N
nv_mulies
Guest
You know when your watching your hunting videos or t.v shows and they always say, "Well folks it's the last morning of the hunt and we just got a monster." Well that just so happend to be the case on my hunt.
When I got this tag a month and a half ago, I did not realize how hard of a hunt it was going to be. I Hunted from start to finish all 9 days, and boy let me tell you, it was a roller coaster ride of emotions! I hiked to the peaks and walked through the valleys to get a better view, sitting behind my Binos and spotting scope for hours on end seeing plenty of cows but just not many bulls. The bulls I did find were just small rags horns, one of wich I could have made a 50 yard shot on.
After passing on a wounded rag horn we named Gimpy mid-week, it was now Sat. and I needed to get me a bull. So, old Gimpy was the bull of choice to fill my tag on. We went all day Sat and could not find Gimpy, only seeing three cows all day. That night we decided it was all or nothing, deciding to try for Gimpy again in the morning and then start the trek home.
Sunday Morning:
Waking up in the morning everybody including myself was slow to get up, I even thought of just sleeping in. Making our way out to where Gimpy was I had told my buddy Bobby that it was Sunday and for some reason my family always kills big animals on Sundays. Not thinking anything about it we kept going around the bend, while stopping and glassing up the hillside where Gimpy had been I found a spike and nothing else on the hillside. While my three buddies and I sat there glassing for more elk, my buddy Justin started to press me saying,"Lets not go home with tag soup, those back straps will taste mighty fine, lets go get that spike." I hesitantly decided to go get him knowing that I had spent $800 bucks on this tag, and wanted to take home more than my wounded pride.
As we started making the stalk to the spiker we stopped for a breather and that's when Justin said, "Hey, there is another bull up there." My other buddy Skyler and I couldn't see him and just kinda played dumb. A few minutes later at another ridge, I glassed up there and sure enough I saw the big boy working his way to a cow, this time though Justin nor Skyler could see the bull. I frantically tried to point the bull out and finally the bull came out into the open and all three of us knew we had to get that bull. Our pace went from la-di-da we are going to get a spike to holy crap we gotta move before he gets away!
We quickly make up some ground and are on the ridge line across from where they were when we last seen them. When we go over the top there is nothing on the opposite side, they were gone and that roller coaster feeling came back as my heart sunk down to my feet. Justin called down to our spotter Bobby asking where they had gone. Bobby tells him they went over the ridge 5 min ago. As soon as he got done talking to Bobby we were gone and slowly made our way over the top. Sneaking over the ridge Skyler quickly spots the cow that the bull was pushing and 15 yards behind her is the bull, they didn't even know we were there. Justin ranged it at 220 yards, Skyler got the video camera ready and I let two shots go and they hit the bull right in the boiler room, the rest is history! And I was screaming and jumping up and down like a little school girl when I finally seen him down. It was a hard hunt but one I will never forget.
If it was not for the family and friends I had out in the hills and at home that were supporting me,I know I would have probably just thrown in the towel and would have never gotten this trophy. Thanks to Justin, Bobby and Skyler and Riley for coming up and being able to help me out, you truelly made this a hunt I will never forget.To Neil and Kip thanks for all the tips on places to check out. To my Dad and Mom and wife Natalie and my boys Garen, Jayden and Dawson thanks for the encouragement and prayers to not give up.
(On a side note we played a prank on my Dad the day before I got this bull. Justin had the idea to have me send him a pic of a monster 360 bull down and see what happens. As soon as i sent it I had a call from him, I answered, and to hear him holler and scream with excitement made me feel like crap when I had to tell him that it wasn't my bull, and that I would probably be bringing nothing home. My dad had kept telling me all week that it was gonna happen for me, he knew I was gonna get a good bull. He is my Hero and and am gratefull that he introduced me to the outdoors when I was young. So, when I got to send him a pic of me and my bull it made me feel sooooo gooooood, and I will be honest, I was kinda choked up when I called him to tell him the story.) I feel truelly blessed and lucky at the same time to have had such a challenging but rewarding hunt.
Here is what you have been waiting for.....
From l to r: Justin, Bobby, Skyler, me
My buddy Kyle killed that ram on the sat in nevada and it scores 168, it's a heck of a ram.
When I got this tag a month and a half ago, I did not realize how hard of a hunt it was going to be. I Hunted from start to finish all 9 days, and boy let me tell you, it was a roller coaster ride of emotions! I hiked to the peaks and walked through the valleys to get a better view, sitting behind my Binos and spotting scope for hours on end seeing plenty of cows but just not many bulls. The bulls I did find were just small rags horns, one of wich I could have made a 50 yard shot on.
After passing on a wounded rag horn we named Gimpy mid-week, it was now Sat. and I needed to get me a bull. So, old Gimpy was the bull of choice to fill my tag on. We went all day Sat and could not find Gimpy, only seeing three cows all day. That night we decided it was all or nothing, deciding to try for Gimpy again in the morning and then start the trek home.
Sunday Morning:
Waking up in the morning everybody including myself was slow to get up, I even thought of just sleeping in. Making our way out to where Gimpy was I had told my buddy Bobby that it was Sunday and for some reason my family always kills big animals on Sundays. Not thinking anything about it we kept going around the bend, while stopping and glassing up the hillside where Gimpy had been I found a spike and nothing else on the hillside. While my three buddies and I sat there glassing for more elk, my buddy Justin started to press me saying,"Lets not go home with tag soup, those back straps will taste mighty fine, lets go get that spike." I hesitantly decided to go get him knowing that I had spent $800 bucks on this tag, and wanted to take home more than my wounded pride.
As we started making the stalk to the spiker we stopped for a breather and that's when Justin said, "Hey, there is another bull up there." My other buddy Skyler and I couldn't see him and just kinda played dumb. A few minutes later at another ridge, I glassed up there and sure enough I saw the big boy working his way to a cow, this time though Justin nor Skyler could see the bull. I frantically tried to point the bull out and finally the bull came out into the open and all three of us knew we had to get that bull. Our pace went from la-di-da we are going to get a spike to holy crap we gotta move before he gets away!
We quickly make up some ground and are on the ridge line across from where they were when we last seen them. When we go over the top there is nothing on the opposite side, they were gone and that roller coaster feeling came back as my heart sunk down to my feet. Justin called down to our spotter Bobby asking where they had gone. Bobby tells him they went over the ridge 5 min ago. As soon as he got done talking to Bobby we were gone and slowly made our way over the top. Sneaking over the ridge Skyler quickly spots the cow that the bull was pushing and 15 yards behind her is the bull, they didn't even know we were there. Justin ranged it at 220 yards, Skyler got the video camera ready and I let two shots go and they hit the bull right in the boiler room, the rest is history! And I was screaming and jumping up and down like a little school girl when I finally seen him down. It was a hard hunt but one I will never forget.
If it was not for the family and friends I had out in the hills and at home that were supporting me,I know I would have probably just thrown in the towel and would have never gotten this trophy. Thanks to Justin, Bobby and Skyler and Riley for coming up and being able to help me out, you truelly made this a hunt I will never forget.To Neil and Kip thanks for all the tips on places to check out. To my Dad and Mom and wife Natalie and my boys Garen, Jayden and Dawson thanks for the encouragement and prayers to not give up.
(On a side note we played a prank on my Dad the day before I got this bull. Justin had the idea to have me send him a pic of a monster 360 bull down and see what happens. As soon as i sent it I had a call from him, I answered, and to hear him holler and scream with excitement made me feel like crap when I had to tell him that it wasn't my bull, and that I would probably be bringing nothing home. My dad had kept telling me all week that it was gonna happen for me, he knew I was gonna get a good bull. He is my Hero and and am gratefull that he introduced me to the outdoors when I was young. So, when I got to send him a pic of me and my bull it made me feel sooooo gooooood, and I will be honest, I was kinda choked up when I called him to tell him the story.) I feel truelly blessed and lucky at the same time to have had such a challenging but rewarding hunt.
Here is what you have been waiting for.....
From l to r: Justin, Bobby, Skyler, me
My buddy Kyle killed that ram on the sat in nevada and it scores 168, it's a heck of a ram.
