Utah Success
dahlmer
9/21/09 11:00pm
I thought I would share a few pictures from our Utah elk hunt this year. We had three tags to fill and were concerned about whether or not we would have the ability to get a bull for everyone. I hunted a couple years ago, so I was just along to enjoy the ride. Sorry for the long post.
My brother wouldn’t be joining us until Monday, so my cousin and his dad headed one direction while my dad and I headed after a bull that we had seen several times prior to the hunt. Our anticipation built as elk bugled all around as while we headed up the trail in the dark. We had started about 15 minutes later than we had wanted, but that turned out to be a real blessing.
We were just breaking out of a stand of aspens that led out onto a big open ridge when we saw two cows milling around on the top of the ridge. We stopped and watched them for a while we tried to decide what to do. The cows moved over the top of the ridge where we could here several bulls whistling and we decided we would hurry over to see what was there. We had gotten about 30 yards out of the trees when three cows came back over the ridge. They watched us but didn’t seem to concerned, so we turned the horses around and headed back for the trees.
While I was tying up my dad pulled out his binoculars as the cows headed back over the ridge. Not only were the cows there, but also a large set of antlers on the skyline, which quickly disappear again. We quickly forgot about the bull we had been headed after as my dad quickly grabbed his gun and I set up where I could get a good view. Moments later two large 6-point bulls came over the top of the ridge with one obviously bigger than the other. The larger bull was focused on chasing the other bull and was oblivious to everything else. The smaller bull was run off in short order the larger bull stopped broadside 208 yards away and let out his final whistle. The crack of my dad’s 300 WSM dropped him in his tracks. As we walked up to the bull and there was absolutely no ground shrinkage and we high-fived and smiled in amazement.
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After some pictures we quartered and caped him and headed back to camp. My cousin and his dad weren’t back so we assumed they hadn’t killed anything yet. We loaded up the horses and elk and headed back home for a shower and home cooked meal. About 8:30 we got a call that my cousin had killed a bull just before dark. They had seen several bulls that morning, but nothing that got him too excited. That evening they had found a couple of bulls and he decided this one was good enough. Sorry, I don’t have any field photos, but here’s what I’ve got.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu332/Razzy_World/DSCF2797.jpg " alt="" />
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Sunday evening we picked up my brother and headed back to camp. With just one tag left we felt a lot less pressure and killing three bulls seemed pretty doable. Monday morning we headed up a ridge that opened into a big canyon that we had been seeing elk in all summer. After about twenty minutes of riding we started hearing bugles and we could see some elk about 800 yards up the ridge. We tied up the horses and began glassing and we could see that there was a bull and some cows. It was still too dark to determine how big the bull was so we decided to use the cover to get a little closer. After about a 300-yard hike we couldn’t see the bull and cows anymore, but we did see another bull that was a small six-point. He was well out of range so we continued to move closer the bench that the elk were on. By the time we reached the bench the elk had moved off into the timber and we could hear two or three bulls bugling only a few hundred yards away. My dad and brother snuck around the bench while the rest of us held back. They did have a 5 and 6 point within range, but a good shot never presented itself for the six-point.
Meanwhile the rest off us sat back and began glassing the surrounding areas. 3 spikes and a five-point crossed over the ridge about 400 yards above us. As glassed further out we discovered 2 more spike and a small six-point across a large canyon. More and more elk began appearing as we continued to glass. We glassed up a nice bull that we felt warranted a closer look with the scope and as we got a better look at him we realized it the bull my dad and I had been headed after Saturday morning. My dad and brother returned shortly and we decided we would head off of the ridge to an open bench to see if we could get close enough for a shot at him.
When we reached the bench we had elk running everywhere. The big bull was still up on top, but at 550 yards we felt he was out of range. We had three bulls on the opposite side of the canyon between 350 and 400 yards. We picked the biggest and told my brother to shoot it. The first shot only served to get the bulls attention, but the second shot entered in the middle of the rib cage, traveled through his chest cavity and exited just behind the front shoulder. He humped up and tipped over a few seconds later. High fives and back to work.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu332/Razzy_World/DSCF2777.jpg " alt="" />
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3 bulls in a day and 1/2 of hunting…I would have never expected it.
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http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu332/Razzy_World/DSCF2796.jpg " alt="" />
My brother wouldn’t be joining us until Monday, so my cousin and his dad headed one direction while my dad and I headed after a bull that we had seen several times prior to the hunt. Our anticipation built as elk bugled all around as while we headed up the trail in the dark. We had started about 15 minutes later than we had wanted, but that turned out to be a real blessing.
We were just breaking out of a stand of aspens that led out onto a big open ridge when we saw two cows milling around on the top of the ridge. We stopped and watched them for a while we tried to decide what to do. The cows moved over the top of the ridge where we could here several bulls whistling and we decided we would hurry over to see what was there. We had gotten about 30 yards out of the trees when three cows came back over the ridge. They watched us but didn’t seem to concerned, so we turned the horses around and headed back for the trees.
While I was tying up my dad pulled out his binoculars as the cows headed back over the ridge. Not only were the cows there, but also a large set of antlers on the skyline, which quickly disappear again. We quickly forgot about the bull we had been headed after as my dad quickly grabbed his gun and I set up where I could get a good view. Moments later two large 6-point bulls came over the top of the ridge with one obviously bigger than the other. The larger bull was focused on chasing the other bull and was oblivious to everything else. The smaller bull was run off in short order the larger bull stopped broadside 208 yards away and let out his final whistle. The crack of my dad’s 300 WSM dropped him in his tracks. As we walked up to the bull and there was absolutely no ground shrinkage and we high-fived and smiled in amazement.
After some pictures we quartered and caped him and headed back to camp. My cousin and his dad weren’t back so we assumed they hadn’t killed anything yet. We loaded up the horses and elk and headed back home for a shower and home cooked meal. About 8:30 we got a call that my cousin had killed a bull just before dark. They had seen several bulls that morning, but nothing that got him too excited. That evening they had found a couple of bulls and he decided this one was good enough. Sorry, I don’t have any field photos, but here’s what I’ve got.
Sunday evening we picked up my brother and headed back to camp. With just one tag left we felt a lot less pressure and killing three bulls seemed pretty doable. Monday morning we headed up a ridge that opened into a big canyon that we had been seeing elk in all summer. After about twenty minutes of riding we started hearing bugles and we could see some elk about 800 yards up the ridge. We tied up the horses and began glassing and we could see that there was a bull and some cows. It was still too dark to determine how big the bull was so we decided to use the cover to get a little closer. After about a 300-yard hike we couldn’t see the bull and cows anymore, but we did see another bull that was a small six-point. He was well out of range so we continued to move closer the bench that the elk were on. By the time we reached the bench the elk had moved off into the timber and we could hear two or three bulls bugling only a few hundred yards away. My dad and brother snuck around the bench while the rest of us held back. They did have a 5 and 6 point within range, but a good shot never presented itself for the six-point.
Meanwhile the rest off us sat back and began glassing the surrounding areas. 3 spikes and a five-point crossed over the ridge about 400 yards above us. As glassed further out we discovered 2 more spike and a small six-point across a large canyon. More and more elk began appearing as we continued to glass. We glassed up a nice bull that we felt warranted a closer look with the scope and as we got a better look at him we realized it the bull my dad and I had been headed after Saturday morning. My dad and brother returned shortly and we decided we would head off of the ridge to an open bench to see if we could get close enough for a shot at him.
When we reached the bench we had elk running everywhere. The big bull was still up on top, but at 550 yards we felt he was out of range. We had three bulls on the opposite side of the canyon between 350 and 400 yards. We picked the biggest and told my brother to shoot it. The first shot only served to get the bulls attention, but the second shot entered in the middle of the rib cage, traveled through his chest cavity and exited just behind the front shoulder. He humped up and tipped over a few seconds later. High fives and back to work.
3 bulls in a day and 1/2 of hunting…I would have never expected it.
2,957
Whereabouts were you folks hunting? (No worries, just curious what state)
awsome utah hunt. 3 good bulls . how many points did they have?
very cool congratsto your family!
GREAT JOB!! 10sign: 10sign:
Brett, the lighter bull still had some velvet on his antlers...I assume the reason he was lighter was two-part. First, he had shed later and hadn't rubbed as much and second he had been rubbing aspens and willows instead of the pines like the other two. The other two bull's antlers were covered with pine gum and dirt while he didn't have any pine gum on him. That's the only explanation I have.
Looks like a fine hunt and very, very nice bulls.
Congrats to you guys on a awesome hunt!
Those first pictures are amazing and beautiful. 10sign: