Bull Elk/Muley Success

[richracer1]

I just got back home last night from 18 days at our elk camp. My Uncle and his friend came up on the 14th to help set up camp and then left to return on the 21st. This left me to fend for myself for 7 days. I started the bull season packing my 375RUM w/260ABs on the 15th. I got lucky and came upon a group of muleys does with a forked horn hanging around - his mistake. I let him have it at about 50yds. He took maybe two steps and that was it. Now it's elk time again. I saw some cows, a spike, and a rag horn Sunday morning, but couldn't get a shot off. The next few days, I didn't see squat. Come Wednesday morning, I walked up to my Uncle's perch (as we call it). I got bored sitting there and decided to walk down the backside through the quakies and then circle back around on the cattle trail below his perch and into the clearings. I was just about out of the first group of pines and all hell broke loose. A large bull shot out from my left, I pulled up the rifle but didn't have enough time. Another bull was right behind him, but with my rifle already up I let one loose. No eveidence of being hit, and no sign of blood, I started a 2hr scouring of the hillside they had run up. I was almost positive I didn't hit him, but something told me not to give up and to go up one more time to an area just a little further down and look again. Well, I'm the luckiest guy as I came upon a warm 4x4 elk laying between two small pines. As I started to move him out I heard air blowing and found that I had hit him in the area between the ribs and the rear quarter. After a cleaning him - suprisingly I didn't blow his guts up so cleaning was a bit more pleasant than anticipated - I got him back to camp, hung up, and skinned. Here's the interesting thing, a person would figure that using a 375RUM-260AB combo shooting an elk at about 35 -40yds the bullet would exit - NOPE - I found the entry hole and where the bullet had smacked the offside skin, but didn't exit. The guy absorbed over 5000lbs of bullet energy. I figured the lack of an exit had a lot to do with he was hauling some butt to get out of there.

Sorry I rambled on and mad this long, but this definitely one hunt I'll never forget. A 4x4 Elk on a true DIY hunt.

I didn't get any pics of him as I was more concerned about cleaning and how I was going to get my quad (FYI - using an ATV to retieve is legal as long as the trail isn't closed to motorized vehicles)up to him as he died up in the timber with a bunch of dead fall. I tried pulling him down hill but as you can guess that wasn't going to work. I'll get some pics of me with his head/rack in a few days.

NOTE: For those that may get pissy about my ATV use, during that week, my ATV was used to haul wood, retieve my two animals, and to go out the main road to high ground to check in each evening. All of my hunting was done by hiking around, not riding around.

One last thing; Some POS archer using expanding broadheads, which are illegal in ID, had made a piss-poor shot and hit this guy in the front of the right shoulder. I found the broadhead after opening up what looked like a gigantic zit and drained out about a 1/2 of cup of puss.

 

[SoJo]

good job on the double and great staying after the recovery! my brother's group got a 5x5 and a spike near Salmon a couple weeks ago

 

[warren nelson]

Nice story Glad you got a couple of good animals

 

[richracer1]

Here's a few pics I have so far:

My home for 18 days:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/richracer1/DSCN0017.jpg

So far, my only pic of my 4x4 bull:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/richracer1/Animals/4x4Elk-2010.jpg

 

[markt800]

sounds like the bowhunter made a good shot. its just sucks that it hit leg bone.(things like this happen) maybe he should not have been using expandables, but i don't think hes a "P.O.S.". i'd say hes the man for even getting a shot with a bow.

 

[24mileboy]

Congratulations

Nice job on the muley and the elk. Where you hunting? It looks like in Island Park maybe?
In Idaho I didn't think you were allowed to use expandable broadheads!:smiley_green_with_e

 

[jerryt]

Here's the interesting thing, a person would figure that using a 375RUM-260AB combo shooting an elk at about 35 -40yds the bullet would exit - NOPE - I found the entry hole and where the bullet had smacked the offside skin, but didn't exit. The guy absorbed over 5000lbs of bullet energy. I figured the lack of an exit had a lot to do with he was hauling some butt to get out of there.


Not the least bit surprised about the bullet not traveling through the elk. If you were shooting a smaller grain bullet it would have most likely have exited out the other side. Dad and I shot 30-06 at our elk and in twenty years he has yet to have one go through and elk and he shots 185 grain. I shot my first few with 150 grain bullets and got clear pass through shots at 500 yards. I know shot 165 grain bullets this year and they did not pass through for the first time.

 

[richracer1]

Nice job on the muley and the elk. Where you hunting? It looks like in Island Park maybe?
In Idaho I didn't think you were allowed to use expandable broadheads!:smiley_green_with_e

I was in the Tex Creek (unit 69) area. As yes, your right, expandable broadheads are illegal to use in Idaho.

As to the other poster, yes that person is POS. Using illegal broadheads and taking a extremely high risk quartering-to shot, hoping to sink it in through the chest does not sit well with me. Some shots just need to be passed up. It's our responsibility to make good shots.

 

[markt800]

[/quote]As to the other poster, yes that person is POS. Using illegal broadheads and taking a extremely high risk quartering-to shot, hoping to sink it in through the chest does not sit well with me. Some shots just need to be passed up. It's our responsibility to make good shots.[/quote]

forget about the type of broadhead because you can use them other places and yes they will do the job just fine

you wouldn't take a quartering to shot with a bow but you'll take rifle shots at running elk. you could have pluged him in the gut. this makes no sense to me at all????? if you made a bad shot on the running bull would that make you a POS?
:archer green::archer green::archer green::archer green::archer green::archer green:
:archer green: