LAST EDITED ON Sep-21-13 AT 00:41AM (MST)[p]I had the opportunity to help my brother in law Kyle on his LE rifle elk hunt this past week. We had a ton of fun, and passed on many bulls. He has never killed a big game animal before, so I was unsure how he would handle the "in your face" elk situations that we often encounter during the rut. He did very well, and kept his cool in situations where I was getting amped up.
On the 4th morning we snuck into a nice bull that had a few cows. He decided to pass on him, so I gave a lonesome cow call, and the bull came running from 350yds. The bull came to 30 yards, and looked pretty impressive at that range! Kyle kept his cool, and stuck to his guns, deciding to let this guy walk. It's a good thing that he did!. After this encounter we dropped one canyon over. Instantly we heard bugles up the canyon. We had just begun hiking up the canyon toward the bugles when my dad had the wisdom to check behind us. I heard him whisper "there is a bull". I turned around to see a giant bull!!!! I got super excited and told Kyle that this was a shooter for sure. The bull was headed to the trees, and I told him, "you need to shoot quickly". My bro-in-law felt the rush and was trying to get steady for the 268yd shot. We were all crouched behind a fence that was 20 yards in front of us. I cow called and the bull froze, staring in our direction. "Shoot" I whispered. Just then Kyle let one go. The bull did not move. "You missed, shoot again" I said. Another shot was fired, and still no impact! By this time the bull was running toward the timber. After the bull was gone we began to analyze what had happened. Kyle said that he felt rushed, and didn't feel confident about the shot. The fence that was in front of us had a horizontal wooden post, and I noticed that the post had some odd looking spots on it. Well it turns out that Kyle could see the bull just barely over the fence post in his scope. He didn't realize that the bullet trajectory would be initially lower than his point of view. Sure enough, there were two dead center hits right into the fence post, which blew large holes out the back side!!! Kyle was deflated!!!
After some field medicine for my dad, who gashed his hand pretty good on a T post, we decided that we would return to the spot where the giant bull had been earlier that day. Now it was approx. 5pm. We were waiting for the bulls to start bugling. We sat until about 6pm, when a bull bugled a long way down the canyon, and we were off. We made it approx. 300 yds, and a bull sounded off directly to our left! The wind was perfect, and we stalked into a small island of trees that were surrounded by open meadow. As I set Kyle up for a potential shot I could see the bulls cows starting to filter out of the pines. If the bull was big enough he would have about a 100yd shot. Just like clockwork, the bull emerged from the pines, following his ladies! To my disbelief it was the giant bull from earlier that morning! He wasn't 50yds from where he got shot at earlier! I told Kyle that it was the bull he had missed earlier, and that he had the green light to shoot when he was ready. Kyle had no shot obstruction this time, and landed two lethal shots, and the big bull was down!!!!!!
Something about a giant 5x5!
Just for some reference his main beams are 50" long, and the distance from the tip of the 4th, to the tip of the 5th on his short side is 38.5"!!!!!!
Congrats Kyle on your first big game animal! Glad that you were able to make this memory with your wife and father. Thank you for letting me be a part of it all.
Loaded up on the Horn Hunter Full Curl pack and ready for the hike out!
When we got back to the wheelers at the trailhead, we decided it would be just as easy to ride out with the rack on the backpack, instead of trying to strap the head down to the rack of the wheeler.
Sorry for the poor quality on some of the pics, it was obviously very dark when they were taken.
}}-SLIVER-->
On the 4th morning we snuck into a nice bull that had a few cows. He decided to pass on him, so I gave a lonesome cow call, and the bull came running from 350yds. The bull came to 30 yards, and looked pretty impressive at that range! Kyle kept his cool, and stuck to his guns, deciding to let this guy walk. It's a good thing that he did!. After this encounter we dropped one canyon over. Instantly we heard bugles up the canyon. We had just begun hiking up the canyon toward the bugles when my dad had the wisdom to check behind us. I heard him whisper "there is a bull". I turned around to see a giant bull!!!! I got super excited and told Kyle that this was a shooter for sure. The bull was headed to the trees, and I told him, "you need to shoot quickly". My bro-in-law felt the rush and was trying to get steady for the 268yd shot. We were all crouched behind a fence that was 20 yards in front of us. I cow called and the bull froze, staring in our direction. "Shoot" I whispered. Just then Kyle let one go. The bull did not move. "You missed, shoot again" I said. Another shot was fired, and still no impact! By this time the bull was running toward the timber. After the bull was gone we began to analyze what had happened. Kyle said that he felt rushed, and didn't feel confident about the shot. The fence that was in front of us had a horizontal wooden post, and I noticed that the post had some odd looking spots on it. Well it turns out that Kyle could see the bull just barely over the fence post in his scope. He didn't realize that the bullet trajectory would be initially lower than his point of view. Sure enough, there were two dead center hits right into the fence post, which blew large holes out the back side!!! Kyle was deflated!!!
After some field medicine for my dad, who gashed his hand pretty good on a T post, we decided that we would return to the spot where the giant bull had been earlier that day. Now it was approx. 5pm. We were waiting for the bulls to start bugling. We sat until about 6pm, when a bull bugled a long way down the canyon, and we were off. We made it approx. 300 yds, and a bull sounded off directly to our left! The wind was perfect, and we stalked into a small island of trees that were surrounded by open meadow. As I set Kyle up for a potential shot I could see the bulls cows starting to filter out of the pines. If the bull was big enough he would have about a 100yd shot. Just like clockwork, the bull emerged from the pines, following his ladies! To my disbelief it was the giant bull from earlier that morning! He wasn't 50yds from where he got shot at earlier! I told Kyle that it was the bull he had missed earlier, and that he had the green light to shoot when he was ready. Kyle had no shot obstruction this time, and landed two lethal shots, and the big bull was down!!!!!!
Something about a giant 5x5!
Just for some reference his main beams are 50" long, and the distance from the tip of the 4th, to the tip of the 5th on his short side is 38.5"!!!!!!
Congrats Kyle on your first big game animal! Glad that you were able to make this memory with your wife and father. Thank you for letting me be a part of it all.
Loaded up on the Horn Hunter Full Curl pack and ready for the hike out!
When we got back to the wheelers at the trailhead, we decided it would be just as easy to ride out with the rack on the backpack, instead of trying to strap the head down to the rack of the wheeler.
Sorry for the poor quality on some of the pics, it was obviously very dark when they were taken.
}}-SLIVER-->