Post your Spike Bull success pics please.

RidgeRebel · Oct 13, 2011

Please post your spike bull success pics if you have them. Like I said in my other post I have only killed spikes and cows until this year and I know it's odd but I love to see the spike bull pics. I don't want to stir the pot anymore than has been done already. However I would like to offer my opinion. I think the idea that spike hunting hurts the herds is unfounded. Some of the healthiest herds in Utah are on units that have allowed spike bull and limited entry hunting since I started hunting. I have hunted elk on 3 different units that allowed spike hunting as well as limited entry hunts for the past 13 years and until the last 3 years the hunting has only improved. Every year I saw more elk and bulls than the year before until a few years ago. I personally saw the Fishlake unit turn from a great unit to fair at best from handing out cow tags like coupons and a much higher success rates due to weather conditions. I think the answer to the decline in elk quality in the last few years lies with the cows and calfs. Each unit can only support so many elk and when you are limiting how many bulls are killed you have no choice but to start killing cows in large numbers. I think the herds started on the decline when most units started averaging 50 bulls per hundred cows. If the spike hunting was hurting the bull crop so much than how was it that the Fishlake, Wasatch, and Manti had 50 bulls per hunred cows just like every other unit forcing the DWR to slaughter the cows to keep the herds in check? You can't have bulls without cows and in order for the herds to remain healthy you need more cows than bulls. Anyway Like I said this is just my opinion. I personally have been thankful to have the spike hunts and I would hunts spike every year rather than not hunt elk at all. It took 10 years to draw a ML tag on the Wasatch and it was worth the wait. They have hunted spikes on the Wasatch as long as I have hunted elk and the bull crop definitely was not hurting this year, it is the cows and I think we will see the repercussions of that in years to come.
Thanks
Ridgerebel

Maxxy · Oct 13, 2011

My Brothers and Dad have seen a ton of Elk thus far. (WAY more than I saw on my LE hunt). Only one spike seen so far. I won't give away the area just yet, but good luck to all the General Season hunters!