Unit 61 here we go!

Gadjet

Gadjet

Active Member
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920
Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time on the big Unc again this year. A friend drew early rifle and my daughter drew second rifle. I haven't been down there in a few years and I've seen all the negative posts about the unit not being what it used to be. Even if this is true, hopefully we can manage to find a couple good bulls and have a great time in the woods in the process.
 
I don't think that it has changed much, other than the elk go a little deeper to get away from the people. The big bulls hang in places most people don't want to go, 330 would be tough to pass, but there a few bulls each season that surpass that mark.
 
Second season last year I shot the biggest bull I saw in 5 days. We taped him a little over 300”. We saw several bulls each day. One larger model gave us the slip. My buddy got a glimpse and he said it was”big”?? Second season go deep and steep!

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Greg you have a great fall to look forward to with two tags in there. Great memories to be made there. Knowing you, you will find a couple good bulls for them tags. Keep us updated and if you need any help let me know. Keep in touch.
 
rmanwill said:
Greg you have a great fall to look forward to with two tags in there. Great memories to be made there. Knowing you, you will find a couple good bulls for them tags. Keep us updated and if you need any help let me know. Keep in touch.
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Thanks Rick!
 
Well good job on.pulling the tags. Been there once 5 years ago. (Cow tag). Hoping to pull an archery tag in the next couples years. Good luck ,have fun. Can't wait for the details:).... mike
 
There's a lighted sign at the bottom of 90 that said "Hwy 90 closed on divide" I was able to get to divide and go back toward Davewood last night, didn't go the other direction. There were some drift areas but less then 6 inches. So should be getting close to open. In the timber there was still 2 1/2 to 3 foot drifts.
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DryCreek85 said:
There's a lighted sign at the bottom of 90 that said "Hwy 90 closed on divide" I was able to get to divide and go back toward Davewood last night, didn't go the other direction. There were some drift areas but less then 6 inches. So should be getting close to open. In the timber there was still 2 1/2 to 3 foot drifts.View attachment 112611
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Thanks for the update.
 
I'm trying to figure out how many days he has left to grow? The biggest bull i ever saw was completely hard horned a week and a half after the 4th... 20, 30, 40 days?
 
DryCreek85 said:
I'm trying to figure out how many days he has left to grow? The biggest bull i ever saw was completely hard horned a week and a half after the 4th... 20, 30, 40 days?
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That’s a good looking bull! Great question. I’d be curious if there is a difference in going hard horned between big moisture years and dry years. I’d sure be tickled if they had 40 more days of growing vs. 20!! ?
 
Question, the 61 early tag takes more points, but 1st only takes a point or so over the later seasons. why is this? am I reading the stats wrong or something?

I was one of the 4 NR's that didn't draw 1st with 24 points this year. trying to decide if I should try again.
 
coloradoman said:
That being said you can get around it in a 50” machine going through Massey cutoff.
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Gadjet said:
Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time on the big Unc again this year. A friend drew early rifle and my daughter drew second rifle. I haven't been down there in a few years and I've seen all the negative posts about the unit not being what it used to be. Even if this is true, hopefully we can manage to find a couple good bulls and have a great time in the woods in the process.
Click to expand...
 
Togwotee said:
Question, the 61 early tag takes more points, but 1st only takes a point or so over the later seasons. why is this? am I reading the stats wrong or something?

I was one of the 4 NR's that didn't draw 1st with 24 points this year. trying to decide if I should try again.
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In theory the bigger bulls could still be rutting pretty hard during the early rifle. I've been on several first season hunts and the mature bulls have already started peeling away from the cows by then. That being said, the first rifle hunt can be a real kick in the butt. It's a pretty cool experience to be walking around the elk woods with a rifle in your hand while bulls are bugling their brains out.
 
I would actually take a 4th season tag over a 1st but I realize I'm probably in the minority there. Late season you know the bulls will be away from the cows. 1st season they might or might not be with cows. Either way anytime in 61 is good.
 
Togwotee said:
Question, the 61 early tag takes more points, but 1st only takes a point or so over the later seasons. why is this? am I reading the stats wrong or something?

I was one of the 4 NR's that didn't draw 1st with 24 points this year. trying to decide if I should try again.
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Its closer because the number of tags issued is less for second and third. If they were all the same amount then the difference to draw would be bigger.
 
Spent a little time up there this weekend. Saw quite a few bulls still together with a little bit of bugling. They should be getting cranked up pretty soon.
I know it was a big weekend, but holy smokes I’ve never seen so many people up there before!
 
coloradoman said:
Some of the bulls I saw are still packing velvet.
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What’s that mean? Is it a result of good feed this year? As I understand it, the cow cycles wait for nothing (except maybe drought??) so the bulls better get with the program quick right
 
gburk said:
Got my Red Bull, amphetamines, and Depends on order for the drive up there from Tx on Friday, should be rolling in for muzzleloader opener. Hopefully we’ll be smacking a fat cow in short order!
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Is there a dedicated muzzy cow tag in 61?
 
Thanks we’ll need it! We’ve only got three days so we’re playing “brown and down”. He’s good out to 100yds and hopefully can call one in closer than that. Who knows.
 
gburk said:
Thanks we’ll need it! We’ve only got three days so we’re playing “brown and down”. He’s good out to 100yds and hopefully can call one in closer than that. Who knows.
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took my youngest son 4 hours a few years ago to get his cow.
We showed up friday afternoon, left for home sunday morning. He was back to school monday morning.
The pack out lasted longer than the hunt!
 
Its been a week since I punched my tag and I have to say that passing up 315 bulls is to hard for me to do lol... I honestly thought he was in the 320 range when I came to full draw but I had one of my best hunts to date and couldn't be happier... Still haven't seen the bull from June, so I hope one of you guys can find him and let me know how he finished out... Best of luck to you guys still with tags to be filled.

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DryCreek85 said:
Its been a week since I punched my tag and I have to say that passing up 315 bulls is to hard for me to do lol... I honestly thought he was in the 320 range when I came to full draw but I had one of my best hunts to date and couldn't be happier... Still haven't seen the bull from June, so I hope one of you guys can find him and let me know how he finished out... Best of luck to you guys still with tags to be filled.

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That's a great bull! Congratulations!
 
Points is so over rated. I killed a 377 a few years ago but a 300ish bull in WY was way more memorable. I hate the what does he score generation.
 
DryCreek85 said:
Its been a week since I punched my tag and I have to say that passing up 315 bulls is to hard for me to do lol... I honestly thought he was in the 320 range when I came to full draw but I had one of my best hunts to date and couldn't be happier... Still haven't seen the bull from June, so I hope one of you guys can find him and let me know how he finished out... Best of luck to you guys still with tags to be filled.

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Nice bull. Looks like you hard a long night of packing.
 
Whatever Tracker. I asked because he mentioned 315 and 320 in his post and it looks bigger than that in the picture to me.

No one cares that you shot a 377 and a 300 ish bull. Nice humble brag.
 
Score always matters when you're talking size, " 6 point" can mean anything from 200"-450".

But it doesn't mean much when you're talking about the hunt. and that's a nice bull and it sounds like it was a fun hunt. congrats.
 
DryCreek85 said:
Its been a week since I punched my tag and I have to say that passing up 315 bulls is to hard for me to do lol... I honestly thought he was in the 320 range when I came to full draw but I had one of my best hunts to date and couldn't be happier... Still haven't seen the bull from June, so I hope one of you guys can find him and let me know how he finished out... Best of luck to you guys still with tags to be filled.

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Beautiful bull and nothing to be ashamed. Congrats!
 
Utahlefty said:
I'm just back from 61 early rifle and this is the biggest bull we saw in 9 days / 52 miles of hiking & glassing. 326 gross.

there were three other bulls that would go mid-320s but we didn't see anything larger. lots of 280-310 bulls though.

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I would be curious to know where you found this bull but no worries
I saw a bull like him with that curl kicker on the right side but I’m not sure it’s the same bull
 
Utahlefty said:
I'm just back from 61 early rifle and this is the biggest bull we saw in 9 days / 52 miles of hiking & glassing. 326 gross.

there were three other bulls that would go mid-320s but we didn't see anything larger. lots of 280-310 bulls though.

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Congratulations! Cool bull with the kickers. Things sure are a little tougher in 61 compared to a few years back. I've been on a dozen or so hunts in 61 and I've been on a few scouting trips this fall for my daughters second season tag. Haven't seen a truly big bull yet this year. I would love to turn up a bull like yours for my daughter.
Thanks for posting!
 
Since my daughter drew this tag we have been really excited about going on this hunt as a family. In that time she became pregnant, which we are extremely excited about. I told her that if she wanted to she could turn the tag in and try another year. Her response was “not a chance dad, we’re going on this hunt!” Fast forward 5 months and here we are. We got into camp 2 days early to do some scouting. As luck would have it we found this bull and a group of about 30 cows with several smaller bulls on Thursday evening. Taylor told me that this was definitely the one. Now the pressure was on. How am I going to possibly get my 5 months pregnant daughter a shot at this guy? We found the herd on Friday morning and watched them again that evening. They were moving at night so it made it a little bit of a crapshoot on where we wanted to position ourselves on opening morning. I made the decision to put on a point overlooking 3 different directions the next morning. At the crack of daylight we had the herd about 400 yards directly below us. The wind was howling and they eventually winded us, blowing the whole herd out of the canyon and around a far ridge. As we watched them we weren’t able to put eyes on the target bull. I decided to just stay put for a while and do some glassing, hoping we could pick him out in another canyon. I eventually found a couple bulls together a little over 1000 yards away. As I studied them I noticed that the one bull was him. It would take us 1 1/2 hours to get around the canyon so that we could position ourselves above him. We snuck over the edge where we last saw him and he was still close to the same spot. It took me awhile to get my daughter set up for the shot. He was only about 150 yards straight down off of a cliff. As Taylor squeezed the trigger on her 300win mag the bull dropped instantly. I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited as this on any of my hunts before. My wife, son in law, and good hunting buddy were all there for this. We had tons of laughs together and this will definitely be some of the most memorable times of our lives together as a family.
To all of you that offered help, whether it be to pack meat or just moral support, thank you! There’s a great bunch of guys on this page and it’s fun to share the hunting stories.
Gadget
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Awesome Greg. I'm thrilled for your daughter, you and all involved. Pretty special hunt right there with a great out come and a great bull. Lifetime memories made right there for the whole family. Thank you for sharing this hunt with us.
 
Man that is just awesome. Little dude or dudettes first hunt!! The picture getting ready to shoot on that cliff is really cool to. Congrats to your family, and raising em' up right!
 
Gadjet said:
Since my daughter drew this tag we have been really excited about going on this hunt as a family. In that time she became pregnant, which we are extremely excited about. I told her that if she wanted to she could turn the tag in and try another year. Her response was “not a chance dad, we’re going on this hunt!” Fast forward 5 months and here we are. We got into camp 2 days early to do some scouting. As luck would have it we found this bull and a group of about 30 cows with several smaller bulls on Thursday evening. Taylor told me that this was definitely the one. Now the pressure was on. How am I going to possibly get my 5 months pregnant daughter a shot at this guy? We found the herd on Friday morning and watched them again that evening. They were moving at night so it made it a little bit of a crapshoot on where we wanted to position ourselves on opening morning. I made the decision to put on a point overlooking 3 different directions the next morning. At the crack of daylight we had the herd about 400 yards directly below us. The wind was howling and they eventually winded us, blowing the whole herd out of the canyon and around a far ridge. As we watched them we weren’t able to put eyes on the target bull. I decided to just stay put for a while and do some glassing, hoping we could pick him out in another canyon. I eventually found a couple bulls together a little over 1000 yards away. As I studied them I noticed that the one bull was him. It would take us 1 1/2 hours to get around the canyon so that we could position ourselves above him. We snuck over the edge where we last saw him and he was still close to the same spot. It took me awhile to get my daughter set up for the shot. He was only about 150 yards straight down off of a cliff. As Taylor squeezed the trigger on her 300win mag the bull dropped instantly. I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited as this on any of my hunts before. My wife, son in law, and good hunting buddy were all there for this. We had tons of laughs together and this will definitely be some of the most memorable times of our lives together as a family.
To all of you that offered help, whether it be to pack meat or just moral support, thank you! There’s a great bunch of guys on this page and it’s fun to share the hunting stories.
Gadget
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Awesome!
 

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