A
apollosmith
Guest
LAST EDITED ON Nov-10-08 AT 02:12AM (MST)[p]First of all, I have to give a huge thank you to the Coulam boys for making this hunt a success, to mulepacker for his infinite and generous elk wisdom, to my eternally patient and supportive wife, and to the many others who gave tips, ideas, and encouragement. This is my first bull elk.
Since learning I had drawn this Utah late season LE tag, I spent a lot of time in the hills learning the area, seeing more elk and deer than I thought existed, getting in (better) shape, and learning the behaviors, patterns, and locations of big game. I logged around 180 miles of hiking before the hunt started.
I spent some time through the summer watching a big bull just a few miles from my home. Other North Cache hunters may know him as the Smith's bull. He disappeared in late September.
Then 3 days before the hunt was to start, I spotted a big bull busting over a ridge 3 miles away right at dark. A closer look the next day showed he was a shooter bull and also the same bull we had seen earlier. I spent most waking moments for the next 2 days making the 2 mile steep climb and watching him until my eyes burned. I felt confident about where he'd be opening morning.
We'd hardly left the pickup on opening Saturday when a herd of elk came over the ridge. The cows were chirping and the 5 small bulls were even bugling, something I suppose is uncommon in November. Up the hill we went to find THE ONE. But he wasn't there. My friend Clayton found a comfortable place and spent the next 3 hours glassing the canyons and then at 10am, he spotted him bedded down in a nasty canyon a mile away.
Two hours and a long, steep hike later, Tyson and I were in position with cameras rolling and I made a 320 yard shot to put the bull down. One shot, one kill with my trusty .270. He was dead in his bed.
It was an honor to share this experience with 2 outstanding young men. It wouldn't have happened without their help. Their father spotted from the valley all day long and their other brother came up and played mule and packed a quarter out on his back. I've turned them all into elk fanatics. Thank you Coulams!!!
I'm not sure exactly what he scores, but I've had three different measurements of 374 gross and my own conservative measurement goes 370 6/8, so I'm calling it a 360ish bull for now.
We have some sweet footage of the hunt including two different cameras on the kill shot and some video of the bull in the rut. You can watch by scrolling to the bottom of http://smithplanet.com/archives/my-elk-hunt
or watch low quality streaming at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2379372269635597556
Since learning I had drawn this Utah late season LE tag, I spent a lot of time in the hills learning the area, seeing more elk and deer than I thought existed, getting in (better) shape, and learning the behaviors, patterns, and locations of big game. I logged around 180 miles of hiking before the hunt started.
I spent some time through the summer watching a big bull just a few miles from my home. Other North Cache hunters may know him as the Smith's bull. He disappeared in late September.
Then 3 days before the hunt was to start, I spotted a big bull busting over a ridge 3 miles away right at dark. A closer look the next day showed he was a shooter bull and also the same bull we had seen earlier. I spent most waking moments for the next 2 days making the 2 mile steep climb and watching him until my eyes burned. I felt confident about where he'd be opening morning.
We'd hardly left the pickup on opening Saturday when a herd of elk came over the ridge. The cows were chirping and the 5 small bulls were even bugling, something I suppose is uncommon in November. Up the hill we went to find THE ONE. But he wasn't there. My friend Clayton found a comfortable place and spent the next 3 hours glassing the canyons and then at 10am, he spotted him bedded down in a nasty canyon a mile away.
Two hours and a long, steep hike later, Tyson and I were in position with cameras rolling and I made a 320 yard shot to put the bull down. One shot, one kill with my trusty .270. He was dead in his bed.
It was an honor to share this experience with 2 outstanding young men. It wouldn't have happened without their help. Their father spotted from the valley all day long and their other brother came up and played mule and packed a quarter out on his back. I've turned them all into elk fanatics. Thank you Coulams!!!
I'm not sure exactly what he scores, but I've had three different measurements of 374 gross and my own conservative measurement goes 370 6/8, so I'm calling it a 360ish bull for now.
We have some sweet footage of the hunt including two different cameras on the kill shot and some video of the bull in the rut. You can watch by scrolling to the bottom of http://smithplanet.com/archives/my-elk-hunt
or watch low quality streaming at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2379372269635597556
