Wyo Gen Archery - Are you shooting?

[BigCountry49]

He’s at least a 300” bull right?

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Blackstraps? Check
Rib meat? Check
Two hind quarters? Check
Two front quarters? Check
Tenderloins? Check
Tag for any bull in pocket? Check

Antlers are cool. Dinner from a full freezer is cooler.

 

[Elktaco]

Only if my name was cnelk. Then I would shoot it in the head.

 

[Warmsy]

Elk virgin here. I'll shut that with my recurve any day of the week

 

[MightyWhitey]

you ever ate a elk burger before?

I have not. But by God I’m going to this year!

 

[Roguemountainhunter]

I'm questioning my self right now!

 

[NYyotekiller]

Yep. That would be a perfect first elk for me.

 

[FlyGuy]

Mo’ Antler = Mo’ Problems

Shoot that bull! After the meat is tended to just hacksaw off the skull cap and be on your way. Drive home happy and fulfilled and nail the rack up in the garage when you get home.


But, if I kill a big bull… then I’ve got big problems. First off, now I’ve got to make an extra trip out of the head and cape. Then, since I live down in TX, I’ve got to scramble to find a local taxidermist that I don’t know the first thing about and hope he does a good job. Then it costs me about $1500 for the mount. Then it costs me $600 to ship said mount down to TX. Then I get to have a GIGANTIC fight with my wife about said mount being in the house. And eventually it ends up awkwardly hanging in my garage…

 

[Ucsdryder]

You used 5 PPs to draw a Wyo Gen tag.

You can only hunt the archery season and only have 6 days to hunt.

This bull comes in to your calling at 35yds.

Are you shooting?


View attachment 581017

Nope, because that bull is in Colorado!

No chance I’m shooting that bull in Wyoming with 5 points. I’ll take tag soup if necessary.

 

[blakees307]

It’s a pass for me. But if someone else would shoot that’s cool too. You do you


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[Jethro]

I’ll be there this year with 4pts. This will be my 5th year to elk hunt and still haven’t killed one. I’m not shooting that one. Wish me luck ha.

Is that true, Mighty? Haven't killed an elk in 4 trips but would pass on the bull in post 1? Just curious, why?

 

[Ucsdryder]

Is that true, Mighty? Haven't killed an elk in 4 trips but would pass on the bull in post 1? Just curious, why?

Too many YouTube videos.

 

[ikeG]

Do it for the 'gram

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[Jethro]

Too many YouTube videos.

Nuh-uh, you think? For his first elk?

 

[Ucsdryder]

Nuh-uh, you think? For his first elk?

He’s not the only one on here that’s never killed a bull that’s “passing” on legal bulls. You don’t realize how exciting it is to shoot a bull and how much goes into making the perfect shot and killing a 500 pound animal with a pointy stick.

Keep passing smaller bulls and when you finally get a chance at a 260” bull, you’ll crap your pants, mess up the shot and still have no bull.

 

[Laramie]

Strange, that was not my experience at all.

Seriously? That’s like a 200 inch bull. I thought Wyoming had bigger bulls than that.

The general areas are the worst wyoming has to offer. They are unlimited for residents so they are treated as meat hunts by the majority of the population. Bulls die young frequently. Of course some live to be old but it sure isn't like LQ areas where the majority live to be old.

I think nonresident hunters have built the general hunts up to be a heck of a lot more than what they are. Some good bulls are taken but a heck of a lot of hunters don't even get an elk much less see one like was posted.

 

[Buglebrush]

My brother and I hunted the Gen bow season last year. He killed a 293" 6x and I passed 4 opportunities at 300" class bulls holding out for one of the Giants we saw. Nearly killed one too, and was happy with my choice despite going home empty handed. Nobody else can tell you what success looks like, and a big factor for me was the 200#'s of elk still in my freezer. I've also killed a lot of bulls and am looking for that 340"+ at this point.

 

[dtrkyman]

Nah.

 

[TheViking]

He’s not the only one on here that’s never killed a bull that’s “passing” on legal bulls. You don’t realize how exciting it is to shoot a bull and how much goes into making the perfect shot and killing a 500 pound animal with a pointy stick.

Keep passing smaller bulls and when you finally get a chance at a 260” bull, you’ll crap your pants, mess up the shot and still have no bull.

Absolutely agree with this. There is something to be said for getting experience in actually killing animals. Anyone can call them in, anyone can hunt for 10 days straight, actually executing a lethal shot is something totally different.

I have a friend who passes on smaller bulls because he wants to kill a ‘wall hanger’, yet he has never killed an animal with a bow to date. I don’t get his mindset. The time, money and effort he has into bowhunting for the last 10 years to never come home with something? Blows me away.

I’ll smoke a cow last day if I have to to fill my freezer. Having an empty freezer all winter really sucks.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Absolutely agree with this. There is something to be said for getting experience in actually killing animals. Anyone can call them in, anyone can hunt for 10 days straight, actually executing a lethal shot is something totally different.

I have a friend who passes on smaller bulls because he wants to kill a ‘wall hanger’, yet he has never killed an animal with a bow to date. I don’t get his mindset. The time, money and effort he has into bowhunting for the last 10 years to never come home with something? Blows me away.

I’ll smoke a cow last day if I have to to fill my freezer. Having an empty freezer all winter really sucks.

My first bull that I killed with a bow, shot one in the shoulder prior, was a a small 5x6 rag horn. I can still remember cow calling as he came in screaming. I was standing next to a big willow bush. He had to come over a rise about 20 yards from me. I came to full draw when I saw his antler tips coming up the hill. I felt something weird, it was my right leg. It was shaking uncontrollably. That was quite a while ago and I can still give a second by second recap of that encounter, including weather, location, time of day, color of the trees, etc.

What’s the point? The point is, I was shitting my pants over a rag horn to the point I could barely control my legs.

Last year my heart rate didn’t even increase. I killed my bull, looked back at my wife and said “he’s done”.

I’d love to have that same feeling I had on my first bull, but that was a touch and go moment on a rag horn. My mentality now is much more likely to end in a dead bull than my mentality then.

If my first bull was a 300 plus I’m not sure I would have sealed the deal.

Oh and my first bull I shot with my bow? Didn’t aim, he came in to 10 feet broadside, hit him a foot from where I should have. 2” of penetration and he ran off with my arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

My wife’s first bull? I was standing behind her. A bull was SCREAMING at her 20 yards away broadside. He probably bugled 100 times and she was a wreck. He stood there, and I said “shoot”. She was at full draw and at the sound “sh…” she jerked that trigger like it was her job. Never looked at the sight, didn’t look through the peep, just fired one off. She hit 6 feet behind the bull and squared up a nice fir tree. The bull bucked and kicked and ran up the hill to our left and stopped again. She then put the next arrow into the dirt 2 feet from her foot at 3/4 draw.

She fired 3 shots that night. The closest she got to killing the bull was 6 feet at 20 yards!

Kill the first bull you have a chance, then you can do it for the gram.