Monroe Elk... What Size Bull Would You Shoot Opening Morning

C

cowslayer

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Okay, what type of bull would you shoot opening morning on the Monroe early rifle hunt? I know a lot of factors play into this decision... but what class of bull would you shoot opening morning, middle of the hunt or last few days.

I have a good friend with the tag and he is just wondering what to expect.

Any help or honey holes or game changing info can be PM'd to me also.

Thanks CS
 
My dad had an archery elk tag last year and he didnt get his bull till the third to the last day and he ended up taking a 350 class bull, but if you have a rifle tag i think its safe to say that if you see a 380 bull on the opener you better be shooting. but last year on monroe it was and exceptional year there was 1 400" bull that i know was takin off there and 2 390" class bulls. that will be a very fun hunt your friend is going to have a blast.
 
First day of the hunt or last shouldn't matter..... As an early mentor once told me "Don't pass on the first day what you'd be happy with on the last." I heard the words when he said it but it was a few years later when I learned the wisdom behind them...... Good Luck.... Terry
 
Congrats to your friend! He's definately in for a hunt of a lifetime... that being said, Monroe has a ton of bulls, 330-340 are a dime a dozen, but to the best of my knowledge last year produced the first 400" bull. I think your buddy would be a fool to pass up anything 370"+ even on opening morning.
 
In all reality, that hunt is a "once in a lifetime" hunt and I would make the best of it with scouting of your own and actually seeing first hand the quality that is there. I agree with AZ in that too many guys pass on 350 or 360 bulls the first few days only to collect a 300 bull on the last. In my eyes a 350 bull is a great bull and anything above that would be icing on the cake. Have a great hunt and show us pics next fall.
 
Cass.. I dont know where you hunt but 390 bulls dont run over you on the monroe.. It is a smokin unit but if you have a chance at a 36o class bull you should pull the trigger..
 
390 bulls do not run all over any unit. my guess if most people see a 370 they will think it is 390 and a 350 will be 370.

tell your buddy to go scout and size up what he will be happy with and shoot it. he probably cannot score on the hoof any better than i can so if he is planning on killing something based on score he may be disappointed. why not shoot something to be happy with rather than ask on the internet?
 
Good advice ktc.

Even Rammu is dead-on. I know, I am surprised to. J/K

Remember to have fun. Everything else is icing. If a bull walks out and his heart goes apes%^t, shoot it.

PRO
 
In 2005 the first bull that would net over 375 and book was killed on the monroe. Quickdraw is right on. Last year was the first year a 400" bull was taken off the monroe. There are more 300 to 340 bulls than Cass has lies. You can kill a 360+ bull if you know the mountain, know what your looking at, have the entire hunt to look and can stay off the trigger. A 350 bull is better than average on the monroe and should'nt be over looked.
 
i will take what nunya says one step further. i would bet 350 (honest measurements) is better than the state wide average kill. if not each unit.

pro is right. i tried to take this approach, if the bull gave me a woody without a second thought i was shooting. the score was a number after it was over. that is what i would shoot first day.

390+ bulls are very special and rare critters even though we all want one!
 
I sit here and make the same statement year after year. Good luck up North. Hope you see a 370.


-Cass
 
I have lived and grew up in monroe. I have watched the mountain grow with its elk population and i have gathered one heck of a lot of bones off that mountain. Its a great tag but its not the tag it was two years ago. The monroe got slottered last year. Ya they took some hog bulls off there but they also gave a lot more tags than normal and the mountain is not that big. I guess is what i am trying to say is pretty much all the big bulls that locals have been watching for years got smoked. Thers still some good big bulls on the unit but there will never be the bulls come off this year like last year. My buddy has a early rifle and a late rifle in the family and if they pass on a 360 bull the first morn. they will hear it from me. a 360 bull is a giant...to many people have this 380-400 mark in their head when 90% of them dont even no what a big bull is. So if i was you i would smoke th first 360 bull that came my way...but hey go do some looking and get a feel for it...you might find a 380 bull to hunt....good luck....
 
da400bull- I couldn't agree more. My wife's family has a cabin on Monroe and between family members have had 10 or more tags in the last 7 years up there (myself included - archery). Needless to say, like da400bull, collectly we have seen the mountain at all stages and seen about every local bull up there.

Last year was brutal on the mountain. We all said last year, well, this is the year the DWR finally ruined it. You could see it already on the late hunt and talk to the shed hunters this year-- the quality is trending down. Don't get me wrong, some good bulls exist, but I also agree with KTC, tell him to set his sights on the bull he wants and shoot him. Spend a few days down there and you will be able to classify the "average bull" for the year.

When I had the tag I was chasing a bull that's sheds went 383, but a large 6x6 framed bull that scored 360'sh was the bull I wanted if I could have chose. Like da400bull said, everyone is becoming so obsessed with 400 inches when most people don't even know what one looks like on the hoof. In all my life, I think I've seen one bull on the hoof that would have went 400... maybe.

Have fun, it's a great tag, but I would dump the first good looking 350-60+ bull I saw if I had the tag.

ODDNUT1
Kirt C.
Hunt Odds.com
 
I'm heading up to the cabin this weekend, can't wait to see some velvet! although I've never met da400bull, I think my cabin is only a stone's through away....
 
LAST EDITED ON May-25-07 AT 02:48PM (MST)[p]quickdraw> Where's your cabin? Your name sounds familiar, I'm married into the Julander family, right off the peak, off Monroe Meadow/Julander Mill.

P.S. Good to see you on here Reggie! One of these days I need to swing by and see all those sheds of those bulls that aced me! :)

ODDNUT1
Kirt C.
Hunt Odds.com
 
I have been up on the hill all weekend and now im just heading up again. Maybe some time I will run into you kirt (oddnut1). I would love to hear about some of those close incounters. Talk to you later..
 
>LAST EDITED ON May-25-07
>AT 02:48?PM (MST)
>
>quickdraw> Where's your cabin? Your name sounds familiar, I'm married into the Julander family, right off the peak, off Monroe Meadow/Julander Mill.
>
>P.S. Good to see you on
>here Reggie! One of
>these days I need to
>swing by and see all
>those sheds of those bulls
>that aced me! :)
>
>ODDNUT1
>Kirt C.
>Hunt Odds.com


Kirt, sounds like we're pretty much neighbors! We're the first cabin on the left after you turn into Monroe Meadows from the main road. Stop in for a cold one!
 
What da400bull is saying is 100% correct. If anyone knows what is going on up there on Monroe, it is Reggie.
I agree with most of the posts saying that most guys wouldn't know a 380+ bull if it kicked them in the $^*(^@$%, but like KTC says, just go and enjoy and shoot what flips your trigger!
If you set your sights for something that doesn't exist, or something bigger than what is reality, you'll be dissappointed. If you shoot a bull that you really like, regardless of score, you'll be happy with your hunt. I enjoyed my archery hunt a lot more after I decided I just wanted to enjoy the experience instead of worrying about a "book" bull. When I killed my bull, I was a happy camper and was completly happy with the whole hunt. The worst part of my hunt was when it was over!!
a*r
 
:) Best of luck on your hunt. Listen to the wind long enough your liable to go deaf.



-Cass
 
Growing up in Las Vegas nobody knows the Monroe Mt. better than Cass. Pay no mind to the wind bags living in its shadow.
I Hear that for 2 playboys, a bag of jolley ranchers and a chocolate milk he will guide you to a 400" bull of a lifetime.
I would get hold of him. Just don't ask to see "whats in the tool box".
 
I don't want to horn in on cowslayers post but I too have drawn a Monroe tag but mine is for the late hunt would there be anybody out there willing to point me in a good direction to start scouting say the end of Oct ?
 
Like most of the posters on the string, I'd smoke the first 360+ bull you see. I've spent the last 6 years running around that unit (and other nearby units, living in the area). It can produce awsome bulls, and I've seen some. I've yet to see a bull on that unit that would go higher that 380, but I'm sure that I've only seen a small percentage of the bulls up there.
 

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