Nevada bull tags!

[Schnyd112]

Have been applying for 18 years, lost a bunch of bonus points in my 20's, but I drew a area 7 (076, 077, 079 an 081) Nevada bull elk tag. Planning a recon trip for the end of the month to find access and get a lay of the land. will start looking for good green grass and water, hopefully the elk will follow.

Any advice for a new elk hunter? Terrain will be mostly sagebrush/juniper. Planning on Shooting .300 winmag with 180 accubonds.

My dad drew a tag as well, but we know his area better and have a pretty good idea of how we want to hunt it. Should be an exciting fall.

 

[Varmintnv]

My wife has a cow tag for the same area. We'll be there the 2nd week due to family obligations. The area we were going to hunt burned. So we're moving to plan b.

 

[velvetant]

Congratulations to both on your draw, And good luck on your hunts

 

[Makaira]

You are in for a fun hunt! Drew the early tag a couple of years ago.Lots of critters- passed several 330 class elk the first morning.Saw one that another hunter was on about 350's but heard she missed.Shot mine the first afternoon and scored 374".Enjoy it!

 

[BigGrizz]

Have been applying for 18 years, lost a bunch of bonus points in my 20's, but I drew a area 7 (076, 077, 079 an 081) Nevada bull elk tag. Planning a recon trip for the end of the month to find access and get a lay of the land. will start looking for good green grass and water, hopefully the elk will follow.

Any advice for a new elk hunter? Terrain will be mostly sagebrush/juniper. Planning on Shooting .300 winmag with 180 accubonds.

My dad drew a tag as well, but we know his area better and have a pretty good idea of how we want to hunt it. Should be an exciting fall.

1. Be patient.
2. Make sure you're ready to shoot, and make the first shot count.
3. You want the 1st round to be an anchor shot. From the satellite pictures there is plenty of open country for elk to haul ***, and they can cover 5 miles a lot faster than you think. I've seen perforated cows run two miles before giving up. Anchor it, and then go again if you have too.
4. Prepare for a potentially long shot up or downhill.
5. Don't over call.
6. Glass. Glass. Glass. Glass.

 

[flatwater bill]

Know nothing of the area you will be hunting in, but in my area knowing the land status is one key. Know who owns what, where you can and cannot go, what routes are open to what modes of travel.................good luck....................FWB

 

[Schnyd112]

It's time! I leave today to get some last minute scouting and set up a base camp. Hunt opens November 6, I plan to be hunting until the 12th. If nothing happens I have 5 days from the 17-22 that I can go back. Season closes nov. 22.

300 wm
180 accubond
H4831 sc for 3050 fps.

My first elk tag, I grew up hunting mule deer. Should be fun! Cold weather is supposed to roll in Sunday/Monday.

 

[Hatrick]

Jealous, good luck!

 

[Makaira]

Good luck!
Here is my bull from that zone.

 

[Schnyd112]

We didn't see anything like that bull in almost a week. I shot one this afternoon, not huge but we worked out tails off. The weather turned late last week. Getting snowed off the mountain was a daily occurrence. Having clouds roll in and decrease visibility to less than 500 yards happened just about every time we stopped to spot. Found a very small 6x6 opening morning but he was in bed within 30 minutes of shooting time. Camp was drenched, elk were holed up and we had no outside help. High temp from nov 1-6 was 48 but that was Thursday afternoon. Lows in the high teens, highs in the high 30's with constant squalls, some taking more than an hour to blow through. Sunday snowed most of the day and made it really tough to stay focused on anything but trying to get warm.

Found this one down in the valley and put a good sneak on him in sleet and 10-15 mph crosswinds. Took the shot at 350 yards, first shot stopped him, broke ribs and dislocated the shoulder but he didn't fall. Three more before he bled out without taking another step. He was probably dead on his feet but I just wasn't going to chance it. Three entrances within about 2", one hit ribs and left a tennis ball sized hole on the inside. The fourth I pulled and hit about 6" back of the rest. The only one that exited was the last. The 5th was now,out of the vitals but still in the chest cavity.

I couldn't believe I had to shoot him 5 (confirmed from hide) times! Boom, whack! A few steps and stop. Boom, whack! Not even a flinch. Boom, whack! He was hurt, hanging his head, but still on his feet. Could see blood running down his side as I pulled the trigger the fourth time. Boom, whack! No reaction. Reload. Boom, whack! Again, reload, Still no reaction but finally he gave up just as #6 was getting ready to fly.

Lungs were mush but I never hit the heart and was well below the scapula. Dude just absorbed fatal shot after fatal shot until he didn't have any blood left.

Recovered one bullet in the hide on the far side. I will add more details/pictures when I get home.

 

[Makaira]

Nice bull- they are tough!!
That is some cold country for sure- we had a 081 deer tag which is a December hunt.We camped at Signboard pass and was -15 and that was way too cold!

 

[Schnyd112]

Nice bull- they are tough!!
That is some cold country for sure- we had a 081 deer tag which is a December hunt.We camped at Signboard pass and was -15 and that was way too cold!

Yeah the cold wouldn't have been to bad if we weren't constantly wet. Today the wind came up and it had some bite to it. I had a blast, learned some things and should be ready to go when my dad draws again.

He turned his tag in because we just didn't have time to hunt them both. We saw tons of deer, a pretty good buck today trying to sneak around in a river bottom. The elk just weren't moving much which made things tough. If we had unlimited time, maybe another set or two of eyes, I would have been more picky. I didn't have much time to judge and make a decision but I think I would have shot him even if I did considering the circumstances.

 

[CUTTER1]

We didn't see anything like that bull in almost a week. I shot one this afternoon, not huge but we worked out tails off. The weather turned late last week. Getting snowed off the mountain was a daily occurrence. Having clouds roll in and decrease visibility to less than 500 yards happened just about every time we stopped to spot. Found a very small 6x6 opening morning but he was in bed within 30 minutes of shooting time. Camp was drenched, elk were holed up and we had no outside help. High temp from nov 1-6 was 48 but that was Thursday afternoon. Lows in the high teens, highs in the high 30's with constant squalls, some taking more than an hour to blow through. Sunday snowed most of the day and made it really tough to stay focused on anything but trying to get warm.

Found this one down in the valley and put a good sneak on him in sleet and 10-15 mph crosswinds. Took the shot at 350 yards, first shot stopped him, broke ribs and dislocated the shoulder but he didn't fall. Three more before he bled out without taking another step. He was probably dead on his feet but I just wasn't going to chance it. Three entrances within about 2", one hit ribs and left a tennis ball sized hole on the inside. The fourth I pulled and hit about 6" back of the rest. The only one that exited was the last. The 5th was now,out of the vitals but still in the chest cavity.

I couldn't believe I had to shoot him 5 (confirmed from hide) times! Boom, whack! A few steps and stop. Boom, whack! Not even a flinch. Boom, whack! He was hurt, hanging his head, but still on his feet. Could see blood running down his side as I pulled the trigger the fourth time. Boom, whack! No reaction. Reload. Boom, whack! Again, reload, Still no reaction but finally he gave up just as #6 was getting ready to fly.

Lungs were mush but I never hit the heart and was well below the scapula. Dude just absorbed fatal shot after fatal shot until he didn't have any blood left.

Recovered one bullet in the hide on the far side. I will add more details/pictures when I get home.

View attachment 83164 Good luck!
Here is my bull from that zone.

Both nice bulls! Elk can take a pounding!

 

[ltgibbson]

Very Nice Bulls