ammo for us and one still hasn't told me how much I owe them.
We talked to other people just in the field and everyone was very nice and helpful and I assume was honestly sharing information on where the elk were or weren't and whether they were talking, etc.
It really was great to see the good in people shining through instead of all the negatives we hear about all the time.
I hiked just a couple more miles than him overall on a few times where I hiked back to the truck or the ATV and then drove to pick him up but according to my GPS I put in 6.2 miles on opening morning, 6.9 miles on day 2, 6.7 miles on day 3, 10.5 miles on day 4, 5.4 miles on day 5, only 1.9 miles tracked on day 6 (I forgot my phone that morning), 8.5 miles on day 7 and 6.2 miles on day 8. Total of 52.3 miles for the trip. I would say he did at least 50 miles. A LOT of those miles were off trail, I would say the majority of them and quite a few of them were in the dark as well.
The last thing to close with and I think I have said it already, but the people were absolutely amazing! We met a guy from California who's grandson had the tag and we talked to him a couple times and was a great guy to talk too. A couple different guys on another more Utah based forum sent me PM's after our scouting trip went up in flames and actually gave me GPS coordinates to try. Then to top it all off a guy from that same forum PM'd me and told me to call him because he had some private property that we could hunt in the area if we were having a hard time filling the tag!
Even before the hunt started I mentioned here on Hunttalk that we were having a hard time finding the bullets that we figured out his gun liked and a couple forum members came through with ammo for us and one still hasn't told me how much I owe them.
We talked to other people just in the field and everyone was very nice and helpful and I assume was honestly sharing information on where the elk were or weren't and whether they were talking, etc.
It really was great to see the good in people shining through instead of all the negatives we hear about all the time.
maconbacon
Active member
Great story, had me on the edge of my seat the entire time! Congrats!
CUElk
Well-known member
That's awesome. Congrats. Thanks for sharing
mdeerjunkie
Well-known member
Awesome! great story!
wihunter12
Well-known member
Best story I have read in a long time, congrats to you and your son!
406Born
Well-known member
Congrats. I knew you could do it. Does your son wants to be an elk hunter now despite his earlier statement? Happy for you both.
NMGuy
Well-known member
Hell Yes! Congrats to you and the boy!
