Shoot or Pass Video...

C

cowslayer

Active Member
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Here is a video link to a dilema I had a couple of years back. It was opening morning of the Late Season Limited Entry Bull Elk Hunt in Utah. I had my back-up bull accross the canyon a dead rest and plenty of help. I beleived my opening morning bull was in the canyon and did I mention I was only 1 hour into the hunt...

Would you pass or shoot? As a side contest, what do you think he scores?

I had invested into the hunt 10 Bonus Points.

http://www.monsterhuntclips.com/view_video.php?viewkey=f202f26c1a174c735758

"Helping turn good tags, into great ones." - VIP Optics
 
very nice bull.. it would be hard to pass. if he was the second biggest bull and id put alot of time scouting and the biggest wasnt much bigger i would pull the trigger. Id say 353 + or - 1/8. jk on the 8th part
 
I was thinking 340+ a lil. Not enough info to make a decision. Other bull 400?, how well did you have the other bull patterned?, how well did you have this bull patterned?, Ever take a bull this size before.

If I had my heart set on the other bull and I felt I could take this one later, then I'd wait. But I have no problem filling a tag the first day.

Didn't seem like a give-me shot. Partial body, then brush in front.

All that said, I would be proud to have that bull on my wall.

My decision would be spur of the moment and probably depend on how I felt about the shot.
 
Very cool video! I can feel your anguish. Hard to tell if I would pass or not, to many unknows.
What had your scouting shown?
How easy were they to find on the late hunt?
How many days did you have?


The biggest question, what did you end up doing?
I want to see chapter 2 video.
 
Here is some additional info. I had seen these bulls the week before the hunt every time I went to look for them. The opening morning bull was a 350 class 9X7 that had some cool character. I put both of them to bed that night and was pretty sure they were in the vicinity. After a while, I will share the outcome of opening morning.

CS

"Helping turn good tags, into great ones." - VIP Optics
 
Your buds echoed my evaluation before I heard it. A little short on beams and shortish 3rds. 330-340 given the look we got. Do I shoot? How many other hunters? How long do I have to hunt? How big is the unit? etc, etc. Lots of smaller bulls killed in good units throughout the west every year. I hope to have to decide some day since I've been waiting 15 years for my tag.
 
I personally would have shot him. Nice Bull. I have been putting in for a tag here in oregon for the last 12 yrs and havent got it yet... NE bull in my opinion is a trophy. Just My Opinion. Thanks for sharing the video.
 
Notice how the bull could hear your buddy laughing like a little school girl:) Of course, if one of my buddies was looking through his scope at a nice bull on opening morning and was being tormented by whether or not he should shoot, I would be laughing at him too. Many people would kill to be in such a bind! I was in a similar predicament last fall but after looking at my bull for over five minutes throug the scope, I decided to pull the trigger, haven't regretted it since!
 
Well, here was the target bull\opening morning bull...

I however did not kill him. These lucky fellows must have seen the bull up above us in the canyon enter some pines and bed down for the day. They executed a perfect stalk, bump and thump.

Well we had to see him up close so we could take a few pics of him. Here's what he looked like on the ground. As they were shooting, the back-up bull snuck over the ridge and disappeared.

Should I have just shot the other bull?

KnappBull.jpg


"Helping turn good tags, into great ones." - VIP Optics
 
Way nice cs...

He sure looks bigger up close in this photo vs the video.

Soooo ya got us on the edge here...on what bull you harvested!

Robb
 
So someone else took your #1 bull and your #2 bull disapeared after you decided to pass on the shot. Guess your answer is in there someware.

Better luck next time.

Mark
 
So at the end of day 1. Bull #1 was dead and tagged by someone else. Bull #2 was nowhere to be found and the area had been really buggered up. Time to shift gears and try another spot. Sunday evening I was glassing another area and found that the elk were mass migrating out of the high ground. I probably saw a herd of 200 elk. The problem was, there were no mature bulls apparently they had already seperated themselves from the masses. With about an hour left of light, I drove to another vantage point and whoallla! The sun was reflecting off of 2 lone bulls down in some low country. I was over a mile or so away but quickly put the spotter on them and after a little evaluation I knew that I would be happy to shoot either one. Problem was, the light was about gone and I was way to far away to put a play on these bulls. So I sat and watched them feed until dark. That night I teamed up with some good friends and looked at some map software that helped us map our route. After a brief discussion about which approach would be best, I decided I would like to come in from above them.

From here I will let you follow along as I will post the video shortly of how it went down.

CS

"Helping turn good tags, into great ones." - VIP Optics
 
CS, my puter don't allow me to see vid's so could you show a picture or two as well?

I'm on pins and pine needles here, great way to tell the story!
 
I'm at the expo until later. Will post as soon as possible.

CS

"Helping turn good tags, into great ones." - VIP Optics
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-14-08 AT 09:09PM (MST)[p]Well let me prepare you for what your about to view. As we made our way to the saddle where the bulls had been the night before, the wind decided to head straight down the hill into the bulls and blow them out the bottom of the draw. I didn't have time to wait for the camera to get set-up as the bulls wanted to get out of dodge. The bull I ended up killing was confused as to which way to escape and paused just long enough for me to set down the Snipepod and get a solid rest. The rest you can see for yourself on my 3rd shot I broke his back and dropped him on the top of the little hill.

What you are about to see is graphic and is unedited as I don't know how to edit... yet.

Enjoy and try not to pick it apart to much.

http://www.monsterhuntclips.com/view_video.php?viewkey=6c95bd2b32ed45989c61

For those of you without the ability to view the video. Here is a couple pics of my bull.

TheGang.jpg


ChrisElkHunt2006065.jpg


CS

"Helping turn good tags, into great ones." - VIP Optics
 
Opening morning rifle LE Hunt in Utah.... you did the right thing on passing that first bull and the bull you got was heavy and Unique.
 
You told that story so well it made me feel like I was there....at least for the first part. Next time you take a photo get some good looking dudes in there. Those guys look stinky....very happy but stinky.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
Jim,

You might have felt like you were there, that's because you were there. I know you were super tired from working the night before, I was glad you could make it up the hill with us after working all night.

Thanks again,

CS


"Helping turn good tags, into great ones." - VIP Optics
 
I talked to Gary and his bull ended up scoring in the mid 360's.
Both you guys got well deserved bulls and should be extremely proud of the bulls you each ended up with. By the way, thanks for letting me tag along. I was tired after I got off the mountain but who needs sleep when you're chasing big bulls!

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 

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