CATMANDO ELK and PHOTOS
- Thread starter bowhunt
- Start date
B
bigole_elk
Guest
That is a sweet Elk,
What is the story? Location etc?
What is the story? Location etc?
C
catmando
Guest
First off I do have other pictures, but one of my buddies bull is in them so I will post them with his permission.
This was an awesome hunt to say the least. The bulls were full swing into the rut. We arrived on the mountain on the Friday prior to the muzzleloader opener. I don't know if that was a good thing or not. Spending four days looking at tons of bulls each day will drive you nuts knowing your hunt is only days away.
On the second day after passing multiple bulls we decided to go into an area that we had not hunted but a few of our friends recommended we check out.
We had passed several bulls that morning and had gone back to my friends cabin for some lunch and then headed out towards the south-east end of the mountain. We were driving down a wheeler trail and saw several cow elk with a good bull coming down the ridge with several rag horns in tow.
We parked our bikes and headed into the area we last saw them. We were unable to locate them again and worked our way into the next canyon where there were several different bulls bugling.
We could hear a few cow chirps by a bull so we decided to set up on him. We were on an open sage brush hillside with a few mahoganoy and cedars opposite a pine and quakie hillside which is the side the bull was on. We waited for almost an hour for him to move out, but he remained in the same place.
We decided to move closer and a little further up hill. I figure we were within 100 yards of the elk. Then a cool thing started to happen. The other bulls began to bugle and grunt more frequently and began moving towards the bull with the cows. Finally we heard him get up and begin raking trees and bugling back at the bulls that were moving in on him. You could tell he was getting aggrivated with what was happening.
My buddy Fred looked down at me and whispered,"he is going to have to fight or move his cows right to us".
Within a half hour the other bulls had gotten close enough and he began to push his cows out of the trees right directly below us. I looked up at my buddy Fred and he whispered "here come some cows". He could see them sooner from his higher vandtage point 30 yards up the hill. I peered up over the brush and could see several cows below me and to my right. They were looking in our direction and I was afraid they were winding us, but they had not broke or barked yet.
All of the sudden there was a lot of crashing as he pushed the rest of the cows out of the trees and directly below me. I sat up with my muzzleloader resting on my shooting sticks and gave him a quick once over as he turned his head to bugle back at the bulls in the trees that were moving in. I then decided he was good enough for me and was better than any of the bulls I had passed on to that point. He was quartering towards me at approximately 40 yards, so I placed the crosshairs on his closest front shoulder angling down towards his opposite side and pulled the trigger.
The shot whirled him around downhill and cows scattered in several directions. I couldn't see much through the smoke initially. My brother was videoing but was laying in the sagebrush most of the time trying to avoid being spotted by the cows so we didn't get to much of the sequence on tape.
I stood up and started reloading and noticed that the other bulls were still bugling as if they knew it was "free" cow time.
At that point we heard a large crash, but were not sure if it was him falling or the scattering cows running through the thick trees. I asked my buddy Fred if I had hit him and he said he could see blood pumping out his right side as he ran down the hill.
We didn't go far down the hill before Fred spotted blood and we began following the blood trail. We foung the bull piled up on the timbered hillside about 80-100 yards from where I shot him.
He is a heavy 7X7 with some of one fourth broken off the right, a sixth broken off the left and some of the length on his left side. He is not the widest bull or the longest, but I finally have one for the wall. He scores right around 350 not counting what he had broken off. I couldn't be happier and having shared the experience with my brother Barry and my good buddy Fred made memories that will last a lifetime.
It was worth the wait and I hope that all of you who haven't drawn yet get to enjoy as much of an incredible experience as I did in the near future.
This was an awesome hunt to say the least. The bulls were full swing into the rut. We arrived on the mountain on the Friday prior to the muzzleloader opener. I don't know if that was a good thing or not. Spending four days looking at tons of bulls each day will drive you nuts knowing your hunt is only days away.
On the second day after passing multiple bulls we decided to go into an area that we had not hunted but a few of our friends recommended we check out.
We had passed several bulls that morning and had gone back to my friends cabin for some lunch and then headed out towards the south-east end of the mountain. We were driving down a wheeler trail and saw several cow elk with a good bull coming down the ridge with several rag horns in tow.
We parked our bikes and headed into the area we last saw them. We were unable to locate them again and worked our way into the next canyon where there were several different bulls bugling.
We could hear a few cow chirps by a bull so we decided to set up on him. We were on an open sage brush hillside with a few mahoganoy and cedars opposite a pine and quakie hillside which is the side the bull was on. We waited for almost an hour for him to move out, but he remained in the same place.
We decided to move closer and a little further up hill. I figure we were within 100 yards of the elk. Then a cool thing started to happen. The other bulls began to bugle and grunt more frequently and began moving towards the bull with the cows. Finally we heard him get up and begin raking trees and bugling back at the bulls that were moving in on him. You could tell he was getting aggrivated with what was happening.
My buddy Fred looked down at me and whispered,"he is going to have to fight or move his cows right to us".
Within a half hour the other bulls had gotten close enough and he began to push his cows out of the trees right directly below us. I looked up at my buddy Fred and he whispered "here come some cows". He could see them sooner from his higher vandtage point 30 yards up the hill. I peered up over the brush and could see several cows below me and to my right. They were looking in our direction and I was afraid they were winding us, but they had not broke or barked yet.
All of the sudden there was a lot of crashing as he pushed the rest of the cows out of the trees and directly below me. I sat up with my muzzleloader resting on my shooting sticks and gave him a quick once over as he turned his head to bugle back at the bulls in the trees that were moving in. I then decided he was good enough for me and was better than any of the bulls I had passed on to that point. He was quartering towards me at approximately 40 yards, so I placed the crosshairs on his closest front shoulder angling down towards his opposite side and pulled the trigger.
The shot whirled him around downhill and cows scattered in several directions. I couldn't see much through the smoke initially. My brother was videoing but was laying in the sagebrush most of the time trying to avoid being spotted by the cows so we didn't get to much of the sequence on tape.
I stood up and started reloading and noticed that the other bulls were still bugling as if they knew it was "free" cow time.
At that point we heard a large crash, but were not sure if it was him falling or the scattering cows running through the thick trees. I asked my buddy Fred if I had hit him and he said he could see blood pumping out his right side as he ran down the hill.
We didn't go far down the hill before Fred spotted blood and we began following the blood trail. We foung the bull piled up on the timbered hillside about 80-100 yards from where I shot him.
He is a heavy 7X7 with some of one fourth broken off the right, a sixth broken off the left and some of the length on his left side. He is not the widest bull or the longest, but I finally have one for the wall. He scores right around 350 not counting what he had broken off. I couldn't be happier and having shared the experience with my brother Barry and my good buddy Fred made memories that will last a lifetime.
It was worth the wait and I hope that all of you who haven't drawn yet get to enjoy as much of an incredible experience as I did in the near future.
C
catmando
Guest
Monroe. Thanks for posting bowhunt.....
C
catmando
Guest
This is catmando's son... it was an awesome hunt, we took home 5 bucks (3 23 or wider) and two bulls 350+ in our group. Doesn't get much better than that!
Hunter B.
Hunter B.
L
littlefoot
Guest
congratulations to all of you...sounds like a terrific time was had by all....thanks for taking the time to share the story and good pics...
I
isayNUNYA
Guest
Nice bull Biggy. Is that a little gray in your beard? Tell Fay-Fay I said what up!
