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wmidbrook
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I'm cursing the LA Times and Chicago Tribue right now ('some small departments within their organization--video stuff)....believe, you me....they are at odds and giving me grief....I'd have liked to film that hunt dang it!....
Sorry took so long to post, but , it was a firestorm when i got back and have just not had a moment.
VC was everything that i thought it would be and more. Incredible place and well managed. I drew the late bull rifle hunt and arrived for the orientation on thurs evening , had a scouting day friday and actual hunt started on sat.
Before i really get going i want to thank Eric (aka constitutionalist). Eric and his son met me for the orientation and eric hunted with me the first 2 days of the hunt. Eric was a great guy to hunt and spend time with and it was my privilege hunt with him. It was very generous of him to spend his weekend with me as busy as all of us are. Bill (aka wmiddlebrook) originally was going to come but work dogged him at the last minute and he was not able to go. I certainly appeciate the effort Bill made to come and hope to hunt with him as well in the future.
Okay. At the orientation they told us that the elk were still bugling but the big bulls had gone off on their own and left the herds. There were bulls with the herds but not the real "toads".
Scouting day (friday) I went solo and drove the roads of my unit not wanting to disturb them to much. First thing in am the it was non stop bugling 6-8 bulls and i saw maybe 2 low 300 bulls move into the trees and lots of small bulls and cows. That evening i glassed several bulls move out of the trees right before dark from a distance only one in the low 300s.
Oops ran out of time will have to bet back on this later.
VC was everything that i thought it would be and more. Incredible place and well managed. I drew the late bull rifle hunt and arrived for the orientation on thurs evening , had a scouting day friday and actual hunt started on sat.
Before i really get going i want to thank Eric (aka constitutionalist). Eric and his son met me for the orientation and eric hunted with me the first 2 days of the hunt. Eric was a great guy to hunt and spend time with and it was my privilege hunt with him. It was very generous of him to spend his weekend with me as busy as all of us are. Bill (aka wmiddlebrook) originally was going to come but work dogged him at the last minute and he was not able to go. I certainly appeciate the effort Bill made to come and hope to hunt with him as well in the future.
Okay. At the orientation they told us that the elk were still bugling but the big bulls had gone off on their own and left the herds. There were bulls with the herds but not the real "toads".
Scouting day (friday) I went solo and drove the roads of my unit not wanting to disturb them to much. First thing in am the it was non stop bugling 6-8 bulls and i saw maybe 2 low 300 bulls move into the trees and lots of small bulls and cows. That evening i glassed several bulls move out of the trees right before dark from a distance only one in the low 300s.
Oops ran out of time will have to bet back on this later.
Arrowslinger
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Okay I am back.
For those of you that dont want to read thru the whole thing here is the summary.
I hunted 4 days. I passed on six 300 class bulls those 4 days. My biggest regret is not taking a rushed shot at a 350+ 7x7 but was trying for a more classical broadside shot and got winded on the afternoon of the 1st day.
I had to leave on the 4th day due to throwing my back out and work situations and shot a small 6x7 that scored only 257.
Day one. Me an Eric wanted to get in front of the elk that i had heard bugling on my scouting day so we got in well before daylight and into the trees that the elk had moved into the day before. Sure enough the elk were bugling the whole time and it was very cool
The started moving out of the huge meadow and into the trees before daylight so we stayed in front of them. We saw many elk passing thru and i got within 45 yards of a 6x7 with a curly brow tine that would be easily in the low 300s. I watch him bugling and tear up brush but passed on him.
Later that day, we hike into the trees as the bulls were still bugling to see if we could get on a large bull. We again got real close to a couple of 300 type bulls and we glassed one in his bed as he rested that never knew we were there. He was a nice 6x6 300.
That evening Eric and I split up. He stayed to glass an open area in the trees where it seemed the elk came thru to go into the meadow and i went up a small wooded canyon to look for a large bull that the head guy had told me about. That was when i dropped into the bottom of the small canyon pretty far up it and there was a small herd of elk with a huge 7x7 with them. The wind was in my favor so i tried to get closer and get a clear shot on him. During the course of doing this the wind completely changed direction and the herd winded me and game was over.
That was my big chance to shoot a bruiser and i have relived it 100 times and it comes back to me making a low percentage shot at his neck or a texas heart shot from behind in the middle of the group of elk he was with. I think if i set up immediatelly i would have had that type of oppurtunity but the wind started out in my favor and i tried for a better situation and the wind changed. The rest of that evening hunt i hunted thru the thick stuff and came up on a few elk but no shooters.
Eric on the other hand saw 80+ elk move into the clearing including several nice bulls the best being a 6x6 and 7x7 in the 300 range and i think the same 6x7 we were on early that am. Unfortunately his battery on his movie camera was dead and he was unable to film it.
We turned in that night pumped for the next day.
Day 2 we decided that since waiting for them in the trees we would only see a small percentage of the elkn coming in from the meadow that we would hunt the smaller canyons hoping to see the 7x7 that i saw the day before. We covered some ground saw a small herd of forked horn bulls and busted another elk in the thick stuff, and saw a bull accross the huge meadow but no shooters.
Have to finish up later.
For those of you that dont want to read thru the whole thing here is the summary.
I hunted 4 days. I passed on six 300 class bulls those 4 days. My biggest regret is not taking a rushed shot at a 350+ 7x7 but was trying for a more classical broadside shot and got winded on the afternoon of the 1st day.
I had to leave on the 4th day due to throwing my back out and work situations and shot a small 6x7 that scored only 257.
Day one. Me an Eric wanted to get in front of the elk that i had heard bugling on my scouting day so we got in well before daylight and into the trees that the elk had moved into the day before. Sure enough the elk were bugling the whole time and it was very cool
The started moving out of the huge meadow and into the trees before daylight so we stayed in front of them. We saw many elk passing thru and i got within 45 yards of a 6x7 with a curly brow tine that would be easily in the low 300s. I watch him bugling and tear up brush but passed on him.
Later that day, we hike into the trees as the bulls were still bugling to see if we could get on a large bull. We again got real close to a couple of 300 type bulls and we glassed one in his bed as he rested that never knew we were there. He was a nice 6x6 300.
That evening Eric and I split up. He stayed to glass an open area in the trees where it seemed the elk came thru to go into the meadow and i went up a small wooded canyon to look for a large bull that the head guy had told me about. That was when i dropped into the bottom of the small canyon pretty far up it and there was a small herd of elk with a huge 7x7 with them. The wind was in my favor so i tried to get closer and get a clear shot on him. During the course of doing this the wind completely changed direction and the herd winded me and game was over.
That was my big chance to shoot a bruiser and i have relived it 100 times and it comes back to me making a low percentage shot at his neck or a texas heart shot from behind in the middle of the group of elk he was with. I think if i set up immediatelly i would have had that type of oppurtunity but the wind started out in my favor and i tried for a better situation and the wind changed. The rest of that evening hunt i hunted thru the thick stuff and came up on a few elk but no shooters.
Eric on the other hand saw 80+ elk move into the clearing including several nice bulls the best being a 6x6 and 7x7 in the 300 range and i think the same 6x7 we were on early that am. Unfortunately his battery on his movie camera was dead and he was unable to film it.
We turned in that night pumped for the next day.
Day 2 we decided that since waiting for them in the trees we would only see a small percentage of the elkn coming in from the meadow that we would hunt the smaller canyons hoping to see the 7x7 that i saw the day before. We covered some ground saw a small herd of forked horn bulls and busted another elk in the thick stuff, and saw a bull accross the huge meadow but no shooters.
Have to finish up later.
Backcountry
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Good story and can't wait to read the rest. Sorry you didn't shoot your dream elk, but 257 ain't bad for a consolation prize. Hope your back heals quickly and I'm looking forward to some pictures.
Backcountry
wmidbrook
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Glad you were seeing as many elk and congrats on your bull!
It just goes to show that opportunity at really, really big bulls is not a guaranteed thing even on an elk preserve. Nonetheless, sounds like you were seeing and hearing lots & lots of elk--that must have made for a really enjoyable hunt!
Looking forward to the next part of your story.
Looking forward to the next part of your story.
2nd day continued.
Our evening hunt was to do exactly what Eric had done the night before. Wait in the opening that was right before the large meadow where he has seen a ton of elk the night before.
We got there before 5:00 pm and could hear them bugling in the trees. About 5:50 a small 6x6 came out and shortly there after a larger 7x7 and then cows and more bulls. Problem was we continued to hear bugles that sounded like large bulls in the trees so before you know it was past shooting light and we had seen some excellent elk but, i felt that this was money in the bank and i could still try for bigger bulls. 2 of the bulls that came out were in the low 300 range and then before dark 2 more bulls came out that i could not really tell how big they were. Eric got some real good footage of these elk as well.
This was Erics last night with me and i sure appreciated his company.
Day 3. I was solo now and decided to go back into the small canyon where i had seen the 350+ 7x7. I got there before daylight and it was raining and foggy. It would not stop raining all day. I worked that canyon till late morning, jumped one bull that i got almost no look at him but he was by himself so he may have been a good one since the really big bulls had left the cows. One note about Valle Caldera is that the place is thick with sheds. You are not allowed to remove them since they bring on youth groups to pick them up in the spring. However in the thick stuff you come across them everywhere. I propably saw 15-20 sheds and 2 antlered skulls but, i left them where they lay.
Eric did get a pic of some of the sheds.
The evening of day 3 the plan was to do the same thing we did on the evening hunt day 2. I decided to go ahead and shoot one of the 300 bulls that we saw the evening before. I got there and there was no bugling (not a good sign). it was still raining and about 4:30 it started snowing. That night no elk came out at all. by the way earlier in the day i got a call that one of my managers in one of my shops had a nervous breakdown so all day i was getting calls from work with all kinds of problems. I did not see an elk that night at all.
Day 4, I decided if i saw a 300 bull i would shoot it. I got there again before daylight and was planning to get in front of any elk that were moving into the trees. I saw few tracks in the snow compared to the elk i knew to be in the area. I started at the little canyon and saw no tracks out or in. As i was driving back to another part of the unit i saw out in the middle of the meadow a bull all buy him self heading at an angle for my unit. I got the spotting scope on him and could see he was a good bull but was missing 3 tines on one side and 1 on the other. This was decision time. I decided to put myself in position to kill him. I worked my way inside the trees to intercept him. At 400 yards i looked him over good and saw that he was a 320 class bull but was missing just to many tines that i decided to pass.
Late morning i decided to see if i could put the sneak on elk in the trees. The snow was soft as it was warm so it was fairly quiet. The elk were not bugling at all. and really had not bugled since day 2. I got within 50 yards of a small 5x5 bugled and cow called and made him stare at me just for fun.
At midday not sure what i did but my lower back went completely out. Not sure if it was tightening my boots or hitting hard bump in the truck or what but it was getting worse and worse.
Now with the issues at work and bad back i decided to shoot a bull and get home. That night i was offered to go into some other units and the helpful guy that runs the hunt gave me some options. Driving over to the new unit i saw a herd of about 40 elk and some small bulls and i could not talk myself into shooting them i decided i would go home with nothing first. When i drove into the unit i saw another small herd right where i wanted to park but no mature bulls. I limped about 1/2 mile to a small meadow at the base of 2 small canyons and sat down deciding that this was my hunt. half hour before dark in the corner of the meadow i saw 2 bulls about 350 yards away. I glassed them and could not tell any difference till i finally saw a small 7th point on one of them. I decided to shoot him. I got a little closer so trees were not in the way and got within 300 yards. I shot him and he took 2 steps and was still standing so i shot him again and he dropped in his tracks.
I quartered him in the dark and all the meat was perfect condition. The next morning i paid the guys that work at VC to pack him out and i was on the road the next morning by 11:00 they scored him at 257 but it was a good meat bull that will make a nice European mount.
I hope to get back to VC again some day. Hopefully i can get my son to post some pics i took of the bull before i started to butcher him.
Our evening hunt was to do exactly what Eric had done the night before. Wait in the opening that was right before the large meadow where he has seen a ton of elk the night before.
We got there before 5:00 pm and could hear them bugling in the trees. About 5:50 a small 6x6 came out and shortly there after a larger 7x7 and then cows and more bulls. Problem was we continued to hear bugles that sounded like large bulls in the trees so before you know it was past shooting light and we had seen some excellent elk but, i felt that this was money in the bank and i could still try for bigger bulls. 2 of the bulls that came out were in the low 300 range and then before dark 2 more bulls came out that i could not really tell how big they were. Eric got some real good footage of these elk as well.
This was Erics last night with me and i sure appreciated his company.
Day 3. I was solo now and decided to go back into the small canyon where i had seen the 350+ 7x7. I got there before daylight and it was raining and foggy. It would not stop raining all day. I worked that canyon till late morning, jumped one bull that i got almost no look at him but he was by himself so he may have been a good one since the really big bulls had left the cows. One note about Valle Caldera is that the place is thick with sheds. You are not allowed to remove them since they bring on youth groups to pick them up in the spring. However in the thick stuff you come across them everywhere. I propably saw 15-20 sheds and 2 antlered skulls but, i left them where they lay.
Eric did get a pic of some of the sheds.
The evening of day 3 the plan was to do the same thing we did on the evening hunt day 2. I decided to go ahead and shoot one of the 300 bulls that we saw the evening before. I got there and there was no bugling (not a good sign). it was still raining and about 4:30 it started snowing. That night no elk came out at all. by the way earlier in the day i got a call that one of my managers in one of my shops had a nervous breakdown so all day i was getting calls from work with all kinds of problems. I did not see an elk that night at all.
Day 4, I decided if i saw a 300 bull i would shoot it. I got there again before daylight and was planning to get in front of any elk that were moving into the trees. I saw few tracks in the snow compared to the elk i knew to be in the area. I started at the little canyon and saw no tracks out or in. As i was driving back to another part of the unit i saw out in the middle of the meadow a bull all buy him self heading at an angle for my unit. I got the spotting scope on him and could see he was a good bull but was missing 3 tines on one side and 1 on the other. This was decision time. I decided to put myself in position to kill him. I worked my way inside the trees to intercept him. At 400 yards i looked him over good and saw that he was a 320 class bull but was missing just to many tines that i decided to pass.
Late morning i decided to see if i could put the sneak on elk in the trees. The snow was soft as it was warm so it was fairly quiet. The elk were not bugling at all. and really had not bugled since day 2. I got within 50 yards of a small 5x5 bugled and cow called and made him stare at me just for fun.
At midday not sure what i did but my lower back went completely out. Not sure if it was tightening my boots or hitting hard bump in the truck or what but it was getting worse and worse.
Now with the issues at work and bad back i decided to shoot a bull and get home. That night i was offered to go into some other units and the helpful guy that runs the hunt gave me some options. Driving over to the new unit i saw a herd of about 40 elk and some small bulls and i could not talk myself into shooting them i decided i would go home with nothing first. When i drove into the unit i saw another small herd right where i wanted to park but no mature bulls. I limped about 1/2 mile to a small meadow at the base of 2 small canyons and sat down deciding that this was my hunt. half hour before dark in the corner of the meadow i saw 2 bulls about 350 yards away. I glassed them and could not tell any difference till i finally saw a small 7th point on one of them. I decided to shoot him. I got a little closer so trees were not in the way and got within 300 yards. I shot him and he took 2 steps and was still standing so i shot him again and he dropped in his tracks.
I quartered him in the dark and all the meat was perfect condition. The next morning i paid the guys that work at VC to pack him out and i was on the road the next morning by 11:00 they scored him at 257 but it was a good meat bull that will make a nice European mount.
I hope to get back to VC again some day. Hopefully i can get my son to post some pics i took of the bull before i started to butcher him.
wmidbrook
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Glad you were able to still hunt. Having the back go out just plain sucks. I can relate to that having stress fractured my L5 in a couple spots--not fun. To boot, business issues. Dang it. I hope you were able to forgot those troubles most of the time while in pursuit of your bull. If nothing else, you can always look back on how you persisted and bagged your bull. That in and of itself is quite an accomplishment and an exhibit of your dedication to the sport~!
Congratulations Paul! A 7 point bull is a pinnacle not many have reached no matter what he scored
...Just having all those opportunities made it a great trip. Next time you interview a manager for one of your shops, make sure he knows that stressing you out during elk season are grounds to get fired!
I hope I can have as many opportunities when my Nevada elk hunt starts in December. Good luck on Zach's deer hunt.
I also drew for the late Valle hunt with PaulC. I met he and Constitutionalist at the orientation on Thursday. I was very grateful for the opportunity to go on this hunt. As I was diagnosed with cancer on September 26, it looked like my surgery may get in the way, but NO WAY was I going to miss this hunt!!
I told the doctors that I'll be back after the hunt and we'll do the surgery after. I had the surgery on October 12 and returned home this past Tuesday. I begin the chemo within a couple of weeks and hopefully I will be on many more elk hunts in the future.
Now my Valle story. My wife joined me on the hunt and I had an outfitter booked to help as well - JS Outdoors and Jaret McDonald. JS Outdoors was great. We stayed just a half hour from the Valle and the place was wonderful and comfortable for my wife.
During the scouting on Friday, we saw several very large bulls. The place is amazing. We found one very nice bull that we were going to try to get on on Saturday. He was around 340.
On Saturday morning, there was lots of bugling and it was pretty exciting. We saw a very nice bull first thing - it was like 7:00 a.m. It may have been the one we were looking for, but I passed him as it was just too early in the hunt and it wasn't a great shot.
We then bounced back and forth between a couple of bugling bulls. We sat down and cow called and one answered really close. We sat there for a half hour and figured that he must have winded us. As we got up to leave, Jaret said - HE'S RIGHT THERE!! I looked at looked and couldn't see him. Then I realized that he wasn't in the meadow that we were watching, he was right next to us at 30 yards!!
All I could see was his long brow tines. He was looking right at us with only his head showing. He finally turned and ran off. Jaret cow called and stopped the bull at about 100 yards - broad side in the meadow. Jaret was trying to see if he was a shooter. I decided that he was a shooter (considering that I needed to get back to get ready for the surgery). I put him down.
I thought that he was a 280 6x6, but he ended up without G2 on the right side. He scored 268.5 by the Valle folks. Not the bull I had hoped for, but I really appreciated the opportunity to be on this hunt and get one the first day. This was my first elk ever and I am very excited about getting this elk. I wish I knew how to post pictures. I will try within the next few days. The meat is going to be delivered today. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have gone on this hunt. My wife and I were able to get back to our family and only be gone for a couple of days.
A lot of folks thought that I was crazy for going on this hunt and postponing my surgery. I am VERY GRATEFUL that I did postpone the surgery for the hunt. This was truly a great experience.
It was nice to meet PaulC and Constitutionalist. Congratulations Paul on your bull.
VMR
I told the doctors that I'll be back after the hunt and we'll do the surgery after. I had the surgery on October 12 and returned home this past Tuesday. I begin the chemo within a couple of weeks and hopefully I will be on many more elk hunts in the future.
Now my Valle story. My wife joined me on the hunt and I had an outfitter booked to help as well - JS Outdoors and Jaret McDonald. JS Outdoors was great. We stayed just a half hour from the Valle and the place was wonderful and comfortable for my wife.
During the scouting on Friday, we saw several very large bulls. The place is amazing. We found one very nice bull that we were going to try to get on on Saturday. He was around 340.
On Saturday morning, there was lots of bugling and it was pretty exciting. We saw a very nice bull first thing - it was like 7:00 a.m. It may have been the one we were looking for, but I passed him as it was just too early in the hunt and it wasn't a great shot.
We then bounced back and forth between a couple of bugling bulls. We sat down and cow called and one answered really close. We sat there for a half hour and figured that he must have winded us. As we got up to leave, Jaret said - HE'S RIGHT THERE!! I looked at looked and couldn't see him. Then I realized that he wasn't in the meadow that we were watching, he was right next to us at 30 yards!!
All I could see was his long brow tines. He was looking right at us with only his head showing. He finally turned and ran off. Jaret cow called and stopped the bull at about 100 yards - broad side in the meadow. Jaret was trying to see if he was a shooter. I decided that he was a shooter (considering that I needed to get back to get ready for the surgery). I put him down.
I thought that he was a 280 6x6, but he ended up without G2 on the right side. He scored 268.5 by the Valle folks. Not the bull I had hoped for, but I really appreciated the opportunity to be on this hunt and get one the first day. This was my first elk ever and I am very excited about getting this elk. I wish I knew how to post pictures. I will try within the next few days. The meat is going to be delivered today. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have gone on this hunt. My wife and I were able to get back to our family and only be gone for a couple of days.
A lot of folks thought that I was crazy for going on this hunt and postponing my surgery. I am VERY GRATEFUL that I did postpone the surgery for the hunt. This was truly a great experience.
It was nice to meet PaulC and Constitutionalist. Congratulations Paul on your bull.
VMR
