Okay, it’s been a bit and I’ve had plenty of time to think about this hunt. And I have thought about it quite a bit! Thought I would try to get some of those thought down in writing while they are fresh on my mind.
First it is just amazing that we have the opportunities to do things like this in this great country that we live in. Having hundreds of thousands, MILLIONS of acres of huntable public land is something that you aren’t going to find very many places, but we so often take that for granted. As hunters we really need to do more and step up to promote hunting and public land access because there are folks out there that would like to take it away.
Second, I was VERY lucky on this hunt! The area that we hunt is not a trophy type unit. It is a general tag unit. Any resident in Wyoming can buy an elk tag over the counter and hunt the unit I was hunting in. This is not a unit I would have ever expected to shoot a potential record book animal in. My goal each year on this hunt is to have a chance at shooting a legal bull. The largest bull I had shot in this area before this year was 245”. This is not a hunt where you see tons of elk and get to pick and choose which one you want to shoot. I have never passed on a shot opportunity on this hunt. I can't recall any of us passing on a shot opportunity. My buddy did shoot a nice 315” bull a couple years ago, but that was his biggest bull of his life and he has been hunting this area for 20+ years. I think we know the unit pretty well and we have a little over 50% success on this hunt each year so actually getting a bull on the ground wasn’t the very lucky part, I think we have a little skill and determination that contributed to getting our bulls on the ground, but getting a trophy class bull on the ground was the lucky part! I have no clue what this bull was doing and where he was spending his time to grow such a great set of antlers, but I’m very happy that he did!
I mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again, when I pulled the trigger on my bull I really had no clue how big he was other than the fact that he was a legal bull. As far as I knew he could have been a raghorn. I would have still been happy with him if he was, I just wouldn’t still be on cloud nine over a week later like I am now!
Another thing that I am very blessed with is a great friend to share this hunt with. “Our spot” used to be “Mike’s spot”. He invited me to share his spot 6 years ago and bugled in my first ever bull elk for me and I’ve been hooked ever since.
This is my first bull elk shot in 2008, .59 miles from the overlook tree!
It’s not the best picture, but looking at other pictures that are posted, lots of folks have pictures with 5 or 6 guys in their posse with the elk on the ground. With my bull it was just my friend Mike and myself, and a 10 second timer on the camera. To me even if my bull didn't end up scoring as well, it is a huge sense of accomplishment to be able to do it on your own instead of using an outfitter.
On our day 2 walk about, we ended up going back by the spot where I shot my bull on day 1. I ended up taking a few pictures to show the general type of area we are hunting in. This was actually a pretty open spot and the only reason I was able to get a shot off on my bull. Most of the area is even thicker. Another way to help describe the area is that my friend Mike was less than 30 yards from me when I shot my bull. It wasn't because he was being a nice guy and passing on a shot so that I could shoot him, he never had a clear shot at the bull although he did see some glimpses of him and knew he was a legal bull.
We have a few spots marked on the GPS as clearings that would be bow range to anywhere in them even if you were completely on one side or the other.
Surprisingly there wasn’t a bear on the carcass, and it was relatively untouched except for the ravens which didn’t seem to put too much of a dent in it. I went ahead and took a picture of it to show what is left in the field after it has been quartered and deboned. I’m sure there is some meat left on it that some will say I’m being wasteful for leaving, but this is about what it looks like when I’m done on most of my kills.
Okay, now a couple pictures that didn’t originally make the cut that I’ll throw in. Here’s one of the first pictures we took, I was still just in awe of the bull and amazed that I was lucky enough to shoot him.
Here’s a shot back in camp after day 3 when we got Mike’s bull and packed it in. My son was so happy to have me in camp before he went to bed.
I mentioned it before about how awesome it was to be tagged out and spending the entire day hanging around camp with him on day 4. I just get so focused on the hunt and filling the tag that most of the time I’ve gone way before the family wakes up and am back well after dark, right before my son is going to bed. I guess to fix that I’m going to have to plan more family camping vacations at other times of the year.
Last picture to post is probably one of the most important ones, although it’s not that flattering.
The end result of a successful hunt is not just the antlers that are going to end up on the wall. It’s good quality healthy meat for the family. When it was all said and done we ended up with 215 lbs of boneless meat out of my elk. About half of that went to steaks and roasts, the rest went to jerky, sausage and hamburger. That’s enough meat for my family for a year almost. Generally we split the meat that we get on a hunt with whoever we are hunting with, but since Mike was able to fill his tag as well, we ended up with everything. If I’m lucky enough to shoot an elk in New Mexico in a few weeks, we may have enough meat for the family for a couple years! I think I’ll have to invite some friends over for some elk steaks!
That’s about everything I can think of. Feeling very blessed, and thankful for sure.
Nathan
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