NineT6Delta Report post Posted August 27, 2018 Looks like I have the same tag as you. It's not going to be easy with the land ownership around there. I did see a few scouting around, but like you said it's pretty sparse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Report post Posted September 11, 2018 Well, I got my antelope opening day, which was nice because I had the rest of the weekend to get ready for my elk hunt. I started in an area I had located a couple decent bucks but didn't turn anything up so started exploring some new country. I was glassing into a giant flat off of some really cool painted desert stuff and found a nice buck chasing a doe way, way out there and moving away fast. From my maps, it looked like I could get to a road that would take me closer, but ended up hitting a locked gate in the middle of nowhere. It looked like if I went far enough back around, I could get to it from another angle, but I decided to take a little two-tracker that looked at the flat from another direction. As soon as I got my tripod up and started glassing I found another buck, all alone about 1.5 miles out. Well, a buck right there was worth going after rather than trying to make a 20 mile loop to get on the guy that was moving fast in the wrong direction, so I started my stalk. I picked out a "knoll" way off in the distance that would at least tell me how far out in the middle of the flat this guy was. It turned out that knoll was much bigger than it looked from a distance - ha. So I worked my way off the red dirt hills to the edge of this huge flat. It was weird because it was really hard to navigate around in there. lots of dead-ends, up-and-down just to get to get off the hills and into the edge of the flat. I re-located the buck but he was still so far off I couldn't get a range from my sig kilo. Over 1000 yards still. I started working out a plan, and this guy just started trotting toward me. I got my first range at 643 yards, but it was clear he was going to do all the leg-work for me. There was a little ridge out there I didn't even see from up top, but once at eye level, he dropped behind it giving me an opportunity to make a move. There were almost no trees or bushes, so this was just what I needed to close the distance. As I got closer, there was a little run-off ditch I could use to stay low, but I knew once I came up out of it he'd be pretty close. Turns out, closer than I expected. When I popped up and started looking for him I expected him to be 200-300 yards out still, but he was withing 100 yards. I dropped back down and dialed my scope back down to the lowest power, then came back up to my knees. He was about 80 yards with his head down. I raised back up and shot him off-hand. He dropped right in his tracks. Doesn't get much easier than that - well until the pack out. Once I had him quartered and stuffed in my pack along with my gun, two pairs of binos, a tripod, etc. I could barely take more than a few steps in the sandy soil uphill toward the truck. I ended up having to leave half the meat and his head, and come back for them after getting more water and some food in me. Really kicked my old butt, but I manged to get him out. 9 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildwoody Report post Posted September 11, 2018 Dandy buck, congrats 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle mountain ranch Report post Posted September 11, 2018 Very nice .. Well done 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Couzer Report post Posted September 11, 2018 Awesome!!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DUG Report post Posted September 11, 2018 Nice buck! Congrats!!!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Will K Report post Posted September 11, 2018 Awesome buck. Congrat's. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buffhunter Report post Posted September 19, 2018 heck ya!!!! Great job and great buck!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jim Report post Posted September 20, 2018 Nice buck. you got to love when they come to you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHT_MTNMAN Report post Posted September 20, 2018 Great buck and good luck on the elk hunt! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Report post Posted September 29, 2018 The elk hunt was way tougher than I expected. I was in bulls every day but was looking for something bigger than I had yet taken. I've had 3 bull tags in unit 1 before this one and always ended up with something 330-ish. It took the full two weeks to finally find the bull I wanted to go after but only had two days to try and figure him out. The last morning of the hunt I was finally able to get ahead of him just enough to get a 70 yard shot as he crossed an old logging road - hit a branch I didn't even see and watched him trot off. That night, the last night I was in there bugling, raking trees, pulling out all the stops. But never got in front of him and watched the last minutes of light disappear. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Report post Posted September 29, 2018 But hey, every 3-5 years. I thought this might be my last tag - I'll get more in shape, take the lessons learned from this hunt to the next one. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brooktrout26 Report post Posted October 3, 2018 well done Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
