Califelkslayer
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 4,078
On Friday, October 30th Eric I had decided to hunt Bull Basin and get to a spot where we could glass the entire basin before light. I'd scouted this basin accessing from a trailhead that had no boot prints as of October 16th and it had rained on about the 12th. Basically no one but the two of us had been it there in the last 18 days at least. We were sittin in the truck, finishin our coffee when another rig showed up. We jumped out, grabbed our packs and I asked them if they were huntin deer or elk. They said elk and I got the impression it was a guide and a client. I may have engaged them longer but I saw the Obama/Biden bumpersticker in my headlamp. We hauled up that mountain!! We were set up about a half hour before daylight. The other hunters showed up just at daybreak. I have to give them credit for not continuing across the basin when they saw us and our tri-pods set up on the basin. Anyways, the first 1.5 hours resulted in 0 elk. Wind was howling and I figured the elk were down in a canyon, out of the wind. I'd convinced Eric to cross the basin and glass some of the canyons that ran perpendicular to the wind. He got his stuff in his pack before me and stepped around a juniper about 10 feet away and came back, "3 Bulls. They're 100 yards downhill." I eased to the juniper and stuck my head around. They were locked on us. 2 cow calls and they were feedin. 
We discussed what to do as we didn't want to blow these small bulls out as there were a few blind spots in the basin. We decided to play with them and see how close we could get to them. I eased through the juniper/mohogany and ended up 60 yards away with nothin between us. I was enjoying the sight of these 3 relaxed bulls that close without a clue when I realized Eric was makin lots of noise. I found out later that he had kicked rocks out of the frozen ground and thrown them at me. He gave up and just crashed through til he was next to me. He said, "Skyline!! Big bull." My first skyline was the next ridge about 150 yards away. He told me to look at the skyline and I saw a bull about 600 yards away. First reaction was what a pretty sight. Skylined and just studying the enire basin before he committed to it. I watched him through my 10Xs for a few seconds and Eric asked if I was gonna shoot that bull and I told him yes. Later he told me if I had said no, he would have tried to change my mind due to the quality of the bull and how late in the hunt it was. Anyways, we both just sat down and the only words exchanged in the next ten minutes was Eric saying, "He's a 6X7." I didn't even reply. That bull came straight towards us as if we were reeling in a fish. I ranged the next ridge and it was 130 yards. The bottom of the draw was 210. As the bull disappearred behind the closest ridge, I put the muzzy on my left knee and rested it against my shoulder. We both saw his legs as he topped out and later we discussed everything from this point on and had the identical thoughts. Now it was let him clear the timber and take the first broadside he offered. He hung up in the edge for a couple of minutes and I realized I was breathing hard. Great to know I can still get excited like that. When he stepped out he was straight on. We both felt the wind shift on the back of our necks and I was hoping the wind between us would drift the scent downhill like it had been. Then I saw his head go up, nose in the air and said "Crap!" to myself. I cocked the hammer, put the front sight on the base of his neck and Boom. I was recovering from recoil wasn't sure he was hit. I felt I could get another shot but was afraid to reload because there was nothing between us and he was only 130 yards away. I asked Eric "Should I reload?" He said, That bull is dead." About that time the bull staggered about 5 feet downhill and just piled up. Later we discussed the 5+ minutes of quiet between us and every thought I had, he was thinking the exact same thing except he had the bull in his spotter when I shot and had seen the bull absorb the impact while I was dealin with recoil. The actual kill was almost too easy but after all the effort we had put into the hunt, I felt we'd earned it. I packed the head and cape out that day with quarters and backstraps hangin in trees. We got the rest out the next day with the horses after a pretty good celebration that night.
If I had written a script for this hunt, it would have been similiar to the way the entire 2 1/2 weeks went except the bull would have scored 400". We determined this bull was either the 4th or 5th biggest we saw and except for the WOW bull, there wasn't much difference in any of the bigger bulls.
I learned on the WY hunt that I have to prepare my wife and step-son better before next year. I learned on the NM hunt to keep expectations realistic for my dad. On the NV hunt I learned something new about elk behavior almost everyday. Amazing as I started huntin deer in 1972 ans elk in 1977.
Lastly I need to thank Eric who was merely a friend of a mutual friend before this hunt for all of his time and effort. I hope I can return the favor someday. And I need to thank Billy for his time and efforts also and I was glad to rekindle an old friendship with him. I've already committed to spending 10 days there when they draw. I told them they pick the 10 days, before the hunt during the hunt or a combination. The least I can do for them.
The pics on NM and NV are still on my camera memory card. The WY pics are on my wife's computer. I promise to post them soon although I may need assistance as I've been unsucessful with that in the past.
We discussed what to do as we didn't want to blow these small bulls out as there were a few blind spots in the basin. We decided to play with them and see how close we could get to them. I eased through the juniper/mohogany and ended up 60 yards away with nothin between us. I was enjoying the sight of these 3 relaxed bulls that close without a clue when I realized Eric was makin lots of noise. I found out later that he had kicked rocks out of the frozen ground and thrown them at me. He gave up and just crashed through til he was next to me. He said, "Skyline!! Big bull." My first skyline was the next ridge about 150 yards away. He told me to look at the skyline and I saw a bull about 600 yards away. First reaction was what a pretty sight. Skylined and just studying the enire basin before he committed to it. I watched him through my 10Xs for a few seconds and Eric asked if I was gonna shoot that bull and I told him yes. Later he told me if I had said no, he would have tried to change my mind due to the quality of the bull and how late in the hunt it was. Anyways, we both just sat down and the only words exchanged in the next ten minutes was Eric saying, "He's a 6X7." I didn't even reply. That bull came straight towards us as if we were reeling in a fish. I ranged the next ridge and it was 130 yards. The bottom of the draw was 210. As the bull disappearred behind the closest ridge, I put the muzzy on my left knee and rested it against my shoulder. We both saw his legs as he topped out and later we discussed everything from this point on and had the identical thoughts. Now it was let him clear the timber and take the first broadside he offered. He hung up in the edge for a couple of minutes and I realized I was breathing hard. Great to know I can still get excited like that. When he stepped out he was straight on. We both felt the wind shift on the back of our necks and I was hoping the wind between us would drift the scent downhill like it had been. Then I saw his head go up, nose in the air and said "Crap!" to myself. I cocked the hammer, put the front sight on the base of his neck and Boom. I was recovering from recoil wasn't sure he was hit. I felt I could get another shot but was afraid to reload because there was nothing between us and he was only 130 yards away. I asked Eric "Should I reload?" He said, That bull is dead." About that time the bull staggered about 5 feet downhill and just piled up. Later we discussed the 5+ minutes of quiet between us and every thought I had, he was thinking the exact same thing except he had the bull in his spotter when I shot and had seen the bull absorb the impact while I was dealin with recoil. The actual kill was almost too easy but after all the effort we had put into the hunt, I felt we'd earned it. I packed the head and cape out that day with quarters and backstraps hangin in trees. We got the rest out the next day with the horses after a pretty good celebration that night. If I had written a script for this hunt, it would have been similiar to the way the entire 2 1/2 weeks went except the bull would have scored 400". We determined this bull was either the 4th or 5th biggest we saw and except for the WOW bull, there wasn't much difference in any of the bigger bulls.
I learned on the WY hunt that I have to prepare my wife and step-son better before next year. I learned on the NM hunt to keep expectations realistic for my dad. On the NV hunt I learned something new about elk behavior almost everyday. Amazing as I started huntin deer in 1972 ans elk in 1977.
Lastly I need to thank Eric who was merely a friend of a mutual friend before this hunt for all of his time and effort. I hope I can return the favor someday. And I need to thank Billy for his time and efforts also and I was glad to rekindle an old friendship with him. I've already committed to spending 10 days there when they draw. I told them they pick the 10 days, before the hunt during the hunt or a combination. The least I can do for them.
The pics on NM and NV are still on my camera memory card. The WY pics are on my wife's computer. I promise to post them soon although I may need assistance as I've been unsucessful with that in the past.
