S
shipdog
Guest
Let me begin with a little background. I recently drew the coveted Pahvant tag after 13 years. I hunted hard from August 23 and was fortunate enough to fill this tag on Sept. 10th. I began my hunt at the head of Broad, Chalk, Pioneer and anything that looked productive. Lots of deer hunters present and the elk were deep. Most staying within the bottom 3rd of these canyons. During conversations with the Fish and Game Officer and numerous deer hunters in the area a wealth of information was obtained concerning the trophy elk in the unit, including the whereabouts of the new potential State and possible World archery elk. This animal was under the constant and all seeing-eye of a notorious and according to most locals "infamous" outfitter. I remained neutral towards most of these opinions or stories with the exeption of "banquet tags". The State of Utah in its never ending pursuit of money, continues to offer hunting privilages to the same handfull of wealthy individuals each and every year. Paying up to $100,000(not including guide fees,finders fees,bonus fees..ect.) to hunt some of the largest free roaming elk in the world. Also the State allows these select few to wield a rifle begining Sept.1st. Strangley this is the same time the archer, in complete camo, is trying to fill his/her tag. Now the State claims that during all other rifle/shotgun seasons, hunter orange is required to be worn. What kind of legal obligation would the State be under if an archer was accidentally shot by a 300 win mag during this period? Is it not enough that the rifle hunt begins on the 15th of Sept? Which is the absolute heart of the rut!!! Back to the story. My brother and I decided that the bulls up high were not active enough with the cows and were going to try our luck down low and possibly run into the 443" bull or Bennett Bull as he was known by the locals. This is where things really got weird. It had just rained the night before, and not having much info to go on, we started looking down dirt rosds that might hold a fresh track. A real big fresh track. Within just a few minutes my brother cut a track that looked to be the size of a solo beef cow, but retracing this track showed this beef cow had the ability to levitate over a 3 and 1/2 foot fence! He was here,and better yet his escape route placed him squarley on public land. The next few days consisted of canvasing feed, bedding and watering routes. Interestingly the water/walllow had a nice pile of rolled oates mixed with corn next to it. In reference to an earlier post about magpies,guides and hearsay, I do have video proof of this. Each day I hunted I would also see an extremely slow moving airplane that would parallel directly overhead. On Sept. 1st it was rumored that a guide srvice would bring in a client to take down the Bennett Bull with a rifle. I was witness to an enormous drive that began on private land consisted of more than 2 dozen "cowboys". I called them cowboys because for two hours they bellowed and mooed as if they were a heard of heffers. What they didn't realize is that I had posistioned myself between their shooter and "the herd". Knowing the Bull and his escape route had he exited that morning,the first shot would have belonged to me. Once the unnamed guide realized this the hillside erupted in vehicles and forlorned mooers. They stopped were I had hidded my vehicle and I raced back to be sure my tires were still inflated. This was not the only time my concern for the safety of my property or myself would be in question. Each day I hunted this area I began parking my vehicle in different and hidden locations. Upon encountering one of the main players for the guide service I was politely invited on personal tour of another portion of the unit some 30 miles to the south. Accepting this as quality information,I was back putting pressure on the Bennett Bull the very next day. The last day I hunted this magnificent Bull I knew my luck was running out. I had just sat down to rest on a ridge when I noticed a red pickup full of cowguides storming over the ridge 200 yards to the south. It looked like the Dukes of Hazard plowing through the clouds of dust. This didn't make much sense because this was the Bennett Bulll's bedroom. Then it dawned on me; "Their looking for you, stupid!" I watched them criss-cross ridges all around me and at one time were less than 50 yards from where I lay hidden. Knowing my odds were not very good 5 to 1 and also knowing I had a friend who was at the other end of a bow at full draw from a member of the same crew,I decided to lay low. They were then successfull in calming the area with my departure, killing the Bull a short time later when he fell prey to his old habits and routines. With the help of two trail cams and another well planned, unobstucted drive, they were able to fell the giant with a $100,000 tag, $30,000+ guide fee and at least $10,000 trophy over 390" fee, $???? gratuity. See for a paultry sum of $150,000 you toocan enter your name in the sacred Pope and Young record book. There is so much more to my experience hunting Utah, not all was negitive. I was inspired to post this long-winded message because I was there,I did see it first-hand and have a sure knowledge of the facts. You can speculate and debate the truth,I already know. I know if money continues to drive this sport many of us will be left behind. Some will read this and say, "Your bitter because someone else succeeded where you failed." I say I have great memories of an almost Shakesphere-like play and a beatifull 380" Jet-Black Bull taken on a 2 hour silent stalk with my bow hanging on my wall. I'm not bitter, just grateful.