Published Thursday October 9, 2008
Hunters taking aim at trophy elk in western Nebraska
BY DAVID HENDEE
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER



Nebraska's reputation as a trophy bull elk hunting ground is taking a golden glow.


In western Nebraska's North Platte River Unit, for example, 10 trophy bulls have been killed, including one that is expected to shatter the state record for a bull with non-symmetric antlers taken by a firearm.

Dana Foster of Ogallala shot the state-record contender on Oct. 1 in the North Platte River bottoms near Lewellen. The bull's unofficial Boone and Crockett antler score was 417. The score is expected to shrink to about 403 when the official measurement is taken in late November.

The state record belongs to Dewayne Hollibaugh of Chadron, whose bull taken in Dawes County in 2005 scored 386.4 points.

Each of the nine other bulls taken from the North Platte River Unit scored more than 300 points, said
Dustin Darveau, a Game and Parks wildlife biologist at Alliance.

"What's coming out of here would wow anybody," Darveau said. "To take 10 bulls in the 300-class is amazing. Hunters in Colorado and Wyoming don't see bulls of this caliber in this frequency. The elk population and the quality of the hunt in Nebraska is remarkable."

Nebraska's big-bull standing is attributed to a relatively few hunters chasing a relatively few trophy animals in a big state, said Jeff Hoffman, a wildlife manager at Game and Parks headquarters in Lincoln.

"We're a brand new state in terms of elk hunting," Hoffman said. "It's easier for elk to get old in Nebraska. In Colorado and Wyoming, you have thousands of hunters chasing thousands of elk. They chase them hard and they kill them hard. It's tough for an elk to get old there."

Game and Parks wildlife officials expect a record elk harvest this year because hunting permits have been added as herds continue to increase. Nebraska has an estimated 1,700 elk. Most are in herds freely roaming the western half of the state. There are an estimated 250 to 300 elk in the North Platte River Unit.

Nebraska's first elk seasons in modern times were in 1986 and 1987. The hunts were interrupted for seven years and resumed in 1995.

Foster passed up shots at 10 other trophy bulls during the first three days of this season, befuddling a Cabela's videographer who tagged along during the first two days of hunting.

Foster's taxidermist husband, Trevor Foster, knew from scouting the Lewellen area during the summer that bigger bulls were available.

Dana Foster realized when she made her shot that she had just seen something special in her rifle scope, she said in a Keith County News interview with Graig Kinzie.

"All I could see were the antlers at first. They were huge, with ivory tips," she said. "Everyone of them (other elk seen earlier) looked big in the scope, but this one was massive. I am so glad I waited."

The bull had eight points on one antler beam and 10 on the other.

Foster made the shot from about 45 yards. She scored a hit and shot the bull again before it retreated into brush.

Foster asked her husband if the bull was big and if it was bigger than the bull he shot near Hay Springs in 1996.

"You have no idea what you have just done," said Trevor Foster, who plans to preserve the elk as a life-size mount.

The Fosters thanked landowners for allowing them to scout and hunt their land.

Dana Foster isn't a big-game rookie. She has killed a black bear in Canada and a zebra in South Africa. She and her husband now are hunting moose in British Columbia.

Elk hunting in Nebraska is limited to residents. Prospective hunters apply for a limited number of permits. Only one bull permit may be obtained in a lifetime, except for landowners. Permits to hunt antlerless elk may be obtained every third year.

Nebraska issued 183 total elk permits this year in seven designated hunting zones. Forty-eight of the permits were for bulls. The North Platte River Unit's share of the 48 total bull permits were 10 for hunters and five for landowners.

Last year, 166 total permits were issued statewide and hunters killed 77 bull and antlerless elk.

The bull and antlerless elk hunting season opened Sept. 27 and ends Oct. 26 in designated zones. A second antlerless season resumes Dec. 1 to 21. Elk hunting in the tiny Boyd Unit in north-central Nebraska has unique season dates.


• Contact the writer: 444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com

It is very ironic to me that after I had to move away from Nebraska (NUTS) they get elk.