Big Game Success Pics -2009
 

Anyone have some success pics of any trips out west so far ? Post em up here with a small story...

We'll be heading to Wy in two weeks with nine assorted tags. Hopefully I'll have some pics to post when we return.

I hope to have some after a couple more weeks!

I hope to do the same thing in a few weeks.....and good luck to you guys as well.

Its guys like us that need some pics to help pass the time...lol

I got close to a few bulls over the last two weekends but things just didn't work out. This last week the wind was swirling like crazy. I had alot of fun calling a small bull after I bumped him from his bed. I called him back but he just wouldn't come out of the trees far enough. He would zig zag back and forth until the wind finally changed directions.

Maybe later this month I will have something

One mulie buck so far out of three of us. Dad got the first one, wasn't real wide but nice deep forks. I'll post pics in when I get the film developed. I might not get one if he's not nice enough to take home to momma. hehe

I got Lucky!
 

Well I finally made it out West for a bow elk hunt. None of my buddies could make it ... either they claimed to not have the $, or the time or didn't want to hunt elk with a bow, and on and on.

So I went alone. Well not exactly I did use an outfitter in New Mexico. There were 4 hunters in camp with 2 guides. It was a 6 1/2 day hunt. Morning one was the coldest and we had the most action. We heard a close bugle - I walked 3 yds to take cover and bumped a few cows that had a good bull w/ them. W/ in minutes 3 others were bugling in the same canyon. Our guide/owner Bob Atwood called a nice bull down a ridge toward us. The fellow I was paired with in front of me and got 2 shots @ 35 & 50 yds. I saw the bull walk and then stand after the 2nd shot and saw no signs of a hit. He felt he hit it so we looked for several hours - no blood, but also no arrows?

We saw 2 good bulls on morning one and kept seeing about 1 bull on each AM/ PM outing! They were not really responding much to calls as the PM showers were making the nites and mornings warm; we were bumping or walking up on bulls and cows.

On the 4th eve of the hunt we flipped a coin and I got a turn to sit at a wallow. This was my only "pot" hunt so far. Lke every afternoon we got thunder, then rain. I sat on a branch laying across a few stumps in a rough blind (relly a few trees w/ some blow-downs ) facing a wallow 20 yds away. At 6:30 a bull snuck over a bank into the wallow. I had prepared for such a chance, so I was ready. When the cautious bull's head went behind brush I knelt down and drew the bow while staying low. I came up on 1 knee, put the pin behind his shoulder and released! I heard a loud crack and saw the bull leap away w/ a lot of the shaft sticking out his side.

I was pretty bummed out thinkig I hit the shoulder, I was really down on myself. The last thing I want to do is wound an animal like that. I sat and pondered as the drizzle turned to rain and night fell. After 30 min I snuck over to where the bull split and found some blood on a deadfall he jumped. An hour later the guide and hunter showed up lights on .. by now it was a dark rainy nite. I told them the story and we got on the trail. We had a modest blood trail, followed it about 70 yds, until Atwood looked ahead and said "there's your bull". They were some sweet words! Turned out the shot was right ... behind the near shoulder & slightly quartering away. The Grizz Trick went all the way thru to the far shoulder. I found the front 8" of the shaft under the far shoulder blade ... I guess the arrow broke or rebounded when it stopped.

The outfitter estimated the bull to be 3.5 yrs old... it wasn't the biggest bull I saw over the days we hunted but, hey for the first time w/ a bow its a trophy to me!

I hunted w/ Blue Mountain Outfitters and was guided by the owner - Bob Atwood. He runs a first rate operation - great staff and accomodations. we hunted good lands, and he got us on the elk!

Good luck to all who pursue the grand elk with stick and string.

I just made a post in the muzzle loader forum, so here is the copy.

Sorry guys, I have not been on here for quite a while, but I figured I would post on here with my recent success on my elk hunt here in NV. I had a unit 061/071 cow muzzle loader tag. I ended up seeing about 75 elk, and had several others within close range that I never saw because of the timber. On the 5th day, I was able to make a 1 mile long stalk on a group of elk sunning themselves and take a 600 lb cow at 95 yards. The bullet went through both shoulder blades, and I was able to recover the bullet just under the hide on the other side. Needless to say, I was very impressed with the bullet performance! Here are some pictures.

The load was a 385 Hornady Great Plains on top of 90 grains of GOEX 2f, CCI 209 shotshell primer, and a Traditions Pursuit LT.

First picture is Telephone Creek (I got the cow in Cat Creek)
Second is me and dad
Third is me and elk
Fourth is the "exit" wound right at the point of the shoulder
Fifth is the bullet as recovered next to an original

Later,

Marcial

Great elk guys! I live in elk country and still figure any elk is a trophy.

No joke there wyotrapper!! We are all draw tags here, even for cow elk, and I want elk meat, not wait 10 or so years on average for a bull tag! Plus, we have to apply for either cow or bull, not both on the same app., so I stick to the cows!

Colorado Elk
 

It was a very slow start for me. I saw a few bulls the first week but never had a shot under 75 yards. Unfortunately, I can not hunt the entire season so I headed back to Florida at the end of the first week of archery. I made it back to Colorado on the evening of 19th and was prepared to stay until the 27th. The day I arrived I made a successful stalk on two full body mule deer mounts and got my liscense checked. The warden thanked me for doing everything right and we were on our way. Day two was a blank. On Monday we overslept so we decided to go seperate ways and do some scouting. 35 minutes after getting in to the woods I herd a bull squeal and the fun began. I gave a light squeal back and he came back with a roar. We exchanged a few bugles and then he turned my way. I quickly realized he was coming my way fast so I charged towards him 70 yards or so, ranged a few trees and connected my release. 30 seconds later he was bugling at 22 yards with a small spruce seperating us with me at full draw. He then walked out, I cow called, and he stopped and looked as I let the arrow fly. He jumped foward and started walking alway. 60 yards later he was down. While I was field dressing my bull another one bugled not far away. The next day we worked him pretty hard but he would run from the call. We got close enough a few times to see he was alone but wasn't up for a challenge. On Wednesday, we got back on him but never called to him. After a three mile chase, he found some cows and held up long enough for my best friend to get a 40 yard shot. The bull went 100 yards before going down. We caped him out for a local taxidermist we know and it turns out he had been shot through the ear with a 4 blade broadhead recently. All in all a great 4 days in the woods. We only have 11 months until next season!

Nice - congrats they are both very nice bulls!

Very nice! Congrats!

Great looking bulls. Congrats to both of you.

Attachment 3480

My cousin and I smoked this bull near our ranch in Southern British Columbia. Public Land bull that gross scores 333 with a broke off brow tine on his left side. We located him with a bugle at the top of a thick drainage and cow called and bugled our way into him. He held up in the thick spruce and willows for a good 25 minutes while a 5x5 snuck around us to get a look. I bugled one last time and this guy finally showed himself at 23yds and I drove him through the lungs with my .300wm. Done deal. Was an exciting hunt!!

Congrats! That is a beautiful animal.

Congrats - well done! It looks like a really nice bull. I was wondering where rifle hunting was open so early - didn't think of BC.

Congrats on your elk. He is beautiful. I also got my first elk last night. Got him with my bow from 50 yards!!!

very nice bulls, what part of colorado where you hunting in?

We were hunting near Montrose.

took a cow
 

Hey all, got a cow here in Idaho. Archery hunt was winding down, didnt want to go home empty. Our Peak1 Frame worked out killer. I packed the entire back 1/2 out for about 1 mile. 107#, however I wont do that again. just had to do it once to see if I could. Frame worked great, legs didnt work as well. Jellllllllllllllllllllllo
Fun hunt though, tracked em through the timber, got a 35yds shot. She went about 80yds.
If any of you are using our product be sure to send us some recent pics! email [email protected]
We are starting a trophy page and would like to ad all we can. Include the hunter name, age, state and type of kill, bow or rifle etc. Thanks All!

well i was hunitng 1st rifle season in colorado this saturday and sunday, hunting not to far from vail on public. their were about 5 other camps up there and nothing was moving around. so in the morning i walked up this very big hill. i was the only person up there cause you can only get there if you walk and you know all these truck hunters wouldnt even walk up their if they knew they could get an elk. anyways i saw alot of sign and could just smell elk, i let off a cow call and 2 cows and a legal bull stood up and took off never giving me a shot, i then cow called to try and stop 1 and a bigger bull down the hill responded. i did the same thing the next day and didnt get anything, but it was sweet hearing all these bulls bugle and im only 17 so i can get my ether sex tag turned into a cow for any late season.

Congrats! 2 quarters at a time... you guys are some mules. Who needs horses...

Took this Colorado bull yesterday. He wasn't the biggest one in the herd but he did give me a good shot.

We spotted the herd early then hiked about a mile into position. Once there they seemed a little spooked and weren't sure where to go. After waiting them out a bit longer they decided to turn and move the direction we wanted them to. A cow moved through the opening first then this bull. Instead of waiting for the entire herd to move through and hoping I had a shot at the big bull, I decided to go ahead and take this respectable one. 5x7 if you count the small kicker on the left.

a boar
 

a few weeks ago went out hunting deer but only got a pig. we wanted the head but we couldn't get it since we didn't have anything to cut through bone.

Very nice sir, very nice. I'm here in Colorado Springs/Falcon too, and will be hunting this weekend, and maybe 3rd season too. Going down to GMU 80. Where did you get that beauty at?

Mav

Thank ya. Hunted in GMU 57, near Salida. We'll be back up that way this weekend to try and get my boy a buck.

Good luck to ya.

got this one on the eastern plains of CO. Private farm land with alot of nice goats on it. I went with a total of four other hunters and we all filled licenses in the course of three days -



and the weekend before I went with my BIL to get this bad boy. This was a once in a lifetime public hunt in North Park, CO -

Very nice, and good luck to your boy this weekend. I'm going to head down to GMU 80 to do some scouting/hunting this weekend, and the next if need be. :)

Mav

skb2706, very nice!!!! Thanks for all your help sir! Some day we'll hook up.

Mav

Nice 5x5
 

This 5x5 trotted in front of me last Saturday morning at a range of 180 feet! His heart just was not into running anymore :) Only bad thing is he fell and died in a stump hole! Thankfully we had a horse to pull him out.

I was antelope hunting two days before opening day for elk. That's the best way to start this story! After a day of hunting goats i decided to get out of the heat and camp up on the mountain. While looking for a camping spot, i found a bunch of elk and dandy ones to boot. I VERY quickly scanned the proc and found out it is a draw unit with only 15 archery tags with no way of getting a tag at this point. So i turned around and went up the road and camped. In the middle of my supper (a can of chili and a hot dog) i hear a fella drive down the road and he bugles. Obviously he has one of the tags i wish i had at this point. He pulls down to my camp and sure enough...he's got a tag. I says to him "Ya lookin' for wapati?". He says yeah, i say "Find 'em?" he says nope. I says "I DID!". He says Really? I says "Yep. Want me to show ya?" He says "Hell yeah!". So i took him and his galfriend the next morning (instead of hunting for goats). We walk over the ridge where i saw the elk, and nothing to be found. So we glass for a minute and off in the distance......a bugle.... My newly acquired friends look at each other and go "He's right!!!!" He looks at me and says "Have you hunted elk before?". I says "yep!". He says "I never have!". Soooooo...i like the guy and his gal, so i call my wife and tell her "i wont be home for opening day of elk season! Instead i'll be taking Dennis huntin" (Wife thinks i'm certifiably crazy now).

So after deciding to hunt together, Dennis and Tara go home and i camped on the mountain. We met opening day 5am. We all hiked about half mile and hear one bugle. We glass, i find elk. I scope the situation, check the wind, and decide where we need to set up. I tell Dennis where the elk are going to come and where to sit. 10 minutes after shooting light we're all set up. I let one holler out, and right away TWO bugles TWO different elk. Dennis looks at me with a big grin! :D One of the bulls is HOT. I reckon he wants a fight. At least that's the way it sounds! Accompanied with a few cow calls, one more good bugle and i could tell this bull hung up 50 yards just out of sight of Dennis. So i grab a stick from the ground where i was sitting. Keep in mind, Tara is sitting right next to me. She'd never been hunting before, let alone elk hunting in the rut! She's giddy hearing all the elk bugling! I go to beating the crap out of the small tree in front of me. Branches breaking, dirt flying. Tara looks at me like i've lost my gourd. Dennis turns around and gives me the "What the hell are you doing?" look. I furiously point at him to LOOK!!! This bull trots out into the opening 12-15 yards in front of him. 6x6, approximately 290-295 tops. Dandy bull! The bull stops broadside with a baby hoochie chirp. Dennis doesn't shoot! Bull busts out. I about DIE. I waved him back over and ask him "WHY didn't you SHOOT????" He says "sagebrush in front of me". Just then i hear a bark from a bull about 80 yards out, just out of sight over the ridge. I figure he's a bigger bull backdoor'ing the first bull. I tell Dennis "Lets go, we gotta get over here! We're not done hunting yet!" As he slowly re-knocks his arrow, i grab him by the collar and run 45 yards dragging him all the way (i was in a hurry!). We set up at the toe of the hill and cow call. Bull #2 grunts. He's over the hill 20 yards from us, but we cant see him. I tell Dennis "Soon as you see elk, draw your bull, he's going to look in this hole". I cow call a few more times, sure enough, there he is! 8 yards, lookin for cows. Dennis (finally...) lets his arrow go and drills him! Double lung! Bull spins and takes off over the ridge. We sit down and eat a candy bar. Dennis is stoked!!! And so am I! I hear a crash that i assume is the bull falling and tell Dennis "First bow hunt, first elk hunt, it lasted 20 minutes! And your elk's down less than 200 yards from the road! It's never this easy! Keep this in mind!"

We go find the bull, 30 yards away, piled up in the sagebrush. I show him how to quarter him out, he did great. An hour and a half later, we were on our way home with a new found lifetime friendship, i'm sure!