Coues 'n' Sheep Report post Posted October 7, 2009 I am posting this for another member, cowman, who was a lucky early rifle tag holder. A great guy, and a Dam good hunter.... We had a Ball!! Thanks Brandon and thanks to "the Guys" as well! Brandon Wrote: After 6 months of anticipation, I am back from my elk hunt with a story to tell. The rut was very slow to start this year but we had a great time and made the most of it. I arrived in my unit 2 days early and hunted 6 of the 7 days. Every day we had at least 3 groups of glassers out looking for "the bull". Lots and lots of good bulls, but no "WOW" bulls. On my drive home, I did an honest inventory of the bulls I personally saw and came up with 71 bulls in 7 days. I had every opportunity to shoot a solid 365" + plus bull opening morning but decided to keep hunting, and I am glad I did. I had tons of help and we covered a lot of country. I had 3 great back-up bulls located in a remote area where there had been no hunting pressure. I could have shot several 340-350" type bulls but kept passing in hopes of finding a bigger bull. The rut was getting stronger by the day and new, bigger bulls kept showing up daily. On day 6, we had a herd of elk in the timber below us at about 400 yards. Gino called 2 of the bulls up to within 30 yards, and a few of the bulls worked up a canyon away from us. That left 4 distinct bugles in the trees with the cows. We decided to get aggressive and snuck in the trees and into the middle of the elk. We spent over 2 hrs trying to locate each of the 4 bulls in the thick junipers and pines. We had elk within 50 yards of us the entire time. We had eliminated 3 of the 4 bulls but could never get a look at the herd bull. Gino nicknamed him "The Joker" because of his distinct laugh-like bugle. The cows had finally had enough of our cow-calling and left the bedding area. The Joker bull initially went with them and then suddenly stopped bugling. We were bummed to have not gotten a better look at him but headed back to the truck. We walked a few hundred yards back the direction we came from when I caught motion to my right moving through the timber. It was the Joker bull trying to sneak out the back door. As he crossed a clearing at less than 60 yards I busted him and he crashed 50 yards away. It happenned very fast. As we approached the bull he just kept getting bigger. He is a 7 x 8 with a non typical right side. He has 21"+ 4ths, 41.5" of width, and 52" main beams. His right side has a split 4th and a kicker off his main. I am thrilled with the bull and had a blast hunting with new and old friends. Special thanks to everyone who helped make this hunt happen; My loving wife Katie, my dad, Gino Wulkotte (Colten and Chris), Chris Harlow, Dean Rovey, Jacob Cannon, Travis Van Haren, Quint Molina, and Greg Elkins. Some of the pictures of my bull can be seen at: http://picasaweb.google.com/katiedleister/...feat=directlink Cheers! -- Brandon D. Leister Here is a pic that really shows off that Non-typ side.... We came out of the woods with 4 quarters, all the boned out meat and the rack on top of my ranger.... 4 guys in the front and all our gear and Zip in the back.... talk about a Polaris commercial in the making!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakehaffey Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Thats a cool lookin bull! Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RAM Report post Posted October 7, 2009 One heck of a bull. Got to love those early rifle elk hunts. -Ryan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapshot Report post Posted October 7, 2009 That sure is a nice bull.! Congrats on the hunt, sounds like a great time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Thats a sweet lookin bull Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stanley Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Congrats on a great bull cowman!!!!! S. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
palivs2hnt Report post Posted October 7, 2009 That is one of the coolest looking bulls I have seen all year. Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
n777ea Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Gotta love that, totally awesome bull man, cowman! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scottk Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Brandon got a nice bull. It was hard to see it on my phone. Sounded like a great time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GameHauler Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Congratulations on a great Bull. Thanks for posting it Gino Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest 300ultramag. Report post Posted October 7, 2009 great bull.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Archer Report post Posted October 8, 2009 That is so awesome the bull is huge how much did it score just curious. Fantastic job on a bull of a lifetime. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowhunter4life Report post Posted October 8, 2009 man oh man, you guys put the time and effort into that beast. congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunterjohnny Report post Posted October 8, 2009 That is just awesome! Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longtalltechsan Report post Posted October 8, 2009 Whoever your photographer is is really good at making things look larger than they are. No way that thing is as big as it looks! That things is outstanding. Great job and great find. Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
