nturpin
New member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2015
- Messages
- 31
I apologize for a long post but want to share my adventure.
As some of you know I won an Arkansas elk lottery tag this year for Oct 30-Nov 3. I set out last Wednesday 5 days before the hunt to set up camp and do my final scouting. I had learned the area and terrain in my trips before so my goal before season was to spot as many bulls as possible and try to figure out what caliber bulls were in the area. I was lucky to spot elk every day and see what I considered first day shooters every day.
Some of the shooter bulls I had seen.
The terrain of the area is mostly deep timber with man made fields for the wildlife on ridge tops. Each field has so many areas you cannot see. It is not easy to spot the fields from a distance with only a few places to see multiple fields.
The wind was also heavy with only a few hours in the first few days of scouting that I could hear bugles. I was able to find an area with a lot of deep ridges out of the wind with a small field. The area was steep but had a good number of cows and bulls with one 7x7 herd bull. Every other shooter bull I spotted only had at most 8 cows with them. This bull had a herd of about 25 cows and some rag horn bulls. He was consistently using the area and I hoped it was a matter of time until I was able to get a shot.
On the day of the hunt I got to the area 2 hours before dark and waited until day light to work into the area. It had warmed 40degrees from the day before and I was trying to stay positive with my doubts creeping in. That morning I only seen a small 4x4 and a cow. I spotted a few more areas without any luck. I went in for lunch and went back out about 1:00. I set up in the field where I had spotted the big bull. The field has a lot of terrain changes and you can only see half of the field from my setup. It had a big point in the middle of the field. My dad and buddy set up in another field where they could see the other side. The afternoon was uneventful and as the evening moved in I decided to slip to the middle point to where I could spot both ends of the field. It was 30 minutes before dark when I got to the top. As I slipped around spotting the different areas of the field I heard a bugle two ridges over. I had my mouth call with me so I bugled and proceeded it with cow calls. about a minute later He bugled again this time one ridge away. I could also hear him trashing trees. So I bugled back at him and mixed in cows calls off and on. The next bugle was right below the field and I could hear elk working into the field. I had to crawl to the end of point I was on to see down into the low spot of the field, luckily I was downwind. I could see cows and a rag horn but not the big bull. I crawled a little further and seen another group of elk below me and seen antler tips. I raised up to my knees and could see his antlers and back. So I had to stand. He was about 150 below me and was broadside. I shoulder my rifle and get steady on his shoulder, I am shooting a 325 wsm in a browning xbolt with 200 grain accubonds. I squeezed off the shot and the bull hunched up and stood there as in despite of the shot. I tried to cycle another round but in my excitement I didn't throw my bolt all the way back. I snapped on him twice before I realized what was going on. My next shot he was facing away and I hit his spine. He collapsed down and my excitement began. I later learned that my dad and buddy could see me on the ridge top and they said I had another bull charging me from my backside ready to fight.
The next hour we took pictures. I had made friends with the forestry manager and he unlock the gate. wWe were able to drive to the field. It took us over an hour to figure out how to load him up. we made it back to camp by 10:30. The next day we boned out all the meat (which filled a 160, 75, and 50 qt yeti), capped the head, broke camp, and got him checked in for the CWD test. All total from the beginning of my journey until the end I spent 18 days scouting 1 day hunting, and 1 day break camp and butchering. It was an unbelievable experience I will not forget.
As some of you know I won an Arkansas elk lottery tag this year for Oct 30-Nov 3. I set out last Wednesday 5 days before the hunt to set up camp and do my final scouting. I had learned the area and terrain in my trips before so my goal before season was to spot as many bulls as possible and try to figure out what caliber bulls were in the area. I was lucky to spot elk every day and see what I considered first day shooters every day.
Some of the shooter bulls I had seen.
The terrain of the area is mostly deep timber with man made fields for the wildlife on ridge tops. Each field has so many areas you cannot see. It is not easy to spot the fields from a distance with only a few places to see multiple fields.
The wind was also heavy with only a few hours in the first few days of scouting that I could hear bugles. I was able to find an area with a lot of deep ridges out of the wind with a small field. The area was steep but had a good number of cows and bulls with one 7x7 herd bull. Every other shooter bull I spotted only had at most 8 cows with them. This bull had a herd of about 25 cows and some rag horn bulls. He was consistently using the area and I hoped it was a matter of time until I was able to get a shot.
On the day of the hunt I got to the area 2 hours before dark and waited until day light to work into the area. It had warmed 40degrees from the day before and I was trying to stay positive with my doubts creeping in. That morning I only seen a small 4x4 and a cow. I spotted a few more areas without any luck. I went in for lunch and went back out about 1:00. I set up in the field where I had spotted the big bull. The field has a lot of terrain changes and you can only see half of the field from my setup. It had a big point in the middle of the field. My dad and buddy set up in another field where they could see the other side. The afternoon was uneventful and as the evening moved in I decided to slip to the middle point to where I could spot both ends of the field. It was 30 minutes before dark when I got to the top. As I slipped around spotting the different areas of the field I heard a bugle two ridges over. I had my mouth call with me so I bugled and proceeded it with cow calls. about a minute later He bugled again this time one ridge away. I could also hear him trashing trees. So I bugled back at him and mixed in cows calls off and on. The next bugle was right below the field and I could hear elk working into the field. I had to crawl to the end of point I was on to see down into the low spot of the field, luckily I was downwind. I could see cows and a rag horn but not the big bull. I crawled a little further and seen another group of elk below me and seen antler tips. I raised up to my knees and could see his antlers and back. So I had to stand. He was about 150 below me and was broadside. I shoulder my rifle and get steady on his shoulder, I am shooting a 325 wsm in a browning xbolt with 200 grain accubonds. I squeezed off the shot and the bull hunched up and stood there as in despite of the shot. I tried to cycle another round but in my excitement I didn't throw my bolt all the way back. I snapped on him twice before I realized what was going on. My next shot he was facing away and I hit his spine. He collapsed down and my excitement began. I later learned that my dad and buddy could see me on the ridge top and they said I had another bull charging me from my backside ready to fight.
The next hour we took pictures. I had made friends with the forestry manager and he unlock the gate. wWe were able to drive to the field. It took us over an hour to figure out how to load him up. we made it back to camp by 10:30. The next day we boned out all the meat (which filled a 160, 75, and 50 qt yeti), capped the head, broke camp, and got him checked in for the CWD test. All total from the beginning of my journey until the end I spent 18 days scouting 1 day hunting, and 1 day break camp and butchering. It was an unbelievable experience I will not forget.
