Califelkslayer
Long Time Member
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I got to Nevada Thursday evening the 15th of October and the muzzy season opened on the 20th. I had 4 full days to scout. I spent the AMs glassing Grafton with the sun at my back. The evenings were spent hitting areas I'd gotten tips on. There appearred to be a tremendous amount of rut activity still goin on for this late. I saw bulls on Grafton every mornin including several I felt were in the 320-330 range. The results of the evenings were mixed with at least one area that needed further investigation. The buddy that was supposed to accompany me had back surgery in June and had not recovered enough to make the trip. On Sunday night I called Eric, a long term aquaintance to ask him a question of clarification on info he'd given me a month ago. When Eric found out I was alone, he told me he'd meet me in Ely the next evening and stay most of the week. WOW!!! He was such an asset throughtout the hunt. I also met up with High5 from MM who had the other NR tag. We agreed to compare notes. Claude is a very dedicated and unselfish guy who offered the location of a bull he felt would go 340" a couple of days into the hunt.
Openin morning started with us getting out of the truck on time to hike to one of our glassing spots. I realized I'd forgotten my daypack at camp an hour away. Eric said he had everything we needed. I informed him he didn't because he didn't have my tag and license. :-( While I drove the 2 hour round trip, Eric glassed. When I returned, he told me told me he'd seen one 6 point that needed closer inspection. Another truck arrived just before I returned and they headed in the direction Eric had seen the bull he thought was worthy of a closer look. We peeled off to the north. We creeped up to the head of a canyon where several bulls were still screamin their heads off at 11:00. We spotted and glassed several small bulls and felt we'd seen all of them in that canyon. We backed out and hit the next canyon. We continued to see elk all day as the weather was cool after a brief snow storm in the mornin. About 2:00 PM we glassed a nice 6 point that got out of his bed about 400 yards from us. Eric figured him at 320", me a little smaller. That evening we watched as approximately 75 elk funnelled into a burn about 5-600 yards away. One really nice 6 point ran several other bulls off that showed up with their herds. Eric also guessed this bull at around 320. I felt this bull was quite a bit better than the other one with really long tines that all curved up a long ways. Not extremely heavy but a very good bull IMO. With daylight vanishing we backed out of there. First day score: 150 elk, 25 bulls and not a one had made us. 2 very nice bulls but no WOW bull. I was so stoked I opened my big mouth and told Eric I was glad we hadn't seen that bull we were lookin for as I was having too much fun.
Day 2: Kind of a let down. only about 25 elk and a couple of bulls. Thats huntin!!
Day 3: We went back to the same area as openin day. Elk in the bottom in the dark, bulls screamin, and less than a mile from the truck. Eric headed left to get up on a ridge to spot for me and I hugged the cover in the bottom as I had the wind in my face. I got within approximately 150 yards and got set up. I had my 15X Swaros on a tri pod covering an area about 180 yards away from me where the elk were coming out of the bottom and I had my muzzy lyin on my pack where the elk were side hilling between 80-120 yards above me. Herd after herd followed the same pattern. Lots of nice 5 points runnin herds of 10-15 cows. The loudest and biggest soundin bull was the closest but stayed in the bottom the longest. When he started out, before I could see him, Eric called me on the radio and told me to look at him real close because although the was just a 5X6, he was heavy and long. When I got him in the Swaros, I saw he was missing both brow tines. Eric confirmed this. I passed on a pretty goos bull both because he was broke up and because I didn't want a 5X6 that early in the hunt unless he WOWed me. One other nice 6 came out of the trees with grass or bark hangin off his browtines. This bull was built like the openin day 6er that I liked so well. Wide, flaring 2nds and thirds plus an attitude. Just a year or two away from what I was hoping for. Eric told me later he saw that bull get his a$$ whooped by another bull. That evening was uneventful as I can't remember where we went.
Day 4: Big bull spotted!!!!!!!!! My WOW bull. We hiked a couple of miles in the dark to a spot I'd glassed from while scouting. We seperated a ridge apart. Eric could see to the south and I could see to the north. I heard what sounded like a good bull bugling about 4-500 yards away. Open between us after I traversed one canyon. I wanted to cross the skyline to get into the canyon with some juniper between us and had to wait almost an hour for the bull to bugle agan so I'd know exactly where he was. When he did I dropped into the canyon he was in and saw a glimpse of him thrashin a tree. Never even saw his bone and he moved deeper into the brush and continued to bugle. He'd respond to a cow call but never showed himself. I did see a smallish 5 herding a half dozen cows to their bedding area in a different direction. When I returned to where Eric was glassin, he told me he'd found my bull. He explained he'd seen 3 small bulls cross a bench, an hour later a real pig had fed through the same area and bedded down just inside the timber. Another very respectible bull had just shown up. As I looked through the spotter, Eric explained the new bull was very close to the pig. I then saw the WOW bull stand up and had both bulls in the scope at the same time. The bigger one was huge. Everything a Big 6 is supposed to have. Mass for days, very wide, a sword 4 feet over his back plus big, deep rear forks. Eric looked through the scope for a few seconds with both bulls in sight and they fed into the timber. I failed to mention before that Eric had accompanied an archery hunter in this area in 07 for a week and a friend of our during rifle season on 08 for 17 days. He'd glassed that basin because they'd seen a huge bull there the year before. Better yet, he'd climbed the 3,000 vertical feet up to that basin last year. We spent the afternoon having him show me how to get past 2 rock faces into a timber strip that would get me up to the basin. We did this from a couple of miles away and from different angles. That evening the big bull came out first, then below him four other bulls, last was the smaller 6 point. The four stayed 100 yds from the 2 bigger bulls. As the sun was going down, the 2 bigger bulls locked horns twice for a few seconds each time. I thought, "Don't break anything."
Eric had planned to leave Sat AM but decided to spot for me and hang around to help pack since we didn't think we could get the horses within a mile if I was successful.
Day 5: I was up at 2:20, on the road by 3:00, hikin up the mountain by 4:00. I was on schedule at 5:00, just beginnin the steep stuff. That's when my poor planning showed. I missed the timber chute and ended up on a rock face. To keep it short it was plain nasty and I risked my life or at least serious injury several times. As daylight approached, I headed straight up, hopin to top out so I'd know where I was and make the necessary adjustment before the elk bedded. When I topped out the sun wasn't up yet but I could see I was about 1200 yards off and 7-800 vertical feet low. Plenty of time EXCEPT there was an elk above where I needed to cross a rock face. I glassed this elk and didn't even see horns. I had to climb down a 20 ledge of white rock. When I got down I glassed the elk and could see it was a bull and it was lookin in my direction. I dropped on the opposite side of the ridge and side hilled several 100 yards. I topped out again and the sun was on the bull and I realized it was the WOW bull. Damn!!! Drop back down and sidehill some more. Eric and i talked and he told me there were only 5 bulls on the bench, the 4 smaller ones and the second biggest. I thought about callin it off, gettin a GPS reading at the bottom of the timber chute and trying it the next day. I elected to keep goin because I had a spotter and would have help packin. I creeped to a saddle about 350 yds below where I'd seen the big bull, glassed carefully and he was gone. I then started across a rock face just below where he'd been. As I approached the far side I had to cross a rock slide. I stepped on a large rock and it slide, huge crash. I made it another 200 yards and I heard Eric on the radio, "Did you just shoot?" I replied no and he told me that the big 6 had just appeared and all 6 bulls had trotted into the timber. He didn't feel that they were overly spooked as they had milled before entering. Eric headed home and I sat up there all day hoping they'd come out that evening. No dice. I did hear a bull grunt in the next basin at about 4:30 PM so I stayed until dark. Back down the mountain to the truck by 8:00 and camp by 9:00. A long, disappointing day but I now had GPS reading and could find that basin in the dark if the WOW bull ever showed himself again.
Kinda late, think I'll finish tomorrow.
Openin morning started with us getting out of the truck on time to hike to one of our glassing spots. I realized I'd forgotten my daypack at camp an hour away. Eric said he had everything we needed. I informed him he didn't because he didn't have my tag and license. :-( While I drove the 2 hour round trip, Eric glassed. When I returned, he told me told me he'd seen one 6 point that needed closer inspection. Another truck arrived just before I returned and they headed in the direction Eric had seen the bull he thought was worthy of a closer look. We peeled off to the north. We creeped up to the head of a canyon where several bulls were still screamin their heads off at 11:00. We spotted and glassed several small bulls and felt we'd seen all of them in that canyon. We backed out and hit the next canyon. We continued to see elk all day as the weather was cool after a brief snow storm in the mornin. About 2:00 PM we glassed a nice 6 point that got out of his bed about 400 yards from us. Eric figured him at 320", me a little smaller. That evening we watched as approximately 75 elk funnelled into a burn about 5-600 yards away. One really nice 6 point ran several other bulls off that showed up with their herds. Eric also guessed this bull at around 320. I felt this bull was quite a bit better than the other one with really long tines that all curved up a long ways. Not extremely heavy but a very good bull IMO. With daylight vanishing we backed out of there. First day score: 150 elk, 25 bulls and not a one had made us. 2 very nice bulls but no WOW bull. I was so stoked I opened my big mouth and told Eric I was glad we hadn't seen that bull we were lookin for as I was having too much fun.
Day 2: Kind of a let down. only about 25 elk and a couple of bulls. Thats huntin!!
Day 3: We went back to the same area as openin day. Elk in the bottom in the dark, bulls screamin, and less than a mile from the truck. Eric headed left to get up on a ridge to spot for me and I hugged the cover in the bottom as I had the wind in my face. I got within approximately 150 yards and got set up. I had my 15X Swaros on a tri pod covering an area about 180 yards away from me where the elk were coming out of the bottom and I had my muzzy lyin on my pack where the elk were side hilling between 80-120 yards above me. Herd after herd followed the same pattern. Lots of nice 5 points runnin herds of 10-15 cows. The loudest and biggest soundin bull was the closest but stayed in the bottom the longest. When he started out, before I could see him, Eric called me on the radio and told me to look at him real close because although the was just a 5X6, he was heavy and long. When I got him in the Swaros, I saw he was missing both brow tines. Eric confirmed this. I passed on a pretty goos bull both because he was broke up and because I didn't want a 5X6 that early in the hunt unless he WOWed me. One other nice 6 came out of the trees with grass or bark hangin off his browtines. This bull was built like the openin day 6er that I liked so well. Wide, flaring 2nds and thirds plus an attitude. Just a year or two away from what I was hoping for. Eric told me later he saw that bull get his a$$ whooped by another bull. That evening was uneventful as I can't remember where we went.
Day 4: Big bull spotted!!!!!!!!! My WOW bull. We hiked a couple of miles in the dark to a spot I'd glassed from while scouting. We seperated a ridge apart. Eric could see to the south and I could see to the north. I heard what sounded like a good bull bugling about 4-500 yards away. Open between us after I traversed one canyon. I wanted to cross the skyline to get into the canyon with some juniper between us and had to wait almost an hour for the bull to bugle agan so I'd know exactly where he was. When he did I dropped into the canyon he was in and saw a glimpse of him thrashin a tree. Never even saw his bone and he moved deeper into the brush and continued to bugle. He'd respond to a cow call but never showed himself. I did see a smallish 5 herding a half dozen cows to their bedding area in a different direction. When I returned to where Eric was glassin, he told me he'd found my bull. He explained he'd seen 3 small bulls cross a bench, an hour later a real pig had fed through the same area and bedded down just inside the timber. Another very respectible bull had just shown up. As I looked through the spotter, Eric explained the new bull was very close to the pig. I then saw the WOW bull stand up and had both bulls in the scope at the same time. The bigger one was huge. Everything a Big 6 is supposed to have. Mass for days, very wide, a sword 4 feet over his back plus big, deep rear forks. Eric looked through the scope for a few seconds with both bulls in sight and they fed into the timber. I failed to mention before that Eric had accompanied an archery hunter in this area in 07 for a week and a friend of our during rifle season on 08 for 17 days. He'd glassed that basin because they'd seen a huge bull there the year before. Better yet, he'd climbed the 3,000 vertical feet up to that basin last year. We spent the afternoon having him show me how to get past 2 rock faces into a timber strip that would get me up to the basin. We did this from a couple of miles away and from different angles. That evening the big bull came out first, then below him four other bulls, last was the smaller 6 point. The four stayed 100 yds from the 2 bigger bulls. As the sun was going down, the 2 bigger bulls locked horns twice for a few seconds each time. I thought, "Don't break anything."
Eric had planned to leave Sat AM but decided to spot for me and hang around to help pack since we didn't think we could get the horses within a mile if I was successful.
Day 5: I was up at 2:20, on the road by 3:00, hikin up the mountain by 4:00. I was on schedule at 5:00, just beginnin the steep stuff. That's when my poor planning showed. I missed the timber chute and ended up on a rock face. To keep it short it was plain nasty and I risked my life or at least serious injury several times. As daylight approached, I headed straight up, hopin to top out so I'd know where I was and make the necessary adjustment before the elk bedded. When I topped out the sun wasn't up yet but I could see I was about 1200 yards off and 7-800 vertical feet low. Plenty of time EXCEPT there was an elk above where I needed to cross a rock face. I glassed this elk and didn't even see horns. I had to climb down a 20 ledge of white rock. When I got down I glassed the elk and could see it was a bull and it was lookin in my direction. I dropped on the opposite side of the ridge and side hilled several 100 yards. I topped out again and the sun was on the bull and I realized it was the WOW bull. Damn!!! Drop back down and sidehill some more. Eric and i talked and he told me there were only 5 bulls on the bench, the 4 smaller ones and the second biggest. I thought about callin it off, gettin a GPS reading at the bottom of the timber chute and trying it the next day. I elected to keep goin because I had a spotter and would have help packin. I creeped to a saddle about 350 yds below where I'd seen the big bull, glassed carefully and he was gone. I then started across a rock face just below where he'd been. As I approached the far side I had to cross a rock slide. I stepped on a large rock and it slide, huge crash. I made it another 200 yards and I heard Eric on the radio, "Did you just shoot?" I replied no and he told me that the big 6 had just appeared and all 6 bulls had trotted into the timber. He didn't feel that they were overly spooked as they had milled before entering. Eric headed home and I sat up there all day hoping they'd come out that evening. No dice. I did hear a bull grunt in the next basin at about 4:30 PM so I stayed until dark. Back down the mountain to the truck by 8:00 and camp by 9:00. A long, disappointing day but I now had GPS reading and could find that basin in the dark if the WOW bull ever showed himself again.
Kinda late, think I'll finish tomorrow.
