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LAST EDITED ON Nov-23-11 AT 10:09AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Nov-23-11 AT 10:04?AM (MST)
I am currently going to school out in St.Louis, Missouri so I was only able to scout with my Dad for a week in September during my break. Luckily I had a few days off of school and was able to arrange a schedule with my professors so that I could hunt the entire hunt with my dad, family, and friends. My loving wife was understanding enough to let me spend the extra money I made doing valet to fly us back to Utah for the hunt.
My dad, uncle Shane and friends who offered their help spent almost every evening of August, September, and October on the mountain scouting big bulls. This hunt definitely would have had a different ending without all their sacrifice and support. (You all know who are that kept your promises and helped out.)Thank you!
On to the hunt! We knew where there were lots of great bulls but there was one that was bigger than all the rest that we knew that we would shoot at first light. Every body set out to spots where we had seen the bull before the hunt with the hopes that one of us would see him and that my dad would be able to get in position quick enough to get a shot at the monster bull. We were after some big bulls opening morning but could never turn him up. We saw over two hundred elk the first day. We saw every elk that the big bull was with the day before the hunt but he was no where to be found.
We saw a really nice 350ish, 6x5 but was it way too early in the hunt to even think about shooting him. We were good boys and went to stake conference on Sunday and kept the rifle in the trailer. Low and behold the big bull was spotted and someone missed him in the exact spot we had been seeing him. Luckily they missed. We spent the next two days in this area glassing like crazy seeing lots of elk but couldn't turn up the big bull. We made a few death marches into some steep canyons after some big bulls but couldn't seal the deal. They were just too far away.
On Tuesday morning we split up, my uncle Shane went to glass a few canyons where we had seen some big bulls and we headed the opposite direction on four wheelers hoping to glass up some bulls to make a stalk on that evening. Luck would have it that my uncle Shane saw a big bull up in the mouth of a steep canyon. He told us to get over to him as fast as we could. We got to him in 25 min. He showed us where the bulls were at and told us that we had to hurry because there were already two hunters hiking in after him.
We hiked as fast as we could and we were only twenty minutes from getting to the top of the ridge where we would've been able to shoot when we heard shooting. 25 shots to be exact. It sounded like an Army! A guy from Fillmore ended up killing the bull. He was a big five that scored around 365-370. He had big 3rds and 4ths. With so many near misses we were sure that our time would come to kill a big bull.
On Wednesday the bull we were after opening morning was again seen by one of our friends so we headed over in that area, but again couldn't turn him up. Pressure was beginning to mount as the thought of not killing a bull became more prevalent.
The next day(Thursday) we decided to head in a different direction to where we had seen bulls during the weeks prior to the hunt. My dad and I pulled into a lookout spot in the morning and immediately saw two good bulls. One had a really big back end but was not overly wide. But being this late in the hunt we decided to go after him. We got within 743 yards of him but he headed up over the top of a cedar ridge before we could get any closer.
We figured that this bull was worth spending the rest of the hunt after. Thursday night with our spirits a little down. We glassed the area where this bull had went into and to our surprise we saw what we had been waiting for the whole hunt. An absolute giant bull and two other great bulls. The giant bull was so unique that we recognized him. We had seen him on the early rifle and got a really good look at him then and knew it was the same bull. His first three points were well over 20inches and his fourths were at least 21 and his fifths were really solid. Tried to get pictures through the spotting scope but there was not enough light to get really good ones.
We knew that there were 4 bulls around that we would love to take. At first light Friday morning we saw two bulls. (one was one that my dad ended up killing and the other was one of the 380 bulls.) We got within 980 yards but that was as close as we could get before the bulls fed over the hill out sight. Hoping that they would feed back towards the meadow that they just left my dad and I hiked up to a little knoll that was within shooting distance of the meadow. We ended up staying up on this little knoll for 8 hours waiting for one of the big bulls to come out. However,only two rag horn bulls came out.
We made the long walk out in the dark wondering aloud "when in the heck was our luck going to turn around!" With only one day left and a storm coming in we knew had to pull out all the stops.
With the help of a friend we were able to get setup with a long range shooting setup. It was kimber 300 short mag with a huskama scope. Its a really sweet setup. That night we decided that we needed to get up to where the elk had been that morning before they could escape into the nasty mahogany. We got up at 4am and headed really slowly up to the knoll that we were on the day prior.
It had snowed an inch that night and the fog had settled in. As the dark started to fade and the hill side began to gather more light. We spotted one bull towards the top of the clearing. Looking through the snow and fog we struggled to see what he was. With our window for killing a bull closing we quickly decided to get a little closer so we could see what he was before he left our sights. We got 100 yards closer and we could see that he was just a small six. We continued glassing the hillside. Three hundred yards away from us we saw a bull feeding across the hillside. We thought for sure that he was going to be one of the big ones, but to our disappointment (again!!) it was a small rag horn bull. An hour went bye with no elk and we thought that it wouldn't be til evening time til we saw another elk.
On our way back to camp the night prior, I told my dad that we would kill a bull. I told him that we were just in the bottom of the 9th with no outs but that he was going to pull a David Freese. And that he was going to come up to bat and hit a two run double and then hit a home run to win it.
After the morning with no elk, my dad turned to me and said "well son, we have one out." I said "yes we do, but we still have two more to go." As the snow kept falling and the fog hanging around the lower ridges our hopes began to fall. My dad called my uncle Shane and started singing. "Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas" He was pretty discouraged and was thinking of ways to keep himself motivated
I was starting to get down as well and I texted my wife and told her that we would need a miracle to kill a bull.
Only ten minutes after I sent that text, my dad got a call from one of his friends who was on horse back that was a few ridges away from us telling him that he has 5 bulls spotted and two of them were 350 bulls. With a renewed sense of hope we started to head up the steep snowy ridge in front of us. I told my dad that I would carry his gun so that he could use his hands to help him climb. We were both pretty exhausted from all the hikes through out the last 8 days. However, we knew that we had to hurry because this might be our last chance to kill a bull. It took us thirty minutes to reach the spot where our friends were at that were watching the bulls.
We sat down and started glassing the bulls. They were a long long ways away. Chad (one of our friends who was helping us on the hunt) told me to range the bulls. I couldn't see them at first because my binos were wet and foggy, but I knew the ridge that they were on. I ranged the first rock ledge and it read 943yds. There was another rock ledge that was above the first one. I ranged it at 983 yards. I asked Chad where the bulls were at from the second rock ledge and he said. "Above it and to the right." My rangefinder would not read it. The bulls were over 1000yards away. My Dad asked Chad "What should I do?" Chad said "Well its our last chance at a bull so lets try them!" We turned the scope up to 950 yards. There was no wind at the time and Chad told my dad to put it just above its back. At that time the bulls had started to move. Our friends that were above us videoing began to cow call. The bulls stopped immediately and looked to locate the cow. I was watching the bull through my binos as my dad put the cross hairs just above his shoulders and gently pulled the trigger!
The bull's front shoulder tensed up and his back legs stretched backwards. We didn't know if we had hit him so we turned the scope up to 1000 yards. My dad settled the cross hairs above his shoulder and shot again. The bulls leg stretched back even more. The other bulls went up and out the top of the ridge but he stayed in the same place. My dad loaded another shell and took another shot. The bull dropped and rolled down the mountain about 40 yards. With the bulls legs in the air we knew that he was done for. My Dad's first shot was the one that killed him. We couldn't believe it. We were going crazy. Jumping around and hugging each other. Tears of joy and relief followed as we knew that we had accomplished a goal that we had set out to accomplish 5 months prior. We couldn't believe it! It was the shot of my Dad's life.(That we'll more than likely never attempt again.) It was one of the greatest moments of my life to see my dad kill his bull. We have video of the shot and everything so as soon as I get it I'll post it on here.
This pictures shows you were we were at and where the elk were at.The bull was in the highest patch of yellow grass.
My dad and our great friend Chad
Horses are the best thing ever!We did have one mule that was flat out amazing and went anywhere he wanted to.
My Dad and his bull.
My Dad and I.
Some of the crew that was with us.
My dad and our guide!
This hunt was the hunt of my life so far. We didn't kill the bull of the mountain like we had set out to do, but we had the time of our lives. There is nothing better in this world than spending time with family and friends in the outdoors. As a crew we went through some highs and lows. Which made the end result that much sweeter. I just want to thank everyone who helped my dad out. It means a lot to him.
I am currently going to school out in St.Louis, Missouri so I was only able to scout with my Dad for a week in September during my break. Luckily I had a few days off of school and was able to arrange a schedule with my professors so that I could hunt the entire hunt with my dad, family, and friends. My loving wife was understanding enough to let me spend the extra money I made doing valet to fly us back to Utah for the hunt.
My dad, uncle Shane and friends who offered their help spent almost every evening of August, September, and October on the mountain scouting big bulls. This hunt definitely would have had a different ending without all their sacrifice and support. (You all know who are that kept your promises and helped out.)Thank you!
On to the hunt! We knew where there were lots of great bulls but there was one that was bigger than all the rest that we knew that we would shoot at first light. Every body set out to spots where we had seen the bull before the hunt with the hopes that one of us would see him and that my dad would be able to get in position quick enough to get a shot at the monster bull. We were after some big bulls opening morning but could never turn him up. We saw over two hundred elk the first day. We saw every elk that the big bull was with the day before the hunt but he was no where to be found.
We saw a really nice 350ish, 6x5 but was it way too early in the hunt to even think about shooting him. We were good boys and went to stake conference on Sunday and kept the rifle in the trailer. Low and behold the big bull was spotted and someone missed him in the exact spot we had been seeing him. Luckily they missed. We spent the next two days in this area glassing like crazy seeing lots of elk but couldn't turn up the big bull. We made a few death marches into some steep canyons after some big bulls but couldn't seal the deal. They were just too far away.
On Tuesday morning we split up, my uncle Shane went to glass a few canyons where we had seen some big bulls and we headed the opposite direction on four wheelers hoping to glass up some bulls to make a stalk on that evening. Luck would have it that my uncle Shane saw a big bull up in the mouth of a steep canyon. He told us to get over to him as fast as we could. We got to him in 25 min. He showed us where the bulls were at and told us that we had to hurry because there were already two hunters hiking in after him.
We hiked as fast as we could and we were only twenty minutes from getting to the top of the ridge where we would've been able to shoot when we heard shooting. 25 shots to be exact. It sounded like an Army! A guy from Fillmore ended up killing the bull. He was a big five that scored around 365-370. He had big 3rds and 4ths. With so many near misses we were sure that our time would come to kill a big bull.
On Wednesday the bull we were after opening morning was again seen by one of our friends so we headed over in that area, but again couldn't turn him up. Pressure was beginning to mount as the thought of not killing a bull became more prevalent.
The next day(Thursday) we decided to head in a different direction to where we had seen bulls during the weeks prior to the hunt. My dad and I pulled into a lookout spot in the morning and immediately saw two good bulls. One had a really big back end but was not overly wide. But being this late in the hunt we decided to go after him. We got within 743 yards of him but he headed up over the top of a cedar ridge before we could get any closer.
We figured that this bull was worth spending the rest of the hunt after. Thursday night with our spirits a little down. We glassed the area where this bull had went into and to our surprise we saw what we had been waiting for the whole hunt. An absolute giant bull and two other great bulls. The giant bull was so unique that we recognized him. We had seen him on the early rifle and got a really good look at him then and knew it was the same bull. His first three points were well over 20inches and his fourths were at least 21 and his fifths were really solid. Tried to get pictures through the spotting scope but there was not enough light to get really good ones.
We knew that there were 4 bulls around that we would love to take. At first light Friday morning we saw two bulls. (one was one that my dad ended up killing and the other was one of the 380 bulls.) We got within 980 yards but that was as close as we could get before the bulls fed over the hill out sight. Hoping that they would feed back towards the meadow that they just left my dad and I hiked up to a little knoll that was within shooting distance of the meadow. We ended up staying up on this little knoll for 8 hours waiting for one of the big bulls to come out. However,only two rag horn bulls came out.
We made the long walk out in the dark wondering aloud "when in the heck was our luck going to turn around!" With only one day left and a storm coming in we knew had to pull out all the stops.
With the help of a friend we were able to get setup with a long range shooting setup. It was kimber 300 short mag with a huskama scope. Its a really sweet setup. That night we decided that we needed to get up to where the elk had been that morning before they could escape into the nasty mahogany. We got up at 4am and headed really slowly up to the knoll that we were on the day prior.
It had snowed an inch that night and the fog had settled in. As the dark started to fade and the hill side began to gather more light. We spotted one bull towards the top of the clearing. Looking through the snow and fog we struggled to see what he was. With our window for killing a bull closing we quickly decided to get a little closer so we could see what he was before he left our sights. We got 100 yards closer and we could see that he was just a small six. We continued glassing the hillside. Three hundred yards away from us we saw a bull feeding across the hillside. We thought for sure that he was going to be one of the big ones, but to our disappointment (again!!) it was a small rag horn bull. An hour went bye with no elk and we thought that it wouldn't be til evening time til we saw another elk.
On our way back to camp the night prior, I told my dad that we would kill a bull. I told him that we were just in the bottom of the 9th with no outs but that he was going to pull a David Freese. And that he was going to come up to bat and hit a two run double and then hit a home run to win it.
After the morning with no elk, my dad turned to me and said "well son, we have one out." I said "yes we do, but we still have two more to go." As the snow kept falling and the fog hanging around the lower ridges our hopes began to fall. My dad called my uncle Shane and started singing. "Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas" He was pretty discouraged and was thinking of ways to keep himself motivated
I was starting to get down as well and I texted my wife and told her that we would need a miracle to kill a bull.Only ten minutes after I sent that text, my dad got a call from one of his friends who was on horse back that was a few ridges away from us telling him that he has 5 bulls spotted and two of them were 350 bulls. With a renewed sense of hope we started to head up the steep snowy ridge in front of us. I told my dad that I would carry his gun so that he could use his hands to help him climb. We were both pretty exhausted from all the hikes through out the last 8 days. However, we knew that we had to hurry because this might be our last chance to kill a bull. It took us thirty minutes to reach the spot where our friends were at that were watching the bulls.
We sat down and started glassing the bulls. They were a long long ways away. Chad (one of our friends who was helping us on the hunt) told me to range the bulls. I couldn't see them at first because my binos were wet and foggy, but I knew the ridge that they were on. I ranged the first rock ledge and it read 943yds. There was another rock ledge that was above the first one. I ranged it at 983 yards. I asked Chad where the bulls were at from the second rock ledge and he said. "Above it and to the right." My rangefinder would not read it. The bulls were over 1000yards away. My Dad asked Chad "What should I do?" Chad said "Well its our last chance at a bull so lets try them!" We turned the scope up to 950 yards. There was no wind at the time and Chad told my dad to put it just above its back. At that time the bulls had started to move. Our friends that were above us videoing began to cow call. The bulls stopped immediately and looked to locate the cow. I was watching the bull through my binos as my dad put the cross hairs just above his shoulders and gently pulled the trigger!
The bull's front shoulder tensed up and his back legs stretched backwards. We didn't know if we had hit him so we turned the scope up to 1000 yards. My dad settled the cross hairs above his shoulder and shot again. The bulls leg stretched back even more. The other bulls went up and out the top of the ridge but he stayed in the same place. My dad loaded another shell and took another shot. The bull dropped and rolled down the mountain about 40 yards. With the bulls legs in the air we knew that he was done for. My Dad's first shot was the one that killed him. We couldn't believe it. We were going crazy. Jumping around and hugging each other. Tears of joy and relief followed as we knew that we had accomplished a goal that we had set out to accomplish 5 months prior. We couldn't believe it! It was the shot of my Dad's life.(That we'll more than likely never attempt again.) It was one of the greatest moments of my life to see my dad kill his bull. We have video of the shot and everything so as soon as I get it I'll post it on here.
This pictures shows you were we were at and where the elk were at.The bull was in the highest patch of yellow grass.
My dad and our great friend Chad
Horses are the best thing ever!We did have one mule that was flat out amazing and went anywhere he wanted to.
My Dad and his bull.
My Dad and I.
Some of the crew that was with us.
My dad and our guide!
This hunt was the hunt of my life so far. We didn't kill the bull of the mountain like we had set out to do, but we had the time of our lives. There is nothing better in this world than spending time with family and friends in the outdoors. As a crew we went through some highs and lows. Which made the end result that much sweeter. I just want to thank everyone who helped my dad out. It means a lot to him.
