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jonscaife

late rifle bull:3 tags, 2 great bulls!

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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.post-2151-0-75795700-1324426567_thumb.jpg

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!!!!

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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!

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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.

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As I read thru your story I was expecting to see a so so bull in the picture but WOW that thing is awesome. Not that there's anything wrong with a so so bull because that's all I shoot. lol Great story and my congratulations to you and your friend on your success. Thanbks for sharing! :)

 

TJ

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