Utah400Elk
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Sorry to say but I was in the area of SW Wyoming to watch the elk opener. I got there about 9:30 in the morning. I was thinking I was too late to see anything but I could not have been anymore wrong. I didn't have a tag just wanted to see what the unit was like. I was working in the area and had a few hours to kill so I drove by the unit to see what I could see.
To start with the good news, from the road I saw over 400 elk. More than 20 were 6 point or better. There were elk everywhere and they were talking like crazy. I even watched two big 6 points fight. Three herds came together on the same point and all hell broke loose. All the elk were seen from hwy 191.
Now the bad part, I watched a guy (I will call him dirtball (you may want to choose another name)) shot three different bulls within ten minutes. I watched a small 6 running by the road. A truck pulls over and a guy jumps out and shoots the bull. The bull is hit hard and runs over a small rise then beds. I thought I might be able to help him drag the bull to his truck. Remember I still had a couple of hours to kill. Dirtball then walked up to the bedded bull and looks at him through his scope. As he is looking at the injured bull a bigger bull steps over the hill and bugles. He turns away from the injured bull and is now looking at the bigger bull through his scope. While he is looking at the second bull the first bull makes it to his feet and tries to walk away. This is in the open sage and the dirtball in no more than 60 yards from the injured bull. The guy turns from the bull he has hit and that is trying like hell to walk away(with an obvious broken shoulder). The guy circles the injured bull and walks to where the bigger bull was. The guy walks over the hill and I loose site of him but not the injured bull. I then hear three shots from where the guy went over the hill. The guy then walks back towards the first bull. As he is walking back towards the first bull another group with another bull walks up on the hill. You guessed it. Dirtball first looks at bull # 1 then shoots the third bull (this bull he hits in the gut). As dirtball shoots the third bull, bull number 1 is still standing where he left it. Dirtball looks up and sees three different vehicles are watching him. Dirtball watches the bull walk away with the cows. The bull is falling behind because he was gut shot. It is an obvious hit on bull number three and he does nothing. Dirtball then runs to his truck and drives away. Another group of hunters drives to my vantage point and tells me he dropped a bull over the hill (the three shots) then walked back over the hill without walking up to the bull to even look at it. When they heard the next shot from him (the one for the gut shot) they drove over to where I was. We were all pissed off.
I find dirtballs truck just up the road and he is down the hill trying to help a friend with a bull the friend has shot. Dirtball drove away from the first injured bull that ended up bedding up again in the sage where you could see him with your naked eye from the road. I never saw the second bull but the guys in the other truck did (they also talked with G&F). The third bull, last I saw, had fallen about three hundred yards behind his cows and was not long for this world.
So everybody knows, I called G&F and they did catch the guy. I got his license plate description and everything the G&F would need. Next time you get a chance to go for an opener, remember you might just catch a dirtball yourself. No wonder I can't draw one of those tags.
To start with the good news, from the road I saw over 400 elk. More than 20 were 6 point or better. There were elk everywhere and they were talking like crazy. I even watched two big 6 points fight. Three herds came together on the same point and all hell broke loose. All the elk were seen from hwy 191.
Now the bad part, I watched a guy (I will call him dirtball (you may want to choose another name)) shot three different bulls within ten minutes. I watched a small 6 running by the road. A truck pulls over and a guy jumps out and shoots the bull. The bull is hit hard and runs over a small rise then beds. I thought I might be able to help him drag the bull to his truck. Remember I still had a couple of hours to kill. Dirtball then walked up to the bedded bull and looks at him through his scope. As he is looking at the injured bull a bigger bull steps over the hill and bugles. He turns away from the injured bull and is now looking at the bigger bull through his scope. While he is looking at the second bull the first bull makes it to his feet and tries to walk away. This is in the open sage and the dirtball in no more than 60 yards from the injured bull. The guy turns from the bull he has hit and that is trying like hell to walk away(with an obvious broken shoulder). The guy circles the injured bull and walks to where the bigger bull was. The guy walks over the hill and I loose site of him but not the injured bull. I then hear three shots from where the guy went over the hill. The guy then walks back towards the first bull. As he is walking back towards the first bull another group with another bull walks up on the hill. You guessed it. Dirtball first looks at bull # 1 then shoots the third bull (this bull he hits in the gut). As dirtball shoots the third bull, bull number 1 is still standing where he left it. Dirtball looks up and sees three different vehicles are watching him. Dirtball watches the bull walk away with the cows. The bull is falling behind because he was gut shot. It is an obvious hit on bull number three and he does nothing. Dirtball then runs to his truck and drives away. Another group of hunters drives to my vantage point and tells me he dropped a bull over the hill (the three shots) then walked back over the hill without walking up to the bull to even look at it. When they heard the next shot from him (the one for the gut shot) they drove over to where I was. We were all pissed off.
I find dirtballs truck just up the road and he is down the hill trying to help a friend with a bull the friend has shot. Dirtball drove away from the first injured bull that ended up bedding up again in the sage where you could see him with your naked eye from the road. I never saw the second bull but the guys in the other truck did (they also talked with G&F). The third bull, last I saw, had fallen about three hundred yards behind his cows and was not long for this world.
So everybody knows, I called G&F and they did catch the guy. I got his license plate description and everything the G&F would need. Next time you get a chance to go for an opener, remember you might just catch a dirtball yourself. No wonder I can't draw one of those tags.
