Spider bull
 

As anyone heard of or seen the UT world record bull elk? :cool15:

I saw it. They had a replica shoulder mount of it at the Cabelas in Lehi, UT. That is one monster Elk!!!

This bull was being watched all summer while in velvet and when hunting season started he vanished for awhile. The guy who killed it bought the governors tag, $200,000 was the amount making the rounds on the internet. This bull sure stirred alot of emotions from all types of people. There are videos of him on the internet, feeding on grass. He was "dead bull walking" as soon as he was found.

what did he score?

It was over 500, I don't remember the actual score off the top of my head.

I read the stories of the outtfitter tryng to run people out of the area, blocking roads so no one would interfear with the hunt. World record elk and deer is a sport for the rich and famous. I don't get excited looking at these animals any more because they are either farm raised or cost 300,000 to hunt or both. I would rather read a story of the average guy who went into the timber and harvested a raghorn diy.

just looked at some videos of him on youtube and he is a BIGGG!!!Bull!!!

Ya I totally agree :s3:

Well, I'll post my two cents, worth priced charged. I'm an outfitter, and I do not support what happened with the spider bull. I may lose some business by saying this, but I can't help it. If clients paid me to sit my guides on a bull I would walk. I have tremendous respect for elk, for the environment, and for the sport of hunting. What happened with the spider bull was flat out wrong. I believe and fair chase, and always go out of my way to provide clients with the hunt of a lifetime, but I will not cross legal or ethical boundaries. The spider bull deserved better than what he got. I do not outfit for the money, but for the lifestyle. There are just somethings I won't do, and i won't take money for. You only get one crack at life, and I would rather sleep well than eat well.

The Spider bull was taken legally. If you guys have a problem with it take it up with whoever decided to sell the tag.
I don't care if he paid a whole town to "sit" on the bull till he got there. If thats what he wants to spend his money on why should you or I care?
Bottom line is the guy spent a whole lot of money to be able to legally kill an extremely large bull elk that everyone else had a chance to kill. He was successful in his endeavor.

Nobody is arguing the legally, only the ethics, and ethics are an opinion everyone is entitled to. My opinion it was unethical, and I don't need to take that up with anybody but myself, and that is the real bottom line.

If anyone would have interfered with me hunting in an area because they were sitting on a record book animal for a client they would have had to call in backup MAJOR BACKUP. If what they said was true about blocking access roads and harassing hunters I would have found out who they were and things would have not been pretty.

it's funny, I had been putting in for that area, not a great area by UT standards, but easier draw odds, after that bull was taken, the next season odds doubled or tripled!

CLAP!!! CLAP!!! Bravo!! If I or anyone I know needs an outfitter I will be sure to get in touch with you. You are my kind of folk Sir.

Nobody is asking for a prosecution....this isn't a legal argument. In fact I personally do not want to see any laws changed based on what happened with ole Spidey.

This is a personal ethics argument and like many others I just hang my head when I think of the circumstances around this bull. I can't help but wish the bull could have been taken by more noble means. Wonderful bull, disgusting cirumstances. I paid homage to the bull when the he came into town and was on display for a few days but I will not spend one red cent in DVD's or any product with "spider bull" as part of an advertisement or merketing materials.

Bingo ratherbehuntin.........just goes to show there are a lot of people with more $ than they know what to do with. I sat in an airport by a guy who had a huge binder of his 'hunts' and was showing them off to some other folks of how he was a wilderness man and had pics of his endeavors. The whole conversation died when asked if he hunted free range or high fence..... :) He even told me that Cabelas sends him a yearly 'hard back' magazine because of all the $ he spends with him.........I had to chuckle....I get one too.......

How is this somehow less noble? (rhetorical question)
The way that this man shot the bull is the same as you are I paying an outfitter. The only difference is he payed a lot more, and he payed a lot more people. Again how he chooses to spend his money is neither yours or my business.
I cant stand the ethics police spouting off so I guess I am done with this thread.

Ok, had to come back for this.

No it is not any different if someone does a deer drive by my stand. I chalk that up to hunting on public land. They have just as much of a "right" to be there as I do. It happens, and it happens often.

We do not have the right to hunt public land undisturbed. We have the privilege of hunting on public land with a multitude of other people who pay for that privilege.

Nothing at all unethical about the way this bull was taken. It was taken legally on public land! Anyone else could have done the same thing.
People just get hung up on how many people were out there and how much they were paid to do it. Think about it this way...this guy paid $200,000 (or whatever) to hunt on public land that everyone else can hunt for the price of a license.

For goodness sake let the guy enjoy his trophy.

I agree you with both. You both have very good points, and I think that unethical and ethical things happened During this hunt. I dont like how he hired the whole mossback team to sit on the bull and take him right to it. Thats why they call it hunting and not shooting!
But he also did put alot of time, money and planning in the hunt and I think that someone ( like him) who is willing to do all that should be able to kill whatever he wants however big he wants. :party0005:

You make some valid points but I don't understand why you seem to be getting so worked up about it.

Well I guess I must fall under the category of ethics police but so be it. In this case I'm comfortable in my point of view so label me how you like.

Having said that personal ethics are just that. I would worry much more about a person that doesn't have any much more than I worry about the person that doesn't agree with me.

For me hunting is something that should be somewhat pure. While modern advancements have allowed us to take animals more cleanly and at longer ranges some modern technology is not allowed to be used simply for the purity and fairness of it. For example it's illegal to use aircraft to hunt or spot game nearly everywhere during your hunt. There are waiting periods involved. For me personally the way the Spider bull was hunted was just as "unfair" as using aircraft. We all have that "line in the sand" and no two peoples will be exactly the same but for most of us it was crossed in this case.

We may all have a nice mount on the wall, have hunted for inches on the head, and a few of us may even have an animal or two in a book somewhere but there is still something pure and special about hunting hard for an animal. There is nothing special about a bull taken by an army out doing the spotting while king Tut shows up on his ATV ****** to "shoot" said bull while the army cordens off the public area to all other hunters. It wasn't illegal, just what not it's supposed to be about.

To me it's the equivilent of a Father who makes his boy practice baseball like a chore and punishes him when when the boy doesn't do well so that he can be the best little league player in town. It's not illegal, just not what it's supposed to be about. To me little league isn't supposed to be about winning all the time and being the best. It's about learning sportsmanship, being a part of group, and feeling a sense of accomplishment and learning how to lose. It's about frienships and being part of a team. it's supposed to be fun and exciting. So when a father makes it a chore for his son and punishes him it takes away from what it's supposed to be in essence making little league an ugly thing for that boy. Think about it when you pervert something like that you really have to wonder what the point is? Is it just plain chest beating egotistical male hormones talking? Certainly you can't feel a real sense of accomplishment can you?

I can't tell you what hunting is supposed to be about.....only you know what that is for you. For me what happened with the Spider bull ain't got nothin to do with what hunting is supposed to be about.

I'm sure you get my point but I'm cool too with the fact that you don't agree with me. I'm happy to kick the ball around with those who feel differently than I do.

From what I read, it was hunted on public land, The mans name is Denny Austad, a self made millionare.

There was no way that outfitter was letting just anyone else near that bull, public land or not.

Great post :cool15:

If I were you, I would be done with thread also. This is something that can't be argued. You either get it or you don't.

The bull deserved more. What a pathetic way for someone to kill a trophy like that.

When big $ is involved, all the cards are off the table..

how true. :sad:

If anybody got between me and my elk hunting area, their would be problems!! also i think that spider bull is UGLY!!!!! short beams, and stupid looking. its really to bad that our world record elk looks like a farm raised peice of shiz. the way that elk was taken was absolutly stupid and i would not all the guy who shot him or mossback real hunters. but i also dont blame them from wanting to make a buck. i just wish that some lucky guy that drew that tag for that unit ended up coming across him and shooting him. not some old fat guy that can do whatever he wants just because he has tons of money. just my two cents. cant change what has already happened. oh well. im over it.

there seems to be something wrong about that tag auction setup, RMEF did it up here on Dec hunts, 250,000.00 a tag for elk & sheep. However, the F&W folks do need the loot, been a good nbr of people chasing sheep into and/or out of parks and reserves and getting nailed for it.They've even resorted to medallions and chips on the sheep in some areas now. And the biggest bulls up here don't leave the parks until the snow forces them out now. They've done some burns in the parks now that allow the elk and sheep to stay in a little longer, some people can't handle that. Just have to get their names in the record books.

[QUOTE=idahostalker;3589940]If anybody got between me and my elk hunting area, their would be problems!! also i think that spider bull is UGLY!!!!! short beams, and stupid looking. its really to bad that our world record elk looks like a farm raised peice of shiz. the way that elk was taken was absolutly stupid and i would not all the guy who shot him or mossback real hunters.

I totaly agree