rossislider Report post Posted October 15, 2018 Well here is the short and sweet version of my wife's first elk hunt. She drew a limited opportunity "Any Elk" HAM hunt. I knew it had the potential to be a tough hunt so contacted my friend Shane Koury to help us out. We got on a monster bull early on day one that none of us had ever seen before, but he wasn't in a shootable location. As we moved in on him, he and his cows busted us. We were determined that he would be our target bull and set about to pursue him the rest of the hunt. The first day and a half were great. He was a very silent bull and bugled very little, which made it tough to find and trail him in a flat, cedar heavy unit. Late on day two the weather started moving in and for the next few days we were pelted by rain, snow, sleet, hail, and heavy wind with little to no breaks in the weather. This weather effectively killed the rut in our unit. The bugling slowed to just one bugle before light by day two. By day four the bulls were back in bachelor groups and there was zero rut activity or behavior. On day five Shane and I did an evaluation of my wife's mood. We agreed that we (mostly me) were putting our standards and expectation of bull size/class on her and encouraged her to be more open with us about what she was looking for in the hunt. It was clear she really just wanted to shoot a mature bull, and we didn't want to kill her enthusiasm with the continued grind for our target bull. After we "adjusted" our expectations and plans, we quickly came across this guy in a bachelor group of three bulls. Kursty made a good 235 yard shot with the muzzleloader. We heard the loud unmistakable thump of the bullet making impact, but he ran off into the thick cedars. After a short time we began tracking him. No blood, but because of all the moisture, a blind man could have tracked his deep prints in the mud. After bumping him a couple times we agreed to back out and give him four hours. It was probably about 40 degrees at the time so we weren't too concerned about meat spoilage. We could tell he was struggling to stay ahead of us and was done, but needed some time. Those four hours drove my wife to a near nervous breakdown. After picking up the trail where we left off that morning, we found he had bedded up not far from where we left him. Kursty put one last shot in him at 21 yards and he was done. This was a fantastic first elk hunt for my wife that had a little bit of everything, highs and lows, grinding it out, crazy weather, a little rut activity, etc. I am super happy for her and can't wait to get her out in the field again. 21 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted October 15, 2018 Your wife is a trooper. Glad she got to experience the hunt, full circle. Good meals coming ahead! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jim Report post Posted October 15, 2018 Congratulations to your wife on a great bull. This has been some crazy weather. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Browns Report post Posted October 15, 2018 WOW, very cool! Congrats to your wife!!!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SO I HUNT Report post Posted October 15, 2018 Congratulations way to get it done.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted October 15, 2018 That's awesome!! Congratulations and thanks for sharing her hunt with us!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted October 15, 2018 That right there is very cool. Congratulations to your wife on a nice bull in some pretty harsh conditions! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Javelinasports Report post Posted October 15, 2018 Very Cool! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoshi Report post Posted October 15, 2018 Great Job!...Congratulations!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger78 Report post Posted October 15, 2018 Great job. Congratulations. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildwoody Report post Posted October 15, 2018 Awesome bull, congrats 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
no worries Report post Posted October 16, 2018 That's a tough first elk hunt. Nice work staying with it. Nice bull and 200 plus with a muzzy is solid shooting. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Will K Report post Posted October 16, 2018 Awesome. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeke-BE Report post Posted October 16, 2018 Awesome bull congrats 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lv2hnt Report post Posted October 18, 2018 The family that hunts together ... !!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
