Marc's Hunting Trip

[mschn99]

Well, lots of people are asking me about my hunting trip.....So here is the journal of the hunt!!

Sunday: Hiked two miles strait up the face of a ridge just to have the fog set in about twenty minutes after sunrise. Built a fire and waited the fog out for four hours. We had elk spotted (35 head with four legal bulls) the night before but had to wait to move in on them. When the fog lifted we went after them to just discover there were MANY morons in the woods that just hiked throught he fog for hours hoping to see animals when you couldnt see 25 feet in front of you. There were elk tracks everywhere from these idiots pushing the elk around even though they couldnt even see them. Total hike was about 9 miles

Monday: Drove the four wheelers up the trail and parked them. Hiked around hunting for a while but didnt see much and then hiked in and packed a family friends bull out. The bull he shot green scored about 320ish.....In the evening we took a drive up to spot some country and spotted a whitetail buck up a mountain about 800 years from the road up the hill. I went up an adjacent draw and worked my way back to him and ended up with a 322 yard shot (i carry a rangefinder). Shot him in the back of the head in his bed and he tumbled about 1/3 of the way to the main road we spotted him from. Total hike for the day was about 11 miles, but 3 miles of it was packing a boned elk out, not hunting.....

Tuesday: Hiked up a mountain and then took a very long walk out to the fields. Got out of the mountains about 2:00 after seeing nothing and we went and picked my cousin up. I took him up to one of my "honey holes" i have had good success in and we hiked strait up the mountain. Got up to the saddle we were hiking too and there was a small herd of 8 elk with one legal bull. We worked our way to about 225 yards and sat down and watched. Eventually the last elk that came out was legal (browtine) bull. He ended up being a raghorn 4x5 or 11 point by eastern count. I promised my 13 year old cousin who had never shot a bull the first shot if i could......which i did do. I told him "dont miss....because i wont!!!" and he didnt miss. After allowing him to have the first shot he dropped the bull in one shot with a 270WSM. Total hike for the day was about 17 miles

Wednesday: Went back up to hunt our way up to where my cousin had shot the elk the day before and then bone and pack the remaint meat (we took both backstraps and one front shoulder out the day before). On the way out with the meat i strained, sprained, or did something to my left achilis tendon. I was pretty much hobbled for the rest of the weekend. I could walk fine on flat ground or downhill...but i was in extremem pain on ANY uphill hikes....we got the bull out and i was limited to playing "shuttle driver" for everyone else for the rest of the week. The only exception was sunday morning when we took a morning hunt before i flew out. We had a legal bull in the headlights an hour before legal shooting light and parked. We then went after him but it was relativlely flat foothill country that i was able to hike. Total hike for the remainder of the trip....Wednesday through sunday was only about 5 total miles.....4 of which were packing he elk out wednesday when i hurt my left achilis tendon.....

The total for the week was.....3 bulls and my buck. My uncle also shot a bull in a different district that was also a roughly 300 class boone and crocket bull. His tag was in a "trophy bull area" though and he was actually disapointed in his bull because of it. He shot it in the last 15 minutes of legal light and thought it was bigger than it was......

[Logan]

Sounds like a pretty good trip over all, congrats on the whitetale.

[Jon]

The main thing is you had fun and got a little tail. Whitetail that is.

[stump0331]

get some good pics?

[MR.BIGHILLBILLY74]

To bad you hurt yourself but at least you got a whitetail!

[mschn99]

thanks guys!!! Ill get some pics up when i pull them off my camera....the whitetail buck was nothing to brag about....4 point but only about a 12-14 inch spread....BUT he dressed out at 220 lbs or so....with over an inch and a half of fat on his rump. He was a very large bodied young buck!!

[MR.BIGHILLBILLY74]

My mouth is watering already! Um back straps! Yummy!

[CHenry]

a four point??!!
You should be ashamed shooting something that young!

[mschn99]

gotta take what you can get when you only got a week clay!!!! and also....im guessing by your count it would be an eight point......western count only counts one side......a four point by my count is a four by four....or four on each horn....not a forked horn like eastern count would consider a four point.....

[CHenry]

OH, an 8 point....yeah i forgot the way yall count em.