Coach

Man, today Nick got it done big time. Rather than append his story to this thread, I started a new one called Nick's Turn - here's the link: http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/in...showtopic=21627 Thanks for all the positive responses. It was a great youth hunt for sure!

My two oldest sons drew their first elk tags this year in the 3A/3C Jr hunt. They also had the Jr. deer hunt in the same unit, but we weren't quite able to get it done. Pretty much every day we were seeing elk, but just couldn't find the deer. Once the elk hunt started we were pretty sure it would be a slam dunk, as we had been in perfect position for elk almost each outing for deer, but it turned out to be harder than we expected when the pressure hit Friday morning. With help from friends, Eric (AKA Forest Ninja) and Skyler, we were on elk pretty much every morning and evening and opening day both boys got to shoot, but the shots were longer than I had practiced with them so we ended up with no hits. Saturday, we were on them again in the morning, and almost closed the deal with bulls screaming and fighting right in front of us, but still no clear shot as the cows were in and out of trees at 235 yards. We had to bust tail to Holbrook for a couple youth football games, and by the time we got back out, it was a little late and all of our spots already had hunters in them. This morning (Sunday), Eric came out to help seal the deal. We were on elk starting at daylight, but had quite a bit of pressure from other "hunters" (this is a whole story in itself - friggin idiots out there with no ethics - I'll vent more about this later) so the herd was constantly moving giving us only glimpses here and there. Finally, around 8 AM, we moved into the area we figured they would go to bed, and sure enough, as we topped a ridge, 4 or 5 bedded elk stood up right in front of us. It was actually my middle son, Nick's turn to shoot, but he didn't have quite the right angle and when he did get into position and tried to shoot, realized he still had the safety on - that's youth hunting . From where Matt and I were, we had a clean shot and I knew they were about to bolt, so I told him to take it. He made a perfect double lung shot off hand on this really nice cow in the heat-of-the moment. Of course, he was really happy to get his first elk on the ground. Now it's time to get Nick back out there and hopefully get him into position for his first cow. Special thanks to Forest Ninja and Skyler for all their help, taking time off from work and family to help the boys on this hunt.

Got Nick into some cows off the bed this evening but it was real close quarters and no clean shot was presented. We laughed about how he had a good shot at their feet. We'll be out there tomorrow morning for another go at it. He's so exited. Man I love getting the kids out there - they get so pumped up. I'll post the results of tomorrow's hunt as soon as I can. I have a good feeling!

Holy Moly - that is one heck of a buck. Looks like he's smart enough to be nocturnal. Hope you get to put a tag on him!

Slayin' then already Brian! Just stay out of my back yard - Carrie has all our foxes named

Nicely done! I bet you are hooked for life now!

Awesome job - man youth hunts ROCK! Way to work hard and get it DONE!!! Congrats on a fine trophy!

Thanks for sharing Dan, that thing is amazing!

Awesome job! Congrats Kade, on a very fine first deer! That's something you'll never forget.

I was lucky enough to draw a Unit 1 ML bull tag this year and really busted my tail scouting and working with some archery hunters to try and get a good bull lined up for opening day. I had pretty high hopes for a 370 class bull and had a couple located with the help of some good friends prior to the hunt. In the last 2 days before the hunt started the main bull I was hoping to get onto opening day had vanished, so I opted to go after another bull some friends had watched and video taped for a couple of days. This bull was in a very accessible spot, but they hadn't seen anyone else watching him, so we figured it would be a good bet. Well, it turns out, opening morning there were several groups of hunters on this same bull, so it was kind of a foot race - not exactly what I was hoping for on this hunt, but still worth getting in the mix. Just as I was getting into position on the herd, the shooting started and the herd buggered out of the open areas into the thick stuff. There was one really nice bull with them that morning, but I'm still not convinced it was the one we had on video. He would drop in from time to time, and looked a lot like a smaller 6x6 that had also been in this herd since before the archery hunt started. I heard later that no one taken either the smaller or the real big 6x6 of that herd. The rest of the hunt was really exiting, and I was into bulls pretty much every morning and evening, but was still hoping for something really big. I got close a few times, but the hunting was much harder than I expected. The elk had gone pretty much nocturnal, and it seemed the big ones were staying quiet and in the timber until after dark, and were doing all of their rutting between an hour after sunset to an hour before sunrise. Finally, on Tuesday morning, with only a couple days left to hunt I was going after a particular bull with a distinct bugle. I got into the location I knew he was hanging out before daylight, and immdediately heard a loud raspy bugle close by. I moved carefully toward the bugle waiting for shooting light and knew he was right there. Sure enough, the cows start moving by. The wind was right, I was in position prone with my bipod out watching the herd move across an opening right in front of me - this was it - I knew it. Sure enough, here comes the bull! Wouldn't you know it? As he steps out in front of me at 70 yards, he's a stringy 4x4 with nothing going on at all. I just had to laugh out loud. He sounded exactly like the bull I was after, and was in the same area pushing cows. So now it's getting light and I know there's not much hunting left for the morning so I bust a move back to the truck and start heading for a backup area. On the way I stopped and listened for bugles in an area that has had lots of bulls in the past. Sure enough, I get a bugle not too far off and start making a move. After crossing a couple rises and scanning I pick up an elk body right in front of me. I put my binos up, and it's a cow looking right in my direction. This area is pretty open and I didn't have much to hide behind but I crouched behind the only stump I could. Almost immediately, a big bull came to mount the cow I was watching so I started checking out his horns. Sure looked like a shooter to me - nice 6x6 with great fronts, and really good 5ths. Unfortunately I couldn't shoot from my position so I moved a little up and to the left for a better angle. He had pushed the cow over a small rise and was moving off so I started to reposition. I scanned to the left and there's another cow - and she too has me but this time I'm out in the open. She barked once and everything froze. I couldn't do anything but just freeze and not make eye contact. After what seemed like an eternity, she barked once more, but then went back to feeding. At this point, my heart was beating out of my chest, my mouth was dry and I was shaking. I could see the bull's nose sticking out from behind a tree but none of his body. I just stood there until he finally moved out from behind the tree. I raised, got him in my cross-hairs and fired - too fast it turns out. The whole herd bolted, but I was sure I had hit him - I had been practicing at long range and this was around a 100 yd shot. I checked the direction they had run, then backed out and called in some help to find him. After about 4 hours of re-living the whole event we couldn't find a single drop of blood. We found his tracks and trailed them for several hundered yards - still no blood - nothing. I came back the next day and spent the majority of the day with my buddy trying to make sure he hadn't gone down. No birds, no smell, no coyotes, nada. I finally had to accept the fact that I had just flat-out tanked the shot. As hot as it was, if he had been down, we would have smelled him or picked up some crows or something. I was now getting really discouraged having flat-out blown my shot at a shooter bull, and was down to the last day of the hunt. Thursday morning I went back to the same area hoping to get on him again, but the wind was all wrong. Then behind me a bugle rings out. The wind is much better to hunt in this bull's direction, so I started a stalk. After about 20 minutes of slowly making our way toward where we had last heard him, my buddy and I hadn't heard another bugle and were backing out to go back into the area I had missed my bull 2 days earlier. One more bugle rang out right where we had heard him before, so we were back on him. This area is fairly open with lots of pines, but has been recently cut, so it's good for seeing elk, but good for them to see you too. We moved slowly and quietly toward a draw we figured they would be heading for, as it was already getting late - for this hunt. My buddy, Kenny, motions to me that he can see the herd and I pull up my binocs and there they are about 350 yards out. As luck would have it, there was one little rise on this ridge top that had some flowery weeds we could use for cover to close the distance. As we approached the weedy knoll, I put up my binos and could see the bull at the back of the herd. I could make out some tall points, and good width, and saw one 6 point side really well. Being the last morning of the hunt, I was not about to pass up a bull with the frame I could make out, so belly crawled up to the top of the knoll we had been using for cover, extended my bipod laid down prone. I found the bull with my binocs and ranged him at 240 yards - pretty much the outer most limit of my comfort zone, especially after blowing an easy shot at 100 yds. He was feeding and still, and I forced myself to slow down and focus on the shot. I put my 250 yard mil dot behind his shoulder and forced myself to breath slowly and squeeze. BOOM! The bull bucked twice so knew the shot was good. The cows all ran off, but as we continued to watch the bull, he stayed behind, but was still standing. I knew he was hit, and wanted to shoot again, but didn't want to risk a long shot again if he was staying put. I reloaded and we slowly stalked toward him and kept him in sight until he bedded down. He hadn't gone far from where he was originally hit, but I didn't want to risk him walking off to die so I moved closer until I could see his body and shot once more, this time right through both lungs. He stood up, took a step, and fell over. It turns out the first hit was a little back. While eventually fatal, I was glad to have the opportunity to get close enough for a clean finishing shot. When I finally walked up to him, I could tell he was an older bull, in his declining years, and was 6 on one side with a broken 3rd and 5 on the other with a nice main beam. He certainly wasn't the 370 or 380 bull I had been dreaming about, but under the circumstances, being a grueling hunt and down to the last day, I couldn't be happier. A huge thanks goes out to all the people who were willing to take time away from work and family to be with me on this hunt, Kyle who helped locate the "opening day" bull, Casey and Steve, two great guys from Montana I met before their archery hunt and was fortunate enough to be a part of, and especially Kenny, who kept me going through the tough parts of the hunt and was with me throughout almost the entire hunt. Special thanks also to my wonderful wife Carrie, who stayed supportive throughout the entire scouting/hunting experience and had to maintain the homefront for weeks, while working full-time, so I could experience this hunt. Without their help, this hunt would not have been nearly as fun and memorable as it was. Here are some pictures. Enjoy. With Casey and Steve's permission I will hopefully add some pictures of the bulls these guys who came down here from Montana took.

Awesome story and a great bear. Congrats! Funny how hard this hunting thing really is. I'm running on fumes these days trying to get my boys on a buck in 3A/3C and they have cow elk tags backing that up starting this Friday - all after my unit 1 ML bull hunt. I guess the good news is, I've lost 30 pounds this year Been up by 4 every day for around 2 months now, and have only slept in my own bed maybe 5 nights. Anyone who wants to say hunting is easy can come carry my pack around for a couple days

Way to go man! That's a fantastic buck and a hunt you'll never forget. Thanks for posting it up here for all of us to enjoy!

Man, what an awesome story and truly amazing hunt. Stories like this keep me coming here day after day. Great job, and thanks for taking the time to write it up and illustrate it so well. Congrats on an amazing hunt and thanks for sharing. Keep 'em coming!

I'll be setting up camp this afternoon so my two oldest can be out chasing muleys in 3a/3c tomorrow morning. First deer hunt for both of them - should be a good time!

Congrats - that's a great looking bear!

Wow - that's a heck of a bull! Congrats, and nice write-up.

Ooooh - like that buck and what a great looking bear. Great spot you've got there.

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I'll take the .338 Lapua Magnum. Anyone have 5K to donate? I'll even do a write-up of how it shoots!

Congrats! Thanks for sharing your story.

+1 for the Winchester Ballistic Silver Tips. Great bullets for a factory load. My hand loads for .270 WSM and .300 WSM are very close to what you can buy over the counter. One thing, if you are going after elk-sized game, you might want a bonded bulllet. The same load as you would use with the silver tips, but using a Nosler Accu-bond or or similar bullet (Swift Scirocco, etc.). The silver tips are great for even larger deer, imo, but for elk I would use a sturdier bullet.

Thanks, Scott. I really wanted to have a full hunt, so taking him on the last day was really a blessing. There were so many close opportunities, and cool stories in between the highlights, but the story was already too long to include all the neat stalks in between. One thing about this hunt that was really fun was that every single day I was into some kind of action, usually multiple times, and every time I got that same rush, that maybe this stalk would be "the one". If I had tagged out on a bigger bull opening day or early in the hunt, I would have missed out on some amazing moments. One that sticks out in my mind came Saturday morning. I had been chasing bugles in the high country by moonlight and ended up in a series of meadows surrounded by pines. The weather was unusually warm, but this morning, the dew had turned to frost, and as I worked the treeline, the sun hit the grassy meadow, which had elk at all ends and huge sounding bugles all around. When the sun hit the frost, a misty fog started to lift out of the meadow making rainbows in what seemed like a smoke screen that I could use to slip past so many eyes and ears to get closer to what I'm sure was a stud of a bull. No shot that day, but I'll never forget the feeling of that stalk. That was exactly what I had hoped to experience on this hunt, and it was truly a blessing to experience.

What a great looking buck and supurb mount.

Why do I want to say "E.T. phone home"????

Wow - that is a GREAT looking bull. Congrats, and way to stick with it!