gledeasy
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2015
- Messages
- 264
Watch the video, read the story, or do both.
This year my older brother had the points needed to draw this tag. I originally planned on spending the whole week with him, but that changed during the CO app season. The timing of my youngest boy turning 12 required us to change our plan from 2nd to 3rd season. The downside being that opening day was the same for both the elk hunt and 3rd season. I told my brother I would give him through Monday night. However, after that I needed to focus on getting my boy his first buck.
I got to the mountain a day early and looked at my regular spots. There was more snow than previous late hunts. Which was good for finding bulls in some areas and bad for others. Friday night I found a definite shooter. However, some young kids were hiking the mountain and having an elk hunt of their own. I watched the bull go from a killable spot to not knowing where to find him the following day.
As you know with hunting, finding and getting close enough for the harvest are two different things. Opening day we saw lots of elk. A few fringe shooters, but mostly small bulls. We weren't planning on hunting Sunday, so when night fell we left for church the next day. We returned Sunday night and glassed a new area but didn't turn anything up.
Monday morning we had a plan to watch and hike into a deep canyon. After a bunch of back and forth hiking, a bull was located and the hunt was on. My brother and I worked ourselves into position as friends and family kept an eye on things.
As soon as we reached our destination, we spotted some bulls feeding over a ridge and out of sight away from us. We remained patient as we learned the original bull wasn't in that group. As we glassed, a new bull appeared. A quick look showed an extra point and I knew we needed to take this bull.
At 330 yards, I watched as my brother touched off the first shot from the 7prc. A hit, right in the shoulder. "Put another one in him, right in the same spot!" Boom... right in the boiler. With elk, my motto is to shoot until down. "That's a dead bull, but put one more in him!" The third shot hit him in the exact same spot as the second. The bull tipped over and slid down the hill.
It was noon. Everything had worked out perfectly. Things happened so fast I wasn't exactly sure of the bulls size, but figured he would grow on us. And that he did! Besides his 10" extra off of his sword, he had a 6" extra curling off of his base.
It was a great hunt with friends and family. The pack out turned into a bit of a saga, but I'll save that story for another day.
This year my older brother had the points needed to draw this tag. I originally planned on spending the whole week with him, but that changed during the CO app season. The timing of my youngest boy turning 12 required us to change our plan from 2nd to 3rd season. The downside being that opening day was the same for both the elk hunt and 3rd season. I told my brother I would give him through Monday night. However, after that I needed to focus on getting my boy his first buck.
I got to the mountain a day early and looked at my regular spots. There was more snow than previous late hunts. Which was good for finding bulls in some areas and bad for others. Friday night I found a definite shooter. However, some young kids were hiking the mountain and having an elk hunt of their own. I watched the bull go from a killable spot to not knowing where to find him the following day.
As you know with hunting, finding and getting close enough for the harvest are two different things. Opening day we saw lots of elk. A few fringe shooters, but mostly small bulls. We weren't planning on hunting Sunday, so when night fell we left for church the next day. We returned Sunday night and glassed a new area but didn't turn anything up.
Monday morning we had a plan to watch and hike into a deep canyon. After a bunch of back and forth hiking, a bull was located and the hunt was on. My brother and I worked ourselves into position as friends and family kept an eye on things.
As soon as we reached our destination, we spotted some bulls feeding over a ridge and out of sight away from us. We remained patient as we learned the original bull wasn't in that group. As we glassed, a new bull appeared. A quick look showed an extra point and I knew we needed to take this bull.
At 330 yards, I watched as my brother touched off the first shot from the 7prc. A hit, right in the shoulder. "Put another one in him, right in the same spot!" Boom... right in the boiler. With elk, my motto is to shoot until down. "That's a dead bull, but put one more in him!" The third shot hit him in the exact same spot as the second. The bull tipped over and slid down the hill.
It was noon. Everything had worked out perfectly. Things happened so fast I wasn't exactly sure of the bulls size, but figured he would grow on us. And that he did! Besides his 10" extra off of his sword, he had a 6" extra curling off of his base.
It was a great hunt with friends and family. The pack out turned into a bit of a saga, but I'll save that story for another day.
