2015 elk succes thread
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sneakypete
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ADavid
Active Member
My 2015 Public Land WY Bull. Some people think it looks like he has broken points in the pic but he doesn't, just an old bull with stubby palmated tops.
laxwyo
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Matthoek21
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ElkTrout
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ADavid
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NV Creeper
New Member
Persistence Paid Off
Well I finally have a minute to write about my late season bull tag in Nevada, it was one hell of a hunt. For those not familiar with Jarbidge Wilderness(on an el nino year) in the late season, lets say I underestimated the snow from the start. I planned on leaving Reno Nov.3rd to scout a few days before the opener on the 6th. There was a GIANT storm that hit the whole state on the 3rd, so i waited a day drove out to the wilderness on the 4th, with one of my buddies following me.(he had to go back sunday morning the 8th to Reno, so i'd be alone after that) We got to our access road in Idaho, and planned on dropping south into NV, but there was bumper high snow....on EVERY access road. I talked to some ranchers who said a party of 10 was rescued off of Elk Mountain that day on a snow cat. We drove clear around to Jarbidge finding no good access, so we turned around and spent that night in Jackpot planning the next day. I ended up talking to a bunch of other hunters in my same position and learned there was some access from the east, but it was 30 miles of snow covered NV dirt roads. The morning of the 5th we were lucky enough to make it close to wilderness and setup the wall tent. A brief hike up the hill that night only turned up rutting bucks, which was a hoot to watch, also got some killer pics of big bucks up close. The next day we packed our packs and hiked into wilderness. The snow was knee deep for the most part, with some drifts much deeper. 3 miles of hiking in this stuff and we were pretty beat. We saw some rag horns, but even those were still much higher than we could get from where we were camped. Opening day rolled around and we were struggling to find mature bulls, mainly because we were struggling to get to where they were. We knew where we needed to get but it was just too far on foot in these conditions. My buddy ended up leaving on Sunday and i took a rest day and got firewood and google earthed really hard. Over the next few days being alone, i ended up finding a honey hole of bulls. One day i hiked 10.5 miles chasing 3 big 6x6s who ghosted me time after time. I could not walk the next day. I had 2 more snow storms to deal with as well, with 50+ MPH winds(in a wall tent setup in the wide open) so conditions were against me from the start. I had a wheel on my truck almost fall off as well, dealer forgot to tighten my lug nuts! So after a week of hunting, i was starting to get discouraged. I was hunting as hard as i could, alone, and couldn't get close to these mature bulls. Over the weekend i convinced another buddy of mine to come out Monday night and hunt with me until the season ended on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday i continued to monitor my honey hole and daily was turning up mature bulls. Sunday i had 2 5x5s in my scope but passed as i knew i could do better and i knew my buddy was coming to help me get this thing out. He showed up monday night at 10pm, we drank some beers and partied and decided Tuesday i would show him the area and we'd make a game plan for Wednesday. Well Tuesday morning we awoke to 6" of fresh snow and started the relentless hike in. Within 30 minutes i turned up 2 bulls. One was a nice big mature 5x5 and i decided to try and move in. Not more than 200 yards into my mile of stalking i kicked up 5 bedded bulls no more than 50 yards from me. I felt sick. i had got too caught up in the bulls i had seen, and i wasnt "hunting" my way over to them, i was just moving too quick. Lesson learned, let me tell you. In all this chaos i lost the 2 bulls i was chasing. i decided i would continue over there, as to glass from a different spot than my buddy. Well in another 5 minutes i picked up 5 different bulls, which were close. I got my game face on. A quick look over and i saw more than one bull i would be happy with. I wasnt after a giant at this point, i just wanted a bull down, it was day 11 of hunting and I only 3 days left in season. I stalked the group through a few drainages as they fed. I had a couple of the smaller ones in scope but passed and kept waiting until i could get nice and close to a 6x6. Then it happened. As i crept up and over a rocky shelf i looked ahead and saw a bull standing broadside. I threw up my binos and a very quick glance confirmed he was a mature bull. I ranged him at 180 and some change. Racked one in the chamber and let her ring! Double lunged him first shot, he hunched a bit but didnt move. i loaded another and boom, same thing he just went "ughf" and stood there. So this being my first bull hunt ever, I took the advice i had been given and "shot until he was down." Third shot hit hard as well, and he took a few steps downhill. I had to get a bullet and load my 4th shot, and hit him walking. He took one step and bedded. 10 seconds later his head flopped over and he was expired. I had just killed my first bull!! I radioed to my friend who had been watching from our original glassing spot. He couldnt see the bull i was shooting at and thought i had missed one of the other bulls. i assured him i had a bull down and he needed to get over to me. An hour later he made it over and we walked over to the bull. Such an amazing moment to see your first ever bull in person up close. Such huge animals. The feeling of accomplishment could not have been higher. i had just spent the previous 2 weeks hunting my a$$ off and feeling like i was fighting a battle i couldnt win. Sleepless nights, physical exhaustion, and self motivation had taken there toll and when it finally happened, i realized that this was by far the biggest accomplishment of my life. I set a goal, did my due diligence planning and prepping, and made it happen. To me this is what hunting is all about. Meat in the freezer, good times with friends, and the never ending drive to succeed. Cheers to my fellow hunters!
Well I finally have a minute to write about my late season bull tag in Nevada, it was one hell of a hunt. For those not familiar with Jarbidge Wilderness(on an el nino year) in the late season, lets say I underestimated the snow from the start. I planned on leaving Reno Nov.3rd to scout a few days before the opener on the 6th. There was a GIANT storm that hit the whole state on the 3rd, so i waited a day drove out to the wilderness on the 4th, with one of my buddies following me.(he had to go back sunday morning the 8th to Reno, so i'd be alone after that) We got to our access road in Idaho, and planned on dropping south into NV, but there was bumper high snow....on EVERY access road. I talked to some ranchers who said a party of 10 was rescued off of Elk Mountain that day on a snow cat. We drove clear around to Jarbidge finding no good access, so we turned around and spent that night in Jackpot planning the next day. I ended up talking to a bunch of other hunters in my same position and learned there was some access from the east, but it was 30 miles of snow covered NV dirt roads. The morning of the 5th we were lucky enough to make it close to wilderness and setup the wall tent. A brief hike up the hill that night only turned up rutting bucks, which was a hoot to watch, also got some killer pics of big bucks up close. The next day we packed our packs and hiked into wilderness. The snow was knee deep for the most part, with some drifts much deeper. 3 miles of hiking in this stuff and we were pretty beat. We saw some rag horns, but even those were still much higher than we could get from where we were camped. Opening day rolled around and we were struggling to find mature bulls, mainly because we were struggling to get to where they were. We knew where we needed to get but it was just too far on foot in these conditions. My buddy ended up leaving on Sunday and i took a rest day and got firewood and google earthed really hard. Over the next few days being alone, i ended up finding a honey hole of bulls. One day i hiked 10.5 miles chasing 3 big 6x6s who ghosted me time after time. I could not walk the next day. I had 2 more snow storms to deal with as well, with 50+ MPH winds(in a wall tent setup in the wide open) so conditions were against me from the start. I had a wheel on my truck almost fall off as well, dealer forgot to tighten my lug nuts! So after a week of hunting, i was starting to get discouraged. I was hunting as hard as i could, alone, and couldn't get close to these mature bulls. Over the weekend i convinced another buddy of mine to come out Monday night and hunt with me until the season ended on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday i continued to monitor my honey hole and daily was turning up mature bulls. Sunday i had 2 5x5s in my scope but passed as i knew i could do better and i knew my buddy was coming to help me get this thing out. He showed up monday night at 10pm, we drank some beers and partied and decided Tuesday i would show him the area and we'd make a game plan for Wednesday. Well Tuesday morning we awoke to 6" of fresh snow and started the relentless hike in. Within 30 minutes i turned up 2 bulls. One was a nice big mature 5x5 and i decided to try and move in. Not more than 200 yards into my mile of stalking i kicked up 5 bedded bulls no more than 50 yards from me. I felt sick. i had got too caught up in the bulls i had seen, and i wasnt "hunting" my way over to them, i was just moving too quick. Lesson learned, let me tell you. In all this chaos i lost the 2 bulls i was chasing. i decided i would continue over there, as to glass from a different spot than my buddy. Well in another 5 minutes i picked up 5 different bulls, which were close. I got my game face on. A quick look over and i saw more than one bull i would be happy with. I wasnt after a giant at this point, i just wanted a bull down, it was day 11 of hunting and I only 3 days left in season. I stalked the group through a few drainages as they fed. I had a couple of the smaller ones in scope but passed and kept waiting until i could get nice and close to a 6x6. Then it happened. As i crept up and over a rocky shelf i looked ahead and saw a bull standing broadside. I threw up my binos and a very quick glance confirmed he was a mature bull. I ranged him at 180 and some change. Racked one in the chamber and let her ring! Double lunged him first shot, he hunched a bit but didnt move. i loaded another and boom, same thing he just went "ughf" and stood there. So this being my first bull hunt ever, I took the advice i had been given and "shot until he was down." Third shot hit hard as well, and he took a few steps downhill. I had to get a bullet and load my 4th shot, and hit him walking. He took one step and bedded. 10 seconds later his head flopped over and he was expired. I had just killed my first bull!! I radioed to my friend who had been watching from our original glassing spot. He couldnt see the bull i was shooting at and thought i had missed one of the other bulls. i assured him i had a bull down and he needed to get over to me. An hour later he made it over and we walked over to the bull. Such an amazing moment to see your first ever bull in person up close. Such huge animals. The feeling of accomplishment could not have been higher. i had just spent the previous 2 weeks hunting my a$$ off and feeling like i was fighting a battle i couldnt win. Sleepless nights, physical exhaustion, and self motivation had taken there toll and when it finally happened, i realized that this was by far the biggest accomplishment of my life. I set a goal, did my due diligence planning and prepping, and made it happen. To me this is what hunting is all about. Meat in the freezer, good times with friends, and the never ending drive to succeed. Cheers to my fellow hunters!
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ElkTrout
Veteran member
Great write up and congrats on a great first! Very nice bull! Way to stick with it!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
sneakypete
Veteran member
Travisitguy
Member
and for those looking to hunt this area in the future snow shoes may be required I assume 
Great story and bull, way to stick with it.
Great story and bull, way to stick with it.
RICMIC
Veteran member
That thing has a monster body. Great story, and you sure earned it (especially after the phots were taken.)
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