Redbeard Report post Posted September 24, 2007 effenjeff wins! Actually I did a pretty quick job taping him. Now that the skull is clean I'll try to get a little more accurate but it should be pretty close to 370, give or take an inch. If I could take pictures like Josh I could make him 400! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Azlongears Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Holy Moly Dunn!!!!!! That is awesome, you an elk huntin fool no doubt!!!!! Congrats man!! Sounded like a heck of a pack out, glad I wasn't there Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redbeard Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Yeah Andy, last year you ran my bull off so you wouldn't have to help pack him out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Azlongears Report post Posted September 24, 2007 You ruined me for packing elk out with your Non-Typ bull I was along for. I'm still dizzy from that hike. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peloncillo Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Awesome bull!! Way to go! Those are some long main beams. Keven Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azhuntnut Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Looks like a pretty dang good bull to me. I think they call that finding a needle in a hay stack. Good job, and great pics. David Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redbeard Report post Posted September 24, 2007 That wore you out!? It was only half a mile and we had help so only had to make one trip. Sure it was half a mile straight up fighting through brush and it was 95 degrees and we were out of water but jeeze! Come to think of it, that did suck. Thanks for the help. I actually kind of enjoyed packing this one. It was dark, raining a little, and the woods were silent. All that existed was what I could see within the little spot of light thrown by my headlamp. The world was very small and my life was very simple for a few hours. No more trying to figure out where and how to hunt tomorrow. For the last two months I had spent almost every spare moment scouting or thinking about this hunt, trying to figure out these units and the nomadic elk that seemed like ghosts that just left tracks. Now I had nothing to figure out, nowhere to be and was in no hurry. I had my bull and everything had worked out like a dreamed it might. There was nothing to do but work and reflect on my hunt. I was just in a trance. It kinda reminded me of when I was rock climbing all night on El Capitan in Yosemite a long time ago. I was a couple thousand feet off the ground but it just didn't feel like it cause all I could see was the rock right in front of me. It was very calming. This time I just put my head down and kept doing laps until it was all at the truck. It was kinda weird stumbling back up that hill trying to find the same route I took the last time but eventully I'd see the little flashing light I left in a tree near the bull, load up again and stumble back down. I also had a lantern going at the truck so I could find it and every time I got down with a load there was that rack glowing in the light. I'd move the lantern to a different spot each time so I could see the rack in a different way on the next trip. Every time I dropped off a load it looked better. However every time I passed one particular dirt spot I'd see my bulls tracks mixed in with some cow tracks and it made me really sad. His life had been pretty good that morning. Being alone you get to think about stuff like that. It ain't all about scores and trophy photos. I have done a lot of hunting and scouting alone and it is a very different experience than hunting with friends. Everybody should try it sometime. I really like the freedom and focus I get hunting alone but it isn't as much "fun" as hunting with others. Someimes it isn't "fun" at all. Packing out a big bull alone in the dark is really different but very rewarding (when it's over.) I get some kind of satisfaction from all of it. I guess I feel like I have to suffer a little to deserve to take an animal. Packing it out is just paying my dues and putting some closure on the whole ordeal. Kinda twisted I guess. When I was driving home I thought, "Next year I'm just going to put in for a bonus point. I just don't need to keep working so hard scouting, hunting, and packing." It can be like an addiction for me. One old old friend of mine says, "You can turn anything into work." He understands because he was raised by a Dad just like mine who forcefully instilled a work ethic into each of us. I continued thinking, "I have nothing to prove to myself or anybody. Why do I keep doing this?" Even Janice is bugging me to stop. She says to just kill a young cow. Phoebe (age six) keeps asking me, "Daddy where are you going to put this one?" Then Sat. a new friend named Clint says, "Well, lets see you've killed big bulls with rifle, muzzleloader, and bow. I guess you have to do it with your longbow next time." Suddenly I feel like elk hunting again next year. It's all about the challenge to me. There is so much more to be gained from hunting than most of us take advantage of. Of course I missed out on the part about time with friends on this hunt. Sorry about getting all philosophical here but I'm still high from my hunt.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Great read. I too love hunting alone. You go where you want, when you want. You quit when you want and keep charging forward when you want. If you feel like sleeping in one morning, you can, without guilt. If you feel like getting up 3 hours earlier than normal, you do that without guilt also. You eat the foods you like, hunt the terrain you like, etc. Hunting with friends and family has it's place, but to me, the solo hunt is always a success, even if you never fling and arrow or pull the trigger. The alone time to think and clear your mind from the rat race is priceless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redbeard Report post Posted September 24, 2007 DB, Exactly. For me it's canned chili mixed with minute rice for dinner, or a few spoonfuls of Safeway potato salad if I'm too tired. Frosted miniwheats or poptarts for breakfast. Drive to new spots at night. Hike in the dark sleep next to the truck or wherever I'm gonna hunt in the morning so I don't have to drive anywhere. When you wake up quietly and in the woods with the animals you become part of the system. It does get lonely, so I love my XM radio. Some people are afraid of the dark. Especially when they are alone. I got over that a long time ago. I might be 2-5 miles from camp or my truck when it gets dark. I remember Andy asking me one time, "Do you ever hike out in the light?" If you want to hunt primetime you need to get used to hiking in the dark. GPS sure helps for this. My biggest fault as a hunter is that I am not a morning person. The only time I willingly wakeup with a time starting with a number less than 5 is while I'm hunting. It is just as well that I am alone then. cjd Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ402 Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Very cool Chris, congrats.......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coues7 Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Congrats Redbeard! AWESOME ELKS TO A VERY REWARDING AND HARDWORKING INDIVIDUAL!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shortpants Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Congratulations on an amazing bull for any hunt anywhere, let alone a L.O. hunt. I wish you hadn't posted the score yet cuz I was thinking that thing had 370 written all over it. I don't know what everybody else was seeing but that thing looks huge! Way to go! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Switchback Report post Posted September 24, 2007 That wore you out!? It was only half a mile and we had help so only had to make one trip. Sure it was half a mile straight up fighting through brush and it was 95 degrees and we were out of water but jeeze! Come to think of it, that did suck. Thanks for the help. I actually kind of enjoyed packing this one. It was dark, raining a little, and the woods were silent. All that existed was what I could see within the little spot of light thrown by my headlamp. The world was very small and my life was very simple for a few hours. No more trying to figure out where and how to hunt tomorrow. For the last two months I had spent almost every spare moment scouting or thinking about this hunt, trying to figure out these units and the nomadic elk that seemed like ghosts that just left tracks. Now I had nothing to figure out, nowhere to be and was in no hurry. I had my bull and everything had worked out like a dreamed it might. There was nothing to do but work and reflect on my hunt. I was just in a trance. It kinda reminded me of when I was rock climbing all night on El Capitan in Yosemite a long time ago. I was a couple thousand feet off the ground but it just didn't feel like it cause all I could see was the rock right in front of me. It was very calming. This time I just put my head down and kept doing laps until it was all at the truck. It was kinda weird stumbling back up that hill trying to find the same route I took the last time but eventully I'd see the little flashing light I left in a tree near the bull, load up again and stumble back down. I also had a lantern going at the truck so I could find it and every time I got down with a load there was that rack glowing in the light. I'd move the lantern to a different spot each time so I could see the rack in a different way on the next trip. Every time I dropped off a load it looked better. However every time I passed one particular dirt spot I'd see my bulls tracks mixed in with some cow tracks and it made me really sad. His life had been pretty good that morning. Being alone you get to think about stuff like that. It ain't all about scores and trophy photos. I have done a lot of hunting and scouting alone and it is a very different experience than hunting with friends. Everybody should try it sometime. I really like the freedom and focus I get hunting alone but it isn't as much "fun" as hunting with others. Someimes it isn't "fun" at all. Packing out a big bull alone in the dark is really different but very rewarding (when it's over.) I get some kind of satisfaction from all of it. I guess I feel like I have to suffer a little to deserve to take an animal. Packing it out is just paying my dues and putting some closure on the whole ordeal. Kinda twisted I guess. When I was driving home I thought, "Next year I'm just going to put in for a bonus point. I just don't need to keep working so hard scouting, hunting, and packing." It can be like an addiction for me. One old old friend of mine says, "You can turn anything into work." He understands because he was raised by a Dad just like mine who forcefully instilled a work ethic into each of us. I continued thinking, "I have nothing to prove to myself or anybody. Why do I keep doing this?" Even Janice is bugging me to stop. She says to just kill a young cow. Phoebe (age six) keeps asking me, "Daddy where are you going to put this one?" Then Sat. a new friend named Clint says, "Well, lets see you've killed big bulls with rifle, muzzleloader, and bow. I guess you have to do it with your longbow next time." Suddenly I feel like elk hunting again next year. It's all about the challenge to me. There is so much more to be gained from hunting than most of us take advantage of. Of course I missed out on the part about time with friends on this hunt. Sorry about getting all philosophical here but I'm still high from my hunt.... Awesome Read Chris, and congrats to a great bull. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redbeard Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Thanks guys. I'm still figuring out what happened to me on this hunt. I haven't been so mentally and emotionally involved in scouting and hunting since my first big bull back in 1997. It sure is nice to get the "killer instinct" back but as I wind down from this hunt I realize how possessed I had become. This hunt means a lot to me since I got that drive back. I think Andy knows what I'm trying to say. About the score...When I first videoed the bull I thought 360. After I looked at it on the TV with a buddy, Clark, and my 390 bull in the same room to compare it to he was convinced it was at least 380 and I was thinking 350! Some bulls are just perfectly proportioned to look huge but are just built on a smaller frame. When I first saw the nontypical bull I killed in 2001 I thought he was 400 but over the days of watching him I figured out he was one of those bulls. He ended up 375ish (An estimate because he broke a couple points right before I killed him. ) but I wasn't surprised. When I walked up to this bull on the ground I still thought 350. By the time I was done packing I thought 370. So, it is pretty deceiving. He has long thirds and a wider than it looks spread. The beams just keep opening up to the end but the points tip inwards. Scores are fun to talk about and throw around but I would have shot him and been just as happy and proud if it were 320. It was a cool hunt. Clark wanted to bet me dinner that it would score over 380. I decided to give him a chance and agree to bet on 370. I told him I was going to kill that bull and hope he scored 369 7/8. I can't believe I actually killed him so we have a bet! I think he owes me dinner by an inch or so but I need to measure it again more carefully to be sure it doesn't break 370. I guess I wouldn't mind buying him dinner if it did. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Switchback Report post Posted September 24, 2007 Chris if you don't mind me asking what unit did he come from?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
