15 November 2013, 00:26
jflemTule Elk Hunt Success!!!!
A month ago I had the great opportunity to experience a Tule bull elk hunt in the La Panza unit. I was extremely lucky to draw one of only 6 bull tags for the first season. The bad news was that I could only hunt the middle two weeks of the season due to my brother’s wedding on opening weekend and work obligations on the last weekend. About ten years ago, I drew a cow tag for the same unit and was able to harvest a cow on opening day on public land. On that hunt, I saw tons of bulls and actually had a hard time locating a cow. I have a pretty good familiarity with the unit and the cool thing is that I can hunt it horseback and with my dad.
Living in California the opportunity to hunt elk about an hour and a half from home is pretty rare.
The first day I could hunt, I headed out horseback with my dad Jim, cousin Michael and friend Joe all in tow. Right off the bat, we located a herd of about 15 elk. However, this herd was all cows and spikes.
After about an hour ride, we located another herd of 20 plus elk. This herd contained several spikes and one small bull. Being the first day, I passed on the small bull. I had to laugh because when I had the cow tag all I saw was bulls. Now that I had a bull tag, all I saw was cows.
The first day ended without a shot being fired but we did locate the big herd and bulls. Unfortunately they were in a 1500 acre “no shoot” zone that is surrounded by 100,000 plus hunt-able acres.
The second day was more of the same with the big herd staying in the “no shoot” zone. However, we did get some excitement when one of our horses decided she did not like the deadhead elk horns we put on her back. I have never seen a horse bolt and run so far. After about a two mile stampede, we caught up to the horse and miraculously horse, rider, deadhead and all involved were unharmed. With that little rodeo, we ended our first hunt.
My dad and I were the only ones able to make the hunt the next week and we headed out horseback to make the loop. As we reached our first lookout point, we were rewarded with the sight of a big herd of elk. The big herd had left the no shoot zone! Game on!
I saw several bulls in the herd of 100 plus animals. Now came the hard part, I had to try to sneak in with all those eyes watching and little cover. I took off on foot and left my dad to watch from the lookout. Right after I took off, I had to stop and wait as another 30 cows came over to water and join the herd. So now I had about 130 elk to sneak up on.
Luckily, I had the wind in my favor and an old water tank that I was able to position myself behind. I got within about 400 yards of the herd without too much of a problem but most of the herd had bedded over the hill from me and I could only see about 20 animals. I could see several bulls but none of them were the big bull I had seen from the lookout.
I crawled up to a small patch of brush and closed to about 350 from the edge of the herd. The wind was still perfect so I settled in for a long wait for the herd to make a move. As I was glassing, I noticed a coyote about 75 yards away and walking towards me. Fortunately the elk saw the coyote also, and began to stand up and look at it. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the whole herd began to walk towards the coyote.
As the whole herd crested the hill, I was able to scan the herd and located the biggest bull. He was in perfect position, on the right side of the herd and not blocked by cows. I decided this was my bull. I took aim with my 300 Win Mag and sent a 180 grain Barnes his direction. The shot sounded good but with the recoil I did not see the bull stumble (My dad later told me the bull dropped to a knee at the shot). The bull trotted about 10 yards and stood still again. I sent another shot his way, this time hitting him right through the shoulders and dropping him.
As I approached the bull, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I had taken a nice 5x5 bull, with my father, on a do-it-yourself hunt on public land in California!
Now the real work began. We caped and quartered the bull and two trips and 8 hours later we were driving home with smiles on our faces.
I had a great hunt and the best part was I got to share it with the man who started me hunting. From California to Montana we have had many great hunts together and I hope we have many more.
