My biggest bull (and only lol) is a 368" 6x6 from the Gila/Apache area of NM I took with a muzzleloader (a primitive weapons only zone, 15B if I remember correctly). Personally any 6x6 over 340" is "big" too me. My bull netted 368 and grossed 364 so he basically is perfect. Frame wise he is more like a 340 because his lower 3 arent abnormally long and he is only 41" inside. BUT he has 24" royals, 20"ers behind those and his "whale tails" are awesome because his beams are 51" apiece.
Here is the only pic on line that I have of my bull:
http://www.nmtrophyhunts.com/elk.htm
Mine is on the second row and on the right (the real dark racked one) with yours truly. After chasing these dudes and taking mine on the last morning of a 5 day hunt, I can see why they are MUCH worse than any woman or drug addiction!!! [:'(]
I have a friend with 3 over 380 from White Mtn. Apache in AZ but I am just as tickled with my trophy as he is with his MONSTERS! I actually have a desire (or is it a sick fetish?
) to see and get a crack at a 350"+ 5x5. I like abnormally large trophies of smaller point count. But a genetic mutant like that is hard to come by.
IMHO true "MONSTER" status starts about 380 and runs above that. When you get above the 400" range (one of the three of my friends is a 411 nontyp) you are talking about truly breathtaking animals that are much rarer than even the hunters who typically can afford the hunts for such animals.
One thing about BIG BULLS the prices arent getting any cheaper. From an annual inflation standpoint their price is outpacing just about anything else in the hunting world. But then again, I honestly think that as a result of such outlandish fees the incentive for producing such extreme bulls is greater than ever before. Perhaps we truly are in the "golden age" of trophy bull hunting?
RA