I went to my usual spot in Colorado opening morning, got in before daylite and was dismayed to find that when it got light I saw that about half of where I have been hunting for about 10 year's had been fenced, now my problem was that I wasn't sure whether the fenced area was now private or if maybe a rancher just had grazing right's. What to do ? I deceided to stay out of the fenced area and hope for the best, right away at daylite I see a herd of about 40 elk starting to work their way toward's me, there's at least 2 bull's in the herd and both look to be 4or5x5's, they get within 200 yd's and offer a clear shot but they are still on the fenced land so, I deceide to not shoot and quietly fade back into the forest to a better vantage point so that I can see more of what I'm sure is public land. About 20 minute's later I catch movement out of the corner of my eye on the private land, I turn around slowly and see the lead cow jump the fence onto public land about 120 yd's behind me. My problem now is that the wind is wrong and she should be able to wind me in about 60 to 80yd's , so now I'm praying that at least one bull will make it over the fence before I'm busted,now come's the gift, the wind shift's in my favor, I can't believe my good luck!!! The lead cow come's across the field very slowly, it seem's to take forever for her to go past me . SLOWLY they file past me at about 100 yds and I can see them through 2 opening's about 30 yds apart, so I can see them in the first opening and then deceide to shoot or not as they get to the second opening. 2 spike's go by and then a nice 4x4, but just behind him is another bull but, I can't yet see if he's better then the first bull so I wait until the first bull is almost into the second opening and check out the 2nd bull . the 2nd bull is spindley so I put the scope on the first bull and start to pull the trigger, out of the corner of my eye I see what look's like an elk with a tree on his head, WOW, what a rack,but he's about 40 yd's behind these bull's and is surrounded by cow's, so my choice is do I kill the first bull, almost a sure thing or do I take a chance and hope the big bull make's it to the opening. I decieded to take the chance and hope for the best, at least if it doesn't work out I'll have a great story about the one that got away. The big bull make's it to the first opening but, is surrounded by cow's, I have a steady bead on his shoulder waiting for an opening to shoot, one cow bend's down to graze and give's me the shot I'm waiting for, perfect shot, the bull drop's instantly, I chamber another round and hold on his shoulder in case he try's to get up!! not a flicker, so I get up and head for the bull, I only go about 10 yds and the bull GET'S UP and starts running for the fence onto private land, I get off another shot but no effect so I soot a 3rd time , still no effect!!! My heart sink's and I feel sick to my stomach, the bull is 5 yds from saftey when suddenly he nosedive's INTO the barbed wire fence still on public land and his antler's are entangled in the fence. He's mine! This actually is the beginning of the rest of the story, I'm 63 yrs old , hunting alone about a mile from my truck and looking at a 900lb bull hmmmm... sorry about being so longwinded but,this was the most exciting hunt in my 50 years of hunting. The bull was only a 5x5 but he has 10 inch base's and is very tall and wide
- Thread starter dirtpoor
- Start date
dirtpoor
first! congrats!!! great story!
second the ?s
where and exactly at what angle did you hit the bull?
what rifle and load were you useing?
did it work fully up to your expectations and did the bullet exit? or remain in the bull?
and can you tell us about how you got the ELK transported to the truck?
first! congrats!!! great story!
second the ?s
where and exactly at what angle did you hit the bull?
what rifle and load were you useing?
did it work fully up to your expectations and did the bullet exit? or remain in the bull?
and can you tell us about how you got the ELK transported to the truck?
I was hunting in area #77 out of Pagosa Spring's, The angle that I shot from was elavated about 40 ft above the bull and at 100+ yds the bullet entered the left shoulder about 10 in below his back breaking that shoulder and exiting through the bone on his right side without shattering the bone and lodged just under the skin, I retrieved the bullet when I skinned him and it was a perfect mushroom with a ring of metal detached but still on the bullet itself. It looked like the bullet retained about 90% of it's weight, I used factory load's in my savage 110 , .338 win mag 250 gr Federal premium Safari's, I thought I had missed with the other two shot's ,but when I checked I had hit him with both round's completely shredding his lung's, so he was dead on his feet , it just hadn't registered yet! I told my wife when I got back to the hotel that when I shot him he had his nose buried in a cow's butt so he probably died with a smile on his face, and I was thinking what had to be going through his mind when I shot him, imagine that you are him taking a good sniff , thinking hey this girl smells ready to breed, then BAM the light's go out and you wake up a minute later and think" Bitch " LOL anyhow, I carry a toboggen in my truck so I tagged him out and put my jacket over his horn's so anyone coming along would know that I was coming back and went to get my sled and bone saw, got back and gutted him and tried to get the sled under him but it was no use, he was too heavy, the butcher estimated his weight between 800 to 950 lbs , so what to do ? I could go back to the truck and go try to find someone with a horse to pack him out and that would cost about $250, but I would be taking a chance that someone would come along and find my elk and you never know what could happen, greed doe's strange thing's to people sometime's, I decieded that even though it was USFS land there was a two track nearby with a gate at the road and there wasn't a no motorized travel sign and if I was wrong the fine would be about the same as renting a horse, so I went back ,got my truck as close as possible, skinned and quartered the elk and loaded him up, drove out, closed the gate and headed to the butcher. Normally I'm a stickler for staying legal and ethical, but sometime's you have to do what common sense and circumstance's dictate. Thank's for sharing my story. I almost forgot, I'm a low-tech redneck without a scanner, so picture posting doesn't work for me, but when I get the picture's developed maybe I could mail one to someone to post for me , thank's againl
Woodbutcher
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What a great story, a great hunt. CONGRATS Enjoy the memories forever!
I most always hunt alone, so I know what you went through.
I most always hunt alone, so I know what you went through.
Speckmisser
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Great story, Dirtpoor! Patience pays off, no? I'm sure the 4x4 would have tasted just as good, but the 5x5 had to be a lot more satisfying.
Nicely done!
Nicely done!
