Alpinebullwinkle

Great video. Were you filming from a temporary ground blind?

Like someone already stated........in September most shots will be close range........therefore hand grenades will be the most deadly!

I seem to find a dead bull almost annually that I presume is killed by another bull

Huntlines if I understand you correctly I have to disagree with you. Whatever definition of "abandoned" a person might go buy........ under no circumstances is it justified to mess with other people's property.......in the forest or anywhere. Guess I am just an old geezer brought up in a different era when people had more respect for other people's property than currently. I have found numerous tree stands in the forest left for years (and seemingly abandoned) but the thought of taking them never occurred to me

I wouldn't be surprised if the low lives used the Forest Service's favorite phrase "abandoned" to justify to themselves their dastardly deeds

0.46 inch of rain in Alpine so far today

Jolly good show ole chap! You not only shot a tremendous buck........ but you also shot out most of your upside potential for future hunts!

Are you taking a salt survey to see which color they prefer? My guess is white!

I realize from the bulls we have harvested and measured for the book that pictures can be very deceiving. Having acknowledged that, calling this bull only 320-340 is a joke in my mind.

Just curious what everyone thinks the calf crop % is this year based on their outings in units #27 &1 ? Admittedly I have been disappointed post Wallow Fire thinking the nutrient benefits from the fire would bring back the birthrate and survival of elk calves to the 1990's standard of around 50%, which we used to see customarily on an annual basis. I haven't seen that expectation the last 5 post fire years, but this year might be close to the magic number from what I have viewed? What has everyone else noticed? I realize this is probably a two part question. The first being what is the birthrate % viewed? The other might be what is the survival rate by August due to predation impact, which now seems more impactful than in the 1990's due to wolves and coyotes?

I should have added mountain lions and bears to the predator group as well. It does seem to me that we have had a population explosion of bears.......but that could be simply because the same bear levels are now squeezed into 50 % of their desirable real estate due to the Wallow Fire devastation.

Wack him and send us the official score please

From what I have seen and experienced so far in the woods the elk are more vocal earlier this year. I suspect due to the cooler than normal weather in the mountains. On the other hand, the horn rubbing seems a week behind which I suspect might be due to the dryer than usual spring we had. Horn quality seems average at best. As for the upcoming rut?? Who knows. Every year seems to hold some surprises and learnings for me. Good luck elk hunters!!

My father-in-law always said that he never killed a deer before 8:30 AM. And he killed many record book mule deer in his day. I would always respond to him that was because he never got out in the field to hunt before 8:30. Yes...........I would always get the son-in-law look back from him! I sure miss harassing him now that he is in the happy hunting ground.

Very impressive buck. Please tell us more about your story of this great success

Yes. The other day, August 15 I got into a herd of cows really quacking with excitement. The reason was two bulls were bugling following them from their beds. Almost every year around August 16-17 the elk seem to have a vocal pre-function function warming up the opera. Then they go quiet until about Labor Day. This year seems normal in that respect.......but not necessarily considering the horn rubbing I guess.

I'm starting this thread to see who finds the first bull elk rub of the year. As I recall, the earliest I have ever found a rub was August 4 a few years back. Who is going to be first this year?

Saw three different bulls rubbing their horns yesterday. One bull about 355-360 was still running with a 360-370 bull. Watched both rub their horns from 40 yards for the first time (velvet and blood dripping from their horns). Seems to me this is about one week late for this size of bulls to start rubbing their horns. What I recall is about August 10 should have been the normal time for them. Anyone else think the rubbing activity might be a week or so late this year? Could be from the unusually dry spring.

My first lion I ever called in was with a diaphragm cow elk call when the elk cows were dropping their babies. Made it sound like a mama having birthing problems. At least that is what I was attempting to sound like. Shot a skinny female lion like this one that was famished with my 44 mag pistol at 30 yards. Aimed for mid-section and got her in the neck. Only missed my target by about 2 feet but still got her!! Found porcupine quills in her mouth which is why she was so famished and probably came into my call so easily. She is now mounted in my cabin and looks much better (back to her normal fighting weight) than when I let the air out of her! She originally looked like your picture which reminded me of that experience.

I'm seeing the same thing as you GG on my cameras. Coues seem behind schedule but bulls are mixed with some normal and some behind. I'm guessing some have been affected by the less than normal spring/monsoon rainfall to date.

Bingo!!!!!

Were fresh shavings at the bottom of the tree? If so, congratulations you are the winner of the contest!

Sometimes when I retrieve a camera and find some good pictures I put the camera back in the same spot for more good pictures a few days/weeks later. In that case how is someone to determine whether my camera was "abandoned" or not? That word "abandoned" is just an excuse for thievery in my book. I've found tree stands that have been in the same spots for years, but I would never use that excuse to take other peoples property.........legitimately abandoned or not!

I retrieved a camera the other day that had been out for about 2 months and worked successfully up until the last two weeks. I found the camera turned off and when I turned it back on I found 40% battery life remaining. So I am wondering if lightning might have shut the camera off on me? Looks like the camera is in fine order for more pictures. Anyone else ever experienced this issue?

If you have cell coverage where you desire to place your camera then you are in the wrong spot.........try to get into a more remote spot....... unless you are a meat hunter!