Thanks everyone for the comments.
I don't know the story about people bathing naked in a stream, so I will just tell the story of my elk. Sorry Joe, but Briant that was good, LMAO.
Well needless to say, I was pretty excited when I found out that I drew a tag. On my first two scounting trips I did not see an elk, but started to learn the unit. After asking for some info and recieving replies from some generous monster muleys members I finally found some elk on my third trip to the unit.
During the archery and rifle season I was eager to hear any and all info I could on how the hunts were going. The stories sounded pretty grim, as everyone was reporting the elk were not very vocal and the conditions were hot and dry. I was starting to get nervous. I left three days early to do a little scouting and see for myself what the elk were doing. The first night out we saw a nice six point, and a few nice bulls everyday from then until the hunt started.
Opening morning we had bulls bugling around us, and I passed on a decent bull. That was the only elk I actually saw. We heard other bulls, but never saw them. My dad and buddies saw a nice bull with five cows, but I was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. The day time temps were reaching up into the 80's so it seemed that the action was pretty much over by 9:00 or 9:30. The day hunts and evenings hunts were useless, as we never saw any elk until about 10 minutes before dark each night, and even then we were only seeing one of two elk.
Thursday morning, the second day of the hunt, the elk were silent. I saw one bull, and that was the only elk I saw the entire day. After reading stories for years on the abundance of elk on Utah's limited entry units I was surprised to see only one elk all day long. There were five muzzleloader tags, and 4 of us were camped by one another. We would exchange stories at night and it seemed like no one was having much success. Everyone was joking that we should have turned our tags back in and saved our points. After hunting for two days, and seeing only two elk I was starting to get a little discouraged.
Friday morning came with a nice surprise. Onedryboot and his wife showed up in camp to help us out. He must have been good luck because the bulls were bugling everywhere. We saw several nice bulls that day and chased a big bull, but could never close the deal. There were two many eyes with all of his cows. One of the other hunters killed a beautiful bull that day. The day was definately a big boost in my confidence.
Saturday morning we went back into the same area we had seen the big bull the day before. We called in a small 5 point, and saw a nice six point, but just could't get close enough for a shot. We worked up the canyon and heard a couple more bulls bugling. My buddy informed me he had just seen a big six point that was in the gereral direction of where we were hearing some of the bugling. We worked up a ridge trying to locate the bull, but the trees were to thick to see anything. We were cow calling and getting a response everytime, but the bull just wasn't interested in moving. We snuck to within about 80 to 100 yards of were we thought the bull should be, but still he wouldn't show himself. After cow calling for about 15 minutes with no success, I bugled and that was all it took. The bull came busting in and I got a 20 yard shot. The bull ran off and we heard a loud crash. We found him not more than 50 yards from were he was standing when I shot. It was such a rush to hear the bull coming in.
The hunt was much harder than I dreamed it would be. Even though I only hunted four days we put a ton of miles on our boots. Reading all of the success stories on monster muleys, you get the impression that the limited entry units are a slam dunk for a big bull, but I found out different. Everyone says it was a hard year all over, and I agree. We worked our tails off for the chances we got. In the end I am glad we had to earn it. It made the experience that much more satisfying and meaningful.
