quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
I'll finish this story in a few hours....getting the bull packed out and getting myself out is another entire post....those things are darn big.....

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Originally posted by Colorado Bob:
Conglads, on the bull. Any photos? CB

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
...didn't make Nebraska before hitting a whitetail buck and killing it with the left fender of the truck ...

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Originally posted by vapodog:
It actually started in 1978. A dear friend had a medical emergency that prevented his going elk hunting. He had the trip and tags paid and offered them to me at a bargain price as he couldn't go anyway and it was not refundable.....so off to Elk City Idaho I went.

It was a horseback trip and "pack-in" to a spike camp for five days of hunting. I loved it....what a great time and great scenery.

There were four hunters and it took seven horses and seventeen mules to pack us all in. and the trip in was harassed by hornets causing the mules to whiplash all over the mountain side spilling everything except what was on the horses we were riding.

The guide later said that we were brave hunters as he had occasion to blindfold some hunters to get them in there. (I'm not sure that was the total truth....but it was what he said.

We hunted on horse and foot for the five days and bagged one very nice 6 X 6 bull and it took several mules to pack it out. I never saw on elk on the entire trip and never fired a shot.

My next trip was for mule deer out of Cody Wyoming. Again four guys on horseback hunting astonishing high country mountains and at times in foot deep snow. Another great sight seeing trip.....again another hunting trip without firing a shot. A legal buck was a 4 X 4 and no one ever saw one!

Then off to Utah for mountain lion hunting. When I got there I was put up in a bunkhouse for the night but it snowed.....and snowed.....and snowed.....it was the 7th worst snowstorm in Utah history.....and I wasn't able to get out of that bunkhouse for four days....thank God there was plenty of coal in there.....I also had my Labrador with me so I had good company.....but it was to turn out to be my third consecutive guided hunt without firing a shot!

Being a hard nosed guy I turned to Canada for Caribou....The date was 9-10-01 when our float plane landed on the lake with out outpost cabin. We hunted the local mountains....(more like foothills) the next day after riding a small boat across the lake. Another beautiful scenery day.....but no Caribou.....Our guide assured us that if after two days we saw no Caribou they would send in a plane to move us to a camp with migration confirmed.

Well....as it happened two days passed without seeing a caribou but for reasons I didn't understand they was unable to send in a plane to move us.....we hunted two more days before they sent in a plane and we were moved but it was our last day and my friend finally shot a cow for meat.....it was to be the only caribou we got and for me the fourth consecutive hunt without firing a shot.

bin Laden, you son of a bitch.....you owe me a caribou hunt!!!!

Undaunted I again found an elk hunt in Colorado near New Castle and in 2008 Rinky Dink (who occasionally posts here) and I were off to bag an elk. It was a horseback hunt in, again, beautiful mountainous country and on the third day Rinky Dink bagged a very nice elk....

I saw elk every day but way too far to take a shot. The guide was predisposed with a legal matter and IMO didn't help a lot after the first elk was bagged.....but in all honesty I must say I passed up a shot at 50 yards because the elk, while a legal bull, was too samll.....I wanted a bigger rack.

So now we have been on five consecutive hunts without fining a shot!!!!!

Again (probably out of obstinance more than loving to hunt ) Rinky Dink and I drove to western Colorado in pursuit of wapiti....It was to be a nine day hunt and on 4-wheelers.....and believe me....they have their advantages.....like them or not....

We stayed at a bed and breakfast and the food and accommodations were great. We got there a day early on November 5th 2010 and bought licenses and scouted the region a bit.

The next day was opening day and I watched two bulls at a bit over 500 yards almost all day. The thought of shooting was entertained but every time I weighed the possibility of a wounded bull against a dead bull and refused the shot. I used a magnificient tool....a Leica 1500 rangefinder and loved it.....a great tool! Out group was six folks and we saw 18 bulls the first day!

The next day I didn't see any bulls but on the third day I watched a herd of about ten cows and one legal bull weave through the brush but again at a distance beyond my comfort zone.

It snowed that night and on the fourth day I got horribly wet when the sun started to melt the snow.....I don't even remember seeing anything because when I got back to the B&B I was so damn wet, cold, and tired I really didn't care about anything but a warm place...

I also managed to pierce my inner thigh on a piece of brush that snapped when I pushed it away to pass through....it became infected and on on the sixth day I stayed in camp to recuperate.....and it was a good decision as I was badly dehydrated and exausted.....I needed the day of rest.

Off again on the seventh day.....saw quite a few migrating cows and a few bulls.....IIRC anout 34 elk that day.

Eighth day.....saw more elk at a spot that we believed they migrated to at lower levels....too far to shoot and mostly cows....but a lot of fun running up and down mountains.....again exhausted...and loving it a little less than the first couple days.....it was getting "old"

Last day...."Rinky Dink" and I went into a saddle and split up to watch a mountain side the entire day.....we saw ten cows immediately after reaching the top of the saddle and they were clearly exiting as we had spooked then upon entering.

We went to our destinations to patiently sit and watch the entire day.....nine hours of patience in the offering.....

There were mule deer everywhere....three with fair to middling racks and watching them was a treat....but no elk.

One of the mulies was a black color phase.....a beautiful doe at about 400 yards.....the Leica again doing it magic!!!!

Noon came....no elk to be seen...I had a sandwich and half a bottle of water.....and continued to watch.....2:00 PM.....still nothing.....4:00 PM nothi.....wait a minute.....there's a cow.....and another.....six of them came slowly over the lower hill and into view.....Leica confirmed the range at 301 yards....but only cows.....I watch through a set of compact binoculars and after fifteen mintues was convinced there was not any bulls with them.....this season was over and my sixth consecutive hunt without firing a shot!!!!

I finished the bottle of water I had with me and started to get up to walk out of the mountain when.....what's that.....a seventh elk joined the cows.....the binoculars confirmed.....a bull....not a wall hanger but a decint one....the left antler was broken off.....but after 32 years this was the first chance to shoot.....

Up came the shooting sticks.....I was sitting on the ground....the .35 Whelen came to the sticks....the Mauser action (VZ-24) bolt worked to jack a cartridge into the chamber.....The 3-9 Leupy was already set on nine power....the scope found the bull quickly....I already knew that the cross hairs was to be on top of the bulls back because the bullet would fall 8" at that range.....and then..... THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD....well at least around MY world.....The 225 grain partition was released to do what it was designed to do....

It was my very first shot taken in six guided hunting trips in 32 years!!!!!

The recoil knocked the gun off the sticks and I quickly recovered and looked.....

The ensuing few seconds were of dead silence...indescribable....confirming the result of the shot....what had happened?....where was the elk?.....had I failed?....Had I misjudged the shot because of the downhill slope which was steep?.....where was he?.....

Then the scope finds him.....laying on his side and not moving.....an almost perfect shot.....and one simply stares at him to make sure he isn't seeing things.....and then it hits you......you got him.....and you quietly overcome the urge to holler YAHOO at the top of your lungs and run all over the mountain in joy.....you merely sit there and reflect on 32 years of hunting.....it all comes down to this.....the greatest trophy of all time.....and a very modest 4 X 4 with half of one antler broken off.....but you have earned every ounce of that thing.....

I think I know how Brett Favre felt when he won his first Super Bowl.....

I'll finish this story in a few hours....getting the bull packed out and getting myself out is another entire post....those things are darn big.....

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
my most humble and greatest congratulations. a less er man would have taken up watching the vikings.

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Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
my most humble and greatest congratulations. a less er man would have taken up watching the vikings.

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I thought guys from NE could only watch the Chiefs. At least thats what I remember when I lived there for 4 years. Everything was Cornhuskers and they wanted to fire Osbourne because he couldn't win the big game. It's been a long time since I've been there.


Regards,

Scott (The Great Armchair Bwana)

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Originally posted by scottfromdallas:
First my 338 Federal, now my Cowboys.