forkhunter
Member
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2010
- Messages
- 54
Well, I don't want to be one of those guys who asks for advice and then never posts a story, so here is a quick recap of my hunt in NE Nevada:
We arrived late on a Saturday for the 2nd week of the season (due to scheduling, I could not go the first week). The weather was very warm. Good for tent camping and comfort. I wasn't so sure how it would be for hunting. Highs in the 60's and lows in the 30's. We got camp set up. The first morning, I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to be so we found a spot to glass from. That morning, we only saw 3 cows. That was the ONLY time we didn't see many elk in the 3.5 days of hunting. Over the next 3 days, we found elk everywhere we looked. I passed on multiple 5 and 6 point bulls, all smaller. Now, let it be known, I am not much of an elk hunter. I have only hunted elk a handful of times in my life and only harvested a couple small bulls. My only real goal was to get the biggest elk I have ever gotten and to have a good time with my dad. I thought it wouldn't be too tough to beat my last "biggest" bull as that was just a small rag horn bull in Idaho 7 years earlier.
We met a couple other hunters and talked with them, though we never saw another person off the road..... Everyone we met was looking for a 350" bull." But we never met a person who had even seen one....... I was NOT looking for a 350 bull. To be perfectly honest, I probably wouldn't know one if I saw one..... Anyway, over the next couple days, we saw around 25 bulls. On the 3rd morning, we saw one that I was interested in. We tried to intercept him as he was moving from feeding area to bedding, but it didn't work out. He never saw us, but the last time we saw him, he was about 2 miles away and moving into the deep timber..... He was the best bull we saw on the trip, but not by much. He was just a little nicer than the one I ended up with.
On the morning we ended up getting my bull, I decided that I needed to get into the middle of the action. We were seeing lots of elk, but most were at a distance and would be tough to get on as they were hitting the thick timber before the sun came up. I had decided to be on a particular north/south running ridge that morning. I thought we would be able to move up or down the ridge as needed if we saw elk moving toward the thick timber below us. Amazingly, it worked just like that. About 5 minutes after we could see, my Dad spotted 2 bulls. They were already in the timber, but not the thick stuff. We jockeyed south down the ridge trying to guess where the bulls were going. We got in position and I got down over my pack while they were out of sight. I couldn't get prone as the curve of the hill was blocking my view to where the elk were below. For about 10 minutes, I sat and waited. Kept seeing the smaller bull's antlers, but waited on the bigger bull. Finally, the smaller bull comes out heading toward thicker cover. I range him at 385 yards. Figuring the bigger bull would follow right behind him, I got set for the shot. The bigger bull steps out and stops for a broadside shot. I shoot. I don't hear it hit.......My dad doesn't hear it hit. He asks me "did you hit it?" I said, I don't think so. I didn't hear it hit, but it felt like a good shot. The smaller bull comes running out of the trees and up into another group of trees and stands with his antlers sticking out in the juniper. The bigger bull didn't appear. Dad and I stood there and waited. 20 minutes went by. The smaller bull was still standing there in the juniper. We figured that was a good sign that the other bull was down or not coming out. After 20 minutes, I sent Dad down to where the elk was when I shot so I wouldn't lose my vantage point. Once down there, he said he didn't see any immediate sign. I had him stay put as I came down. We located where the elk was when I shot and didn't see any blood. No worries, I looked up and there he was....he only made it about 30 yards and was laying in sage and grass.
Turns out it was a perfect shot right behind the shoulder and through both lungs. The bull is a 300 class bull and I am very happy with it! I got my biggest bull and had a great hunt. What more can a guy ask for? Thanks to those of you who offered some advice on the hunt. Considering that I only hunt elk once every few years, it will likely stand as my biggest for a while!
Happy Holidays to the Hunttalk crowd.
We arrived late on a Saturday for the 2nd week of the season (due to scheduling, I could not go the first week). The weather was very warm. Good for tent camping and comfort. I wasn't so sure how it would be for hunting. Highs in the 60's and lows in the 30's. We got camp set up. The first morning, I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to be so we found a spot to glass from. That morning, we only saw 3 cows. That was the ONLY time we didn't see many elk in the 3.5 days of hunting. Over the next 3 days, we found elk everywhere we looked. I passed on multiple 5 and 6 point bulls, all smaller. Now, let it be known, I am not much of an elk hunter. I have only hunted elk a handful of times in my life and only harvested a couple small bulls. My only real goal was to get the biggest elk I have ever gotten and to have a good time with my dad. I thought it wouldn't be too tough to beat my last "biggest" bull as that was just a small rag horn bull in Idaho 7 years earlier.
We met a couple other hunters and talked with them, though we never saw another person off the road..... Everyone we met was looking for a 350" bull." But we never met a person who had even seen one....... I was NOT looking for a 350 bull. To be perfectly honest, I probably wouldn't know one if I saw one..... Anyway, over the next couple days, we saw around 25 bulls. On the 3rd morning, we saw one that I was interested in. We tried to intercept him as he was moving from feeding area to bedding, but it didn't work out. He never saw us, but the last time we saw him, he was about 2 miles away and moving into the deep timber..... He was the best bull we saw on the trip, but not by much. He was just a little nicer than the one I ended up with.
On the morning we ended up getting my bull, I decided that I needed to get into the middle of the action. We were seeing lots of elk, but most were at a distance and would be tough to get on as they were hitting the thick timber before the sun came up. I had decided to be on a particular north/south running ridge that morning. I thought we would be able to move up or down the ridge as needed if we saw elk moving toward the thick timber below us. Amazingly, it worked just like that. About 5 minutes after we could see, my Dad spotted 2 bulls. They were already in the timber, but not the thick stuff. We jockeyed south down the ridge trying to guess where the bulls were going. We got in position and I got down over my pack while they were out of sight. I couldn't get prone as the curve of the hill was blocking my view to where the elk were below. For about 10 minutes, I sat and waited. Kept seeing the smaller bull's antlers, but waited on the bigger bull. Finally, the smaller bull comes out heading toward thicker cover. I range him at 385 yards. Figuring the bigger bull would follow right behind him, I got set for the shot. The bigger bull steps out and stops for a broadside shot. I shoot. I don't hear it hit.......My dad doesn't hear it hit. He asks me "did you hit it?" I said, I don't think so. I didn't hear it hit, but it felt like a good shot. The smaller bull comes running out of the trees and up into another group of trees and stands with his antlers sticking out in the juniper. The bigger bull didn't appear. Dad and I stood there and waited. 20 minutes went by. The smaller bull was still standing there in the juniper. We figured that was a good sign that the other bull was down or not coming out. After 20 minutes, I sent Dad down to where the elk was when I shot so I wouldn't lose my vantage point. Once down there, he said he didn't see any immediate sign. I had him stay put as I came down. We located where the elk was when I shot and didn't see any blood. No worries, I looked up and there he was....he only made it about 30 yards and was laying in sage and grass.
Turns out it was a perfect shot right behind the shoulder and through both lungs. The bull is a 300 class bull and I am very happy with it! I got my biggest bull and had a great hunt. What more can a guy ask for? Thanks to those of you who offered some advice on the hunt. Considering that I only hunt elk once every few years, it will likely stand as my biggest for a while!
Happy Holidays to the Hunttalk crowd.
