M
manny15
Guest
LAST EDITED ON Nov-09-06 AT 03:12PM (MST)[p]I hunted an area that was suggested to me, which turned out to be one of the better areas we hunted, I didn't see any elk for three days and the only two elk I saw were bulls.
My son and I finally found an area that hadn't been hit hard, and we could drive in all the way to the end of a jeep trail that led into a large canyon with awesome timbered drainage?s (fingers) we climbed for two hours straight up, before I started to cut across the fingers and move slowly across the ridge?s then down into the timber of each drainage.
About 1:30 p.m I started to see some fresh tracks, which got me excited cause we hadn't seen anything up until this time, The terrain got extremely steep and was killing my ankles, but that's where the fresh sign was so I wasn?t gonna give up just yet, around 1:50 I sat to rest and glass on a well used trail, when I heard a slight rustling below me, just like in a dream a bull comes trotting up the opposite side of the drainage, I threw up my rifle I could see he had long main beam, but he only had one horn, he broke off the other side, I had him in my cross hairs but lowered my gun hoping to see if anything else would come up, sure enough a smaller 6x6 comes trotting up a few seconds later.
Now I'm guessing their 400 yards across from me, so I thought, at 400 yards the bullet would drop approx 19 to 20? I place the cross hairs high on the shoulder of the second bull and let ?er fly, he stumble a little but didn't stop, so I let another one fly, nothing! then another, he flinched again, paused for a second then disappeared over into the next drainage.
Not being able to believe what had just transpired I sat down again to go over the sequence of events, I knew I had two solid hit's on the bull but wondered why he didn't drop or seem hurt, puzzled, I waited about 20-30 minutes before I went to find blood, sure enough I found lots of deep red blood, but no sign of the bull, now the tracking begins.
I followed the tracks for about 500 yards up hill then abruptly the tracks went straight down into another drainage, it was so steep I had to sit down on my butt to keep from falling face first, sliding down a little at a time on my butt trying to see down into the timber, expecting to find the bull bedded down, all of a sudden I hear crash-crash, through the trees I could see a bull galloping! Up the other side of the drainage, but I had slid down to far to get a good look, not wanting to shoot the one horn bull by mistake, I hesitated, too late, was it my bull??
So I take up the trail again this time less blood, smaller drops, I was amazed that a wounded bull would literally gallop up so steep a hill with two 160grns in him.
It took me 20 minutes crawling on my hands and knees to get to the top, by this time it's raining and I got a blister on my heal, but I pursue, now the tracks mix in with other tracks and no more blood, we looked till dark to no avail, We decided to come back in the morn to pick up the trail again
Well no sleep came that night wondering what I should have done different, we set out at daybreak picked up the trail from the beginning, the blood was washed away from the night rain, we walked up and down each drainage, zigged and zagged up and down, now I got raw feet and these are 3 year old boots broken in and all, This was big buck country not elk country, so I thought.
I couldn't find hide nor hair of ?em disgusted I decided it was time to pack up and go home, didn't need to run into another bull and shoot him when there was one already some where in that canyon possibly dieing.
My first mistake was settling for Remington factory shells, they don't hold together well, my 2nd mistake was leaving my range finder back in the truck, turns out the distance was 305 yards which had the bullet impact 10 to 12? to high.
I'm sick to my stomach, we saw over two hundred mule deer, with four shooter bucks, 23 bighorn sheep, three shooter Rams but only two elk, what a week.
I have a few complaints about the way the DFG conduct the hunts in that area, they called this area a road closure area, fine, but they closed the roads down in the flats or winter range, which left a 3 mile walk just to get to the base of the Mt. range where elk live, so possible a 6 mile walk in one way, just to get to the elk, it just seems the DFG works against the hunter to up the odds you being less successful, if the herd is doing well then why close the roads so far down in the winter range?.JMHO?
I don't think I can look at another bull pic for some time to come.....
My son and I finally found an area that hadn't been hit hard, and we could drive in all the way to the end of a jeep trail that led into a large canyon with awesome timbered drainage?s (fingers) we climbed for two hours straight up, before I started to cut across the fingers and move slowly across the ridge?s then down into the timber of each drainage.
About 1:30 p.m I started to see some fresh tracks, which got me excited cause we hadn't seen anything up until this time, The terrain got extremely steep and was killing my ankles, but that's where the fresh sign was so I wasn?t gonna give up just yet, around 1:50 I sat to rest and glass on a well used trail, when I heard a slight rustling below me, just like in a dream a bull comes trotting up the opposite side of the drainage, I threw up my rifle I could see he had long main beam, but he only had one horn, he broke off the other side, I had him in my cross hairs but lowered my gun hoping to see if anything else would come up, sure enough a smaller 6x6 comes trotting up a few seconds later.
Now I'm guessing their 400 yards across from me, so I thought, at 400 yards the bullet would drop approx 19 to 20? I place the cross hairs high on the shoulder of the second bull and let ?er fly, he stumble a little but didn't stop, so I let another one fly, nothing! then another, he flinched again, paused for a second then disappeared over into the next drainage.
Not being able to believe what had just transpired I sat down again to go over the sequence of events, I knew I had two solid hit's on the bull but wondered why he didn't drop or seem hurt, puzzled, I waited about 20-30 minutes before I went to find blood, sure enough I found lots of deep red blood, but no sign of the bull, now the tracking begins.
I followed the tracks for about 500 yards up hill then abruptly the tracks went straight down into another drainage, it was so steep I had to sit down on my butt to keep from falling face first, sliding down a little at a time on my butt trying to see down into the timber, expecting to find the bull bedded down, all of a sudden I hear crash-crash, through the trees I could see a bull galloping! Up the other side of the drainage, but I had slid down to far to get a good look, not wanting to shoot the one horn bull by mistake, I hesitated, too late, was it my bull??
So I take up the trail again this time less blood, smaller drops, I was amazed that a wounded bull would literally gallop up so steep a hill with two 160grns in him.
It took me 20 minutes crawling on my hands and knees to get to the top, by this time it's raining and I got a blister on my heal, but I pursue, now the tracks mix in with other tracks and no more blood, we looked till dark to no avail, We decided to come back in the morn to pick up the trail again
Well no sleep came that night wondering what I should have done different, we set out at daybreak picked up the trail from the beginning, the blood was washed away from the night rain, we walked up and down each drainage, zigged and zagged up and down, now I got raw feet and these are 3 year old boots broken in and all, This was big buck country not elk country, so I thought.
I couldn't find hide nor hair of ?em disgusted I decided it was time to pack up and go home, didn't need to run into another bull and shoot him when there was one already some where in that canyon possibly dieing.
My first mistake was settling for Remington factory shells, they don't hold together well, my 2nd mistake was leaving my range finder back in the truck, turns out the distance was 305 yards which had the bullet impact 10 to 12? to high.
I'm sick to my stomach, we saw over two hundred mule deer, with four shooter bucks, 23 bighorn sheep, three shooter Rams but only two elk, what a week.
I have a few complaints about the way the DFG conduct the hunts in that area, they called this area a road closure area, fine, but they closed the roads down in the flats or winter range, which left a 3 mile walk just to get to the base of the Mt. range where elk live, so possible a 6 mile walk in one way, just to get to the elk, it just seems the DFG works against the hunter to up the odds you being less successful, if the herd is doing well then why close the roads so far down in the winter range?.JMHO?
I don't think I can look at another bull pic for some time to come.....
Somebody didn't like bouncing betty 
