F
flyfish
Guest
My hunting story begins just like everyone else that puts in for any of the Limited Entry hunts. I waited until the last few days of the application period to get my application filled out and sent in. During the process of filling out my application, I didn't realize that there were two types of LE tags you could put in for here in Utah. The All Season Premium Limited Entry Bull Elk Tag priced at $508 smackers, and the you pick your season you want to hunt, Limited Entry Bull Elk Tag priced at $280 smackers.
Well, needless to say, I thought I was putting in for the $280 LE rifle tag, not the $508 tag. After telling my wife what I had done, I told her not to worry too much about me drawing the tag, because I only had nine bonus points and there was no way in this world that I would be lucky enough to draw the tag. What my wife said next was kinda funny; she goes on to say, I bet you draw that tag just because it costs an extra $228 dollars.
Well she was right, I about fell off my chair at work, after checking my bank account and realizing that I had been lucky enough to draw this great tag. My wife wasn?t very happy that she was right this time around. It took her a few weeks to get over it? My wife has actually been very understanding and has been picking up my slack around the house, with the kids and everything else under the sun. My wife is seven months pregnant and has been a trooper. I want to thank her for all her support.
Okay now on to the hunting?
After many days of hunting and miles on the boots I didn't fill my tag during the early rifle season. So with the muzzle loader season upon me I needed a muzzle loader because I didn't own one. My friend Steve came to my rescue and was nice enough to loan me his. We hunted the Red Creek area one evening and found a good shooter bull, but we could never get close enough to him. That night coming home we hit and killed a four point buck with Steve?s truck. Not a good night.
I took a few days off and went back to the Little CO-OP area for an evening hunt with my bro-in-law Ken, we found the bulls and they were just going crazy. I passed on a small satellite bull at 80 yards that night. It got dark on us and so we put the rest of the bulls to bed and I headed back up there the next morning with Brook and Jeremy.
You see, I had already made plans with Brook and Jeremy to take a ride on the horses up AF Canyon Wednesday morning, but after I told Brook about the good bulls I had put to bed that night, he helped me change my mind about the AF canyon horse ride. We left the horses home that morning and let them sleep in a little longer. The plan was if we needed the horses we would call Brooks dad and he would head up with the horses.
We were up early the next morning and on the mountain as the sun was coming up. We started walking in the direction that I had last seen the elk the night before. The elk had moved a little during the night, down off the top of the ridge to the lower valley below. They were just getting done with their breakfast and they were just starting too test out their bugling voices for the day. They weren't very hard to find or keep track of due to all the noise the bulls were making. Once we spotted the first group, they were just heading over the top of the small hill and down the other side to the valley below. So with the wind in our faces and all the elk out of sight, this is where the mountain marathon begins.
We raced through the rest of the sage brush flat and up the hill side, slowing down as we crested the top of the hill, just as the sun was starting to brighten up the morning. By this time the elk were really bugling their guts out, we could see four 6x6 bulls in the bottom of the valley one of witch was a shooter bull. Every bull we could see in this valley was holding nothing back and just screaming at each other. Out in front of us, about 200 yards, we had what we thought was one smaller 5x5 bull by himself testing out is voice every now and again. We paid little attention to him as we set up the spotting scope. We took a look at each bull sizing them up and putting a plan together to get into position to get a shot at the shooter 6x6 bull.
Just as we started moving up the ridge a little to start our stock, we were stopped dead in our tracks by the largest, nastiest bugle we had heard all morning and he was close. We still had the wind in our favor, so we sat tight while we changed our plans a little. We couldn't see this bull because of all the trees between us and him, so we decided to try and get on top of him. We headed back down and around him a little and ran smack dab into all his cows and one stupid spike that busted us and ran right down through the rest of the elk pushing them all down into the bottom of the valley. We did get to see the bull, with the big nasty bugle, as he run pasted us at 200 yards like there was a grizzly bear chasing him. He joined the rest of the confused elk in the bottom. After seeing this bull I new he was the one I wanted. He made the other bulls around him look small except for one.
The bull we had started our stock on ten minutes earlier was a shooter bull too. He didn't have the daggers the other bull had, but he was still a good 6x6 bull. After a few minutes all the herd bulls gathered up their cows and went up into trees out of site, but not out of ear shot. They were still all bugling and carrying on. Because, I didn't think we could catch up to Mr. Daggers, we headed after the other 6x6 shooter bull, he was close and the wind stayed good for us. But I must say, at this point I was so pissed off that we got busted, I was having a hard time believing that we would ever catch up with any of them, let alone Mr. Daggers.
So with the wind in our favor we headed after the 6x6 bull he was pushing his cows toward a small patch of pines. We ran up the mountain and cut them off just to be busted again this time by a small rag 5x5. They busted down through the trees, and so we stayed on top of them in chase listening for bugles and trying to stay as close to them as possible. We were able to cut the group off again, they stayed below us and we cut them off in a small ridge line. The 6x6 was absolutely going nuts, he knew something was wrong, but he did know what. We sat down and got ready for the shot, he was working his way right too us, screaming all the way. He came out into a small clearing below us in range at 137 yards, and I was just about ready to squeeze the trigger and the wind changed. You guessed it! They busted us once again. He spun and took his cows and headed North West. We did our best to keep the wind in our faces and to stay on top of the heard. Keep in mind we are running our butts off, mostly strait up. We stayed on them pretty good, but I couldn't get another shot. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get my chance again. Brook keep pushing us forward staying even with the group. We were running side-by-side with the elk about 50 yards apart. We had the wind and were on top of them.
Luck was on our side that morning and we pushed that group of elk right into Mr. Dagger?s group. With the two groups together now we pushed them into a small sage brush clearing. We were still about 300 yards away from the opening of the clearing, all we could see were elk running into the clearing like mad. I ran up looking for a good place to setup. As I got closer there was another spike standing between me and the front of the clearing. At this point, I haven't seen Mr. Daggers yet. The spike turns tail and runs again right smack dab into the middle of the heard again. As he does this, I see Mr. Daggers with the group and he's chasing cows. He just so happens to be chasing a cow right at us, he has no idea we are standing there. The 6x6 knows we're there and doesn't have a clue what to do next. Brook let's out a bugle and guess what Mr. Daggers does, stops dead in his tracks broadside standing right next to the other 6x6 bull at 125 yards. If elk could speak English, he would have said, holy crap I m dead meat!
I had about five seconds to aim and pull the trigger. Off hand, I pulled down my 50 caliber knight ML put it right on his front shoulder and pulled the trigger?The very next thing you hear is the thud of the slug punching through is front shoulder. He was hit hard but didn't act like it until he got about 50 yards away. He started to stumble and stager a little. Mr. Daggers went down and was dead as we walked up to him. What a hunt, I was so exhausted, I was glad it was over. I did enjoy every minute, even the night I almost didn't make it out of First Water up Sheep Creek with my brother and Shawn. The rest of the story goes, we called Brook?s dad and brother to bring up the horses. We packed him up and got out off the mountain just as it started too rained like hell on us.
My bull scored 342 and I couldn't be happier with him. Let me tell you all something, it's about the hunt. It's about spending time with your best friends and family, and just being out there in the mountains enjoying what God gave us. People get way too caught up in the numbers game. I would like to thank by name all those people that put their life?s on hold for me and took the time away from their family?s and work to help me find my Wasatch stinky bull. Let me tell you he was one stinky bugger!!! He was definitely rutting hard.
Family:
Ken, Gary, Troy, John and Clint
Friends:
Jeremy thanks for the wheeler, and for being my pack mule.
Lee, thanks for the inside information and the extra gun.
Shawn, thanks for getting me off the mountain that cold night.
Steve thanks for the Muzzle Loader it worked out great.
Tim, thanks for just being there and for your support.
Brook and family, thanks for teaching me how to hunt elk in the rut, and for the horses and for helping me lose ten pounds.
Well that's it, if I have missed anyone please forgive me. Sorry the story was so long. If anyone needs help next year with there Wasatch tag please let me know, I will be more than happy to help anyone out.
Thanks
Flyfish
Well, needless to say, I thought I was putting in for the $280 LE rifle tag, not the $508 tag. After telling my wife what I had done, I told her not to worry too much about me drawing the tag, because I only had nine bonus points and there was no way in this world that I would be lucky enough to draw the tag. What my wife said next was kinda funny; she goes on to say, I bet you draw that tag just because it costs an extra $228 dollars.
Well she was right, I about fell off my chair at work, after checking my bank account and realizing that I had been lucky enough to draw this great tag. My wife wasn?t very happy that she was right this time around. It took her a few weeks to get over it? My wife has actually been very understanding and has been picking up my slack around the house, with the kids and everything else under the sun. My wife is seven months pregnant and has been a trooper. I want to thank her for all her support.
Okay now on to the hunting?
After many days of hunting and miles on the boots I didn't fill my tag during the early rifle season. So with the muzzle loader season upon me I needed a muzzle loader because I didn't own one. My friend Steve came to my rescue and was nice enough to loan me his. We hunted the Red Creek area one evening and found a good shooter bull, but we could never get close enough to him. That night coming home we hit and killed a four point buck with Steve?s truck. Not a good night.
I took a few days off and went back to the Little CO-OP area for an evening hunt with my bro-in-law Ken, we found the bulls and they were just going crazy. I passed on a small satellite bull at 80 yards that night. It got dark on us and so we put the rest of the bulls to bed and I headed back up there the next morning with Brook and Jeremy.
You see, I had already made plans with Brook and Jeremy to take a ride on the horses up AF Canyon Wednesday morning, but after I told Brook about the good bulls I had put to bed that night, he helped me change my mind about the AF canyon horse ride. We left the horses home that morning and let them sleep in a little longer. The plan was if we needed the horses we would call Brooks dad and he would head up with the horses.
We were up early the next morning and on the mountain as the sun was coming up. We started walking in the direction that I had last seen the elk the night before. The elk had moved a little during the night, down off the top of the ridge to the lower valley below. They were just getting done with their breakfast and they were just starting too test out their bugling voices for the day. They weren't very hard to find or keep track of due to all the noise the bulls were making. Once we spotted the first group, they were just heading over the top of the small hill and down the other side to the valley below. So with the wind in our faces and all the elk out of sight, this is where the mountain marathon begins.
We raced through the rest of the sage brush flat and up the hill side, slowing down as we crested the top of the hill, just as the sun was starting to brighten up the morning. By this time the elk were really bugling their guts out, we could see four 6x6 bulls in the bottom of the valley one of witch was a shooter bull. Every bull we could see in this valley was holding nothing back and just screaming at each other. Out in front of us, about 200 yards, we had what we thought was one smaller 5x5 bull by himself testing out is voice every now and again. We paid little attention to him as we set up the spotting scope. We took a look at each bull sizing them up and putting a plan together to get into position to get a shot at the shooter 6x6 bull.
Just as we started moving up the ridge a little to start our stock, we were stopped dead in our tracks by the largest, nastiest bugle we had heard all morning and he was close. We still had the wind in our favor, so we sat tight while we changed our plans a little. We couldn't see this bull because of all the trees between us and him, so we decided to try and get on top of him. We headed back down and around him a little and ran smack dab into all his cows and one stupid spike that busted us and ran right down through the rest of the elk pushing them all down into the bottom of the valley. We did get to see the bull, with the big nasty bugle, as he run pasted us at 200 yards like there was a grizzly bear chasing him. He joined the rest of the confused elk in the bottom. After seeing this bull I new he was the one I wanted. He made the other bulls around him look small except for one.
The bull we had started our stock on ten minutes earlier was a shooter bull too. He didn't have the daggers the other bull had, but he was still a good 6x6 bull. After a few minutes all the herd bulls gathered up their cows and went up into trees out of site, but not out of ear shot. They were still all bugling and carrying on. Because, I didn't think we could catch up to Mr. Daggers, we headed after the other 6x6 shooter bull, he was close and the wind stayed good for us. But I must say, at this point I was so pissed off that we got busted, I was having a hard time believing that we would ever catch up with any of them, let alone Mr. Daggers.
So with the wind in our favor we headed after the 6x6 bull he was pushing his cows toward a small patch of pines. We ran up the mountain and cut them off just to be busted again this time by a small rag 5x5. They busted down through the trees, and so we stayed on top of them in chase listening for bugles and trying to stay as close to them as possible. We were able to cut the group off again, they stayed below us and we cut them off in a small ridge line. The 6x6 was absolutely going nuts, he knew something was wrong, but he did know what. We sat down and got ready for the shot, he was working his way right too us, screaming all the way. He came out into a small clearing below us in range at 137 yards, and I was just about ready to squeeze the trigger and the wind changed. You guessed it! They busted us once again. He spun and took his cows and headed North West. We did our best to keep the wind in our faces and to stay on top of the heard. Keep in mind we are running our butts off, mostly strait up. We stayed on them pretty good, but I couldn't get another shot. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get my chance again. Brook keep pushing us forward staying even with the group. We were running side-by-side with the elk about 50 yards apart. We had the wind and were on top of them.
Luck was on our side that morning and we pushed that group of elk right into Mr. Dagger?s group. With the two groups together now we pushed them into a small sage brush clearing. We were still about 300 yards away from the opening of the clearing, all we could see were elk running into the clearing like mad. I ran up looking for a good place to setup. As I got closer there was another spike standing between me and the front of the clearing. At this point, I haven't seen Mr. Daggers yet. The spike turns tail and runs again right smack dab into the middle of the heard again. As he does this, I see Mr. Daggers with the group and he's chasing cows. He just so happens to be chasing a cow right at us, he has no idea we are standing there. The 6x6 knows we're there and doesn't have a clue what to do next. Brook let's out a bugle and guess what Mr. Daggers does, stops dead in his tracks broadside standing right next to the other 6x6 bull at 125 yards. If elk could speak English, he would have said, holy crap I m dead meat!
I had about five seconds to aim and pull the trigger. Off hand, I pulled down my 50 caliber knight ML put it right on his front shoulder and pulled the trigger?The very next thing you hear is the thud of the slug punching through is front shoulder. He was hit hard but didn't act like it until he got about 50 yards away. He started to stumble and stager a little. Mr. Daggers went down and was dead as we walked up to him. What a hunt, I was so exhausted, I was glad it was over. I did enjoy every minute, even the night I almost didn't make it out of First Water up Sheep Creek with my brother and Shawn. The rest of the story goes, we called Brook?s dad and brother to bring up the horses. We packed him up and got out off the mountain just as it started too rained like hell on us.
My bull scored 342 and I couldn't be happier with him. Let me tell you all something, it's about the hunt. It's about spending time with your best friends and family, and just being out there in the mountains enjoying what God gave us. People get way too caught up in the numbers game. I would like to thank by name all those people that put their life?s on hold for me and took the time away from their family?s and work to help me find my Wasatch stinky bull. Let me tell you he was one stinky bugger!!! He was definitely rutting hard.
Family:
Ken, Gary, Troy, John and Clint
Friends:
Jeremy thanks for the wheeler, and for being my pack mule.
Lee, thanks for the inside information and the extra gun.
Shawn, thanks for getting me off the mountain that cold night.
Steve thanks for the Muzzle Loader it worked out great.
Tim, thanks for just being there and for your support.
Brook and family, thanks for teaching me how to hunt elk in the rut, and for the horses and for helping me lose ten pounds.
Well that's it, if I have missed anyone please forgive me. Sorry the story was so long. If anyone needs help next year with there Wasatch tag please let me know, I will be more than happy to help anyone out.
Thanks
Flyfish
Thanks for the story too, and I agree 100% that there's a lot more to hunting than killing and scores!
