Another "Guess what this scores"
- Thread starter sludge
- Start date
S
stinkystomper
Guest
359 7/8
silly liberals, paychecks are for workers!
silly liberals, paychecks are for workers!
D
drannan
Guest
355
H
hornhunter247
Guest
372 3/8
ARCHERYBUG
Active Member
- Messages
- 346
360 !!!!
H
huntin100
Guest
364 gross. Great bull! Congrats
E
elkhunter2428
Guest
363. that is an awesome bull.
muleymaniac
Active Member
- Messages
- 385
LAST EDITED ON Sep-22-09 AT 10:14AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Sep-22-09 AT 10:13?AM (MST)
sorry guys - think you are a little low on this one I say 390 or better and I'm probably low - thats what i'd call the perfect bull!! nice job! what i refer to as a 400 class bull!!! MM
sorry guys - think you are a little low on this one I say 390 or better and I'm probably low - thats what i'd call the perfect bull!! nice job! what i refer to as a 400 class bull!!! MM
Here?s my story, part 1:
I had been hunting since Saturday the 5th and my buddy had joined me on Labor Day. The first morning of his hunt we headed into a drainage that we had glassed some elk in and had seen a great looking bull. We got the bright idea to try and get above them by taking an early morning hike straight up the eastern ridge of the drainage for 2 miles. It was a heck of a way to break my buddy in on the first day. Half way up in the dark he was wondering what the heck we were doing. I think if he could have caught his breath, he would have stuck an arrow in me just to get the hunt over with. Of course I'm laughing at him but am almost puking my guts out too. Thank goodness it was still dark out and we couldn't see what we looked like... we probably would have been calling 911. First light came and of course the only bugles were in the bottom of the drainage down low, but where there's a bugle, ya gotta go! After hunting our way down and only a few distant bugles, we broke for lunch around 1100 am. Half way through our lunch break we heard a noise to our left and look up to see a nice 5x5 and a cow looking at us from 15 yards! That ol? tuna fish and crackers draws them in every time! Unbelievable how quiet these guys can move some time. Fast forwarding a couple mornings found us in the same drainage hoping to get into the guys that were bugling down low. Unfortunately we got confused driving in, being kind of tired, missed where our turn was and ended up wasting about 20 minutes. Just as we're getting out of the truck, another vehicle pulls into view coming up the road. I've never seen two guys move so fast in my life, it seemed like the truck had barely stopped and they were already out and heading up the drainage. I guess I need some lessons in how to pack my gear. I don't think I've ever gotten ready in less than ten minutes. Then 120 yards down the trail... after I realize I've forgotten my release, I'm back at the truck for another 5 minutes. Then of course there's the unavoidable ?instant morning craps? to deal with. Anyway, it was obvious that they were racing to try and beat us up the drainage. They definitely had nothing to worry about, they were the Carl Lewis of elk hunting and we were like Bea Arthur of the Golden Girls. Heck, I'm not sure she's even still alive... and we were still slower. It's funny how things work out though sometimes, 50 minutes later we're near the top of the drainage watching ?Mr Big? bugling like crazy and no other hunters are anywhere to be seen. Maybe Carl Lewis was only good for 100 yards after all. Unfortunately we were pretty much tied down by the terrain and didn't have much choice other than to chase them up the mountain and hope for a lucky break. A couple of times we were within 60 yards of his cows but just couldn't get close enough to him. About an hour up the mountain side my buddy and I decided to split up as there were two bulls bugling and coming up below us that he wanted to try for and I just couldn't stop chasing the big guy hoping he would make a mistake. After separating, I was actually able to get within 50 yards of him twice, but it was just too thick and he had absolutely no interest in anything I tried blowing at him. He pretty much just sat with his cows and screamed back at me that I was an idiot and not sexy enough or worth fighting. Finally I decided to get a little more aggressive and tried raking some trees. BAD IDEA. He moved out and disappeared without a peep. That's the way it goes sometimes I guess.
Not too long after he boogered out, I stopped for lunch and once again the ol? tuna fish worked it's magic. I swear I'm gonna can and sell the stuff as an elk attractant. This time I had elk within 25 yards as I'm enjoyin? the ?chicken of the sea?! I wonder if it would help to bathe in that stuff?
I had been hunting since Saturday the 5th and my buddy had joined me on Labor Day. The first morning of his hunt we headed into a drainage that we had glassed some elk in and had seen a great looking bull. We got the bright idea to try and get above them by taking an early morning hike straight up the eastern ridge of the drainage for 2 miles. It was a heck of a way to break my buddy in on the first day. Half way up in the dark he was wondering what the heck we were doing. I think if he could have caught his breath, he would have stuck an arrow in me just to get the hunt over with. Of course I'm laughing at him but am almost puking my guts out too. Thank goodness it was still dark out and we couldn't see what we looked like... we probably would have been calling 911. First light came and of course the only bugles were in the bottom of the drainage down low, but where there's a bugle, ya gotta go! After hunting our way down and only a few distant bugles, we broke for lunch around 1100 am. Half way through our lunch break we heard a noise to our left and look up to see a nice 5x5 and a cow looking at us from 15 yards! That ol? tuna fish and crackers draws them in every time! Unbelievable how quiet these guys can move some time. Fast forwarding a couple mornings found us in the same drainage hoping to get into the guys that were bugling down low. Unfortunately we got confused driving in, being kind of tired, missed where our turn was and ended up wasting about 20 minutes. Just as we're getting out of the truck, another vehicle pulls into view coming up the road. I've never seen two guys move so fast in my life, it seemed like the truck had barely stopped and they were already out and heading up the drainage. I guess I need some lessons in how to pack my gear. I don't think I've ever gotten ready in less than ten minutes. Then 120 yards down the trail... after I realize I've forgotten my release, I'm back at the truck for another 5 minutes. Then of course there's the unavoidable ?instant morning craps? to deal with. Anyway, it was obvious that they were racing to try and beat us up the drainage. They definitely had nothing to worry about, they were the Carl Lewis of elk hunting and we were like Bea Arthur of the Golden Girls. Heck, I'm not sure she's even still alive... and we were still slower. It's funny how things work out though sometimes, 50 minutes later we're near the top of the drainage watching ?Mr Big? bugling like crazy and no other hunters are anywhere to be seen. Maybe Carl Lewis was only good for 100 yards after all. Unfortunately we were pretty much tied down by the terrain and didn't have much choice other than to chase them up the mountain and hope for a lucky break. A couple of times we were within 60 yards of his cows but just couldn't get close enough to him. About an hour up the mountain side my buddy and I decided to split up as there were two bulls bugling and coming up below us that he wanted to try for and I just couldn't stop chasing the big guy hoping he would make a mistake. After separating, I was actually able to get within 50 yards of him twice, but it was just too thick and he had absolutely no interest in anything I tried blowing at him. He pretty much just sat with his cows and screamed back at me that I was an idiot and not sexy enough or worth fighting. Finally I decided to get a little more aggressive and tried raking some trees. BAD IDEA. He moved out and disappeared without a peep. That's the way it goes sometimes I guess.
Not too long after he boogered out, I stopped for lunch and once again the ol? tuna fish worked it's magic. I swear I'm gonna can and sell the stuff as an elk attractant. This time I had elk within 25 yards as I'm enjoyin? the ?chicken of the sea?! I wonder if it would help to bathe in that stuff?
Part 2:
After eating lunch and rubbing a little tuna fish behind my ears, I decided to try to put the sneak on some afternoon bedded elk. A few bulls were still staying rambunctious and bugling from their beds every 15 minutes or so. Just enough to help me get a decent lock on them and maybe give me a chance. An hour or so later, I was in the middle of climbing over some dead falls when I noticed a cow and calf at about 40 yards grazing their way down hill. Grabbing my binoculars, I started glassing the timber and spotted some antler in the trees! The junk I was in was so thick that I wasn?t expecting to get more than a 25 yard shot if I was lucky, but the bull was bedded down in the one spot that I had a clear 4 foot alley for about 65 yards. Over the next hour, while standing and balancing on two logs in the middle of a dead fall, I was able to range him at 52 yards. I was actually able to get the best and most consistent readings off of his antlers. Finally, after waiting about an hour, he decided to stand up. Having practiced all summer out to 60 yards, I was confident that I could make the 52 yard shot as long as he was broadside, unaware, and not moving. Having focused on this for over an hour, I settled my pin on the spot I wanted and squeezed the shot off. I'd like to say that I watched that arrow all the way to impact... but that wouldn't quite be true. Actually, it wouldn't be true at all. Instead, after squeezing the trigger, I was involuntarily watching my blaze orange diaphragm fly slowly through the air. Like an idiot, even though I had told myself ten minutes earlier to keep my call in my mouth, upon the shot, it was hangin? outside my mouth, barely clamped in my lips. A perfect target for my bowstring as it went shooting by! So much for maintaining shooting form. After waiting 30 minutes and cursing myself 352 times, I moved up to where the bull was bedded and started slowly looking for my arrow and blood. 30 minutes later and 20 yards away I found my arrow with good looking blood over 75% of the shaft. Right about then I started to get a little more excited. As I started to follow the trail, the blood was looking real good, a little dark, but lots of it. Here are a few pics.
After eating lunch and rubbing a little tuna fish behind my ears, I decided to try to put the sneak on some afternoon bedded elk. A few bulls were still staying rambunctious and bugling from their beds every 15 minutes or so. Just enough to help me get a decent lock on them and maybe give me a chance. An hour or so later, I was in the middle of climbing over some dead falls when I noticed a cow and calf at about 40 yards grazing their way down hill. Grabbing my binoculars, I started glassing the timber and spotted some antler in the trees! The junk I was in was so thick that I wasn?t expecting to get more than a 25 yard shot if I was lucky, but the bull was bedded down in the one spot that I had a clear 4 foot alley for about 65 yards. Over the next hour, while standing and balancing on two logs in the middle of a dead fall, I was able to range him at 52 yards. I was actually able to get the best and most consistent readings off of his antlers. Finally, after waiting about an hour, he decided to stand up. Having practiced all summer out to 60 yards, I was confident that I could make the 52 yard shot as long as he was broadside, unaware, and not moving. Having focused on this for over an hour, I settled my pin on the spot I wanted and squeezed the shot off. I'd like to say that I watched that arrow all the way to impact... but that wouldn't quite be true. Actually, it wouldn't be true at all. Instead, after squeezing the trigger, I was involuntarily watching my blaze orange diaphragm fly slowly through the air. Like an idiot, even though I had told myself ten minutes earlier to keep my call in my mouth, upon the shot, it was hangin? outside my mouth, barely clamped in my lips. A perfect target for my bowstring as it went shooting by! So much for maintaining shooting form. After waiting 30 minutes and cursing myself 352 times, I moved up to where the bull was bedded and started slowly looking for my arrow and blood. 30 minutes later and 20 yards away I found my arrow with good looking blood over 75% of the shaft. Right about then I started to get a little more excited. As I started to follow the trail, the blood was looking real good, a little dark, but lots of it. Here are a few pics.
RE:
Part 3:
Oh the highs and lows of elk hunting. I took the shot a 2:48 pm. Two and a half hours later I was staring at a dime size spot of blood and wondering where the heck the elk had gone and where I had hit the thing. I was about ready to throw that stinkin? blaze orange diaphragm away. Two and a half hours after that, the sun was down and I still hadn't found anymore blood. By this time I was worn out physically and mentally and was heading back to camp after looking for my bull for 6 hours. It was looking like it was going to be a long, long night.
The next morning, I was back in the same drainage trying to help my buddy get on two good looking bulls that were headed up the mountain the same way as the morning before straight to the last blood from my bull. After messing around with a 320 class bull, we got back to the last blood marked on my GPS at about 8:00 am. Sometimes it really helps to have a second set of eyes with you. Within 20 minutes or so, my buddy got lucky and stumbled on a couple of quarter sized drops of blood. We were back in the game! Over the next 3 hours we were able to slowly piece together a trail for about 150 yards until the bull entered a meadow. Man I hate meadows when you're trailing a poor blood trail. It's like the kiss of death. To make things worse, we're now only finding blood about every 25-30 yards. Not a good thing.
At this point we decided to break for lunch and a little rest. Unfortunately tuna fish doesn't seem to work on wounded elk quite as well as healthy elk... my bull didn't pop in and say ?hi? during lunch. After eatin? and resting up my buddy decided to take a nap while I started the search once again. Following a good blood trail is definitely one of the joys of life. Following a poor blood trail and not knowing where you hit the animal has to be the worst part of hunting. Unfortunately I'm experiencing the latter. At this point I still can't figure out where I hit the bull. With the penetration I had and the blood and color, I'm starting to wonder if I butt shot it. What ever the case, it's not looking good. Fast forwarding two and half hours, only one dime size spot of blood, and about 300 elk trails later, I'm once again at the lowest low of elk hunting emotions. At this point it's almost 24 hours later and I had been looking for the elk for over 12 hours. I was almost physically and mentally done in searching the side of one of the steepest mountains I've hunted. After making a couple of more passes higher up the mountain, I turned around and started heading back to my napping buddy. As I slowly worked my way crossways across the mountain, I literally was thinking in my head that I didn't know what to do next and I was pretty much resigned that I wasn?t going to find my bull. It was a low, low, low, low, low, low moment. You get the picture. Right at that same moment I noticed something out of the corner of my eye as I was scanning the trail I was walking on. As I looked up, unbelievably, right there, 15 yards in front of me was my bull!!!! I've experienced a lot of things elk hunting, the first elk, lost elk, exhaustion, elation, you name it. But I honestly can't say that I've ever been emotional elk hunting?? until now. It was such an incredible change of my mental state in just a split second, it almost had me crying in the woods by myself with just a dead elk by my side. People just don't know what they're missing!
Part 3:
Oh the highs and lows of elk hunting. I took the shot a 2:48 pm. Two and a half hours later I was staring at a dime size spot of blood and wondering where the heck the elk had gone and where I had hit the thing. I was about ready to throw that stinkin? blaze orange diaphragm away. Two and a half hours after that, the sun was down and I still hadn't found anymore blood. By this time I was worn out physically and mentally and was heading back to camp after looking for my bull for 6 hours. It was looking like it was going to be a long, long night.
The next morning, I was back in the same drainage trying to help my buddy get on two good looking bulls that were headed up the mountain the same way as the morning before straight to the last blood from my bull. After messing around with a 320 class bull, we got back to the last blood marked on my GPS at about 8:00 am. Sometimes it really helps to have a second set of eyes with you. Within 20 minutes or so, my buddy got lucky and stumbled on a couple of quarter sized drops of blood. We were back in the game! Over the next 3 hours we were able to slowly piece together a trail for about 150 yards until the bull entered a meadow. Man I hate meadows when you're trailing a poor blood trail. It's like the kiss of death. To make things worse, we're now only finding blood about every 25-30 yards. Not a good thing.
At this point we decided to break for lunch and a little rest. Unfortunately tuna fish doesn't seem to work on wounded elk quite as well as healthy elk... my bull didn't pop in and say ?hi? during lunch. After eatin? and resting up my buddy decided to take a nap while I started the search once again. Following a good blood trail is definitely one of the joys of life. Following a poor blood trail and not knowing where you hit the animal has to be the worst part of hunting. Unfortunately I'm experiencing the latter. At this point I still can't figure out where I hit the bull. With the penetration I had and the blood and color, I'm starting to wonder if I butt shot it. What ever the case, it's not looking good. Fast forwarding two and half hours, only one dime size spot of blood, and about 300 elk trails later, I'm once again at the lowest low of elk hunting emotions. At this point it's almost 24 hours later and I had been looking for the elk for over 12 hours. I was almost physically and mentally done in searching the side of one of the steepest mountains I've hunted. After making a couple of more passes higher up the mountain, I turned around and started heading back to my napping buddy. As I slowly worked my way crossways across the mountain, I literally was thinking in my head that I didn't know what to do next and I was pretty much resigned that I wasn?t going to find my bull. It was a low, low, low, low, low, low moment. You get the picture. Right at that same moment I noticed something out of the corner of my eye as I was scanning the trail I was walking on. As I looked up, unbelievably, right there, 15 yards in front of me was my bull!!!! I've experienced a lot of things elk hunting, the first elk, lost elk, exhaustion, elation, you name it. But I honestly can't say that I've ever been emotional elk hunting?? until now. It was such an incredible change of my mental state in just a split second, it almost had me crying in the woods by myself with just a dead elk by my side. People just don't know what they're missing!
RE:
Part 4:
I didn't plan on this long of a story. I guess I write like I talk. Too much. Anyway to close it up, after turkey calling my buddy up, celebrating, and taking a bunch of pictures, we started cutting the elk up. Unbelievably, the elk had passed probably within only the last couple of hours. He wasn?t stiffened up at all. You could grab his head or hind quarters and twist them all you wanted. He was still completely warm all over. Not even an ounce of meat was wasted. I've been fortunate to shoot some good bulls and I love big elk horns, but honestly, the most valued part of an elk to me is the meat. What an incredible blessing to find this bull 24 hours after the shot and still recover all the meat. That's better than tuna fish any day! Now the crazy part of the story. After flipping the elk over and pulling off the front, left shoulder, I was amazed to find out that my arrow never penetrated the bull?s body cavity. While I was watching my diaphragm float through the air, he must have turned on me, because the arrow hit behind the front shoulder about half way up the elk and skipped along the OUTSIDE of the ribs all the way up to the neck before getting pulled back out. While doing this, it must have sliced enough meat and blood vessels that the bull just slowly bled out over the course of 24 hours. There was a mass of coagulated blood about the size of two footballs in between the shoulder and the ribs, in addition to blood through out the front quarter of the elk. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it. I never thought I would kill an elk without penetrating the body cavity. Here are a few pics:
In the second pic you can see the mass of blood in the upper right. The spinal cord is at the bottom and the neck at the bottom right. Looking at the ribs, you can see that there is no broadhead hole where the entrance hole is at on the first pic. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't of seen and experienced it myself. For me personally, it's almost a little miracle bull. Not so much for him, but sums it up for me. Thanks for reading if you got this far and congrats to anybody that was fortunate enough to just get out in the woods and chase these incredible animals. May we all enjoy it for many years to come.
Part 4:
I didn't plan on this long of a story. I guess I write like I talk. Too much. Anyway to close it up, after turkey calling my buddy up, celebrating, and taking a bunch of pictures, we started cutting the elk up. Unbelievably, the elk had passed probably within only the last couple of hours. He wasn?t stiffened up at all. You could grab his head or hind quarters and twist them all you wanted. He was still completely warm all over. Not even an ounce of meat was wasted. I've been fortunate to shoot some good bulls and I love big elk horns, but honestly, the most valued part of an elk to me is the meat. What an incredible blessing to find this bull 24 hours after the shot and still recover all the meat. That's better than tuna fish any day! Now the crazy part of the story. After flipping the elk over and pulling off the front, left shoulder, I was amazed to find out that my arrow never penetrated the bull?s body cavity. While I was watching my diaphragm float through the air, he must have turned on me, because the arrow hit behind the front shoulder about half way up the elk and skipped along the OUTSIDE of the ribs all the way up to the neck before getting pulled back out. While doing this, it must have sliced enough meat and blood vessels that the bull just slowly bled out over the course of 24 hours. There was a mass of coagulated blood about the size of two footballs in between the shoulder and the ribs, in addition to blood through out the front quarter of the elk. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it. I never thought I would kill an elk without penetrating the body cavity. Here are a few pics:
In the second pic you can see the mass of blood in the upper right. The spinal cord is at the bottom and the neck at the bottom right. Looking at the ribs, you can see that there is no broadhead hole where the entrance hole is at on the first pic. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't of seen and experienced it myself. For me personally, it's almost a little miracle bull. Not so much for him, but sums it up for me. Thanks for reading if you got this far and congrats to anybody that was fortunate enough to just get out in the woods and chase these incredible animals. May we all enjoy it for many years to come.
RE:
Almost forgot, I'm scoring him right around 365" gross. I think it should be within 5 or 6" of this. My measurements are:
spread 41 4/8
R beam 53 2/8 L beam 51 3/8
R g1 17 L g1 17 4/8
R g2 17 6/8 L g2 19 3/8
R g3 17 5/8 L g3 16 3/8
R g4 18 6/8 L g4 18
R g5 12 L g5 12 1/8
R m1 8 7/8 L m1 8 4/8
R m2 6 5/8 L m2 6 2/8
R m3 5 7/8 L m3 6
R m4 5 4/8 L m4 5 3/8
Almost forgot, I'm scoring him right around 365" gross. I think it should be within 5 or 6" of this. My measurements are:
spread 41 4/8
R beam 53 2/8 L beam 51 3/8
R g1 17 L g1 17 4/8
R g2 17 6/8 L g2 19 3/8
R g3 17 5/8 L g3 16 3/8
R g4 18 6/8 L g4 18
R g5 12 L g5 12 1/8
R m1 8 7/8 L m1 8 4/8
R m2 6 5/8 L m2 6 2/8
R m3 5 7/8 L m3 6
R m4 5 4/8 L m4 5 3/8
