Hunting Season!!

I'm following a herd of about 20 right now. I'm not sure if they saw me or they smelled me. But they took off
 
Well shit they ditched me. Always a challenge to hunt the dark Timber. Way too many hunters already covering the parks and Meadows
 
I'm in day 4 of a 9 day bull elk hunt. The bulls have to be a 4x4 or larger to be legal. Most of the places i hunt are 30-45 minute drive from my house. It's nice sleeping in my own bed (especially with a warm woman!). Heck, when I'm flogging it up the dirt roads, most hunt camps that I pass are still pitch black! They don't seem to have the jump on me, even though they're closer to the action. I usually hike for about an hour in the dark to be in place where I 'may' encounter elk at first light.

Day 1: Night before I spotted a herd of 40 elk, with a very nice 6x6. Storm blew in, elk disappeared. Not a single track in all of the fresh snow in the exact place I saw them. Elk are called ghost deer for a reason. thumbnail.jpg
Day 2: Different spot. Elk were in there thick, mostly the day before though. I bumped a cow, but no bulls.
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Day 3: In to elk on 6 different occasions. Had my crosshairs on a good sized 5x5, but he was grouped up with cows, plus he likely would have tumbled off a 200' cliff post shot. Opted not to pull the trigger.
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Day 4: Today. Nothing at all, except several day old sign. Kind of a short day. Back at it tomorrow. I still have 5 more days, so hope to make the most of it!
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I may have shit the bed today. And I soooo bummed. I said if I could take my big boy in bow season I would. It's rifle season. Our rut it usually around Nov 2-7. So I'd let him mate then taken him in late November if he's still around.

Well he came in this am. Right under my stand. He was huge. 10 point. 1.5" brow tines. Big deer by local standard. 15-16" spread. I let him walk. He headed up out of the bottom up a ridge. I started to climb down as he crest the ridge and BAM!!!! Rifle shot right where he walked on the adjacent property. I'm fucking bummed. IMG_20171024_091235.jpg
 
Lots of really nice looking animals posted in here, thanks fellas. Also fun reading the fun and/or frustrating stories you are sharing. Good stuff!
 
Day 5 - Saw lone cow, nothing else.

Day 6 - Another cow, but no bulls!

Day 7 - I hiked in predawn and posted up at the bottom of a steep meadow at legal light. A small 4x4 appeared out of nowhere midslope. I couldn’t quite tell if he was legal and I didn’t have a clear shooting lane. A few minutes later the big fella came out of the dark timber at the top of the slope. He was totally onto me and stared for 5 minutes, then eventually looked away. I moved a couple feet, got prone, and happened to have a very narrow shooting lane through the aspens. I thought for sure he’d bail, but he held tight long enough to make the 167 yard double lung, broadside shot. His bottom 4 teeth were gone, and the remaining didn’t look much better. The guy doing the euro mount estimated he was a 10 year old, and regressing by this point. I'm sure he was much bigger 2-3 years ago. Stoked to punch my tag! Wasn't looking very promising, as I saw far less animals this year than normal.


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Nice shot placement. Congratulations on the beautiful protein for you and your family.
Thanks and it's bulking season need the extra protein and for the shot had to he wouldn't turn broadside for heart shot he had his head up thought he was about to jet so I took the front troat shot and bullet hit his spine insantly drop him
 
I may have shit the bed today. And I soooo bummed. I said if I could take my big boy in bow season I would. It's rifle season. Our rut it usually around Nov 2-7. So I'd let him mate then taken him in late November if he's still around.

Well he came in this am. Right under my stand. He was huge. 10 point. 1.5" brow tines. Big deer by local standard. 15-16" spread. I let him walk. He headed up out of the bottom up a ridge. I started to climb down as he crest the ridge and BAM!!!! Rifle shot right where he walked on the adjacent property. I'm fucking bummed. View attachment 77959
The rifle is straight cool, just right for serious hunting.
 

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