arch3614elk
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I hope you like the story.
When I knew I drew a LE muzzleloader tag I told my wife I hope it's an experience I will never forget. I knew I wasn't really going to start scouting until after my daughters wedding which was the fifth of July. Mind you this was wedding No.1 this year. A couple days after the wedding me and my wife Eydie went up to set up a camera and on our way back home we had a very bad vibration on the truck. It turned out we had a bad front U joint and upon further inspection the hub was bad as well. My nephew Jeremy Jex is a kick A$$ mechanic out of Spanish fork and we had the truck fixed soon after.
After we got the truck fixed my wife and I went to see what we had on our camera we had set up.
This bull was the biggest we were seeing on the camera,we knew there were good bulls in the area so
we decided to let the camera stay rather than move it and come back in two weeks.
My brother in law Mike Bridge got me in contact with a guy that knew the eastern part of the unit real well and showed me some areas where he has taken some good bulls.
The next weekend was just as good, I went with my nephew Jeremy to scout the south western part of the unit and saw some real nice bulls. I was getting pumped to go on the hunt.
I was heading home from work and was going to glass some elk when this happened.
A blown transmission on the truck, this was a major set back and this was the time I was thinking about turning the tag back in. It was going to take a couple weeks to get the truck fixed and we had my sons wedding to take care of. My wife wanted me to still go on the hunt, so after three weeks my nephew got the transmission rebuilt we got it in after a few hours and help from my boys. But the scouting would have to wait I had wedding No.2 to worry about and just like the first wedding everything went off without a glitch.
I only had three weeks before my hunt started and was already stressed, I took my brother in law Don Godfrey with me to see what our cameras had.
Not much to get excited about, but I had high hopes still.
I left for the hunt on Monday to go scout a couple days before the hunt and three days before my wedding anniversary. Opening morning my nephew and I spotted a good bull and made our way after him.
After a two hour stalk we got too close to the bull and his cows and bumped them out of their beds.
We set out for the southern part of the unit and heard a lot of elk bugling but couldn't get them to show themselves. The next day was even better, I actually had a shot at a good 6X6 but rushed the shot at a bad angle. My brother Don and my sister got to camp and so did my wife. My wife is a hunter and a awesome wife as well and we spent our anniversary in camp. Friday my brother Don, myself and Jeremy set out to try and find the bulls we had seen early Thursday. I had a shot at a good bull, but hit a tree right in front of him and to cap the day off, we got on a stud of a bull and I was after him while my nephew and brother in law was keeping him entertained with bugling and cow calls, but I couldn't seal the deal. Saturday was just as good seeing bulls but I couldn't get close enough to them. Sunday and Monday I started hunting by myself and the bulls had gone silent, I was having a hard time seeing good bulls, I was seeing a lot of smaller bulls and spikes, but no shooters. Tuesday I decided to hit the dark timber where I had seen some good bulls the year before. I went in way before sunrise and was in a elk bugling heaven right at sun up I jumped some cows and a 6X6 that had some tines missing. After a couple minutes of silence after I jumped those elk I could hear a deep throated bugle that wasn't too far off, I played the wind and didn't cow call or bugle I wanted to stay quiet since the elk were making the forest echo with their own bugles. I was running in to a lot of smaller bulls hoping to see what the bull looked like that sounded like he had a sore throat. I had been in the pines all day I got within a 70 yards of the bull and saw that he looked like a shooter despite the quick glimpse of him. I had to jump out of the canyon to try and get in front of him rather than chasing him and his cows. I dropped back in and in less than an hour of sunlight I heard him bugle, he was coming my way and the wind was in my favor. I saw his cows above me and readied for a shot, after thirteen cows and calves walked by I could see the bulls right side and knew I was going to take him. When he walked in to the opening I fired the CVA Optima and hit him just behind the shoulder and he went back in the pines, I reloaded and waited to see what would happen next. I slowly walked up to him and tried to get close for a finishing shot, just then I saw him bolt down the canyon in to the darkness. I didn't want to push him further down so I marked the spot and decided to come back early in the morning. When I got back Wednesday morning I couldn't spot any obvious sign of blood, It took an hour to find a dime sized amount of blood and I was started to see more blood. After two hours and five hundred yards and a 6X6 bull nearly walking on me I got my bull.
A 7X7! I have never shot a bull this big, he has mass and no broken tines and his bases massive. I am still pumped about the hunt. I hope you all enjoy the pictures and you can discuss a score, because I am just glad I stuck with it and achieved my goal.. A trophy bull.
When I knew I drew a LE muzzleloader tag I told my wife I hope it's an experience I will never forget. I knew I wasn't really going to start scouting until after my daughters wedding which was the fifth of July. Mind you this was wedding No.1 this year. A couple days after the wedding me and my wife Eydie went up to set up a camera and on our way back home we had a very bad vibration on the truck. It turned out we had a bad front U joint and upon further inspection the hub was bad as well. My nephew Jeremy Jex is a kick A$$ mechanic out of Spanish fork and we had the truck fixed soon after.
After we got the truck fixed my wife and I went to see what we had on our camera we had set up.
This bull was the biggest we were seeing on the camera,we knew there were good bulls in the area so
we decided to let the camera stay rather than move it and come back in two weeks.
My brother in law Mike Bridge got me in contact with a guy that knew the eastern part of the unit real well and showed me some areas where he has taken some good bulls.
The next weekend was just as good, I went with my nephew Jeremy to scout the south western part of the unit and saw some real nice bulls. I was getting pumped to go on the hunt.
I was heading home from work and was going to glass some elk when this happened.
A blown transmission on the truck, this was a major set back and this was the time I was thinking about turning the tag back in. It was going to take a couple weeks to get the truck fixed and we had my sons wedding to take care of. My wife wanted me to still go on the hunt, so after three weeks my nephew got the transmission rebuilt we got it in after a few hours and help from my boys. But the scouting would have to wait I had wedding No.2 to worry about and just like the first wedding everything went off without a glitch.
I only had three weeks before my hunt started and was already stressed, I took my brother in law Don Godfrey with me to see what our cameras had.
Not much to get excited about, but I had high hopes still.
I left for the hunt on Monday to go scout a couple days before the hunt and three days before my wedding anniversary. Opening morning my nephew and I spotted a good bull and made our way after him.
After a two hour stalk we got too close to the bull and his cows and bumped them out of their beds.
We set out for the southern part of the unit and heard a lot of elk bugling but couldn't get them to show themselves. The next day was even better, I actually had a shot at a good 6X6 but rushed the shot at a bad angle. My brother Don and my sister got to camp and so did my wife. My wife is a hunter and a awesome wife as well and we spent our anniversary in camp. Friday my brother Don, myself and Jeremy set out to try and find the bulls we had seen early Thursday. I had a shot at a good bull, but hit a tree right in front of him and to cap the day off, we got on a stud of a bull and I was after him while my nephew and brother in law was keeping him entertained with bugling and cow calls, but I couldn't seal the deal. Saturday was just as good seeing bulls but I couldn't get close enough to them. Sunday and Monday I started hunting by myself and the bulls had gone silent, I was having a hard time seeing good bulls, I was seeing a lot of smaller bulls and spikes, but no shooters. Tuesday I decided to hit the dark timber where I had seen some good bulls the year before. I went in way before sunrise and was in a elk bugling heaven right at sun up I jumped some cows and a 6X6 that had some tines missing. After a couple minutes of silence after I jumped those elk I could hear a deep throated bugle that wasn't too far off, I played the wind and didn't cow call or bugle I wanted to stay quiet since the elk were making the forest echo with their own bugles. I was running in to a lot of smaller bulls hoping to see what the bull looked like that sounded like he had a sore throat. I had been in the pines all day I got within a 70 yards of the bull and saw that he looked like a shooter despite the quick glimpse of him. I had to jump out of the canyon to try and get in front of him rather than chasing him and his cows. I dropped back in and in less than an hour of sunlight I heard him bugle, he was coming my way and the wind was in my favor. I saw his cows above me and readied for a shot, after thirteen cows and calves walked by I could see the bulls right side and knew I was going to take him. When he walked in to the opening I fired the CVA Optima and hit him just behind the shoulder and he went back in the pines, I reloaded and waited to see what would happen next. I slowly walked up to him and tried to get close for a finishing shot, just then I saw him bolt down the canyon in to the darkness. I didn't want to push him further down so I marked the spot and decided to come back early in the morning. When I got back Wednesday morning I couldn't spot any obvious sign of blood, It took an hour to find a dime sized amount of blood and I was started to see more blood. After two hours and five hundred yards and a 6X6 bull nearly walking on me I got my bull.
A 7X7! I have never shot a bull this big, he has mass and no broken tines and his bases massive. I am still pumped about the hunt. I hope you all enjoy the pictures and you can discuss a score, because I am just glad I stuck with it and achieved my goal.. A trophy bull.