Tough Hunt

[RAM]

HUGE CONGRATS, your effort to find your bull blows me away. I don't know you, but the detication you discribed in your play by play, truly shows you to be a great guy.

 

I feel compelled to let you know your actions are really appreciated by fellow hunters. I have experienced other hunters who wound elk and after looking for a very short period of time, are ready to shrug it off and start hunting for another bull, even knowing that the odds are the bull will expire.

 

Once again, your actions should be practiced by other and all hunters. Congrats on filling your tag and would love to see some pictures of your trophy.

 

-Ryan

[KaibabHunter]

.30 miles from the shot, .27 from last blood. Still can't believe we walked right by him so many times. If anybody can post pics send me a phone # and I'll text a pic of the rack.

[Heat]

Wow! That is a pretty happy ending to a very up and down adventure. Sorry you won't be able to enjoy the meat, but your persistence is to be commended. You should be very proud of yourself. I'm very happy that you recovered him afterall!

 

Nick

[oz31p]

here you all go.

[justinspe25]

Way to go. Thanks for taking us along on your adventure. Really glad you found him, and that is a nice bull. Congrats.

[WadeNAZ]

Glad to hear you stuck with it and was able to get to him. Well done.

[Randyh2412]

awesome way to go and stay at it. was thinking about this all weekend.

[sjvcon]

What can I say, except that you are a credit to hunters everywhere working that hard to find your animal. Makes me sick to hear guys give up after a few hours of looking. You did it right. You honored your animal, and yourself, with your efforts. And to all those guys out there who helped him, you are also a credit to the sport. With no obligation, other than your own sense of what is right, you pitched in and helped a fellow hunter find his prize.

 

You guys are all GREAT!!! And congrats on your Bull ... you deserve it!!!

[Arizonahunter]

It HAS been a roller coaster of events. A huge congrats to your dedication on finding your bull! Thanks for the play by play...Way to go.

[coueshunter]

Sticking with it that long is such a tribute to you and the animal. Congrats...............Allen............

[mcelkhunter]

I have been following your posts with interest. Last year I shot a bull. I believed that I center punched him and thought we would give him a few and then find him close by. I had two friends with me and one had 12 power binos on him and watched the arrow penetrate to the fletches. The arrow punctured both sides and he had blood similar to what you explained. We lost blood about 300 yards from the shot and between the 3 of us searched all that day walking over 15 miles (between the 3 of us in a grid are of about 1/2 mile from last blood) on our GPS. I just know we walked past him numerous times. We were in mixed juniper and pines so we could not see for any distance at ground level. I never did find him but believe that he died. That was early in the hunt. Never did find crows or smell him despite hunting that area several times of the next week and half of the hunt.

 

I still feel the disappointment from all that!!

 

I am certainly glad to hear that you found your elk.

 

 

[couesdiehard]

Way to go KaibabHunter! You are a true sportsman. I told you the nose knows! More lost elk are found by savy hunters with good noses than you would believe. Congrats to you and all those that helped.

Lee

[kennyazman]

What an awesome story! I started reading this post and could not stop. It was like a good book you cant put down. I am so happy that you found your bull, and a nice one at that. Great effort and great story.

[CouesWhitetail]

Great news! I'm so glad you finally found him. 2 things strike me as really cool about this post - 1) which I already mentioned, you never gave up looking and totally dedicated yourself to finding him - that speaks volumes about your character. 2) The support of other hunters who volunteered their time to come help look for him.

 

Awesome job, awesome post - and a big thumbs-up to the Arizona hunting community who stepped up to help a guy find his bull.

 

 

+1!

 

Wow, I just saw the last few days of posts on this thread, what a roller coaster ride! Glad you found your bull finally. What a tragedy to lose the meat, but at least you stuck with it and didn't go kill another bull. Thank you for your dedication.

 

 

[KaibabHunter]

Thanks guys for all the comments, help and support. Not once did this post go negative and I'm very appreciative of too. The guys who spared time to help look thanks to you to. Looks like I have a DIY euro mount to work on now. He was a hard fought trophy!

 

Lesson's learned: When you think you've looked everywhere there's something you missed so look again. Don't be afraid to ask for help, you'd be suprised who wants to jump in your truck and go! There's a lot of good guys out there. I offered all guys $ to help and they all turned it down and came out anyway!

 

Another good story came from my new buddy mike yesterday. His friend has been holding out for something big since opening day passing on bulls I think many of us would shoot. In appreciation for their help I gave them some info on the area I hunted and they were planning to hunt a couple sweet spots today. On my way out yesterday, mike texted me saying that his friend had a bull down - a spike. He said the spike had an arrow in him in a bad less lethal spot and he was hurtin so he took him out.

 

Thanks again and thanks to OZ31P for posting the pics. I think I can finally put this post to bed. I hope more of you do play by play hunts for us at home. Best of luck to the rest of you! If anybody gets in a tough spot ask for help on cw.com - I had at least 5 offer or try to come up!