This is kind of a shameless plug, but wanted to share a little of my experience.
After 15 years I was lucky enough to draw a early rifle tag for a unit I knew pretty well. I spent as much time as I could searching for bulls and came across a couple which I would have been tickled to harvest. Typical of elk as the hunt started they disappeared into thick timber and I didn't see any of them again. My hunt had a duration of 9 days and it was now day 7. To this point I had watched two nice bulls as they were harvested and passed on a 300-320" 7x6. As my friends and I settled in on a good lookout point we heard a couple of bulls bugling back and forth. We decided to wait them out rather than try and get on them in the thick timber. As the hours passed the bulls got vocal once again and were making their way to the clearing. We caught glimpses every so often through the trees and knew this bull was worthy of the tag! As I waited for the shot he disappeared and his cows turned and trotted the opposite direction. Not knowing what had happened I thought I had missed my chance. A minute or two had passed when my friends quietly shouted, "There he is!!" He ranged him at 217 yards and I dropped the hammer with my 300 wsm. The shot stopped him in his tracks, but it took one more to drop him to the ground. At that point the excitement had begun knowing I had harvested my first bull. As we got ready to head over the bull tried getting up once more so I let 1 more accubond fly to finish the deed. It took the three of us, two trips to get the bull packed out. It was a memorable hunt that I'll cherish for the rest of my life!
Now for the plug. I had always wondered what, if anything, had happened to the other bulls I had watched before the hunt. I had been trying to keep an eye on anything and everything that was harvested from the unit, but never came across them until recently. I had put together a video compiling a bunch of my pictures and video from my experience and had entered it into a contest. Shortly after doing so I was contacted by a kid who had taken one of the bulls during the late hunt that was in my video. This particular bull had a special place with me as he was the first bull I had found and dreamed about. It was nice to hear his story. The bull had moved ~20 miles to where he was harvested and had almost left the unit entirely. We've made plans to meet up later this week so I can see his heard gear up close.
Here is the link to my video recapping my season
Utah Limited Entry Elk by Spencer Gledhill - i-Video Wildlife
And here is a link to the video of his bull
[ame=http://youtu.be/2Fgny1A2GUk]4th Gen. - YouTube[/ame]
After 15 years I was lucky enough to draw a early rifle tag for a unit I knew pretty well. I spent as much time as I could searching for bulls and came across a couple which I would have been tickled to harvest. Typical of elk as the hunt started they disappeared into thick timber and I didn't see any of them again. My hunt had a duration of 9 days and it was now day 7. To this point I had watched two nice bulls as they were harvested and passed on a 300-320" 7x6. As my friends and I settled in on a good lookout point we heard a couple of bulls bugling back and forth. We decided to wait them out rather than try and get on them in the thick timber. As the hours passed the bulls got vocal once again and were making their way to the clearing. We caught glimpses every so often through the trees and knew this bull was worthy of the tag! As I waited for the shot he disappeared and his cows turned and trotted the opposite direction. Not knowing what had happened I thought I had missed my chance. A minute or two had passed when my friends quietly shouted, "There he is!!" He ranged him at 217 yards and I dropped the hammer with my 300 wsm. The shot stopped him in his tracks, but it took one more to drop him to the ground. At that point the excitement had begun knowing I had harvested my first bull. As we got ready to head over the bull tried getting up once more so I let 1 more accubond fly to finish the deed. It took the three of us, two trips to get the bull packed out. It was a memorable hunt that I'll cherish for the rest of my life!
Now for the plug. I had always wondered what, if anything, had happened to the other bulls I had watched before the hunt. I had been trying to keep an eye on anything and everything that was harvested from the unit, but never came across them until recently. I had put together a video compiling a bunch of my pictures and video from my experience and had entered it into a contest. Shortly after doing so I was contacted by a kid who had taken one of the bulls during the late hunt that was in my video. This particular bull had a special place with me as he was the first bull I had found and dreamed about. It was nice to hear his story. The bull had moved ~20 miles to where he was harvested and had almost left the unit entirely. We've made plans to meet up later this week so I can see his heard gear up close.
Here is the link to my video recapping my season
Utah Limited Entry Elk by Spencer Gledhill - i-Video Wildlife
And here is a link to the video of his bull
[ame=http://youtu.be/2Fgny1A2GUk]4th Gen. - YouTube[/ame]
