# Best Hunting story contest



## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Alright boys and girls, Post us your best hunting story along with pictures. The winner gets a New Gerber 3.5" EZ Out Folder. Deadline is Nov. 1st.


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## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

O.k I'll start off cuz. man do I want that knife. :lol: Last year my wife and I both lost our jobs the month before the archery hunt started. Well we looked at this as a positive. We had a little money saved so we dicided to take the entire hunt off before we dicided to look for jobs. *()* We bought a camp trailer and made it our perminate residance a week before the archery hunt started, for some scouting. And stayed in it untill the very end. 

Here is a picture of my home for 36 days.  









After several days of hunting I hadn't had much luck. I had a treestand set up I bought from a fellow forum member. (thank you sagebrush i've had a blast on that thing.) Several small bucks, and cows came well within shooting distance but I just couldn't shoot, knowing there where still two weeks left in the hunt. One night a cold front came through bringing rain and cold temps. So I took the wife and kids up high, so we could play in the snow. We found none however, just a few flakes. We did a little fishing and decided to head back HOME, with a little shooting light. Well on the way back this nice little 4x3 jumped right in front of us. I jumped out and the wife drove off and the rest was history. He presented himself with a 40 yrd shot, after a little stocking under the cover of my 7.3L, powerstroke driving of in the distance, I , made this beautiful shot. *()*

Here is the shot placement, he didn't even take a step. If you look closely you can see the broadhead going through the spine. We had to drag him 12 yrd.









Here are some pics of me and the kids enjoying.










One more pic, believe it or not by the look on my face I didn't start celibrating for another 2 hrs.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Something wrong with this story.... :? I can't even afford this type of camp or the time off when I have a job !!
Good story fixed blade !! Make good use of the situation ....looks like fun !! *()*


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## Duckholla (Sep 24, 2007)

I will tell you a true story that happened to me last weekend while Antelope hunting in Wyoming.
If I win the knife with this story, I will give it away to a young hunter on this forum that needs a good hunting knife.

Last Saturday I was hunting with a buddy that had two doe Antelope tags. I was showing him several areas where there were lots of Antelope in the area. We found a few feeding early on Saturday morning and decided to put a stock on them. We came to a position where he could make the shot and let her fly. I think he flinched a little because the bullet grazed the underside of the Antelope opening her body cavity with a hole this size of a softball. Of course some of her guts were hanging, and she bedded down. So I told him to go get the truck and meet me at the road, and I would start dragging the Lope. When I approached her, she exploded from the brush and ran out in to this meadow. I could see her bleeding really well and I found a huge blood puddle where she had bedded, but still could not see exactly where the bullet had entered and exited. She was headed toward the road that I would have to drag her to, so I continued to walk behind her as she headed to the road. Finally after about a minute, she started to do the chicken dance and fell over. (I should have taken my friends rifle, but I figured she would have finished quicker than she did.) 
Anyway, here is where the story gets good...
As I approached her on the ground for the second time, she had expired. I touched her eye with a stick and there was no blink, flinch response or breath left in her. I had about 100 yards to the road, so I grabed her back hind leg and began dragging. I got about 30 yards when I came to a dry river bed. There was about a 2-3 foot drop into the river bed, so I jump into it, and pull the Antelope in with me. As soon as her body hit the ground, SHE CAME BACK TO LIFE!!! She started digging and jumping. I had a hold of one leg, and she was trying to get away. I kicked her legs out from under her and was getting ready to cut her throat when she went lifeless again. I figured it was a weird second wind or something, so I holstered the knife and continued dragging. When I got to the road, there was another drop down to get to the road. When I jumped off, she came with me, and AGAIN!!!! SHE CAME BACK TO LIFE!!! This time, she came completely back to life and was kicking and baaaa'ing and you would have never thought that she had been shot. It took all I had to wrestle her back to the ground and get the knife out again, and again...she went lifeless on me. Dead as dead could be. I have never in my life seen something so crazy. All I can imagine is when she hit the ground from those two small drops it was enough to jolt the heart back to life or something. 
To say the least, I now have a torn pair of camo pants, a huge bruise in my leg and scratches to go with it. Never underestimate a wild animal like that...they are incredably strong!
If we could have had this on video I think I could have made a small fortune from it.
I hope you enjoyed the story.


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## callofthewild (Sep 7, 2007)

awsome story duck, now if you were any good at all you would have worked that antelopes joints and had her begging for mercy. really that story made me laugh thanks for sharing.


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## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

Great story.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

great story there fixed blad.


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## missduckhunter (Sep 13, 2007)

*Re: 2006 Cow Elk Hunt*

When I got my cow elk last year I was so excited telling the story to my mom, dad, sisters and then it was cousins, aunts, uncles, in laws and so after telling it for the umpteenth time somebody suggested I write it and email it to everybody cause they got a kick out of how I told the story.
I didn't post the story because the first shot as you will see below was so close that I nicked her and I was scared I would get some negative remarks which is not exactly what you look for when sharing a great experience so here it goes.

I got my elk on Thursday morning. It is kind of funny, we slept in that morning and were drinking our coffee and watching the end of Price is Right when Ed went to let Kai out on her leash and he came running back in saying "GET YOUR GUN, GET YOUR GUN" so we found the keys to the truck (guns were locked in there for the night) and unlocked it got out the guns. Right across from our camp was a big 5 pt bull elk with about 35 cows so I picked out a cow down low maybe 30 yards and nicked her I thought she was down so I started scanning the herd for a spike for Ed to shoot when we see this black blur go flying up the mountain....yep Kai was going to retrieve my elk until she got up to them and they started stomping and snorting enough to scare her back down to us. I had a heart attack then and there. I know, big no, no. She doesn't chase deer, horses or cattle that come through but when momma shoots then baby will retrieve...she's a lab, that's what she does and she will never ever have an opportunity to do that again cause I know somebody could have shot her had they felt the elk were threatened. We had a long talk and she understands to only retrieve if it has feathers. 

Well, I run (I think it should be ran, deal with it I am now officially a hillbilly or ******* and proud of it) up the mountain to find my elk and there is a tiny bit of blood and tracks going up the mountain, that sucker had got back up and joined the heard. A guy watched it all happen and told us she's fine so we jumped in the truck to head down the road to catch back up with the herd, they were boxed in and the only way out is back the way they came so we went down a ways and then turned around when another guy who knew I had a cow tag and that I was trying for one in the herd, he pointed way in the hell up the mountain and there were elk all over on a ledge with a 200 foot drop off so we found me a gun rest real quick and my husband just told me to take my time and to take a breath and shoot when I was ready.

Well I picked out a cow turned broad side and shot and then I heard "you got her, you got her" then I was trying to find her again in my scope to make sure I killed her when Ed and this other guy could see her kicking so I looked up the mountain and she reared back and fell down the dang cliff and then the next thing I heard was "Holy %@*#" it was the stranger who had just stopped to watch. He said he had never seen anything like that in his life and could not believe what an awesome shot that was and that if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes he wouldn't have believed it.

That guy went and unloaded his quad and helped us get her off the mountain.

I have to say yeah, I got a trophy all right.

All my husband kept saying is I am so proud of you, you did everything perfect. He did ask a little later why I didn't shoot the one with the collar and I said I hadn't seen her in all of the excitement and all I was looking for was one that would give me a broad side shot.l I stood and watched the herd head back out and there was a little cow with a silver coller on that was standing out like a lighthouse once the adreniline was out I could focus on more details.

I was going to leave this part out but you should know the next day we went for a long quad ride and I took my shotgun so I could shoot a grouse for dinner and when I finally found one I got off of the bike and walked back in to get it up and shot right behind it and it flew into the trees. I had no excuse for that one. I think we ate chili that night.

As for Kai we need to not let her watch any more hunting shows because she seems to think that she is so versatile that she can retrieve anything I shoot including an 800 lb cow elk.

So there's my story, it is a memory I will never forget.

Talk to you soon

April

Wow, a miracle happened and my picture posted. Hopefully I am posting a picture of my spike elk I get this year.

My Cow Elk








3 point buck 2006. He was a job getting out of the bottom of the canyon









Taking a rest after a long day hunting


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## SteepNDeep (Sep 11, 2007)

I know where that elk is hanging - one of my favorite spots to hunt. Thanks for the good story and pics.


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## EPEK (Sep 11, 2007)

I spotted a great buck a couple of weeks before the season opened, and got a lot of great pictures and got to watch him and a few other bucks feed and bed and feed and bed and escape. This was about a 185 class buck with three cheaters and plenty worthy of going after. We did not hunt this area on the opener, but after that I have spent most of my hunting times after this buck. Even once when I joined 22 on a hunt that we had a near hit / miss experience, we were close enough to this bucks 'area' that I journeyed to a spot I could get a peak, and even though I did not see him, I started to get more educated on his possible hang outs. The big buck brought me into the area, and the few good bucks running in the same area, and on occasion with the big one, had me hopeful for a run in with one of these 'shooter' bucks. One of my trips allowed me to sit down and spot a hill side about 80 yards from this buck and two others that were very respectable as they were already beaded up the hill from me. When I was done spotting (not seeing anything) I broke down my tripod and the noise jumped these bucks out of bed and into the next continent. They went along ways away from me. On another trip, I caught this buck I finally killed, feeding in the evening about 150 yards away and slowly moving toward me as I was in a great ambush spot. He bedded instead of finishing his walk toward me and I waited him out until dark and when I had to move to get back to camp, I bumped him and watched him for the next 10 min as he picked up and moved out of dodge, and just kept going. Well about a week ago, I decided to hike a tree stand up the very steep and knawrly ridge these bucks have been known to be at, and set up a stand in what I thought was a very good spot. (Make note to self to move stand up the hill and a bit north, better spot.) Any way, I sat that stand the night I put it up and the next morning and saw...................... nothing. I came back up into the really tuff to get to spot and sat taht stand this last Friday night, and saw........................ lots of grousse. So I hiked out and set the alarm for very early the next morning, had some dinner and hit the sack. Waking early and getting on the trail so I could get there before light, I couldn't help but think of how cool it was when I was young and my knees didn't hurt and I could easily recover from the last nights hike. Anyway, I got to my tree stand and got set up a bit before light and started talking myself into staying in the stand until 9:00am. I have a very hard time just sitting. Anyway, for some wierd reason I used a technique the makes this story a bit odd. I said, "8:12 is going to be the magic hour." And each and every time I checked my watch, I would say, only so and so more min. until 8:12. And at one time when it was 7:48, I litterally said, "24 miniutes until magic hour." Well, at exactly 8:12am the first buck came into my little area and was about 80 yards away, and kept going, so, no shot. The next one came in and it was my buck, the one that brought me into the area. He stood there at 75 yards and just beyond some trees, and I set my pin to 75 and drew back and could tell that the flight of my arrow would have had to thread some trees, so let down and let him go as he followed the others down the hill. I then saw this buck and four others come into the area and three of them cam a bit closer, but was sort of on the same trail as the others, and I thought this is how this morning is going to end when................... this buck headed over toward me and stood on a pre determined distance of 40 yards. I set the pin and drew back and held as far right as I wanted my arrow to hit, (I had shot perfect the day before, but when I got into my tree, my pin was a bit bent to the left, and as I straightened it, I worried that I should not have as that might have been the way it was the day I was center punching vegas three spots.) So anyway, I set up for a bit of a left shot and let her go. At my release the buck was already turning to go with the others and even though his front legs moved down the hill, his heart must have stayed where I was aiming, because, my arrow entered dead center chest and burried itself out of sight, right thru the heart and where the lungs join together. He slowly and then slowlier went up the hill about 25 to 30 yards and stopped. I thought, that looked like a good shot when he forgot to use his legs to balance his body and did what you do when you catch on fire, he stopped, dropped and rolled a ways down the hill. I saw exactly where he stopped rolling and knew I did not have a tracking job ahead of me. Well to get to the end of it, I went aways to a ridge that I thought 22 might be hanging out and radioed his attention. I got one of his nephews and eventually got him. They were on some bucks and were in the middle of trying to get in their way, so I waited for them to get their job done and went down and got of few of my belongings and went back to my buck and got to work quartering and caping. 22's group sort of didn't put it together that morning and he and one of his nephews showed up at kill zone on September 22, 2007 his wedding anniversary and loaded 95 pounds of deer meet into his pack and then made his nephew pack it out. I took the head and cape, we did all of the obligitory tagging and permission stuff, and they packed out the meat and I packed out the cool part. Fun year, fun hunt.


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## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

I don't have any photos as the camera got wet and frozen from this hunt. But here is my story. I hope you all enjoy.

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Due to our expected long hike, we needed to leave early so I loaded the Suburban the night prior to my hunt. At 3:45 AM Saturday morning, my alarm woke me from my December slumber. A light snow was falling and the roads were covered with a skiff of powdery white. I drove to my good friend David’s house and rose him from his slumber by knocking repeatedly on the door. Hopefully his wife will forgive me sometime in the future. David didn't have a tag but was fulfilling his friendship dues by accompanying me on this hunt.

As we headed toward the highway leading up the canyon, we saw the flashing lights of emergency vehicles. Due to a jackknifed semi, the canyon was closed and I had to change plans. We headed up a different canyon that took us 25 miles out of our way so that we could hunt our predetermined spot.

Arriving at the trailhead nearly an hour later than planned, I quickly changed my tactics. I decided to hunt a ridge closer to the trailhead, hoping the herd of elk had moved lower on the mountain due to the new snow. Slowly, we made our way up the steep snow in the dark. With about 8 inches of fresh snow, we were able to move quietly, although slowly.

We arrived at the saddle and looked into the large canyon right at first light. On the opposite side hill, a herd of elk fed their way up the canyon. I had them. I knew it was a really long shot from there, so I decided to drop back behind the hill and race to the top of the peak where the opposite ridge joined the ridge I was on. I knew that if I could get there quickly enough, I would have a great chance to harvest my first elk.

Nearly 30 minutes later, completely out of breath and legs burning, David and I crested the ridge slowly, just in time to see the last elk go over the ridge into the next canyon too far away for a shot. So………

About two hours and three canyons later, we had pretty well decided to give up on the elk. We were now near the private property that skirted the forest service land. The tracks in the snow suggested that the elk were enjoying the comforts of life on private land. Moving over to the ridge overlooking the private canyon, my thoughts were confirmed as nearly 50 elk were milling around and bedding in the protected canyon. What to do? We worked our way out one more ridge and decided to stop to eat an energy bar. While sitting in the snow, we enjoyed watching the deer below us in the trees. While watching them, I noticed a heavy trail in the snow just above the deer and about 250 yards below us. Only a herd of elk could have made a trail that heavy in the fresh snow. Maybe, just maybe, a small band of the original herd of Wapiti had split from the main herd and bedded in the head of the next canyon, on public land.

We decided to go one ridge further up the mountain and see what was in that canyon. About twenty minutes later, David and I crested the ridge slowly to look for our herd. We saw nothing, but the heavy trail left evidence they had been there. We sat down to drink some water and watched a nice four point buck move from the trees below. Where had he been two months earlier during the ML Deer hunt? Oh well, now we could just watch the deer work his way into the canyon we had just came from. 

We heard some noise below the deer and noticed a couple of men and their hounds. They were working the canyon below us looking for cougars we assumed. It was interesting to see the dogs work their way back and forth through the thick quaking aspen. Soon they crested the ridge 800 yards below us and went in the same canyon the buck had moved into. Looking at our watches, we realized that it was almost 12:00 Noon and we tried to decide how much more to push it for the day. As we discussed our next move, Dave noticed some dark spots at the head of the next canyon. After looking at so many “log elk” or “rock bucks” I was really surprised when my 10x42s gave away our herd of elk’s location. Now we had a decision to make. Did we have enough in us to keep going? One more canyon and we would have a good chance at taking my first elk. 

As I said, Dave did not have a tag and was literally there just to help me and act as a pack horse if needed. He carried no rifle and we were now 3.5 miles from the Suburban and nearly 1 mile away from the trail in the bottom of the main canyon. I turned to my great friend and said, “David, if you tell me let’s be done, I will hike out of this canyon and go back to the truck, but if you are willing to work your guts out to help haul a large elk, I will go after them”. Deep inside, I hoped he would tell me it was time to go home. 

He looked at me and said “Let’s go get her”. We shouldered our packs and we headed to the next ridge. We were now getting close. We could see that there were about 20 elk milling around at the head of the canyon, some bedded, some up feeding, unaware of our presence. I tried to range the elk as the snow began to fall again. I just couldn’t get a reading. I decided I had to get closer. I asked David to stay behind as I slowly stalked closer to the herd of elk. I found a small tree that would provide a “screen” of sorts for me as I stood out against the snow. That tree should get me close enough for a shot. 

Arriving at the tree, my Bushnell Compact 800 read loud and clear on the large lone cow at the edge of the herd. She was 382 yards out nearly straight across the canyon from me. I set up the shooting sticks, settled in behind my Model 70 7mm Rem Mag and eyed my prize. The second hash down on the ballistic plex scope, which performed perfectly during practice sessions, now found its way to the front shoulder of my cow elk. I gently squeezed the trigger, and watched as my prize fell and slid in the snow down the steep slope. Two more 160 grain Accubonds found their way to ensure she was down for good. I had been taught a long time before, that with elk you “Keep shooting until all four legs were in the air and the tongue is hanging out”. All three shots were kill shots and the last two were certainly not needed, but she was definitely mine now. 

I picked up my shooting sticks and headed over to my fallen prize. The snow was really starting to fall now. I arrived at my animal and realized the dilemma I was in. I had killed what I figure must have been the lead cow. She was ENORMOUS! We were a long way from the trail and even further from the truck. 

After an hour or so of hard work, we had the cow cut down to two hind quarters, two front shoulders and a couple large bags of boneless meat. It was now 2:30 PM. We each loaded a hind quarter in our packs and then drug a game bag loaded with the front shoulder and the boneless meat through the snow down the slope. After going about 75 yards down the trailless canyon filled with blowdowns and other obstacles. I felt like I was spent and didn’t know how I could go much further. I was absolutely ecstatic to look down and see my brother Bill and my friend Jared hiking up the hillside with two plastic sleds. My wife had let them know we had a cow down after I called to inform her of our situation. I literally sat down right there and waited for them to get to me. After loading the meat up in the sleds, we hiked out. We arrived at the Suburban at 7:30 PM.

THANK YOU David, Jared and Bill. I owe you a lot. 

My brother killed a smaller cow last year literally 20 yards from where I killed mine in 05’ The two of us were able to get her boned out, loaded in the packs, and down the tight canyon to the main trail. From there, we went to the truck and got a sled which was loaded with the meat for the fun ride out. Jared, my brother, and me each have this tag for 07. I hope that this was fun for you, as it was really fun for me to relive this hunt again. My goal for 07’: Shoot the elk lower on the mountain and take GOOD pictures.


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## callofthewild (Sep 7, 2007)

it was 4:00 a.m opening morning when a 1972ish purple ford f250 without a muffler came roaring into our camp. he sat there and revved his engine for about 5 minutes because from what i could hear if he let it idle by itself it would die. after about five minutes he honked the horn about 3 times then proceded to back his piece of crap trailer right next to my tent. he turned off his truck and started to yell at his hunting partner because he did not like where the trailer was at. the truck fired up again and the trailer moved to another location within close proximity of my wall tent. this happened a grand total of 3 more times. by this time myself and the other 2 with me had had enough and were up getting dressed to go out and have a confrentation with the guy. to our surprise the zipper of the tent was being opened and the guy walked into the tent and looked around for a moment. noticing that we were all dressed and not looking particularly pleased he anounced that he must be in the wrong camp. our reply was not rehersed at all at the same time all three of us said no ****. he just backed out of the tent and must have sprinted to his truck and fired it up and took off like a bat out of hell camp trailer bouncing along behind. we ran into him a couple of times during the week and he just could not look us in the eye. one evening on the way back to our camp he was sitting in his lawn chair over by the devils arm chair so i pulled into his camp put my 4 wheeler into nuteral and reved the engine a couple of times. there were some laughs all around.

my deepest apologies if this is one of you on this forum but it really was an interesting experience.


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## EPEK (Sep 11, 2007)

You know it wan't me, I would have been carrying a lugabaloo.


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## callofthewild (Sep 7, 2007)

EPEK said:


> You know it wan't me, I would have been carrying a lugabaloo.


from the stories i have heard you would have used it while in the tent then left. :wink:


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## EPEK (Sep 11, 2007)

I would not have left.


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## silvertip (Sep 27, 2007)

The 72 ford strikes again! :shock: 
Who are these guys :?: 
How long was their mullets?


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## callofthewild (Sep 7, 2007)

they had gone and shaved off thier mullets. cromedomes.

and epek if it were you who walked into the tent you could have stayed you are welcome by the stove any day.


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## SureShot (Oct 2, 2007)

*X Marks the Spot*

This was a hunt I will never remember. It all started 4 years ago when I found a monster 260" lion-killed buck while I was shed hunting in Southern Utah. He had 8 points on one side, 10 on the other, double drop tines, 38" outside spread, over 50" of mass. I mean he had it all. This was my dream buck and I just knew I had to have him.

I joined the dedicated hunter program, which lets me hunt during the archery, muzzleloader and rifle seasons, and spent the rest of that summer and fall looking for him. But I never found a single track. I scoured the hills the next spring hoping to find his sheds, but, again, I was disappointed and never found them. However, I am not one to give up easily and visions of this monster buck haunted my dreams and most of my waking moments, especially when I looked at his rack mounted on the wall in my bedroom every day. I was becoming obsessed with this buck and dedicated almost every free minute for the next two years trying to outwit him one more time. No other buck would do.

After spending three complete hunting seasons searching unsuccessfully for this wily old buck, and passing up several other monstrous bucks during that time that would have easily scored over 200" (including one that I am pretty sure would be the new typical world record), my hopes began to fade and I had to come to grips with the reality that I would probably never find him.

And then one crisp morning with traces of snow still on the ground from a recent storm, my luck changed.

I had decided to try an area I hadn't visited in quite some time. As I got out of my 2007 Chevy Silverado Heavy Duty Truck with the Duramax 6600 V-8 Diesel delivering 360 Horsepower of driving pleasure, I felt a tingle run down my back and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. There was something in the air, and I had a feeling that today might be the day. I slipped my Swarovski EL 10x42 Binoculars with their patented Swarobright coatings over my neck, strapped on my Badlands 2200 Backpack with Molded Foam Suspension, Full Hydration Capabilities and an Unconditional Lifetime Warranty, picked up my Bogen 3050 Tripod with Individual Leg Release Levers topped with a Grip Action Ballhead carrying my Zeiss Diascope 65 T* FL 2.6"/65mm Waterproof & Fogproof Spotting Scope with 45-Degree Angled 15-45x Wide Angle Zoom Eyepiece and headed up the well-worn trail.

After hiking for what seemed liked an eternity and not finding anything, I finally came to a nice place to take a break and set up my optics for some serious glassing. A quick scan of the available terrain with my binoculars didn't yield anything, so I created a mental grid and made a more thorough pass. When that still didn't produce anything, I switched to my high-powered spotting scope and repeated the process. My piercing gaze studied every bush and rock and nook and cranny in the rugged canyon for anything that seemed even slightly out of place until my eyes began to water. Finally, I had to take a break to give my eyes a rest and answer mother nature's call.

As I was pondering nature and life and the eternities during that moment of unbroken solitude surrounded by unmatched beauty, I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck again. But, instead of going straight down my spine, it veered off a little bit and started to work its way around the side of my neck. I raised my hand up to my neck and felt the unmistakable legs of a creepy spider. Yeeeeeeyuuuck! With one quick stroke of my hand, I immediately crushed the devilish arachnid and smeared what was left of him across my neck as I drew my hand forward and wiped it disgustedly on my pant legs. Dang, I hate spiders! Gross. I shivered involuntarily a few times, quickly put myself back together and returned to the task at hand.

I sat down again with a renewed determination and almost immediately something caught my eye as I looked through the eyepiece of my scope. Could it be? Yes! It was the tip of an antler protruding from a sagebrush on the edge of a shady patch below a Juniper tree. My refusal to give up long after most others would have quit was starting to pay off. As I focused on the bush, I was slowly able to make out the end of two long tines with a healthy cheater point coming off of one of them. My best guess was that it was the right, front fork a giant buck, but I couldn't be for sure based on the partial view I had. I had to get a better look.

I continued to watch closely for several minutes, trying to formulate a plan of attack. I was hesitant to take my eyes off of the fragment of the antler I could see for fear I wouldn't be able to find it again. I knew I had to do something fairly quickly because the sun was starting to begin its descent towards the western horizon and the shifting shadows would soon swallow up what little of the protruding antler was currently visible. I estimated the distance to be just over 300 yards away, but I would have to get much closer before I would be able to see much more of the antler and determine what I was really dealing with. Finally, I decided the best thing to do was make a direct stalk on it. I took off my hiking boots and slipped on an extra pair of wool socks. I looked through the scope one last time to make sure he was still there and then looked all around me to make sure there weren't any other animals or people around that might spoil things. Satisfied that the conditions were as good as they were going to get, I began my approach.

I slowly worked my way down the hill and through the sagebrush field, stopping occasionally to glass and confirm that the old monarch was still there. Everything was going perfectly and, before I knew it, I had closed the distance to a mere 40 yards. By shifting slightly off to the side I was able to see around the bush just enough to confirm that I had indeed been looking at the huge front forks of a giant rack&#8230;and the backs were just as impressive! Holy cow! His back fork had an inline cheater on each side of the fork, plus another cheater off to the side and what looked like a drop tine to boot. This was absolutely incredible. With six inline tines, plus the two stickers and drop tine, he had nine points and I couldn't even see if he had eyeguards or not. And talk about length! Oh my gosh!

My heart was racing so fast now, I have to admit I probably wasn't thinking very clearly at this point. It seemed like everything was falling into place and nothing would stop me from obtaining my prize.

And then the squirrel appeared.

Apparently, the squirrel had been in the Juniper tree behind the sagebrush watching my approach all this time. Right about this point, he decided to get territorial and scampered down the tree and started to chatter like the world was ending. He knew I was there. He didn't like that fact. And, he was letting the entire world know about it as loudly as he could. Dang those squirrels! I hate them, too! Squirrels and spiders! The bane of my existence.

Fearing that he would ruin everything, I froze. And waited. And waited. After what seemed like an eternity, he gave one final, angry shout, turned around, flipped his tail at me and scampered off. I continued to wait for a few minutes, amazed that the giant antlers hadn't moved an inch during this entire episode. When I figured the coast was clear I continued my stealthy stalk until I was close enough to reach out and touch the massive rack. And so I did. I carefully reached down and picked up my prize. The biggest shed I had ever seen. Wow! What a beauty! I felt the adrenaline rushing through my veins and felt my knees start to shake. This was by far the best find of my entire life. After basking in the glory of this find, I decided to push my luck by trying to find the match to this incredible antler. It really must have been my lucky day, because after several hours of intense searching, I did indeed find the match not five yards from where I found the first one. At this point I was about ready to pass out. Both sides were almost mirrors of each other and they were both in perfect condition. I estimated a 40"+ outside spread and a score of close to 300". He made the buck I had hanging in my bedroom look like a mere giant. My passion for finding the lion kill was instantly replaced. I had a new fixation to focus on.

So that brings us to this year. Still feeling as lucky as a lottery winner after my incredible shed find, I put in for as many premium, limited entry hunting units as I could this spring. As the draw dates began to approach, I would anxiously check my mailbox each day for what I had been hoping for. It was mostly the usual stuff&#8230;Muley Crazy magazine, Eastman's Hunting Journal, letter from Doyle Moss, another offer to produce a hunting show, stuff like that. But one day I hit the jackpot. The envelope said Utah Wildlife Administrative Services. When I opened it, I found the beautiful letters SUCCESSFUL next to the best mule deer unit in the state. They only give out 5 tags for this unit each year, so the quality of bucks is incredible there. I couldn't believe my luck at drawing this tag with only 1 bonus point. Sorry to all of you guys that have been putting in forever and still can't draw a tag. Since I don't want to ruin the odds for the rest of you that are trying to draw a tag in this unit, I won't mention the name here. (But, if you're good with a map, I'll give you a hint where I was. Just find the place known as the "square" at the foot of the Red mountains, take the nearest exit and go right for about 10 miles. You can't miss it.)

This hunting unit was just above where I found my gigantic sheds, and I had a pretty good idea he might be spending his summers and falls there. I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity not to be squandered, but things got really busy at work and home and I wasn't able to get out and scout until the day before my hunt started. Luckily, I got some good tips from some guys on a message board and I was feeling pretty confident as I set up my camp. I was planning to stay for the entire 9-day hunt, if necessary, and I was willing to eat my tag if I didn't find a buck that lived up to my standards.

Opening morning of the hunt found me perched on top of a ridge looking over a saddle that would naturally funnel deer from below as they were pushed by other hunters. I like to get away from the roads, so I had hiked back in as far as I could on my 4-wheeler. Confident that I was in the perfect location, I settled in to wait for the action.

It was a long morning. I guess 4 other tag holders don't create that much pressure to push the deer around. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I silently tiptoed through the dry, crunchy leaves, careful not to make any noise. Putting myself in the shoes of the quarry I was chasing, I slowly fed up the hill, keeping a constant lookout for any slight movement or twitch. It wasn't long before I detected a slight movement-or was it a twitch?-out of the corner of my eye.

In one fluid motion, I turned my head and brought my Remington 700 ADL .270 caliber rifle topped with a Leupold Golden Ring VX-III scope and loaded with 140 grain Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullets to my shoulder. I looked through the scope, but, instead of the big buck I was looking for, I saw another hunter across the canyon from me. As I was watching him through my scope to see if he would scare any bucks towards me, I saw him raise his rifle and point it right at me. That freaked me out, so I fired a warning shot over his head and then dove for cover.

I decided to find another place to hunt that wasn't so dangerous that afternoon. I started hiking in the pines straight up the steepest, nastiest hill I could find. 2 hours and 15 miles later I found myself looking over a low, sagebrush valley surrounded by beautiful, snow-capped peaks and alpine basins. I worked my way across the valley and up through the oak brush on the other side until I had a good view looking back down into the valley. I knew if I was patient, something good would happen.

I glassed until it was almost dark and saw 10-12 really nice bucks. There was one buck that was pushing 200", but the rest were all bigger so I focused on them. Although most hunters would have been happy with any one of these bucks, I've killed my share of monsters and I knew this area held some really big ones, so I was being really picky and passed on all of them.

Finally, just as the legal shooting time was almost over, I saw something that required a closer look. As I focused my Swarovski ATS 65 mm High Definition spotting scope on the sagebrush valley below, the massive buck of my dreams materialized out of nowhere. One look and I knew he was the one. There were too many points to count, but I quickly field-judged him at 302 3/8" non-typical with a 42 1/2" outside spread. I estimated he was almost 2,000 yards away and I knew I would have to hustle to get within range in the precious few minutes I had left. I quickly worked my way down a shale rockslide, across a ledge and around a brushy knob.

My Leica Rangemaster 1200 7x Roof Prism Laser Rangefinder showed the buck was now 592 yards away. There was a group of trees between me and the buck that would conceal me until I could get within 100 yards, but a quick glance at my watched revealed I only had 30 seconds of legal shooting time left. I firmly believe it's unethical to take any shot unless you're absolutely sure you will make a quick, clean kill (you owe it to the animal) and I wouldn't recommend this shot for most hunters, but I practice on the range every day for at least 4 hours at distances well beyond this, so I knew what my abilities were and I knew I could make this shot. With time running out, I found a good, solid rest and found the buck in my scope. He had a small red X just behind his shoulder. I centered my crosshairs on the X and squeezed off a shot just before my watch alarm went off, indicating the end of legal shooting hours.

The bullet raced along its trajectory and dropped the buck in his tracks. He was dead before the bullet even hit him. I walked up to this majestic buck and admired him, knowing he would be a buck I would never remember.

Finally, I just want to thank my wife and children for allowing me to pursue my passion. I know I'm never there for them, but they're the most important things in my life and I think about them all the time while I'm away from home enjoying time with my hunting buddies. Without their support, I know I wouldn't have been able to make this dream come true.


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## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

Shureshot,

I could believe this story if, and only if, you posted pictures  . I would love to see the awesome buck you never took. 

I love the way you told the story, even if it was poking a little fun at me  . Great job!

Did your buck have one or two eyes? Just curious.  

Firehawk


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## Camrat85 (Sep 16, 2007)

Well written, entertaining to the end. Thanks, I think we all enjoyed that! :lol:


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Where's the picture?  :lol:


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## EPEK (Sep 11, 2007)

Nice shot!!!!!!!!!!!! What kind of boots were you wearing?


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## EPEK (Sep 11, 2007)

By the way, mine is still the best 'real' story................. if anyone is keeping score.


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## SureShot (Oct 2, 2007)

Ahhh...but you admit, mine is the best overall story. :wink:


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## truemule (Sep 12, 2007)

That was awsome. I think you deserve the win true or not. That was hillarious. I would like to see pics of that boy or at least the infamous sheds.


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## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

What? No one can show my cow elk some love? :lol: 

Firehawk


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## callofthewild (Sep 7, 2007)

bring her by the office today i have a few guys out in the shop that would love to show your cow elk some love. -)O(-


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## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

:shock:  

Hadn't expected it to go there Call of the Wild. 

FH


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## callofthewild (Sep 7, 2007)

me either it just slipped out.


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## spork40 (Oct 8, 2007)

The Elk That Would Not Die

In the spring of 2004 I found out that I drew out for a CWMU tag that I had been trying to get for quite some time. The permit was around Heber city Utah and I knew that it was a good area that had some large bulls. The rest of the year was spent in anticipation for the hunt, but with this CWMU hunt I could not do any prehunt exploring so I had to wait for opening day.

When the hunt finally came along I could not wait to get in the mountains and look for my trophy. The first day I took my father-in-law, Randy with me and we met up with our guide. We spent the early morning glassing a side hill and immediately started hearing at least four good bulls around us. Unable to catch a glimpse of the bulls randy and I decided to go around to the other side of the bluff to try and get a little closer to where the bigger bull sounded like he was. As soon as we got to the other side we saw elk everywhere. Right in front of us there was a good looking five point and a rag horn six point with about 30 cows. Randy, who has not been elk hunting really ever, started going crazy telling me to shot the five point. I explained that they were not big enough and he thought I was crazy. Seeing these elk and many others in this valley we decided that we would come back that night and watch the water hole here and see if we could get a glimpse of the big daddy.

When we came back that night we did not have to wait long and the chorus of elk bugles started all around us. At this point we knew that there were elk at the watering hole but we were not in position to size any of them up. We slowly made our way from below the water hole just high enough to get our heads above the lip of the shore to see what was going on. We were not disappointed, we saw even more elk then we had seen earlier in the day. Again we saw the same good five point and the rag six point as well as six or seven other decent bulls. The two larger bulls met at the waterhole and we could tell that tensions were still high, being we were still on the tail end of their rut. Randy once again started to get very excited and was telling me to shoot the bigger six point. Once again I had to tell him that it was not big enough and he almost took my gun from me because he could not believe his ears. All of a sudden the two larger bulls locked antlers and what a battle it was. We sat there less than fifty yards from them and watched the two elk battle it out for almost an hour. Our eyes were mistakenly glued to this great struggle and I almost missed the movement further in the distance behind the main attraction. I could see the body of a much larger elk and I knew that he was the king in town watching the action from a safe distance away. I never did get a good look at his antlers but I could tell by the way he acted that he was what I was looking for. Sunlight quickly faded like it always does once you locate your trophy and we were forced to call it a night.

Day two started with high hopes and with different companions. Randy had to return to the working world and my dad joined me to see what we could find. The early morning was spent glassing some deeper mountain sides in hopes of seeing a larger bull. Again we were seeing elk all around us and there was no shortage of bull elk. I bet that morning we saw at least eight different bulls, but none that got us too excited. We hiked all over that day and saw many more bulls and we thought that we were not going to see what we were looking for. Once again right before the sun disappeared behind the mountain about a mile a way I spotted a huge bull. He had very wide beams that were tall as well. He was too far away and we would have to try and find him again tomorrow.

The next morning my dad and I had high hopes of seeing the same bull from last night and we got up extra early to get in place way before the sun came up so we could locate him. About 15 minutes after good shooting light we saw a lone bull high up on the mountain side. He was five or six hundred yards away but with a good spotting scope I could tell that he was what I was looking for. My dad is the opposite of Randy and he was asking me if that elk was big enough. We guessed his size to be around a 350 to 360 bull and that was far larger than anything that I had ever even had a chance at and I was hooked. We stocked the bull and because of where he was on the mountain we had a hard time getting close to him. Once we got to about 375-400 yards we decided that this was as close as we were going to get and it was decision time. Could I make the shot? I got as steady as I could and knowing that I had made a 400 yard shot before with my trusted 30-06 mountain rifle that had yet to not bag an animal, I was confident that I could do it. I squeezed the trigger and immediately saw the bulls front legs weaken as he hesitated and stumbled. I threw another round in as he got his bearing s and started to move into the trees. I fired again and I missed. We knew that he was hit and figured that he was in for. I could still see him as he lay down and we decided to let him bleed out and not pressure him. After waiting for about thirty minutes we saw him stand up and I was ready. I fired again and we saw him whirl around and disappear into the trees. At this point I was very upset and I could not figure out what was going on. Our guide decided that the best approach was for him to go up around where we last saw the elk and see if he was down or at least push him out below where we would be waiting. 

All my experience with hunting told me that sending an unarmed guide up around a possibly wounded elk was not a good idea, but he was the guide and this was his property. My dad and I waited for about an hour for our guide to get above the elk and down we saw our guide go to locate our animal. Shortly after we lost sight of our guide we heard crashing through the trees and knew that me bull was still on the move. I could not see anything because the forest was so thick but I heard him and knew that he was there so we waited. After another hour we finally saw our guide again and we regrouped to see what he had learned. He had indeed spooked the elk and had seen him run but he did not think he would go far. At this point our guide reminded us that we needed to find the bull and let us to join another group that had downed a moose and needed help packing it out.

My dad and I spend the next four or five hours hiking all over the mountain side following the elk’s tracks, blood and other signs to try and find him. We had about given up all hope and were heading down for the night when I noticed some movement behind us and I turned to see what it was. About five hundred yards from where I first shot at the big bull I saw him again out in the open scraping up and down a cedar tree. At first I thought that it was just another one of the many bulls in the area but once I saw him limp a step or two on his front legs I knew that it was him. I grabbed my 30-06 six again and headed up the mountain after him. This time he was in a better location and I was able to sneak up to about 150 yards and I was ready to finish him off and call it a night. I lined my sights up on his front quarters and squeezed the trigger. He dropped like a rock. I got so excited that I had finally put the finishing shot on my bull I started up after him. My dad went back down the mountain t collect our packs and was going to meet me up at the elk. I have had a lot of experience with hunting big game and I was excited to finally have a large bull elk under my belt. As I made my way up to the elk I could not see him above the tall sage brush in the area and I figured he was out. When I got within about ten yards I made two huge mistakes. The bull jumped up and headed right at me. I froze for a moment seeing the huge animal almost on top of me and I quickly regained my composure and dove to one side just as he turned and entered the thick brush again and was gone. I cursed myself for approaching from down hill and for not having my gun at the ready incase something like that were to happen. In my excitement I for got the basic rules of hunting and once again saw my trophy run off and disappear. I could tell he was really hurt and we decided, since it was not too dark, to not disturb him and let him die over night.

The next morning I was baffled at why I did not kill this bull elk if not the first time on the longer shot but at least the second time on a lot closer shot. I took my rifle out first thing in the morning to see if it was off and since we figured that my elk would now be dead we took our time in the morning to figure out what was up with my rifle. I shot at a target at about a hundred yards and found out that it was off by about four inches to the left. I had sighted in my gun before the hunt but it must have got bumped in transit and we did not know it. Since we did not have the time to fit my rifle I grabbed my backup rifle and my grandpa and I headed out to locate my elk. I could not figure out why my rifle was off so much and being lost in thought I narrowly missed what was waiting for me right where we left him the night before. Right there in the same opening from the previous night was a large bull elk. I knew that this must be another elk and that mine was dead somewhere in the trees behind this one. I did not give him much notice but when I got a little closer I studied him more to find a huge surprise. This bull had the same limp as the one the day before and this time I could see blood on his front legs. How this could be the same bull that I had shot twice the day before and he was still on his feet was beyond me. I almost had a heart attack and almost did not know what I do. My grandpa was still further down the mountain and I knew that I could not wait for him or I might loose my elk for good this time. Now I laid my 270 across a steady rest and took aim on this immortal elk that would not die. I squeezed the trigger and once again this huge bull dropped like a rock. Remembering what had happened the night before I took no chances and I approached him by going around and above with my gun at the ready. I only lost him from my sight for a second as I went around a large cedar tree and when I came out on the other side he was gone!!! How could this be, I hit this elk hard three times, laid him out twice and he still had the drive to keep going. By this time my grandpa had caught up to me and I explained what had happened. We were not messing around anymore and we were determined that we were going to put this elk down for good or call it quits. We went to the spot where he fell and saw a huge pool of blood. I knew that this time he was not going to get away and I was hot on his trail. We followed the trail of blood through the trees, out in the open again and we noticed that the train soon angled up hill. I had never seen a wounded animal of any kind go uphill when it was mortally wounded. When ever the trail would hit level ground we would loose the trail and we lost it a dozen times but with persistent searching we always found it again. Another thing that we started to notice was the odd pattern of the blood trail. Whenever the trail would turn uphill again we would see skinny long, about 12 to 18 inches, of spray on the ground every few feet. Every time his heart would pump and strain from the extra exertion of going up hill he would loose more and more blood. At time I thought we would never find him and after following the blood trail for about a mile and a half I thought we were done. All of a sudden the trail took a sharp turn up a very steep incline and we knew that we were hot on his tail. I went up another fifty yards or so and when I came around a bend I saw him again and to my surprise he was down. Being very exhausted from the adrenaline and long uphill hike I took a minute to catch my breath without taking my eye off this elk. I was taking no chances this time and I was not about to let him get away.

Slowly we approached the elk with my rifle at my shoulder ready for any surprises. I got up to within ten yards and my heart was about to jump out of my chest, remembering my previous close encounter with this magnificent elk, and I walked up and he was finally out. I had finally put him down and it was all over. He was indeed a huge elk and indeed would score between 350 and 360, and he was not running away this time. 

When we field dressed the elk I found some things that really did surprise me even more. I found five distinct different bullet holes in his upper front quarters and neck, so I actually did not miss this elk I just had a lot of unlucky shots. Every shot missed a vital artery, organ, bone, or anything that could have put this beast down. I even discovered that two of my shots passed through his rib cage and missed all of his organs. I do not know how that was possible but man what a hunt. This has been and will forever be the most exciting and unexpected hunt of my life. The immortal elk finally met his end and will now be mounted on my wall.


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## itchytriggerfinger (Sep 12, 2007)

There it was opening mourning of the elk/deer hunt. my wife and i made our way over a small mountain from camp. About 3 minutes from where we sat we started hearing some shots. they were on the other side of the mountain from us so we didn't think much of it. So we finnally sat down to a nice cold day in the uintas. We were situated on an overlook of a small valley that to me should be good for an escape route for a monster (or little) elk. It had a small creek and a few openings and it wasn't as thick as the surrounding areas.
After being there for 10 minutes we heard more shots but this time they were alot closer. My wife has really good eyesight for animals, so what does she see coming right at us? Well we right beneath us we have 3 deer coming up and going to the right. We have buck/bull combo tags so we are paying attention to just about anything with antlers. well two of them run by at about 60 yards and they were does. The third one stops about 20 yards down the hill from us and looks at us for about 30 seconds. Scope is up on its head and low and behold.....its another doe.
Just as she meanders off my wife catches the butt end of an elk running the opposite direction so we couldn't even tell what it was. We assumed that it was a bull because a minute or two later we heard two shots in the direction the elk was headed two. Bummer!!!  
thats ok it was still early. So while sitting there until 1030 that mourning those does came and went a couple of times. but on the last time they had an extra one with them. they were a bit further this time and running through the trees (someone spooked them). My wife and i Thought it was a spike but never got a good enough look at it to know for sure.
We called it a day and went back to camp so that she could take a nap and i could take a cr.... never mind.
After the nap we went out to do some road hunting for deer. my wife's pregnant so too much hiking was getting to her. After a few hours of dodging other road hunters my wife was able to see two white butts. how in the world she as able to see them. I don't know. they were well hidden from any trained eye. but my wife is good i guess. Unfortunately both where does.
The next mourning we decided to go back to the same place that we had gone on opening mourning. WHAT A SLOW MOURNING. Nothing came through for it, seamed like, ever. It got to be about 830 and we decided it was time to leave. We stood up too put the extra clothes in my bag. When all of a sudden my wife goes. "theres a deer, it is a doe." i asked if she was sure. (all i could see was its butt.) I then had to remind her to drop the clothes and pick up her gun and look at it. She couldn't tell. Then finally it moved. *It was a buck* i waited for her to shoot and told her to do so. It ended up moving to quick for her to get things lined up and then i also didn't have a shot.
What a freakin bummer. O|* My wife was so bummed that we let it get away. She doesn't swear and she just about swore at herself for not pulling the trigger. Then all of a sudden BUCK FEVER set in. she started shaking and getting cold. It was cute and funny. (she teased me when i had buck fever 2 years ealier when i shot my first buck, 3point.) She was so mad at herself and now she was getting cold.
We sat there for a few minutes just kicking ourselves when my wife exclaims "*He's coming back right at us* sure as crap Someone had spooked him and he exploded down the hill and was coming right at us. (my wife has never killed a deer so i was letting her shoot first.) She had a hard time getting him into her scope. I had several good shots as he started up the hill towards us. He got within 30 yards and i said shoot. at 15 yards i said it again but louder. The deer finally noticed us and veared just a bit. Oh no!!! i thought he was going to get away. SO i pulled the trigger. WHAM. He was down. we didn't have a clear shot then but he went down. 
As soon as the deer hit the ground my wife looks over at me and asks in all seriousness. Did i shoot? Apparently we both pulled the trigger at the same time. I didn't hear two shots so i thought it could be possible. But then sadly she looked down and noticed the safety was still on. She shoots a Ruger M77 with a safety that has to be pushed all the way forward. It was only pushed half way. I felt so bad that she pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I wanted her to shoot it SOOOO bad. 
She thought it was weird that when she pulled the trigger the gun didn't kick but made a loud boom.
I ended up hitting in in the hind end and it went right through his lungs so he died right there where i hit him. *12 yards away* the weatherby 338 (I know its big for a deer _O\ ) threw him into a tree and that was that.
Once she saw what i had shot she didn't want to settle for a two point anymore. She was telling the truth we had two of them cross the road right in front of us on the way home and she didn't want to get out of the truck.
He's not a monster but he is my biggest. I wish it was my wifes first that would have been even sweeter. 19" 3x4 with eye guards.
hears the pic. remember i'm a 270 pound guy


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## bigbuck81 (Oct 10, 2007)

I got my first bull elk on opening day of the rifle hunt this year (2007)!!! It is only my second year elk hunting, though I have been hunting mulies my whole life. I decided to buy an elk tag last year as an excuse to scout deer during the elk hunt and just had alot of fun on my first elk hunt but was not successful. So this year I told my wife I wasnt to worried about getting an elk just wanted to see some bucks and enjoy the great outdoors! I really had very low expectations of harvesting an elk but had plenty of determination to give myself the oppurtunity! Ive been deer hunting in an area in the uintahs for 8 years now, and have never seen an elk there til last year in september while scouting deer, and now its like the elk are out numbering the deer, so I knew I had a chance at getting one. It would be just my wife and I because my brother wimped out due to the big storm on friday night. My wife and I got out of the truck at 630 am and started hiking. As we got into the foothills below the mountains we began discussing strategy of where to go. I told her we needed to walk up the left side of the canyon that was south facing and watch the thick pine north facing slope and wait for the hunters to push the elk right to us. She agreed and we continued on. I figured the elk would be in the thick pines because it rained extremely hard all night friday up there. Just as we started up the canyon I saw foot prints in the skiff of snow that had fallen so we knew we had a hunter ahead of us but his prints went straight up the bottom of the canyon and we were going left up the ridge anyways so we kept on. We got about a quarter way up the mountain and sat down to glass into the pines and cedar trees for a few minutes. While we were sitting there we suddenly heard some shots up on top of our canyon but we were still way low.We then spotted two hunters walking up the canyon and I told my wife we should parrallel them just incase they kick something up. We learned from last year that if you find a good spot to sit the other hunters will do all the work for you on the elk hunt in the uintahs. Very packed is an understatement! So our plan was to try and use the hunters to our advantage and not kill ourselves hiking all day like we did last year.So we got up and started hiking again, We were only hiking for what seemed like only a few seconds but this is when things started happening! All of the sudden...boom! Another shot was fired but this one was much closer! Like less than 200 yards above me and on the left side of our canyon. As soon as that shot went off an elk was flashing through the pines and cedars (as if it had been shot at) from right to left in front of me. I instantly sat down on my camo but pad, set up my shootin stix, and pulled up my 7mm and put it on an opening between two cedar trees right where he was headed for. My scope quickly filled up with a very nice bull elk! I squeezed the trigger and he dropped! Then instantly after he dropped he got back up! Then boom! The hunter that took the first shot dropped him for good! I didnt even have time to think when another elk to my right and about 150 yards above me stepped out of the pines heading down and to the right of me. During all the comotion I think I heard my wife say I think its a cow! I already had my scope on him and he stopped behind a cedar with his head out of vision. I stayed steady watching through my scope, he stepped out...it was another nice bull!!! I put it on his vitals... squeezed the trigger... and he dropped!!!! He rolled about 20 feet down the steep face and came to a stop. My wife and I quickly started down the steep slope then up the other side where the elk was. When I got to him...I was in total dis-belief!!! It was a 5x4!!! I looked at my clock and it was 7:20am!! Wasnt even an hour from the truck and I scored what I consider to be a trophy!!! Shortly after this my step dad showed up to help do the dirty work. He was right behind us the whole time because he had to go back to camp to get a radio. Then the other hunter that got the first bull I hit came over to see our bull and talk about how cool it was the way things worked out. He said I hit his elk in the front leg barely missing under his chest, his bull was a 5x5 almost identical to mine in size! My brother then showed up about an hour and a half later to help get him out of there! It was a great hunt and Im really glad my wife was there to experience it with me! It was a short hunt but one that I will remember for a lifetime! Two other funny things about this hunt was my wife and I had joked around all year that if we were gonna get a bull we needed to get him in canyon 1 so it would be easy to get him out. We werent even half way up canyon 1 where I dropped him!! The other funny thing was when I was on the phone with my brother the night before I told him "If you dont come you know I'll get one! You know its funny how some hunts can go so wrong and some can just go so perfectly! Happy hunting season to all, bigbuck81!
OHH by the way I have lots of pics but I tried to post one and it says file size too big. Can someone help me out with this?


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## HOGAN (Sep 8, 2007)

Really not sure these stories could win. DID IT SOUND LIKE A WAR? Did the other guy return fire? Is everyone ok? :wink:


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Not my own. But told to me by my buddy Steve the night before last. 

The other night my wife and I were out in the yard, putting bikes and stuff away before we headed to bed. My buddy Steve pulls up and gets out to chat. He says that our other friend, also named Steve had shot an elk and in the process of packing it out, a badger came out and spooked his horse, throwing him off and he landed on a rock and broke four vertebrea. So Steve number 1 asked if I'd be able to help cut up the elk for injured steve. Good enough. We spent three hours last night taking care of hurt Steve's elk. 

So as first Steve and I are chatting, he tells me of his experience last week when he was up on the muzzle loader hunt. He was hiking along and sees this old guy waving at him to come to him. He gets there and the old guy, age 74, says "Hey! Shoot my deer!" and points at a small 2 point standing 30 yards away looking at him. Steve says "What?" The old guy says "Shoot my deer right there." Steve says "Why don't you shoot it?" "My gun won't work. I've tried it twice. Shoot my deer for me." So Steve says "Here. Use my gun" and hands him his own rifle. So the old guys pulls up on the deer and pops it. So my buddy Steve goes over and helps the old man clean it and drag it up to the road. Then the old guys says "Go that way about 150 yards and get my hunting buddy. He has the 4 wheeler. Tell him to come and get me."

So Steve heads that direction and comes within eyeshot of the guys hunting buddy. The guy sees him and starts waving him over. Steve gets there and this guy is older than the first. He says "Come help me with this deer." Steve walks up, and the guy who is in his late 70s, is using a walker. The old guy has mounted a gun rack like you'd put on your ATV, on the front of the walker!. He has a two-point on the ground. He is trying to drag is, using his walker, the 30 yards to the ATV parked in the road. So Steve grabs the deer and drags it over to the guy's ATV and loads it on the back rack. The old man walks over with his walker, gets to the ATV, folds up his walker and bungee cords it to the front rack. Steve follows him over to the first guy and loads up the other two point on the front rack, on top of the walker. Then the guys head back to camp. 

My buddy Steve busts his hump for three days and never gets a shot at a deer. And two old guys, one with a walker, each shoot one. Funniest hunting story I've ever heard!


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## callofthewild (Sep 7, 2007)

dang i hope i have a way to get out and hunt when i am in a walker and 70 years old. mounting a gun rack on your walker that my friends is hillarious.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I wish he had taken some pictures. They would be priceless.


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## bigbuck81 (Oct 10, 2007)

HOGAN said:


> Really not sure these stories could win. DID IT SOUND LIKE A WAR? Did the other guy return fire? Is everyone ok? :wink:


 Oh yah the 3 whole shots that were fired was just like a war! Yep, he did return fire and there was two successful hunts within 30 seconds of each other! I bet it was a whole lot more exciting than your unsuccessful hunt! Why bag on rifle hunters? I didnt see anyone baggin on bows! :wink:


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## HOGAN (Sep 8, 2007)

Emial me a pic, I will post it for you?


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## HOGAN (Sep 8, 2007)

Ps my hunt has not even started yet.


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## HOGAN (Sep 8, 2007)

I guess i don't like the fact that you shot at and wounded and/or killed 2 different elk within 30 seconds. When "archers" shoot at something they follow up on the shot and investigate. Not shoot at an animal, hit it, and before knowing how bad descide to shoot another, just in case??? It turned out ok but what if??? My hunt starts around November 1st, I will let you know how it goes.


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## bigbuck81 (Oct 10, 2007)

I didnt just shoot the other elk just incase, I saw the other elk drop so I took the other bull. Have you ever rifle hunted in a crowded area? This type of situation happens all the time. Its not like bow hunting. Totally different ball game. My hunt was 100% ethical in my opinion. I like the way I hunt and I like rifle hunting alot and I plan on doing it for many many years to come!


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## HOGAN (Sep 8, 2007)

Thought you wanted to get into archery? I know it is harder to explain over the internet. Just bustin your chops. Still waiting to see pics.


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Joey, You know I'm a bowhunter, but come on man.



> When "archers" shoot at something they follow up on the shot and investigate.


I would say "most" archers follow up. Archers aren't exempt from the presence of idiots.


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## bigbuck81 (Oct 10, 2007)

joe, pm me your e mail address and I'll send them right over!!


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## north slope (Sep 8, 2007)

This story starts last spring on the turkey hunt. On the way back from the boulders I called my credit card to find out it was hit for 308.00 dollars, I knew what that meant, moose tag. I drew a tag on a CWMU called the Moons ranch. I used to hunt elk near the ranch and knew there was moose on it so I thought with only 4 points I would give it a try.









This is my golden ticket.









The ranches has just about every type of country on it from red rock to...









pines...









aspens...









scrub oak...









cedars...

I talked with the CWMU operator a lot I was not allowed to get on the ranch to scout so I had to trust the operator. He said that I could get a bull up to 40 inches. There was a lot of bulls moving through the ranch during the rut. However, I got there a little to late and the rut was winding down. Little did I know that this five day hunt would be one of the hardest hunt I have been on!

We camped on the north fork about 4 miles from the ranch.









camp....









albino rainbow trout...

Day 1... We saw one cow on top of a wicked steep ridge in the pines.. Day two at first light we saw a cow and a tiny bull running down a ridge, they were in a big hurry to get somewhere.









I got within bow range with this guy but I passed.....Day three was just a few cows no bulls.
I could not find a bull and was running out of time. We were due for some bad weather Saturday, I had to get something together for Friday, I was sweating bullets... Thoughts of coming home empty handed were becoming reality......... TO BE COUNTINED.......


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## north slope (Sep 8, 2007)

Intermission :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: So we kept on looking....








Thats not a moose but nice to look at!








This was all that was left of a 362 bull that was killed on the ranch.








We kept on looking finding everything but a bull moose.








I did find the tag on my chair though :roll: 








We started to get closer but time was running out, I was a wreck. That night on our way out we ran into the ranch manager. He said he found a bull across the canyon but only saw it for a second before dark. He said he would take us in the morning to try and find it. It was a long restless night... I hope and prayed that the bull would stay put. We met up in the morning and headed out to a look out point. We found elk all over the place but no moose. Hope was slipping away when all of the sudden he came out of the scrub oak. 
He was across the canyon and feeding. Jason and Tom thought that I should wait and see what the elk were going to do, cause they were really jumpy. They thought if I tried to get in bow range I could blow out the elk taking the moose with them. I could not just sit there and wonder if the bull would stay or feed over the ridge. I grabbed the ultra mag and headed down the hill. I covered a lot of ground fast, I was not going to let him slip away. Well the elk slipped over the hill and the moose started feeding towards me. I lost him for a while and then he reappeared, 252 yards but not broadside. I waited he turned and I sent a bullet his way. He fell so fast that he went head over heels. I walked up to him and he looked dead, I was wrong. I was about ten feet from him when he tried to get up. He charged at me and growled I put two more rounds in him and it was over.
















































I wanted to get a 40 inch bull with my bow. I ended up with a 37 inch with my rifle. This bull was broken off in 4 places and a skinny palm on one side, but I was still happy to take him. This trip was a emotional roll a coaster I would have to say that high profile tags are high stress. My buddy Jason stayed with me from start to finish and Tom found my bull. I could not have done it with out them, great guys. It was one hard hunt and cutting up this beast is going to take forever. His tenderlions are a big as backstraps on a elk, hmmmmm.  Moose it's what's for dinner.


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## RTMC (Sep 10, 2007)

north slope said:


> Moose it's what's for dinner.


SWEEEET!
I'll grab some brewskies and be right over. 7ish?


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## YaleB (Oct 22, 2007)

My first mule deer buck.

This year has been a great year of hunting for me. I am 16 so I bought a Northern rifle tag so I could hunt all seasons and I really wanted to kill my first deer with my bow. I have a big yard so I practice all year with my bow. I hunted in August and let a few small bucks go by and had to start school after that. On the opener of the rifle hunt I had to work and watch some property that my brother manages so I took my bow and my rifle because it's in the extended area for the wasatch. It snowed hard for awhile and I could barely see in front of my face. After the snow cleared at about 4;30, I decided to go with one of the guys named Jim on to the public land because they only allow a few guys to bowhunt on the property and I wasn't one of them .There were a lot of people hunting there so I decided to leave my bow and took my Remington .270. 
When we got thto where we thought there would be some deer I started looking everywhere with my binoculars. Me and my friend were driving slow on our 4 wheelers and I kind of looked over my shoulder and noticed a couple of deer across a canyon standing in an opening about a half a mile away. Me and him got off and I told him that I could see a pretty decent buck in there and I could see it with my naked eye. We stopped the 4 wheelers and they started to go down in to the trees. Jim looked in his binos and told me it was a huge 4 point! So we made up a plan that I would go one canyon accross and he would go 2 canyons accross and hopefully one of us would get close enough for a shot.
As I made my way down the hill I reached the opening where we had first seen them. I glassed for about 5 minutes on the opposite hillside to my left to see if they were still there. It was dead silent and there was no movement. So I hiked a little bit further down the finger and it made it so I could look down in to the bottom of the canyon where the two fingers came together.I kept looking across the canyon to make sure there was nothing in the trees. I couldn't see any animals. 
All of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I caught some movement and I quickly looked over and saw two bucks working their way to the top of the ridge and feeding. So I started making my way down the finger to get closer to the 2 bucks and to find an opening for a shot. When I found my opening they still had no clue I was there and I extended my bipod and sat down in the snow and found the 2 deer in my scope. When I looked at them I thought it was the huge 4 point with a small 3 point just above it. I was getting ready for a shot and I thought in my head that it was a pretty long shot, about 550 yards and that's too far for me. My brother would ring my neck for taking a shot this far and he taught me that I owe it to the animal to take a shot I am capable of and kill it as quick as possible.
I was thinking what I could do to get a closer shot, But they were in plain sight and so was I, and I was sure they would see me and bust. So I looked around and saw a small little hill about 200 yards from me and I waited until they went into the trees a little bit and hiked fast and slid down the hill a lot. I got to the bottom of the little depression and couldn't see anything because the trees were so thick, there was like 4 inches in between the scrub oak trees. Then I started through the, the trees were scratching the hell out of my face and grabbing my clothes, my gun strap and they pulled my hat off like 7 times. I had to crawl under them many times too. I finally got to the top of the hill in to the opening I had seen from the other side and looked to see if the deer were still there.
At first I couldn't see any deer and I thought for sure that they had gone over the ridge. I quickly started looking in to the trees to see if I could see anything and spotted a dark patch underneath some tall scrub oaks at the top of a clearing. I put my rifle up and looked through the scope and saw big antlers and I began to shake. I looked through my scope again and saw that he was bedded down and quartered away from me.I put up my rangefinder and it said he was 321 yards away. I knew that I could make this shot because we had practiced a lot in the last year and I had just got back from an antelope hunting trip where I killed 2 does, 1 from about 175 yards and 1 from about 280 so I knew the drop of my bullets and that I needed to breath and slow my heart down so I didn't take a stupid shot.










I extended my bipod and sat down in the snow and I was still shaking and my heart was pounding. I took about 4 or 5 minutes and sat there taking big breaths. Finally, I put the cross hairs behind his shoulder and then raised them because I knew that my bullet would drop 8 or 9 inches at that distance. I clicked my safety off and took one last big breath, exhaled and squeezed the trigger. The shot made it so I couldn't see in my scope for a second, when I put my scope up I saw a buck running away over the ridge and thought that somehow I had wounded him. I thought that I had made a nice shot and it mad me very nervous. I sat there for a minute to see if I could see him running anywhere and I looked down the canyon and Jim was about 3 hundred yards down from me I had him stay where I shot from so he could tell me kind of where I was because the tress were very thick.He also said that the big one we went after had blown out of the bottom. I made my way to the ridge and he said that the spot I described was straight below me.
I made my way down the hill about 60 yards to check for blood and as I came through the scrub oak I found his bed and there was blood about 4 feet down from it. The snow looked like something slid down it and there were patches of blood every 4 or 5 feet. I I looked down into the trees below AND THERE HE WAS! I rolled him over and saw that I had hit him 2 inches behind the shoulder and the bullet had exited through his neck. He wasn't the the big 4 point but I was thrilled with him.

My brother has the pictures and he said he would put them on here tomorrow.

WOOHOO!!

Yale

:!: *()* *()* *()* O*-- *OOO* *OOO* *OOO* /**|**\ /**|**\ /**|**\ /**|**\ /**|**\ /**|**\ -/O\- -/O\- -/O\- -/O\- -/O\-       *-band-*


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## YaleB (Oct 22, 2007)

Here's my buck from another angle.


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice job bud.

*OOO*


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## mr_sweeten (Nov 13, 2007)

Am I posting this in the right place? Oh, well- here's my story.

" My lord, would you look at that!" the graying gentleman whispered softly to his hiking partner one would assume to be his wife.
A halting gasp lightly issued from her mouth.
"He's beautiful. I don't think i've ever seen one so... beautiful." She whispered, apparently at a loss for a synonym.
The pair stopped abruptly on the trail upon which they were walking, partially screened from view of the meadow in which stood the motionless form of a truly majestic 4X5 Muley buck, not 10 yards from where they stood. The buck was frozen in full alert, attempting to determine from what direction the human voices came. His haunches trembled in anticipation of releasing their pent-up energy, to escape whatever he had deemed a potential threat.

The Gentleman spoke...
"How on earth someone could murder such a beautiful creature, in cold blood, infuriates me."
She nodded in agreement.
"Just for a trophy they can hang on their wall..." She said, finishing his sentence.
"I bet they just cut off their heads and leave the rest. I've seen pictures"
The man spoke.
"I'm tired of all the litter they leave around. And shooting up the hillsides, stealing our peace and quiet. It's not even safe to go for a walk in October"
The lady crossed her arms and raised her voice a few notches
"What can you expect from uneducated people. They just take and take. It doesn't surprise me that most of them are on welfare."

By this time the buck was uneasy, testing the wind. He stepped behind a screen of alders, obscuring the view. I knew my chance was gone, along with this buck I'd tracked for a couple of miles and stalked for as many hours once I'd caught sight of him.

I stood, and the two on the trail nearly jumped out of their skins. I was no more than six feet from the gentleman's elbow, hiding in plain sight. My bow was in my left hand, while my outstretched right hand held an empty water bottle.
"Excuse me sir, but I believe you dropped this."
The gentleman was suddenly red-faced with embarassment.
"Oh- we didn't even see you..."
"You weren't supposed to. But, Y'all enjoy your evening. I think I'll call it a day."
I nudged a pebble in the dusty trail with my toe. "This used to be a quiet neighborhood." I said with a shrug.
The two stood sheepishly on the trail, averting their eyes.
"Oh, Mr. Bascom- your son has skipped Biology five times in the last two weeks. Now, I'm willing to give him an opportunity to make some of his work up, but he DOES have a midterm in my 3rd period class tomorrow he should be studying for. We wouldn't want him becoming another number in the welfare system." 
I placed the carelessly cast aside waterbottle in the satchel on my hip. I tipped my hat and smiled politely.
"I'll pack this out FOR you." I quipped.


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