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2017 Hunt Report and Meat Pole Contest - Win a $300 or $100 Gift Certificate
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<blockquote data-quote="Schnyd112" data-source="post: 1358320" data-attributes="member: 90453"><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">so I have been applying for a Nevada elk tag for 17 years. I drew this year and went all out, which may have been a mistake. I took 3 scouting trips and found BIG bulls. Somebody ran a stopsign and totaled my truck in August. I got married in September and had to make up for all that working my *** off in October so I could afford the time off and extra cash for gas. Elk season opened November 6 and I hadn't been in the area for almost 60 days which made me nervous.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">I took 10 days off, nov 1-11, and scouted for 5 days leading up to the opener.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">Ran into a lot of muzzle loader hunters, usually the bulls get some time to relax between muzzleloader and rifle season, 2-3 weeks. Most years there is a cow season after muzzleloader and before rifle, after the rut. That wasn't the case this year. 3 days before the season opened I talked to a guy that had taken 2 bulls out of my first choice of hunting locations. Not inspiring but I went in as planned. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">Anyway, I found bulls the first day scouting. A spike and three ragheads, spread across a high basin with some cows around the spike. Right before dark I was seeing a very small 5x5 roaming an old burn scar in some really rugged country. I saw him 3 days in a row. Then friday hit. Storm settled in, temps dropped, bulls disappeared. I have hunted in tough conditions, but never 30 degree highs with wet snow and out of a tent camp. My camp got drenched, i was cold, I had to pull out and go dry up. Ended up getting a hotel room and met my dad to scout for a couple days and prepare for the opener. A few cows, a full moon, unsettled weather and hunters moving in made me uncomfortable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">I had limited time, basically one week. I never saw hide nor hair of the 7point we found in August. I was out from pre-dawn to after dark every night. Then the season opened and I was shot. I kinda gassed myself trying to find elk before I could hunt them. The snow was so wet it may as well have been rain. We found a couple ragheads, the small 5x5 and tons of deer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">Come this morning, located the 5x5 and decided he wasn't what we wanted, especially with his location and just me and my dad to pack him out. Had a great plan for an afternoon hunt, got into the area about 1, found 3 other hunters driving side-by-sides right through the good elk country, in the middle of the day. Not stopping and glassing, just running roads hoping something came out. Got off the road, found tracks and it started raining again. We bailed out and made lunch in the valley.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">The storm socked in, the mountaintops were ghosts in the mist, but we headed up anyway. Sitting under a tree, not being able to see the ridges, parks and valleys we had hiked to see, I got distracted and looked into the valley. Lots of antelope and all of a sudden, an elk! A bull! Moving across the valley and looking for cover. A juniper rich ridge caught my eye and I decided that is where he was headed. Me and Dad bombed out of the mountains, dropped 1,500' of hard earned elevation and decided to go after this bull. All we knew is he had a good whale tail and long eyeguards.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">Made it to the valley and at about a mile the wind was blowing from us to him, ****. So we hustled around to get in front of him so the wind was blowing across everything instead of us being upwind of him. The sleet started coming down, pretty much expected at this point, and he popped his head up. We hit the dirt and he was walking right at us. I deployed the bipod, flipped up the scope caps waiting for a range. The sleet and cloud were so thick all my dad could say was "he is further than 1200 because I am getting dashes."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">Sorry pop, that elk is less than 500 yards and closing. We were right where he wanted to go. I find a high spot, find the elk in the scope, and hear a faint "350!" I hold 10" high, about halfway between his elbow and the top of his back and squeezed off a round. Boom, WhAcK! No reaction. He took about 3 steps and stopped. Boom, WhAcK! No reaction. Boom, WhAcK! No reaction. As I grab for the 4th round I am starting to wonder *** is going on. He is hit, hard, at least twice, probably 3 times. The fourth round, fumbled from my inner jacket and into the dirt. Grab the 5th, chamber, find the elk, blood running down his side, head starting to sag, Boom, wHaCk! No reaction grab the 5th from the dirt, Boom, Whack! I reactin. Is this for real!? Grab a 6th, chamber, re-center, and he stumbles and falls. Stone dead.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">F'ing a cotton! My first elk! Looking the hide over, I hit that bull 5 times. 3 in the lungs, one just in front of the diaphram and one a little low, maybe off the vitals but still in the chest. The 3 lung shot entries were abkut 2" apart, the first one hit ribs and dislocated the shoulder which is why he didn't move. The heart had bruises on it but no holes. The 4th and 5th I was getting a little excited and probably pulled. But 5 rounds, 350 yards, 300 win mag, 180 accubonds at 2850 fps, verified and loaded by me. Drops confirmed to 600 yards. he never. even. flinched.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">Anyway, 17 years of applications for a Nevada bull tag, bad weather, a little frustration, a tough *** bull, public land, diy, me and my dad, first elk hunt where we carried the rifle. Bull down, pics to follow. He isn't what I expected from this tag, I actually thought he was 6 right, 5 left (i really only saw fronts then the whale tail on the right) but we worked our asses off and I am proud we did it alone. Usually these tags bring a party of 6-10 guys trying to get one bull. We had two.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">All in all, an amazing experience. I gassed myself trying to find elk before the season started. Lesson learned. This bull was in the right place at the wrong time. I may not have shot him if he were on the mountain but since we could make an easy pack out of it, the unsettled weather and the fact that he was the biggest bull we have seen since August, I am jacked. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">My photos are too large. I have more but am tired as hell.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">Edited elevation when we came out of the mountain. We did not come down 3000 feet but it sure felt like that going up it. </span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Schnyd112, post: 1358320, member: 90453"] [FONT=Roboto]so I have been applying for a Nevada elk tag for 17 years. I drew this year and went all out, which may have been a mistake. I took 3 scouting trips and found BIG bulls. Somebody ran a stopsign and totaled my truck in August. I got married in September and had to make up for all that working my *** off in October so I could afford the time off and extra cash for gas. Elk season opened November 6 and I hadn’t been in the area for almost 60 days which made me nervous. I took 10 days off, nov 1-11, and scouted for 5 days leading up to the opener. Ran into a lot of muzzle loader hunters, usually the bulls get some time to relax between muzzleloader and rifle season, 2-3 weeks. Most years there is a cow season after muzzleloader and before rifle, after the rut. That wasn’t the case this year. 3 days before the season opened I talked to a guy that had taken 2 bulls out of my first choice of hunting locations. Not inspiring but I went in as planned. Anyway, I found bulls the first day scouting. A spike and three ragheads, spread across a high basin with some cows around the spike. Right before dark I was seeing a very small 5x5 roaming an old burn scar in some really rugged country. I saw him 3 days in a row. Then friday hit. Storm settled in, temps dropped, bulls disappeared. I have hunted in tough conditions, but never 30 degree highs with wet snow and out of a tent camp. My camp got drenched, i was cold, I had to pull out and go dry up. Ended up getting a hotel room and met my dad to scout for a couple days and prepare for the opener. A few cows, a full moon, unsettled weather and hunters moving in made me uncomfortable. I had limited time, basically one week. I never saw hide nor hair of the 7point we found in August. I was out from pre-dawn to after dark every night. Then the season opened and I was shot. I kinda gassed myself trying to find elk before I could hunt them. The snow was so wet it may as well have been rain. We found a couple ragheads, the small 5x5 and tons of deer. Come this morning, located the 5x5 and decided he wasn’t what we wanted, especially with his location and just me and my dad to pack him out. Had a great plan for an afternoon hunt, got into the area about 1, found 3 other hunters driving side-by-sides right through the good elk country, in the middle of the day. Not stopping and glassing, just running roads hoping something came out. Got off the road, found tracks and it started raining again. We bailed out and made lunch in the valley. The storm socked in, the mountaintops were ghosts in the mist, but we headed up anyway. Sitting under a tree, not being able to see the ridges, parks and valleys we had hiked to see, I got distracted and looked into the valley. Lots of antelope and all of a sudden, an elk! A bull! Moving across the valley and looking for cover. A juniper rich ridge caught my eye and I decided that is where he was headed. Me and Dad bombed out of the mountains, dropped 1,500’ of hard earned elevation and decided to go after this bull. All we knew is he had a good whale tail and long eyeguards. Made it to the valley and at about a mile the wind was blowing from us to him, ****. So we hustled around to get in front of him so the wind was blowing across everything instead of us being upwind of him. The sleet started coming down, pretty much expected at this point, and he popped his head up. We hit the dirt and he was walking right at us. I deployed the bipod, flipped up the scope caps waiting for a range. The sleet and cloud were so thick all my dad could say was “he is further than 1200 because I am getting dashes.” Sorry pop, that elk is less than 500 yards and closing. We were right where he wanted to go. I find a high spot, find the elk in the scope, and hear a faint “350!” I hold 10” high, about halfway between his elbow and the top of his back and squeezed off a round. Boom, WhAcK! No reaction. He took about 3 steps and stopped. Boom, WhAcK! No reaction. Boom, WhAcK! No reaction. As I grab for the 4th round I am starting to wonder *** is going on. He is hit, hard, at least twice, probably 3 times. The fourth round, fumbled from my inner jacket and into the dirt. Grab the 5th, chamber, find the elk, blood running down his side, head starting to sag, Boom, wHaCk! No reaction grab the 5th from the dirt, Boom, Whack! I reactin. Is this for real!? Grab a 6th, chamber, re-center, and he stumbles and falls. Stone dead. F’ing a cotton! My first elk! Looking the hide over, I hit that bull 5 times. 3 in the lungs, one just in front of the diaphram and one a little low, maybe off the vitals but still in the chest. The 3 lung shot entries were abkut 2” apart, the first one hit ribs and dislocated the shoulder which is why he didn’t move. The heart had bruises on it but no holes. The 4th and 5th I was getting a little excited and probably pulled. But 5 rounds, 350 yards, 300 win mag, 180 accubonds at 2850 fps, verified and loaded by me. Drops confirmed to 600 yards. he never. even. flinched. Anyway, 17 years of applications for a Nevada bull tag, bad weather, a little frustration, a tough *** bull, public land, diy, me and my dad, first elk hunt where we carried the rifle. Bull down, pics to follow. He isn’t what I expected from this tag, I actually thought he was 6 right, 5 left (i really only saw fronts then the whale tail on the right) but we worked our asses off and I am proud we did it alone. Usually these tags bring a party of 6-10 guys trying to get one bull. We had two. All in all, an amazing experience. I gassed myself trying to find elk before the season started. Lesson learned. This bull was in the right place at the wrong time. I may not have shot him if he were on the mountain but since we could make an easy pack out of it, the unsettled weather and the fact that he was the biggest bull we have seen since August, I am jacked. My photos are too large. I have more but am tired as hell. Edited elevation when we came out of the mountain. We did not come down 3000 feet but it sure felt like that going up it. [/FONT] [/QUOTE]
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