huntazelk

Congratulations on a first deer. Muley Rod

Nice bull looks like it was a little muddy. Rod

As a Guide I do quite a few animals a year and after using a Havalon I will never go back to anything else. I keep a Havalon and a Leatherman in my pack and I do the gutless method. I became a dealer because every client that has watched me use one buys one from me. I sold 6 to a Game and Fish supervisor so he could give one to each of his officers. All the other guides I know use Havalon knives and most taxidermists. Rod

Nice buck and great job. Rod

My son Hunter grew up with hunting in his blood and he says hunting is his favorite thing to do. How could you not with name like Hunter! My son drew his first elk tag this year so we decided to make it count. As soon as I finished my early archery bull hunt in another unit I began scouting for Hunter's hunt. I immediately found some nice bulls with two nice shooters. This was my second choice bull but he was much more consistant on his routine than the bigger bull. I watched this bull for almost a week before the hunt started. I told Hunter about the bulls I had been watching and he got really excited for the hunt to start. Opening morning we were out there before light. To get to where these bull were hanging out we had to hike in a ways and pass up a bunch of bugling bulls in the dark on the way. As we got closer we could hear our bull's very unique bugle. At first light we got into position where we were able to glass him up on the oposite ridge pushing his cows up into the thick timber. I ranged him at 530 yards and couldn't believe that he was already heading to his bedding area. I cow called and he would respond back but kept pushing his cows up the ridge. I couldn't believe as I thought our morning hunt was over already. Hunter was prepared to make a long range shot if needed as he was packing my 338-378 Wby and he has done a lot of practice. I cow called a little more and we saw a smaller bull come out of the trees. As I called, Hunter said, "Dad, there is a bull right there!" I thought that it was the smaller satellite bull as I could not see it. I soon glassed it up and found that it was out big bull heading our way. I told Hunter to get ready as it was our bull and it was coming our way. Hunter set up on the shooting sticks and I kept calling. That bull just kept coming and coming so I told Hunter to just wait for him to come all the way in. The bull dropped into the ravine just below us where we could no longer see him. I told Hunter to watch for the antler tips coming up the hill. We could hear him getting closer but we could not see him. We didn't know exactly where he was going to come up the ridge we were on so it made it a little nerve racking. We then heard that unique bugle right in front of us as his antler tips started rising up in the air just 30 yards away. The bull stopped to bugle, perfectly broadside to us at less than 30 yards. I told Hunter to shoot and when I didn't hear that cannon go off I told him to shoot again. I didn't realize but there were some branches blocking Hunter's shot as he told me he didn't have a shot. The bull immediately turned and took off down the the ridge the way he had come. I had Hunter get ready and told him that we would shoot him as came up the other side. Hunter got set up and as the bull started up the other side at about 90 yards I cow called and stopped him. Hunter shot and the big bull stumbled and took a step back. I said, He is still standing shoot him again and this time Hunter's shot put him right on the ground. Hunter was ecstatic. He couldn't believe he had just killed his first elk and it was a monster. Hunter had just shot his first elk by 0630 AM opening morning. I needed a string to tie to his foot to keep him from floating away as he was on cloud 9. Good job Hunter your off to a great start. Rod

I was there! I have not responded to this before now but at this time I have to say that I wish this bull had never been killed. There have been feelings hurt and friendships lost that if could have ever imagined the final outcome I would have never gotten involved. I love to hunt and film big elk. I was transfered into the unit that Desertdiesel had been in so we ended up talking about elk hunting. I brought in some elk video that i had taken over the years and showed him. He told me about his previous archery elk hunting experience that ended up being blown by his partner. I told him to put in for a sleeper unit that I knew real well. He didn't get drawn the next year but his son did for the late tag. I told him if his son could shoot 600 yards I'm sure we could get him a nice bull. At the time my cousin and I had been shooting a 338-378 Weatherby so Desertdiesel bought a 30-378 and puit his son into a NRA Highpower Rifle School. That was the first year I got my guide license. I worked with Abowpro filming for him in Unit 1 on some early archery hunts, see The Kneedy Bull and The Curly Bull. Desertdiesel's son and Catclaw both had that late tag and I had agreed to take them both. I took them scoutting and to my honey ho;e and the "Glassing Tree." I pointed out where we should find the bulls and we ended up glassing up some good bulls. Desertdiesel was concerned about how it would be decided who would shoot first so Catclaw agreed to not come out till Sunday after the opening of the hunt. Desertdiesel came early for the hunt and got camp set up and kept an eye on the bulls. I got there the evening before the hunt and we checked from the Glassing Tree and the bulls were in the same spot. I told him about a road that would take us right underneath them so we set up a plan for the next day. Opening morning it was rainy and wet. We took the road I knew and got close as we thought we could. We hiked in and saw them moving but couldn't get a shot. They started moving up the hill and we got set up for a shot. We ranged the bull at 635 yards and Deserdiesel's son used my tripod as a rest and made an incredible shot hitting on the very first shot. The fog came in and the rain was relentless. That was one of the toughest pack-outs I have ever done. That bull was a 7X7 that grossed 374. The weather ended up keeping Catclaw from coming out as planned on Sunday and on Monday he ended up passing on the other bull I had planned for him due to it having a main beam broken. The next year Deserdiesel got drawn for the early archery bull tag for the same area. He really wanted me to take him but I explained to him that I was trying to get my guiding business going and since he said he couldn't pay me I told him I needed to look for paying clients. $300 is a lot to pay for a guide license so I wanted to get some paying clients. It just so happened that this year Desertdiesel was drawn for the early archery bull tag and his wife was drawn for the early muzzleloader bull tag for the same unit. Desertdiesel begged me to take him saying that with the two tags we could possibly come away with two 400 bulls and what better advertising for my guide business than that. I talked with my wife about it and I finally agreed but I made Desertdiesel know up fron that it was going to be considered a guided hunt! I scouted hard and told him about a huge bull I had located that was with another bull that had a double-main beam. He wanted to help keep track of it so I told him where it was and on his scouting trip he said he found it. I was worried that it was in an area that others knew about and that it was also not a great area for archery so I checked out another area also that he had not been to. I located another great bull there and knew it was better for archery. I told Desertdiesel about the other area being better for archery and the good bull and he said, "What ever you say your the guide." Because I had worked in this area when I worked for the Anasazi Foundation and hunted it for so many years I had many connections with the ranchers in the area. I had secured a ranch house with running cold and hot water and showers to stay in for the hunt and exclusive access to the locked fence ranch property. From the ranch house we could glass up bulls around the property. I filmed the bulls we saw prior to the hunt starting but the day of the hunt it rained and I did not have anyway of keeping my camera dry so I did not get the kill on video. It was almost dark when I called the bull in to archery range on opening night and from my vantage point it looked like a close broadside shot. This bull was actually shot on the ranch private property. Because the shot was a little far back we let him sit the night and located him first thing in the morning. We found him about 10 yards across the fence off the private property. All the field pictures were with my Canon GL2 as his camera didn't work. When we drove into town we went straight to a taxidermy friend of mine who gross scored him at 419 as a 7X7. It was an extremely fun hunt and Desertdiesel said he couldn't have been happier. He said he wanted to write a magazine article. I emailed him the pictures I took from my camera when we got back. I asked him to e-mail me a rough draft of the magazine article when he could. Needless to say I was more than a little hurt when I read what he wrote in the first draft. I felt the need to copyright my pictures so I could use them to help my guide business. Desertdiesel asked for a disk with the pictures so I gave him a disc with the copyrighted pictures and told him to have them contact me for permission and so far nobody has. This is not what I anticipated would happen when i agreed to do this hunt. I have no desire to ruin anybody or talk bad about anybody but I have to say I wish things had ended differently. I love to hunt elk. On a good note I got drawn myself this year for an early archery bull tag and my son got drawn for an early rifle bull tag. Yah hoo! Rod

I have one on my long range rifle, 7mm-300 WBY. It is the NXS 5.5-22X50 w/NPR1 reticle and I love it. I will take the little bit of extra weight and size for the durability and precise adjustments. This rifle was built to be my 1000 yard elk rifle and I love the scope for what it does. Rod

Jed that was one of my most memorable hunts we've had together, thanks for inviting me to film it. You really had that area pegged. That was the first bull we saw that morning and what a great morning. Rod

Congrats and good job.

Great job and an awesome bull Rod

Great bull congratulations. Rod

That is an awesome buck, congratulations. Rod

Congratulations that is an awesome bull. Rod

I really like to take Beanee Weanees because not only are they good but they supply a whopping 250 calories and have 15 grams of protein. They pack easy, have an easy open top and after I'm done I smash the can and put it into a zipplock bag to pack out. I also take some Snack Pack puddings and some Sweet and Salty Granola bars. Another thing I like to pack is a frozen 8oz package of cheese and some bagels. When it is lunch time the cheese is soft enought to cut and put on the bagels. Rod