Wyoming Round 2

RoadlessHunter

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Well the draws are out and I didn't pickup any good tags to day this year. It will be Wyoming general season Deer, Elk, and a Doe Antelope for me. My wife lucked out and got her Buck Antelope tag and a Doe Antelope for the dame unit. Last year ended with no kills on my Deer and Elk hunt. I missed a 6X7 that would have scored in the 360's on the general bow hunt. On the deer hunt I missed a good looking 28 inch 4 point that had deep forks all around and some good mass. I was in the middle of moving into a new house during the hunting season, so I didn't get to concentrate on the hunts like I usually would have done on a normal year. I have never hunted in Region H, so I might give that area a try this year. So like my title says, Round 2 in Wyoming.
 
My In-laws wanted to go to Bryce Canyon for the weekend. I decided to go check out the Paunsaugunt hunting unit, while I was in the area. I found a few nice bucks and a great typical 4X4. This is my first time setting foot on this unit. Forgive the shaky footage. I just don't have the the best videoing equipment.

 
Every time i get a weekend planed for scouting something gets in the way. I have a video of bucks that are closer to home then I plan to hunt during the season. I would say it's going to be a great horn year from the looks of these bucks. I did get up to Region G for 2/3 a day and seen a couple nice bucks. I just don't own the technology to get footage of them out at long distances. Enjoy these 2015 South West Wyoming Bucks.

 
Finally made it to the high country for a scouting trip. Do to weather we only spent 1 morning and 1 night in the high country. As usual we have an objective to find what we call a rocker. That means the horns are big enough that they rock backs and forth when the deer is running away. Take a look at the video because the first buck may just be a rocker. He does have 4 on each side with 1 short point on the back. We located 36 bucks on the night hike and 30 on the morning hike. Now decision time which buck should we go after or should we keep looking for a better buck. Probably going to try a bow hunt on them.

 
I got lucky and drew an antelope tag this year for Southwest Wyoming. As luck would have it, I only drew a doe tag. My wife drew both her buck and doe tag for one of the top six units in the state. I decided to try to get my doe with a bow. Wyoming has a million antelope, so I figured this would be an easy task. We drove around until we found a herd of 4 does and fawns. I made a stalk around the hill and planned on popping over the ridge and shooting them at 30 yards. When I popped over the ridge they were still 125 yards away and already looking in my direction. I thought I was in stealth mode, but they still pegged me. After 4 or 5 more stalks on other herds, it has become apparent that it is not easy to stalk and shoot an antelope. I will try again at a later date and hopefully have a success story. The kids did enjoy the trip even though we didn't get an antelope.

This looks like a nice buck, but I'm not sure how to judge a buck antelope.
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Monday the 14th we headed for the high country in Wyoming. We strapped on our backpacks and headed 5 miles back into a deep and steep buck hole. After passing multiple other camp it became evident that we would not be alone on the mountain. At first light we headed for the top of the ridge in hopes of finding the biggest buck that we seen during our scouting trips. As we sat on the ridge we spotted a group of 9 bucks feeding across the canyon. The biggest was a small four point. Then we spotted 2 other bucks. After looking the bucks over we deiced that the one buck was a possible taker for my wife. At that point it was still hard to see all the points on the buck, but while he was feeding away from use his horns were quit a bit wider than his butt. As my wife was lining up the gun for a shot we heard the guy on the ridge above the bucks shoot. He had just dropped the buck that we were after. It was a 30 inch 5X4. At that point Kati opened fire on the buck in the picture. After a miniature war of 10 sot she finally made a heart shot and the buck went down. I wasn't sure were she was hitting, but when we crossed the canyon there was a big cross wind. We deiced that the wind was drifting the bullet far enough to miss. Her buck is 26 inches wide and has lots of height, but the front end seems to forgotten how to grow. This is her first deer and she is plenty happy with it even though its just a main frame 3x3. The weather was very nasty for the opener. It was rainy and foggy and even snowed on use for part of the day. We will head out again after the weather improves and hopefully we can find one of our backup bucks. Next hunt up for Kati is her buck and doe antelope.
 
I finally connected on a good buck in the Wyoming High Country. After spending a couple more days in the area where my wife shot her buck, we decided to change our location. We backpacked the 5 miles back to the truck and headed for a location that has had nice bucks in the past. We got up 1 hour before daylight and headed for the place I missed a 28 inch 4x4 last year. We saw several 26 inch bucks on the way up the hill, but they didn't spark any interest. Then we spotted 3 bucks up high in the basin. As I looked them over, I couldn't believe it. The same buck I missed last year was standing 200 Yards from the spot where I had missed him. His width was similar, but he had added 2 extra points and tons of mass. I went into panic mode sitting in the exact location of the missed shot from the previous year. The shot both years was 500 yards. I steadied the gun on my pack that was stacked on a large rock. At this point, getting closer was out of the question. The only thing between us was ankle high grass and air. The gun is sighted in to hit dead on at 300 yards and I know the hold that I need at 500 yards. At the sound of the gun, I was waiting for dad to say hit. I put another bullet in and heard my dad say you got him. That was a big relief, as the buck ran behind a pine tree and went down. Then 30 seconds later the buck gave a kick and rolled 140 yards down an avalanche shoot. He reached 20 MPH and was going head over hills, but some how only ground the tips down on the ends of about 3 points. He is 30.5 inches wide and has 4 points on one side and 6 on the other.

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I have to give dad a credit picture, after all he hiked 50 miles scouting and hunting in the mountains. He also helped pack out my wife's buck and my buck even though he didn't have a tag.

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I have only encountered one bear in all the years of hunting in the Wyoming high country. I knew I should have bought the $45 tag, but yes I decided mot to get a tag. When we arrived to our backpack camp after hauling my wife's deer. My dad and I started a fire meanwhile, It was snowing and hailing with a strong wind blowing down the canyon. After awhile my wife decided the fire would be hotter than the sleeping bag. As we sat around the camp fire warming up my wife started yelling bear. Then a bear pop out of the trees at 47 yards. It made a us nervous to leave the tent and pack the buck to the truck. We figured the tent would be damaged when we came back in a couple days later. Luckily he didn't bother our stuff while we left for a couple days. I should have bought a bear tag. I will not make the same mistake next year.

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We finally found some time between the deer and elk hunts to go after antelope.? This was my wife?s first time hunting antelope and she had a Buck and doe tag in her pocket for the same area.? After arriving on the unit we started seeing antelope everywhere we went.? As we approach a ravine, I could see a little herd with a buck about 200 yards in front of the truck.? As we inspected the buck, we decided he was a shooter.?? As my wife tried to steady the gun in the wind the herd had enough and took off running.? After driving around the knob, we located the buck and 10 does for a second time.? This time my wife took 3 shots, but had the same problem with the wind making it hard to steady the gun.? The herd ran about a mile down into a valley and started to mill around.? Then another solo buck ran into the herd and started to fight the buck that we had missed earlier.? The does ran off while they were fighting and the bucks fought for 30 seconds.? Then they looked up and noticed the doe herd was now ? mile away.? They both took off in hot pursuit and ended up near a sagebrush knob.? We drove to the top of the knob and eased our way over the ridge.? The buck was running right to use and stopped at 30 yards.? Then after he saw us, he took off running down the ridge and my wife made a nice 50 yard shot that dropped him in his tracks.? After dropping the buck, I told her to shoot a doe as they rounded the ridge and wert out of sight.? We walked 10 yards to the edge of the knob and we could now see the valley below. ??Then we noticed a monster buck and I immediately wished we had seen him before she shot her buck.? Her buck has lots of mass and is 13 inch prongs with some nice points.? We rough scored him at 81 inches with 1 7/8 inches of deductions, but I'm a little skeptical that he scores that well.? We used a B&C antelope scoring app. and just measured the locations it call for then put the numbers into the form.? So the buck we seen after this one was shot was bedded at 200 yards and had a 30+ does with him.? The left horn was 19? long with a huge crab claw and left is head going straight out.? The right side was 19? and left his head at a 45 degree angle with a huge crab claw.? I wish I would have gotten a picture, he was a beast.? According to the locals everyone was after that big boy.? After seeing the big boy, all my wife would say is he was too ugly to shoot and I'm happy with mine.? After gutting and loading the buck we drove around until we found a doe in a good stalking location and the rest is history.? The family loved the hunt and we also took the 11 year old neighbor kid.? He loved the hunt and can't wait to put in for a tag next year.? My kids still have a couple years until they can hunt, but have that same excitement.? After we complete the hunt and were out of tags for that area.? My 3 year old said, I think we should shoot just 2 more before we go home.? He just doesn't understand the needing a tag thing.? I still have a doe antelope tag for a different area and 1 bull and 2 cow tags.? My wife has a bull and cow tag left.? She is 3 for 3 to this point, but I'm a little less optimistic on the elk tags.? Next up Any Bull Elk with dad in Utah.

Family with the buck, 4 boys.
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Kati's buck
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Kati's doe
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Opening morning of the 2015 General Any Bull Elk Utah hunt found my dad and I heading up an old logging road on the North Slope of the Uinta?s. The area had changed over the 15 year period since my dad had hunted this area. We had talked about going to this place off and on over the years, but other tags always seemed to get in the way. Since we filled all the Wyoming deer tags early, my dad bought him an any bull elk tag with just 117 remaining. We walked about ? of a mile and came to a nice clearing that looked like a great elk spot on Google Earth. Wow, we were wrong the clearing contained hundreds of 5 to 10 foot pine trees. I would call it a Google Earth fail. As we pushed our way out of the thick patch of new pine growth, the shooting started to the west of us. Our target hunting area was 3.5 miles off the road and we kept up a steady hiking pace in that general direction. Every 20 to 30 minute a miniature war would break out as the elk herds were pushed all over the area. Just before we hit our target meadow that was 2.25 miles from the road, we ran into 4 hunters. They said the guys in the meadow just above us had shot a small rage horn and suggested that area was COVERED. They said there were hunters all over the place near the meadow and there were several camps with horses. That was one of places we planned on passing through, so we kept heading in that direction. At the meadow, we saw one guy with a horse and two tents on the far side. Then we heard three or four shots ring out form where the four hunters had disappeared. We walked through the edge of the meadow and started into some trees that were fairly open and had lots of tall grass. About 100 yards into the trees, dad stopped like he seen something. I side stepped to see around him and could see an elk between two large pine trees. The binocular confirmed it was a bull. I couldn't see his head, but I could see his left horn. Dad aimed in the 1.5 foot gap between the trees. After the shot rang out, the bull ran down the hill out of sight. The shot was only 70 yards, so I was sure he had hit the bull. As we approached the last area that we saw the bull, I could see him lying down with his head up. Dad gave him a finishing shot and we headed down to him. He is a 4x4 with one point broken off. The bull isn't a monster, but its dad?s biggest bull to date. The bull was close to 2.5 miles from the truck and took several backbreaking loads to get him out.

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I am excited, but have low expectations for the up coming Wyoming General Elk hunt.? After packing the gun around the mountains for a few hunting trips, I decided to check to see where I'm hitting.? One shot was all I needed and I won't be making any adjustments.

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We always sight in to hit dead on at 25 yards.? That puts the gun dead on again around the 300 yard mark as the bullet drops from the arc path.

My wife is excited this will be her first elk hunt. When I get some time, I need to upload her doe antelope miss shot. It cool because you can see the bullet vapor trail.
 
Well, the 2015 Wyoming General Elk Hunt is off to a rocky start. We hunted Thursday through Saturday on opening week. We were always in the right placed at the wrong time. We saw maybe 60 head of elk between the 3 different areas, but no shots. Elk are easy to see from a mile away. After stalking into range, no angle exists to see them. Opening morning found us crossing a river on a log. We decided against it, after testing the first couple feet out. The log had a thick layer of frost and we didn't want to start the day off wet. We retreated and drove down the road and headed up the other side of the canyon. No river crossing was required in that direction. We headed up the ridge and almost immediately saw elk above us, but we couldn't put horns on any of them. After reaching the top of the ridge, we had heard shots to the west and to the south of our location. We sat on the ridge and watch a saddle, hoping some elk would get pushed our way. After 30 minutes of napping I spotted a herd of three elk running at 1000 yards away. It was two cows and a heavy 2x2 bull packing a back leg. Our luck was running low and the herd was headed away from us. We made one last push up and around and headed for the truck. We covered five miles and saw 15 elk on that push. We decided to try an area that is good during the bow for the next day?s hunt. We didn't see an elk, so we packed up and headed to an entirely new area. That night we saw several nice bulls, but they were out of range. The next morning we headed up the hill above camp and spotted two cows and a nice bull. We made a move on them as they disappeared into a thick patch of pines. We pushed around the hill into the pines where they had disappeared. We didn't jump them, but, as we topped the ridge, we found a dead 7 x 6. It looked like it had been shot on opening day and not been recovered. Then we headed to the truck and headed home to regroup for our next round.

Dead 6 x 7, We searched the area for other hunter to see if anyone had lost bull. We didn't locate anyone that had been hunting in that area.
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We passed some nice viewing areas as we traveled between hunting areas.
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Got to love Wyoming!!!!
Look who showed up in my brothers back yard.
Picture taken at 5 feet thru the living room window.
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His house has some weird stuff going on in the back yard. He heard some commotion out back and this is what he found.
Yes, not one, but two bucks on his neighbors roof.
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This trip was similar to the first trip except we found less elk. First morning we saw a herd of eight elk three miles away. We deiced to hit that area for the night hunt. When we stopped at the end of the road, we were immediate met by a hunter. He told us they had a 6 point down and you will be waiting your time hunting that area. Dad finally told him there was plenty of country to hunt past the end of the road. We headed up the road and not long after here comes that guy plus his 2 buddies running their horses at full speed. We must have taken a better route at the end of the logging road because we caught up to them below our target avalanche shoot.

They were supersized to see we caught up to them, as they ran walked to get in front of us and head up the avalanche shoot. As he passed he said, I guess we are after the same elk. They headed up the avalanche shoot and with minutes started fire shots. It sounded like they were shooting at least a half mile up the hill. I still think they shot just to make sure the elk didn't come out. This is the kind of hunters I hate. They intimidate and try to push you off public land.

We didn't see another elk the rest of the trip. We did see some nice country as we hiked around.

We also saw plenty of other game animals.

Nice 4 x 5 buck
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Well, I have good news on the dead 6 x 7 that we located first trip. The responsible party found the elk before the meat spoiled and tagged him.

This is all that was left of him.

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Elk hunting can be hard at times or as easy as driving down a road at just the right time. Day one of our two day hunt found us hiking up a canyon with thick pines on the north slope and mostly open on the south slope. We spotted a herd of 5 cows just a half mile up the trial. This gave us high hopes, but after traveling 10 miles on foot for the day, we came up empty. When we arrived back at camp about 30 minutes after dark the rain began to fall. We settled in for the night to see what the weather would look like in the morning and then we would make plans for the next day. Anyone that has hunted the Wyoming high country knows how bad weather affects visibility.
The weather was poor and wet in the morning, so we just drove the roads in hopes of spotting elk on the ridges above the road. After traveling 40 miles we finally caught a break and we spotted 3 cows feeding. After 5 minutes of watching a 6 point bull walked out of the trees. This was around 1 Pm in the afternoon. I jump out of the truck after parking and started up the avalanche shoot. My dad stayed back as I approached the elk. Two cows spotted me coming up and ran into the trees. The bull and cow headed up the hill staying out of sight. I found their tracks latter in the skiff of snow. After traveling one mile up and 1200 foot of elevation, I decided to check the next canyon over to the east. I reach the top of the ridge, but not without clawing my way up a small gap between the ledges that lined the ridge top. The next canyon was fairly open and it didn't take me long to spot elk out feeding. I could see 7 bedded and 2 up and feeding. This was 2 pm in the afternoon, so I was surprised to see elk up and feeding. My dad had circled around the bottom of the canyon and was waiting for me. I closed the distance from 1000 yards to about 500 yards. I could tell one of the bedded elk had horns, but the bull had a cow bedded behind him and to both sides. I had to wait for a better shot, so I signaled dad to let him know it might be awhile before I could shoot. He also had the range finder, so I wasn?t sure the exact range. I decide to use the topo on my GPS to determine an approximate range. Using the contour lines, I came up with 500 to 525 yards. After a long 1.5 hour wait the bull finally stood up and was clear of the cows. I fired the first shot and the whole canyon started to move. I had only seen 9 elk total before the shot. I could now see 50 + elk. The bull didn't move, but hunched up like he was hit. After 6 shots total the bull was down. I have learned with elk, don't stop shooting until they are on the ground for good. He has good mass and 5 on each side. I ranged back to the shot location from the elk and it was 505 yards.
I couldn't be happier with this last day bull. My dad and I put 50+ miles of hiking during the Wyoming Bull Elk hunt. My wife didn't get to go on this trip due to the kids and Halloween.

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After rolling 100 yards down the hill this is how he came to rest with his horns wedged in the trees.

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This is my first attempt at making homemade elk jerky. It turned out pretty tasty, but I think we over dehydrated it by a few hours. It was dry and tasty. We will give it another go tonight and see if it turns out better.

Got to love the 1 HP meat grinder.

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Forgot to post the picture of the bullet that we found on the far side of my elk. Looks like the bullet performed fairly well.

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We had a good time driving some of the sage country near our home. We didn't find any monsters, but I put a little footage together from our night time cruise.

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The late cow hunts have been a little slow in regards to elk, but how can you concentrate on elk when we see big bucks on every ridge. A couple coworkers and I spent a day looking for elk. We saw a total of 7 bulls, but no cows.

Next deer hunt will be some Wasatch extended with the brother and nephew. I don't have a tag, but love going along to help spot and haul the deer out.

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These are the best picture I could get of this guy. The other buck with him was 6 inches wider and just as tall.

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Yes, I need new tires on my truck. I had to chain up to get out of a hairy situation.

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I just got around to posting pictures of our Uinta Mountain North Slope backpacking trip. My dad, my two oldest boys and my brother and his wife all packed 8 miles into the Uinta back country.


My dad, two oldest sons and I, getting ready to cook some brook trout.

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The fishing was slow in most lakes, but one lake had a bunch of giant Tiger fish. My son
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Everyone was catching 2 to 3 pound Tigers for about 15 minutes.
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Dad and my two boys hiking between lakes.
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We build a big camp fire to help drive the mosquitoes away.
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Pumping water from the spring.
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Big tent!!!
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My brother and his wife packed and ready for the hike out.
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We had another unsuccessful cow elk hunt. We traveled 50 miles on ridge tops glassing near and far, but spotted a total of zero elk. We did get a load of wood to help top off the fire wood pile and saw some nice bucks.


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All of the cow hunts have a break in the season, so we went out for a scouting trip. We only found deer everywhere we went.

Still have my old Smith and Edwards hat. I wish they still made this type with the fold down ears.
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Wish I had a better video camera, but this was the best I could do on this tank of a buck.
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New bucks keep showing up in the rolling hills everyday.

This is a beautiful typical with lots of potential. I would like to see him in another 3 years.

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Out trolling
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This typical was at least 28 inches wide with some decent mass and good point length.

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The cow elk hunts are just around the corner and I'm hoping to bag a cow, so we can fill the freezer with jerky. I came across this deer, while scouting for elk. My first glance at him gave me the impression he was as small buck. After getting the camera on him, I realized he had 6 points on each side with some impressive inline cheaters and added mass for good measure.

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Well elk hunting had taken a back seat for now. My oldest brother that was 41 passed away unexpectedly earlier this month. His health had been declining for 5 years. We are going to miss him.


Although he's gone, we still have the memories of the time we spent togather.

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This buck has quite the story. My dads friend Yoda unbeknownst to us was hunting one canyon to the east of us. We were making a push across an areas we call ambush canyon. The rain started to pour for a short time then it stopped. Yoda watched this buck get out of his bed and work towards him during the rain storm. He drew back and let fly hitting the buck in the ball of the front shoulder. The buck then ran into our canyon and passed 40 yards above my brother and I. The buck stopped just at the right moment to get a shot. My brother drew back and shot through a 4 inch gap with a bow that had no sights. I will never forget the "I hit it" yell my brother gave out. He had smacked the buck in the front part of the guts. At this point we still didn't know my dads friend had hit the buck. After awhile, we started to follow the blood trail. Then as luck would have it, a down pour hit. This rain quickly washed away all the tracks and blood. At that point Yoda had shown up looking for his buck. Yoda spent the next 3 days combing the entire area. On the last morning of our hunt Yoda found the buck and put 2 more arrow in him to finish him off. He had crossed the big canyon and bedded in some mahogany trees. We figured he had been bedded in that spot for the 3 days. We confirmed that My brother had hit him in the front of the guts. The broad head from Yoda's first shot was firmly planted in the front shoulder ball. He cut the bone off and still has it. My brother has 1/4 ownership on this deer since he hit it 1 out of the 4 times. This buck is an amazing typical 28 inches wide. This is not a typical size of buck for the area. It's hard to find them this big. We will shore miss my brother.
 
I was glade to see a few of my favorite local bucks made it past the hunt. The winter is looking scary, so I hope the snow and cold goes away. All these bucks showed up a couple weeks ago in one group. I thought they had all been shot.

This is a 7 x 5 young buck that will be interesting in a few years.

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I have 2 years of this buck and he is just a beautiful typical. I wish he had brow tines.

2014
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2015 Velvet
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2015 Hard horned
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This buck is just a nice looking 4 pint with a 3 inch cheater.
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We made an afternoon drive and found some wintering elk catching some sun rays in the -2 f weather.

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We also ran into a couple nice bucks. They are still young, but have some good potential.

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Pretty Typical

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I completed a nice Saturday drive that passes an elk wintering area.
It would be nice to find a few of theses elk during the hunting season. They are still fun to watch even when we can't hunt them.

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This guy has short points, but still has an 8 x 7 rack.

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This guy should get the spike hunters excited. He's a 5 x 1.
 
I compiled a video of the elk that have shown up on the winter range near my home.


Video Clips





I like this bull but he looks a little young and his 3rd's are a little short.

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