W
wesmd
Guest
Well a couple of weeks ago a good buddy of mine and I went on our Laguna Res. bull elk hunt. We were the only non-tribal hunters on the second rifle hunt. We were hunting the tail end of the rut in that particular area, bugles were few and far between. The area that we hunted is bordered by the famous Acoma Res. so we knew the potential of the area. The first day we passed on two 300 class bulls. The second day found us glassing up a bull that I thought would go 370, he was about a mile out with a few cows and some satelites. We watched them bed and decided to come back later that afternoon. We returned at about 4pm and decided to stalk into the draw that they had bedded in and see what we turned up. After creeping along for about 2 hours we heard a bugle, it was close so we continued along even slower. The elk had already started moving to the water, as we topped out on a small ridge we were busted by a cow about 120 yards out. She stared us down for about 2 minutes, all the while we could hear foot steps between us and the cow. A calf walked up to the cow and started nursing, and she forgot about us. Three more cows and a spike showed up from out of the junipers, and then he showed himself, less than 80 yards away. He moved up the draw to a cow, singled her out and tried mounting her several times. That is when my buddy got the shot. Here is his bull. (He didnt want his pic on the net, so its me with his bull.)
We never noticed the missing 5th on the left side until he was down. It wouldn't of made a difference if we had. The bull scored 359. The missing 5th just never grew, if it had he would of have been close to the 370 mark. We couldn't be happier with the bull, he has tons of character.
The morning of the third day I passed on a bull that I thought would go 340 at very best, but he was probably in the 335 range. When I returned to camp we took the meat to a cooler in town. While we were in town it rained and hailed about an inch in less than an hour, coming out the road was already like soup so we were stuck until it dried out. We were able to make it to camp in time for the evening hunt. We were glassing off of a small rim above where we had killed the first bull. Almost immediatly we found a small 5x6 bull, the same bull that was with the 340 bull I had passed the day before. We watched the bull for over an hour. Finally I spotted another bull further down the draw. After looking at him through the spotter I decided that he was a shooter. Upon further review we decided that it was the bull from the other day, just no cows. I snuck down to him and shot him just before dark.
I am very pleased with my bull. He scored 336 and is my largest elk to date. He has exceptional mass for a bull of his age class, and has cool main beams that swoop up at the ends. This was a great hunt, we killed two great bulls and we can't wait until next year.
We never noticed the missing 5th on the left side until he was down. It wouldn't of made a difference if we had. The bull scored 359. The missing 5th just never grew, if it had he would of have been close to the 370 mark. We couldn't be happier with the bull, he has tons of character.
The morning of the third day I passed on a bull that I thought would go 340 at very best, but he was probably in the 335 range. When I returned to camp we took the meat to a cooler in town. While we were in town it rained and hailed about an inch in less than an hour, coming out the road was already like soup so we were stuck until it dried out. We were able to make it to camp in time for the evening hunt. We were glassing off of a small rim above where we had killed the first bull. Almost immediatly we found a small 5x6 bull, the same bull that was with the 340 bull I had passed the day before. We watched the bull for over an hour. Finally I spotted another bull further down the draw. After looking at him through the spotter I decided that he was a shooter. Upon further review we decided that it was the bull from the other day, just no cows. I snuck down to him and shot him just before dark.
I am very pleased with my bull. He scored 336 and is my largest elk to date. He has exceptional mass for a bull of his age class, and has cool main beams that swoop up at the ends. This was a great hunt, we killed two great bulls and we can't wait until next year.
