Hunt of a Lifetime

[CorbLand]

lol me not cranking out the full story before people jumped on really derailed this.

Next time either add “to be continued” or quickly add “1,2,3,etc” to the first couple of posts and then edit them to add what you want later.

I feel the pain of having a good tag and it not really working out. I had a good elk tag this year. I went with a guy that him and his family have killed big bulls in the area. The smallest bull they have killed is 330 and a couple between 350 and 390. My expectations were high. It’s a physically demanding hunt. Nearly 7 miles with camp on your back and it was 10.5 miles back to the pickup from where my bull eventually died. (Paying for horses is worth it.)

I don’t think we saw a bull over 340 and the one that would have gone that, was goofy looking and in a complete hell hole. I ended up killing the smallest bull they have ever shot in there. It was expensive, physically demanding, and mentally tough being away from my 7 month old kid for 2 weeks. When I finally got a tape on the bull it didn’t got the 320 I thought it would, I was a little disappointed. But a couple days later, driving home, I got to tell myself that I packed camp in on my back 7 miles, I spent 8 days in there, I got to do it with someone that I admire and respect and I killed my first bull. That’s what that hunt was and means to me.

Same thing happened on a coues hunt for me last year. Paid a guy a chunk of change to pack us in to a place that one teen coues deer have been killed. Shot the biggest one we found in 7 days of hunting and he didn’t break 90. Euroed him and hung him in the wall. When I look at that deer 14 months later, I remember the half day we spent weather in a tent, finding the funniest memes we could find on instagram (we had service at camp), getting life advise, and just the general conversation. That hunt was the most mentally tough thing I had done. We saw very few deer, my wife was 2 months pregnant with our first kid and I was not in a good place mentally. I did it though.

Lot of words to say that eventually you will look back and just be glad you got a chance, saw some good bulls and got to spend time with people you care about. You will probably laugh and still wish you hadn’t shot that bull but everything else will totally out weigh the 40 inches of antler you didn’t get.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

I'm so confused. Your dad was 2000 yards away glassing and messaged you "shooter". You had time to read a message and could not confirm yourself at 150 yards with binos?

Am I summarizing this correctly? And now you've been venting for months on here with novels and multiple threads. Not trying to be a dick but stop blaming your dad and enjoy the meat and adventure you had.

 

[ddd-shooter]

Oh look, everything wrong with “modern” hunting! And not one, but TWO threads worth!!
Sorry you didn’t get the grip and grin you wanted. No Instagram fame for you. Must be a terrible burden to bear. I mean, you only got to hunt a low pressure unit with people you love in beautiful country and brought home hundreds of pounds of meat.

I hope you soon realize the value of the hunt you had cannot be judged based off the bones on top of a bulls head.

 

[PLhunter]

I'm so confused. Your dad was 2000 yards away glassing and messaged you "shooter". You had time to read a message and could not confirm yourself at 150 yards with binos?

Am I summarizing this correctly?

lol, this post is a hunt about a special first buck with my young son. The elk hunt is just to provide contrast of the two very different hunts and how I got the hunt if a lifetime with my boy on a leftover tag after the hunt I had thought would be my big hunt of the year ended in disappointment.

But to answer your question yeah and it’s not too confusing on how. I was on a ridgeline. My dad was with a friend with spotters across the canyon. The bull was bugling down below us on the same slope. We were radioed that the bull bugling below us was a shooter so we moved in on him. Took about 45 minutes to move in. In that time I never got optics on the bull. I moved into the patch of aspens the herd was in. My spotters had eyes on the bull almost that whole time. I saw his cows and worked in for a shot through a gap in the aspens. I got setup on the tripod ranged the cows in the gap and made sure u was centering my peep and well anchored to take a shot in the gap. The bull blew through the gap amped up and stopped just a step away from making it through untouched. I shot. Felt good and the rest is history. Plenty I could have done better and will but also not some implausible situation.

 

[PLhunter]

Oh look, everything wrong with “modern” hunting! And not one, but TWO threads worth!!
Sorry you didn’t get the grip and grin you wanted. No Instagram fame for you. Must be a terrible burden to bear. I mean, you only got to hunt a low pressure unit with people you love in beautiful country and brought home hundreds of pounds of meat.

I hope you soon realize the value of the hunt you had cannot be judged based off the bones on top of a bulls head.

This thread is about an awesome hunt and great experience getting a muzzleloader buck with my 6 year old along. Small buck but my best hunt to date.

 

[ddd-shooter]

This thread is about an awesome hunt and great experience getting a muzzleloader buck with my 6 year old along. Small buck but my best hunt to date.

Yeah I finally got to that part of the thread!!

 

[PLhunter]

Oh look, everything wrong with “modern” hunting! And not one, but TWO threads worth!!
Sorry you didn’t get the grip and grin you wanted. No Instagram fame for you. Must be a terrible burden to bear. I mean, you only got to hunt a low pressure unit with people you love in beautiful country and brought home hundreds of pounds of meat.

I hope you soon realize the value of the hunt you had cannot be judged based off the bones on top of a bulls head.

lol don’t even have instagram. I wanted to get the most out of the tag. A mature bull and all that goes into getting one, the experience included was part of that. We were all bummed it was over, we were having a good time and chasing those special bulls is what made it so fun. I don’t think being disappointed and being honest about it needs to be spun into the worst possible of motives for wishing it was different.

I was disappointed in the hunt I was so excited for that I thought would be my best hunt of the year and ended up having an amazing hunt on my leftover tag. Note, that the antlers aren’t huge but I was elated. We don’t have to make everything so black and white.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I’m so confused.

 

[StupidLightweight]

I’m so confused.

You aren't alone. This is the strangest hunt recap I've read.

 

[PredatoronthePrairie]

You're lucky if your Dad is still around to care about about what you shoot.

You're lucky if your wife pretends to care.

No one else cares. No one.

Be happy, or don't. But sometimes it best to move along with life.

 

[Chris in TN]

Is this the thread where people complain about 6 point bulls?

 

[intunegp]

I'm a native flatlander who has spent the past 12 years hunting a "shoot the first legal thing you see" type of unit that I can get a tag for every year and my dad can join me because we can hunt it in a way that isn't physically demanding for him. I'm up to four skulls now following my "not paying for a euro unless it is bigger than the last one" philosophy.

Every year that I'm dropping off an incrementally bigger raghorn than I've previously poked, I'm absolutely floored at how huge a 300"+ bull is when you're standing next to that rack. I hope to shoot one someday and I hope to never get so trophy-minded that I'm disappointed by a bull that even approaches that size.

 

[CorbLand]

Also wanted to add that most people truly don’t know what a big bull really is. Most swear up and down that they pass 330 bulls when most of the bulls they are passing are probably 260.

Hang him on the wall and tell people he is 340. The vast majority will believe you. Yes, this is sarcasm.

 

[CorbLand]

I'm a native flatlander who has spent the past 12 years hunting a "shoot the first legal thing you see" type of unit that I can get a tag for every year and my dad can join me because we can hunt it in a way that isn't physically demanding for him. I'm up to four skulls now following my "not paying for a euro unless it is bigger than the last one" philosophy.

Every year that I'm dropping off an incrementally bigger raghorn than I've previously poked, I'm absolutely floored at how huge a 300"+ bull is when you're standing next to that rack. I hope to shoot one someday and I hope to never get so trophy-minded that I'm disappointed by a bull that even approaches that size.

They feel even bigger when you put them on your back and you have to be a contortionist to get through all the trees and brush packing one out.

 

[Valumpessa]

I read your other thread on the bull.. hadn't seen it until now. I'm with some of the others and felt it was just a whine fest, with no real mention of appreciation for the experience or the 6 point bull you killed. Just complaints and excuses it wasn't "trophy" enough.
Fast forward and I think you kind of redeemed yourself here. Refreshing to hear some positivity in this recap and good times amongst 3 generations of hunters. Congrats.

 

[Cmf88]

I’d love to go on one more hunt with my dad. I wouldn’t care if it was a rag horn or cow. Actually wouldn’t care if we got anything at all. Congrats on your hunt with you son.

 

[PLhunter]

I linked the other thread so that hopefully people who were looking to punch down on someone for a honest reflection and not more empty platitudes could go there and people wanting to talk about hunting with kids and how special that can be could stay here.

 

[PLhunter]

Also wanted to add that most people truly don’t know what a big bull really is. Most swear up and down that they pass 330 bulls when most of the bulls they are passing are probably 260.

Hang him on the wall and tell people he is 340. The vast majority will believe you. Yes, this is sarcasm.

Ha I think you may understand that it’s not score or anything that I was stuck on. Myself and my team had a goal. Not a score goal but an experience goal that was tied to a mature bull worthy of the rare tag. There are reasons outside of instagram or just a head on the wall for having the goal of a specific special animal on a specific special tag. I shoot first bull I see when that’s the best use of a tag and try to drag a tag out when it’s called for. Making the most of my time in the field. When we bungle it up a bit and miss our goals on rare opportunities in life I think it’s natural to have regrets and want to hash out what we could do better on the next time. I set out with a goal on that hunt with my boy and this time we crushed it. Big score not required.

 

[PLhunter]

I'm a native flatlander who has spent the past 12 years hunting a "shoot the first legal thing you see" type of unit that I can get a tag for every year and my dad can join me because we can hunt it in a way that isn't physically demanding for him. I'm up to four skulls now following my "not paying for a euro unless it is bigger than the last one" philosophy.

Every year that I'm dropping off an incrementally bigger raghorn than I've previously poked, I'm absolutely floored at how huge a 300"+ bull is when you're standing next to that rack. I hope to shoot one someday and I hope to never get so trophy-minded that I'm disappointed by a bull that even approaches that size.

I’m not a trophy minded person year to year. Reference the doe and small whitetail I shot and was over joyed with on the hunt write up. The elk tag was a special tag and I wanted to do it justice not just for some trophy or number but because chasing a special animal is what makes those hunts so special. I screwed it up well before I was ready for the experience to end. I think some remorse and desire to reflect on what could be done better next time is natural. If people want to spin that to mean I am some trophy obsessed monster hell bent on fame and fortune not much I can do to stop them short of lying about how I felt in that moment.

 

[PLhunter]

I’d love to go on one more hunt with my dad. I wouldn’t care if it was a rag horn or cow. Actually wouldn’t care if we got anything at all. Congrats on your hunt with you son.

Those hunts are special. I’ve been doing it since I was three. I know I’m lucky. We have been at different stages in our hunting journey the last decade plus but those lowkey general rifle hunts with my dad are always special. Being the father this time and getting to share the experience with my dad back at “camp” was extra special. I’m not kidding when I say that little buck might be my favorite hunt of all time. Sure, when a hunt goes sideways we might get upset with each other but when the dust settles we are able to talk it out to figure out what we each could do better for the next time around. I savor every “next time” I get.