jonscaife

So I always end up putting in by myself for elk, well last year I drew a bull tag to find out that some friends of mine drew the same tag!So we decided we may as well hunt together. We hunted hard all week and I ended up tagging out on a small 5x4 (it was my first elk hunt ever, so I was pretty stoked even though it was a pretty small bull). One of my buddies ended up shooting a small 6x6. We filled 2 out of 4 tags out of our camp. Not too bad for a couple newbies. Anyway, this year I ended up putting in by myself again......and I drew the same tag! Even crazier was that my buddies I hunted with last year drew the same tag again as well!! Scouting was fairly productive. We were able to locate a couple pretty good bulls and we all were very excited for the hunt. We all showed up on the wednesday before the hunt to do some last minute scouting. I was able to find this bull that evening. Thursday morning I went scouting again in the same area hoping to find this bull again. I was able to glass this bull up again maybe a couple hundred yards down the same ridge! He was hanging out with another bull that had his right side almost completely broken off. By this time I was getting pretty stoked for the hunt to start. I went out again in the evening and was able to locate the same bull in the same area! By this time I figured this bull was gonna be on this ridge the next morning. I knew this wasn't the biggest bull in the woods but I had a feeling that my dream of killing a mature 6x6 bull was about to come true. After a dinner of brauts, some colorado kool-aid (coors light), and exchanging some old hunting stories, we all hit the sack hoping that tommorow would bring some big bulls along with it......of course I don't think any of us actually got any sleep. The next morning I arrived in the area I was going to hunt about a half-hour before shooting light. Of course I was excited but that excitment was kept in balance by knowing that big bulls have a tendancy to disapear come opening morning. My plan was to walk the ridge opposite of the one I had been seeing that bull on. This would give me a 250 to 300 yard shot......if I could find that bull again. Just as there was enough light to see my hand in front of my face I started off. I would glass as much of the ridge as I could see through the trees, then move a hundered yards or so and do it again. After three or four times doing this, I began to slowly make my way another hundred yards or so. Before I even put up my binos, I see a small golden brown object on the ridge......ELK!!!!! Through my shaking binos I could make out the broken off left antler. It was the bull that had been hanging around the 6x6 I had been seeing. He was about three hundred yards away. I knew my bull had to be near. It took all the self control I had not to pull the trigger on this bull. Judging by his right side he was a decent bull himself and I knew my Ruger .270 would do the trick. But I pulled it together. I knew my bull had to be close. Then I heard it.....a hundred yards or so below that bull there were 2 bulls sparing. I threw my binos onto those bulls....maybe one of them could be my bull. Just as I realized that these were just two young raghorns, another bull steps out from behind some thick stuff! I quickly studied his antlers. Through the morning haze I could see his long mains...... this was my bull. He was only 150 yards or so away. I quitley extended the bi-pod on my rifle and laid down. I found my bull in my scope just as he feeds his way behind a dead ponderosa. I follow him as his head comes into view through the other side of the tree. I do my best to ignore his antlers and just focus on my shot. He continued feeding. As he steps forward, exposing his vitals, I pull the trigger. BOOM!! It was the first shot I heard that morning. All the other elk take off as my bull stagers forward about thirty yards and drops. I had just killed my bull! I text my buddies, telling them I had just killed the 6x6 I had been seeing and that I would need their help to get him out of the woods. I could see my bull laying there from where I stood which made my waiting for a half-hour seems a whole lot longer. As I walked up to my bull I was amazed at the size of his body. Just huge compared to the small raghorn I had shot last year. When I put my hands on his antlers fo the first time I realized something......this was not the 6x6 I had been seeing. He had 7 points on his left side and his 5ths where about twice as big! This bull was even bigger than what I had been seeing!!!! I know this bull is'nt the biggest one out there but he is huge to me. I am honored to have a chance at such a majestic animal. The next day my buddy killed another 6x7! Thanks to all my friends that helped me get my bull out of the woods and congrtats to my freind Randy (ol' man rivers) on such a great bull.

i would be down for sure!..............i would have to get a boat though......

that would be me. sorry i didn't post back sooner, i got logged out some how and forgot my password. bad combonation for a guy that don't know how to run these fancy internet machines. anyway, i remember you waving. i live here in chino, so if you ever see me at the safeway feel free to say hi.

I'm gonna be huntin mulies in and around Prescott/Chino area in January. I'm not lookin for any secret areas or nothin, just wonderin anybodies opinoin. I've always glassed the northwestern facing slopes in the Augest archey and Oct rifle hunt. Do you think deer are more apt to be on the southeastern facing slopes in January because of the cold? Any advice would be highly appreciated. Gonna start scouting this week and want to be confident in my stradegy before i try and find an area to hunt. THNX!

mine is a tundra with a rack and tool box. i'm on that road all the time, probably me.

that would be me! i will post pics hopefully tomorow if i remember.

gun sold

FOR SALE: this is a ruger new model super blackhawk 44 mag. i bought this used three years ago, it was in perfect condition then and i' ve only shot it a handful of times. it's coming with its original grips along with some super comfterble hoge grips, original manual, a holster, half a box of 44 mag amo and half a box of 44 s&w. it's stainless with redwood type grips, good looking gun. im looking to get 400$ for it but make me an offer.

126 7/8"

i was thinking about trading a buddie of mine for his 2003 hoyt vortex. i was wondering what any of you guys thought of this bow. im currently shooting a 2004 pse thunderbolt. do you think this would be an upgrade? do you know any of the specs? any info would help. thnx guys

116 1/2"

i think the picture is deceiving, with the angle and all. just my opinion. i'm no expert but i would say 350 or so would be about right. not that i'm claiming to know anything though. one heck of a bull regardless.

its just sweeter when you have to work for it.

would it be possible to get someone from g&f to come out and determine it to be a natural death? i'm not to sure if that is still the protocall for something that is so freshly dead.(maybe its changed with the new clarification?) they ain't gonna deny that is a natural death. again though i would have picked them up regardless. SWEET FIND!!!

getting them mounted in the locking horn position isn't nessesarily a bad idea.

its always a good idea to get to know your unit as best as possible, but imo elk move around alot and its best not to try and find or pattern specific bulls until a week or two before the hunt. just my two cents and mind you im no expert.

my buddy has the leopold and to be honest i think it really sucks. not great eye releif and is pretty blury when compared to other scopes in its price range, imo.

sorry 'bout the crapy football team , but awsome horn!!! keep postin, we all love seein' 'um!!!

all you do is find sheds!!! it seems every other day is another post of you with a ton of horns!!!! awsome!! keep posting the pics, i love to see 'em!

don't we go through this every year?

ain't nothin' like catchin huge smallies. goodtimes!

just wondering if there were any other steeler fans on the site. i BLEED black and gold and was wondering if i was the only one on this site that does. if you do too than post back. if you are a cards fan feel free to trash talk (it makes every thing that much funner. here's a joke to kick it off: little billy goes to his first day of school in denver,co. the first thing the teacher says "who all here is a bronco's fan?" everyone but little billy raises their hands. so the teacher askes billy "what team are you a fan of?" little billy replies "the pittsburgh steelers" and the teacher askes "why are you a steelers fan?" billy says "my mommy and daddy are both steelers fans, so i'm a steelers fan." the teacher then says "if your mommy and daddy were both losers, would that make you a loser?" "no." billy replies, "that would make me a cardinals fan!" just remember folks its just a joke, and its all just for fun. but lets here some trash talk. (lets keep it clean, this is a famaly site)

this pig is my first archery kill ever!! i'm pretty excited about it. spotted him last saturday at about 9 am. shot him at 10 am at 20 yards, he went 30 yards or so and dropped. sorry about the crappy pic but its all i got. ended up weighing 36 pounds gutted, don't realy know if thats big or not. realy fun hunt, cant wait to do it again next year!!

where the 260 hits the 87 north of strawberry and pine is a sweet spot, don't know how much snow they got there though.

4,937 give or take a few.