AZ elk

DidIDraw

Active Member
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This is the elk that I took on the last day of the season this year. I had been applying for 9 years for the permit. It was a very challenging hunt because the elk were in the thick PJ. I tried everything I could think of to get close to them and had a bunch of close calls but they were always one step ahead. On the last day of the hunt it was COLD and the snow was "squeeky" and I knew I'd never make a stalk so I found a place with a small opening that I could watch. After almost two hours this guy came into view. I had about a 5' window to make a decision and get the shot off. I saw one large antler tine above the trees and shot when I saw his mane change to shoulder though a small window in the trees.

When I walked up to him the 'good' antler was up and I thought I had just taken the elk I had dreamed about finding. When I picked up his head I was disappointed that the antlers didn't match but it was a great hunt that ended with a great animal.

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LAST EDITED ON Dec-05-06 AT 12:21PM (MST)[p] REALLY A NICE BULL, SOUNDS LIKE YOU WORKED FOR HIM......CONGRATS!!!! YD.
 
That's a great bull! Awesome 4ths! There will be more to come!
UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
Congratulations on your bull! Looks like you put in the effort and wound up on the plus side of the ledger. Things don't always work out as we envision them but thats hunting. You still did much better than a lot of others have done this year. Enjoy
 
Congrats from a fellow late bull hunter. What unit were you in, and how high? You had more snow than we did. Snowed on our 5th day, but all melted by three o'clock.
 
wow , what a great bull. Thats a toad for sure , congrats and thanks for sharing it...
 
Sweet bull dude! If I saw a back end like that, I'd be shootin' to! That's a great bull! Hell of a 4th and 5th on that one side. That's a big dude... don't be ashamed of him.
 
Was the other side boken or deformed?
I dont think I would pass on him!!
Thanks for sharing.
Jeff
 
Ya done real good....

Hell your taxidermist can do some work on that main beam for ya.

Great looking bull.

Congrats

Robb
 
I was hunting near the Grand Canyon and it was 4 degrees that morning.

It appears that the bull damaged the pedicle (sp?) on the left side and the antler has probably been growing like that for many years. The whole antler was just smaller with only three points (one broken). But I bet he still got his share of cows with the huge body on him.

His teeth were pretty worn so I think he was in his prime (6-8 years?). A rough calculation for the right antler is 170 plus about a 45" inside spread comes to a 385ish bull if his antlers matched. It is great anytime you can harvest a mature animal. I'm having a european mount on him so that I'll have more options where I can hang it in the house.

Thanks for all your comments. It's fun to share the excitement with people that "understand".
 

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