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17 years of waiting to draw the Elk tag of a lifetime and less than two hours into the hunt I pass on this guy… http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/s-pass1_zpse14a7848.mp4.html Now, before the calls for the straitjacket get started give me a minute to explain. In preparation for this hunt, I spoke to several people about my special tag and what my expectations should be and every one of them said the same thing – “SAVOR it you will only get it once!!!” So, that’s what my goal became. I refused to lock myself into a number and focused on finding experiences that would allow me to truly savor the hunt. After considerable reflection, I was able to define what I wanted to get out of the hunt. First, I didn’t what to be pressured by others in the field – I was fortunate enough to share SunDevils’ unit 10 Trophy Hunt last year and it seemed all too common to run into other hunters/guides. Even though Chris took a great bull the pressure from others in the field in my assessment took a little away from the experience so I wanted to try to avoid that with my hunt. Secondly, I wanted to get up close and personal with the elk – I set goals to see as many elk as I could, get as much video as possible and most importantly be so close to the elk I could feel their bugles. I was fortunate that I was able to fulfill these goals beyond my wildest dreams. Between five scouting trips and six days of hunting we looked at nearly 75 different bulls – maybe even more. Here are some of the highlights: http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/S-louie_zps4d732f50.mp4.html http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/louie_zps4d9e1837.mp4.html http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/Spar2_zps233a63d4.mp4.html http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/Bull2_zps1349efab.mp4.html http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/scouttripbull_zpsdf6dd3b6.mp4.html http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/5x6bull_zpsb341fabe.mp4.html In six days of hunting we had eight or nine different stalks (we had so much going on its hard to remember exactly how many) on bulls none of which would have happened had I shot the first bull. So I’m happy to say there are absolutely no regrets on passing him on the first morning. On four separate occasions, I was less than 75 yards from bulls rutting cows and at times I was less than 40 yards away. On one of those occasions, I was fortunate to witness the herd bull defend his harem from 3 different satellite bulls – I failed to get much video of this as I was giving serious consideration to taking the herd bull and by the time I decided to pass they had all moved off. You will have to take my word for it that it’s truly amazing to witness first hand a herd bull at 50 yard charging a satellite bull to reclaim his cows. The small amount of vide I did take isn’t in a format that the new Windows 8 recognizes so I’m not able to post. On another occasion, I stalked into a herd that when I started only had 2 bulls in it. By the time I got close, less than 40 yards from some cows, I was in the middle of 5 different bulls screaming their heads off. The experience was so intense I got caught up in the moment and missed a rather close range shot on a really nice bull. . Here’s some video of the bull that started the chase. He’s a little hard to see as I’m about a mile and half away but if you watch closely you can see how big his frame is and you get a good glimpse of his awesome 4ths. http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/MondayMorningBull1_zpsa616d18a.mp4.html The final occasion was on a really nice bull we believe we had given chase to the night before only to have run out of light. We relocated him around 9:00am Wednesday morning and gave chase for almost 2 hours. He had a really distinctive bugle that allowed us to follow him for over a mile and half without ever seeing him. Unfortunately during the stalk we bumped his cows and they picked up their pace. Shortly after which we bumped a small 5x5 satellite bull at less than 40 yard. This ended our chase as the small bull although not totally spooked quit bugling halting the bigger bull’s bugles. Without him talking there was no way to locate him in the thick trees so we called off the chase and called to be picked up. http://s99.photobucket.com/user/scoutm5909/media/TuesdayBull_zpsfb25e92e.mp4.html After being picked up we made contact with the rest of our team and found that they had bedded what they felt were a couple nice bulls. We decided to make a run to look at them before they got up. It took us about an hour to get to where they were glassing from. We took a quick look at them through their spotting scopes and decided they warranted a closer look. We had a brief discussion about the best approach and we were off. Fortunately, at what we thought would be about 300 yards from the bulls, there was a small hill that gave some elevation and a chance at locating them in their beds. Compared to some of the other stalks the approach was going to be relatively easy with perfect wind and flat terrain. The only true obstacles were three fences we had to cross, one of which made a serious attempt to commandeer my “left one”. I will spare the details and just say I think I will be going under fences for the foreseeable future. Upon reaching the hill we proceeded to pick the bedding area apart finding only cows. At one point, the wind changed and blew our scent directly into the bedding area. This got a small bull up and in seconds he had us pegged as we were exposed on the open hill side trying to find the bedded bull we were after. Fortunately, a few cows got up to feed and settled the small bull down. After about 45 minutes the sun was high enough in the sky lighting up the big bull and forcing him out of his bed. He slowly fed towards the cows and smaller bull. We had identified three openings we thought he would cross. One was just under 475 yards, another at around 500 yards and the smallest was 540. I set my scope turrets to 500 yards and waited. I watched a few cows feed through the 500 yard opening making me more confident he would walk through it. After a few flirtations with stepping out he finally stepped into the clear and I let it fly – BOOM…WHAAAP! He ran behind a big juniper not to reemerge. A few cows stopped and looked behind the juniper almost as if they were encouraging him to get up – he didn’t and they moved off. We packed up our gear and went to claim our prize. Unfortunately, I discovered I hit too much shoulder and not enough vitals and had to put another round in him to finish him off. Upon putting my hands on his rack I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Disappointment not in the well earned trophy but disappointment that the experience had ended. Disappointment that there would be no more early morning bugles, no more glassing up previously unseen bulls, no more chases through the pines and junipers. The 18 year wait and the most exciting hunting experience of my life were over. There was so much more to this hunt - far too many events (big climbs, risky descents, quads blowing stalks, missed shots) and details (sounds, smells, thoughts and feelings) to include in a short story so I will leave it at this was the single greatest hunting experience of my life largely because of the fantastic group of guys I was able to share it with!!! Thanks to Chris B, Chris R, Dave B, Warren H, Stephen D and Graham!!! It wouldn’t have been the same hunt without all of you being a part of it. Can’t wait for the next tag to be drawn. I’d also like to thank a few others anonymously- they know who they are. Your advice, support and intel was extremely valuable and greatly appreciated. Side notes: The opening morning bull was not found again after Saturday Morning. We thought he was killed by another guy we know Sunday Morning but after close inspection of the video I took and his bull’s rack it was determined it wasn’t the same bull but had to be his brother. His bull was killed within 1000 yards of where we found the opening morning bull and within 500 yards of where we last saw the opening morning him. His bull scored 375” and it was agreed it’s a tossup as to which one is bigger.