- Thread starter paulc
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Speckmisser
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Paul, you guys are living the dream in paradise! Congrats to your lovely wife for one HECK of a bull! That's a hawg for sure!
Monsterbull
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He's got that old Roman nose. Love it. Simply awesome.
Gonna have one helluva taxi bill this year.
When she shot this bull she had about a paper plate size window thru brush and trees and even though i had plenty of time to glass him i could see very little of his rack.
I could see some of the top and i only told her to shoot because there was enough mass on his upper tines that i judged him to be a mature bull, but, i had no idea how his top antlers crowned out.
This is one of the few times that when we walked up to him in that tall grass i was taken back on how big he really was.
We were only 50-70 yards away and the first shot was a complete miss. It may have hit the tree or i dont know. He stopped eating for about 10 seconds and went back to eating. I reloaded her muzzle loader as quiet as i could and the 2nd shot got him good. I reloaded a 3rd time for her and she shot him again but it was really not neccessary as he had only moved away 15 yards and went down once got up and went down again.
I knew he was big, but he made a big commotion when the Valle Caldera staff saw him. They were awesome and the excitement built from there. This old bull made it very hard to guess his score as i did not think he was particulary heavy (except on top), particularly long (though each tine was very consistent) or wide. I guessed him at 330 trying to be conservative but was very shocked when they measured him out at 362.
As i told my wife i would rather shoot a bull like this with character and give up 20" for a typical. The cool part about him is that he is very old, his cape is very rough and course as if he may have not been getting the nutrition out of his food.
My wife now understands why I call the Valle Caldera the Jurrasic Park of elk.
When she shot this bull she had about a paper plate size window thru brush and trees and even though i had plenty of time to glass him i could see very little of his rack.
I could see some of the top and i only told her to shoot because there was enough mass on his upper tines that i judged him to be a mature bull, but, i had no idea how his top antlers crowned out.
This is one of the few times that when we walked up to him in that tall grass i was taken back on how big he really was.
We were only 50-70 yards away and the first shot was a complete miss. It may have hit the tree or i dont know. He stopped eating for about 10 seconds and went back to eating. I reloaded her muzzle loader as quiet as i could and the 2nd shot got him good. I reloaded a 3rd time for her and she shot him again but it was really not neccessary as he had only moved away 15 yards and went down once got up and went down again.
I knew he was big, but he made a big commotion when the Valle Caldera staff saw him. They were awesome and the excitement built from there. This old bull made it very hard to guess his score as i did not think he was particulary heavy (except on top), particularly long (though each tine was very consistent) or wide. I guessed him at 330 trying to be conservative but was very shocked when they measured him out at 362.
As i told my wife i would rather shoot a bull like this with character and give up 20" for a typical. The cool part about him is that he is very old, his cape is very rough and course as if he may have not been getting the nutrition out of his food.
My wife now understands why I call the Valle Caldera the Jurrasic Park of elk.
Hey Paul and Kim,
Fantastic bull! That's gonna be a tough one to beat even if she uses her car again! Congratulations to you both! You both deserve this. You hunt hard, you put in your time for scouting and research and you involve your whole family in almost everything you do. I toast you both on the "dream season"
Fantastic bull! That's gonna be a tough one to beat even if she uses her car again! Congratulations to you both! You both deserve this. You hunt hard, you put in your time for scouting and research and you involve your whole family in almost everything you do. I toast you both on the "dream season"
photohunter
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WOW! Not much else to say. Thanks for sharing.
Glass, I bought enough.
NM residents get 78% of the tags so i believe it is a good investment considering an out of state elk hunt un guided is gonna be at least a couple grand and guided 5K-7K.
At the orientation they said that the hunts on that property before the Government bought it went for 12K.
Last year i was lucky enough to win the raffle for a late season rifle hunt. I passed on 6 bulls in that 300" range and briefly saw a 350" bull that i never got a clean shot at. I shot a small 6x7 on the last day i could hunt.
After that I told myself we would buy as many tickets as we could afford to get back on the VC. It paid off when my wife drew the ML tag and really paid off when she shot that toad.
Next year gonna do the same thing, may even put the kids in for a hunt there.
NM residents get 78% of the tags so i believe it is a good investment considering an out of state elk hunt un guided is gonna be at least a couple grand and guided 5K-7K.
At the orientation they said that the hunts on that property before the Government bought it went for 12K.
Last year i was lucky enough to win the raffle for a late season rifle hunt. I passed on 6 bulls in that 300" range and briefly saw a 350" bull that i never got a clean shot at. I shot a small 6x7 on the last day i could hunt.
After that I told myself we would buy as many tickets as we could afford to get back on the VC. It paid off when my wife drew the ML tag and really paid off when she shot that toad.
Next year gonna do the same thing, may even put the kids in for a hunt there.
Glass eye
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I don't gamble and I don't buy $Lottery ticket$ but I do buy lottery tickets for big game and turkeys. I just can't afford to buy very many when they are usually about $25 a pop. I figure that if it's meant to be I'll get it with only one ticket,
but most times I'll buy more than one but not much more.
I'd been encouraged if you told me you bought only one.
I'd been encouraged if you told me you bought only one.
Glass eye
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (paulc @ Oct 13 2007, 10:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Too bad they don't have Bull hunts for the youth. If states want to recruit youth hunters for our future than they should offer antlered hunts for them to get addicted.
SCREWLOOSE
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Glass eye @ Oct 13 2007, 12:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
[/b][/quote]
Glass eye, your dead on right. At least make them either sex. My son is addicted to horn and wants the same chance at a Bull/Buck as everybody else.
Too bad they don't have Bull hunts for the youth. If states want to recruit youth hunters for our future than they should offer antlered hunts for them to get addicted.
[/b][/quote]
Glass eye, your dead on right. At least make them either sex. My son is addicted to horn and wants the same chance at a Bull/Buck as everybody else.
NM does have some pretty good youth hunts. What they said at the orientation is that the VC is supposed to be totally self sufficient by 2018. I hope they can do it. That way they can set an example for other similar projects.
