Hey all.
Todd here.
Thanks for the comments on the elk.
In all honesty, I got luckier then a monkey that fell on a bananna boat.
After several days of walking my butt off with tex270, and feeling pretty confident we seen all 5 elk in the Unit we were origanaly hunting, I decided to come home(north west colorado).
I spent a lot of time in this area all spring and summer looking for those awesome 21 deer sheds and getting in shape for my last Septembers Africa trip. There were always elk on this one ridge, but it's so thick, you have to push it or call them in. Well, being November the call them in option was pretty much out of the question.
So I recruited my buddy (the one who originaly showed me this spot.) to push this ridge on my last afternoon to hunt.
I figured we'd run into the typical Colorado raghorn. I never expected to get this fella.
1 cow with 3 calves came out text book perfect. No bull. I decided I better run down the ridge I was sitting point on just to make sure I didn't miss a bull by chance. No luck, then I decided I better run back up the ridge to where I was origanaly sitting in case a bull decided to double back around.
Needless to say, the bull decided to double back around. It was an honest 10 minutes from the time I seen the cows till I seen movement coming over the ridge. I knew he was a bull, but I couldn't tell if he was leagal because of the thick cedars. Also needless to say, it didn't take me long to flip the safety off when I seen his 4th, 5th, and 6th point.
I got real exited when I could see his rack, but I couldn't ever see his vitals. He was heading at a slow walk for a clearing I knew he was going to come out in, and as soon as he stepped out, ol' crumpler (my 7 mag.) went to work. The first shot took him just behind the front shoulder. A little far back but he was instantly sick. The second shot was a frontal chest shot. I knew he was done, but he was about to fall off a cliff, so when he stopped, I put one in his neck to finish him.
As for his size, he's not huge but it was pure luck that nice of a bull just so happen to step out. He's 293 6/8" and he has 53 inch beams.
My buddy that pushed the ridge said he didn't want to move. He got within 20 yards of him before he jumped up, and then he just casually walked over the edge. He seemed annoyed that he had to go find another shade tree.
We didn't leave my house till 2:00pm. The bull was dead by 3:00pm and we were back to my house by dark. It was a downhill, 1/2 mile pack or so.
Just goes to show how important scouting is.
Thanks for reading.
Todd
Thanks for reading.
Todd