Where is the BULL

[harvey lee]

Lawdog

Lets see the pic of your bull Elk and here the great story.

[lawdog]

I'm trying to get unburied after being gone for a week goofing in Colorado...UGGGH!

Here he is though (if I can remember how to make a picture work)...

I have some more pics I'll work on too later I hope.

We had a good hunt, two bulls for 6 guys. Drove through terrible snow to get there on the way out, crossing Monarch pass at 11,300' of elevation at somewhere around 11:00 at night is no treat when you are pulling a trailer full of four 4-wheelers! The cabin we stayed in was 13.4 miles off the road according to the GPS but a good 2 1/2 hour drive in the snow storm and only by the grace of the tire chains did we make it at that...WOW.

We started Saturday hunting and saw nothing in the morning. A small 4x4 bull presented himself to one of our guys Saturday evening just at dusk and boy does that mean a late night and a lot of work after not getting in til 1:30 the night before. We were SHOT!

Sunday we saw some cows in the morning and saw nothing in the pm when we sat.

Monday was the golden day! One of our guys made a little walk through "hell's kitchen" behind the cabin and pushed over 20 cows/calves out and past our party but no bulls...

Monday evening I went back to the same spot to sit and this guy came out about an hour before sunset (early by elk standards). He was with another 4x4 but I was there by myself. He turned and gave me a broadside shot about 165 yards away. I'm not at all happy with the shot, I hit him quite far back and he did not die immediately. We started to follow his track up into the woods, but jumped him and had to back out and come back to find him Tues. morning. He hadn't gone more than about 60 yards since we jumped him, and fortunately the Coyotes hadn't gotten to him.

Boy talk about buck fever when you see a bruiser like this after hunting little tiny whitetails your whole life! What a blast!

[David Frank]

Very nice bull! I have 8 years of preference points for the Black Hills of SD, but have yet to draw. Hopefully within the next couple of years. I am jealous!!!

[so haaad]

Lawdog,

Nice bull! Hey, I know what Monarch Pass can be like in a snowstorm...I used to live in Gunnison and went up to Monarch Ski Area all the time. Actually, Monarch Pass never had guard rails for the longest time. There are mountain bike trails along the pass/bottom of the cliff section. It's very humbling to be biking along that trail and suddenly come across old cars that have been smashed to pieces because they went off the pass road and plummetted off the cliffs.

Anyways, nice bull.

[Dan Thiem]

Nice looking picture Lawdog, and a great story to boot! Congrats to you and your party!

[MN Mike]

Good job lawdog !! I had to hunt 5 years out there before I got anything like that, just didn't have the begginers luck I guess...... nice bull !

We had a great hunt this year we had 2 bull, 2 cow and 3 buck mule deer tags. We filled all but 1 buck and 1 cow tag for 5 hunters. 2 other fellows that kind of hunt with us out there also got 2 cows, we helped them skin and debone thier animals as well, so that kept us busy every evening from Monday to Friday afternoon...... but I wasn't complaining

That was the most snow we have ever hunted in, never seen that much for 2nd season, I was smilin' from ear to ear, except on Wed. that one got me concerned we were going to have to pull up camp and head to lower ground but luckily it quit at about 10".

Dad was done, he got a 5x5 Bull on Monday @ about 200 yards, I got a Cow on Tues. @ about 450 yards so we made a run to my buddies place in Snowmass Village to clean up and drop off a King Kat snowmobile for him on Wed. ( his wife said he could have it ). figured it was going to be a nice day for a drive in the mountains, I just had my deer tag to fill and I was done. If it wouldn't have been for that nut in Rifle that tried to bump off a state trooper and also the impending snow storm, it would have been a great day for a drive but those 2 factors made for a LONG days drive, took us 5 hours to get to his place, that was about expected BUT it took 8 hours to get back. I wasn't going to go thru the canyon, there was a 10 mile traffic jam from the cops stopping all the cars looking for that goof, so we headed to Rifle, just as the storm hit, got caught in a traffic jam there too just north of town, a couple vehicles and a semi went into a gaurd rail and that stopped traffic for 2 hours, must have been about 300 vehicles or more there, I wasn't liking Colorado too much at that time. Got back to camp at 1/4 to 2 in the morning, slept like a baby!

I don't think I have ever seen a storm develope that fast, it was litteraly a matter of minutes, even the guys hunting at camp said the same thing.

Picked up a nice 4x4 Mulie on Thursday, not the one I was looking for, hind sight says I should have taken the 3rd buck I saw opening morning, he was beyond the ears, not too heavy and he had a couple of stickers that probably made him about a 5x8 or so, guess I shouldn't have been so picky but I want that 30" plus buck and opening morning is just too early to be pulling the trigger on anything less. Also saw a very heavy racked 3x3, just about out to the ears and very high, he'll be a dandy next year if he makes it.

I've waited a long time to hunt in conditions like this hoping that the snow and cold is what it took to put animals on the meat pole and it did, we had animals all around, moving at all hours of the day.

Some friends we have known over the years from Kentucky got some nice bulls, 5x5, 5x6 and a 6x6, all very nice racks, they work hard for thier animals, good to see them get rewarded as well.

Here's me and my cow, first year I had a cow tag!

Heres my cousin Rick with MY mulie, he watched it for about an hour, then some guys came thru and scared it when they were elk hunting and it came up my ridge, Rick had it all but hangin' on the wall and was bummed when I shot it. I told him he could have a picture with it though

Heres a picture of Henry, he's a local out there that we hunt with, Bob in the background, he's from Wisconsin, got his cow a couple days after this.

A little bit of snow.... got 10" after this picture was taken.

And me and my Mulie

Heres a link to my Dad's 5x5, its a pretty good picture but probably not proper to post up as a pic.

Bull 5x5

Same thing for my cousin Pauls 5x5 mulie, he also got a bull elk but it was late when they got in and they just took care of it in the storm on Wed. nite, so the pics are a little crude.

Mulie 5x5

Couple buck Mulies that have to grow a little.

ANYWAY..... awesome season, hope I can do it again a in couple years.

Mike

[David Frank]

Nice pics!!! Looks like you guys had a great time!