Pine Donkey

I love the color of that bear! Nice job going retro with the 30-30.

Late September-early October the big bucks break away from others and become very solitary. They also become nocturnal much of the time. Hike high in the dark and use good glass to pick everything apart as soon as it begins to get light. They may have moved a little, but they did not pack their bags and leave. I would spend more time looking at the low country leaving up to the mountains than the mountains themself. Good luck.

That's a stud bull. Congratulations to all.

I love the youth hunts. That is a great buck Kyle, congratulations!

Nice elk. Looks like he was working the pares.

Don't paint us all (educators) with the same brush. There are idiots in every profession, there are also good, strong character, people in every profession, even in those which tend to attract lost of liberals.

Hey Becker, I didn't know that was you in the parking lot. My son and I stopped by and talked briefly with you last Friday. We had just packed out my bull from the night before and were headed to 27 to help a friend pack a muzzy bull. You should put a CWT sticker on that trailer! Lol

Toad!!!

Well said

That is wonderful! You and your wife do good work. In ten years I hope to see pictures of Blake sitting behind his first deer or elk. Congratulations!

Great bull, thank for posting the story. Congratulations to all involved.

Back your dies off a bit and you will be fine. You are sizing the shoulder too far down.

After hunting the opening weekend, and being in a lot of bulls everyday, I headed home for 4 long days at work. Thursday night I was back in elk country ready to continue with this increadible hunt. Imagine my disappointment on Friday morning when I did not even hear a bull. All of the sudden the hunt changed from bulls in our laps every time we turn around, to having to work very hard just to find some elk. So, we worked hard; all day, every day. We found mature bulls almost everyday, but between their silence, the wind and our mistakes, I was never able to get a shot. Every morning, every night, and even mid-days we had a new story of "close but no deal". This was the story of the week, right up to "Spike Thursday". Thursday evening the stars finally aligned themselves for us. Mark (MJE1) and I heard a good bugle and moved in. He was on the move, working his cows. We followed him for about 3/4 of a mile, but just could not close the distance. Finally the cows stopped to feed and mill around on a ridge top. Mark spotted him as he ran between all the ladies keeping tabs while bugling at the two satellites that were hanging around. Mark hung back while I snuck in. The elk had seemed pretty call shy, so we stayed quiet. I was able to get into the same ridge, but with all the cows, I was pinned down 53 yards from a couple out lying cows. I had no choice but to freeze there and hope they walked off or he returned. As the sun sank behind the ridge, and darkness crept near, I began thinking of the post I was going to write about "close again but just more tag soup" all while hearing the bull bugle on the other side of the ridge. For the first day in three, the wind blew in one direction instead of four, but these two slow poke cows were ruining everything. About that time, the trees were rattled by an enormous bugle, seconds later, I could see the top points of his rack twisting their way through the burned trees. Within seconds, he had his nose planted in the backside of the cow right in front of me. I settled my 50 yard pin a safe distance behind his shoulder and touched the trigger...you have to be kidding...he stepped forward and nudged his cow just as I released...that shot is too far back...I hope I got the liver...how could I blow that shot. He and his cows were gone before I even knew what happened. I ran to the top of the ridge where he was standing and noticed him standing below me. His cows were gone, and he was still there. I pulled up the rangefinder...86 yards...wait, wait, look at all the blood running down his side. This was the far side when I shot him. He was still up so I figured I better try to shoot him again. 86 yards is well beyond my comfort zone, but I figured I needed to take the shot. This shot dropped in without hitting any of the little branches that sat in the shooting lane, and ended up clipping a lung. I went back over the ridge, flagged up the spot I shot from and the place he was standing. Once I found Mark, we needed to find my backpack that I shed during the stalk. We discussed the situation, the shot and our options in the waning light. We figured we needed to find the arrows, look at the type of blood on them and try to find the blood trail. The first arrow was covered in dark red blood, and the second had pink bubbles on the fletches and there was blood everywhere! After a short track we found my bull, not 200 yards from where he was shot. It was going to be a long night of cutting and packing. My son Garrett was on his way from Flagstaff were he attends college. He met up with Scott, who I had hunted with all hunt, and Jim who was up there for his unit 27 muzzy hunt that started the next morning. Thanks to all of them we were able to get the head, hide, and half the meat packed the 1 1/2 miles to the truck and hang he rest of the meat in a tree. The next morning Scott, Garrett, my parents and I went in and packed out the remaining meet. Mark and Jim hunted 27, where Jim shot a nice 6x6. My bull is a 6x7 with very good mass, and nice tine length on the bottom end. The 7th point is on the bottom right, between the traditional g2 and g3, it is 16 inches long. He scores just under 340, not the biggest we saw, but not bad for a last minute bull. I was blessed to be able to hunt ten days of this hunt thanks to a supportive and understanding wife, good friends who helped every day, Garrett who is amazing at cutting it up using the gutless method ( and carrying the heaviest pack) and parents who open their cabin and feed the crew every season every year. Her is a link to a slide show of the hunt that Garrett put together. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9DuMErY97D9ZVZTN0xUQzZ4UVk/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for posting your story and congratulations on a great bull.

A big bull is one that gets your heart beating hard and makes you shake when trying to settle your pins in.

Great bull. Thanks for posting your story.

Since the Federal government has shut down all non-essential programs as of midnight, does that make today the opening day of wolf season?

Great bulls and a great time spent with your dad. Congratulations!

Great bull first or not. Congratulations!

That is a great OTC bull!

This is an easy question in my eyes. There are three elements present when a child is being raised. The first is basic necessities of life; food, water, shelter, clothing and healthy care. These are non negotiable and every child deserves them. The second is expectations. These can be different within each family and are based on what that family places a value on. With my kids we put a high priority on grades, being drug free, and not having behavior issues. These items are important in our family, and were always places above the fun things. At the same time, things that may be important to others are not a focus in our household, such as keeping your room clean. The third element is the the luxuries. These include hunting, driving a vehicle, cell phones, Internet, TV etc. All the things in this category are used as incentive/reward to ensure category 2 items are accomplished. It comes down to what is important in your household. The last part of the equation is consistancey. If you said they need good grades to hunt, stuck to it. If you are not willing to stick to an ultimatum, don't give it...this is not Syria and you are not the President!

Just one more of her amazing accomplishments. Congratulations!

I wish I had talent like that.

Only thing better than hunting with friends and family is sticking a toad while doing it. Congratulations!

Nice bull, congratulations!