25 NR Elk Pts. What to do?

[dirtclod Az.]

Guided hunt What the H3ll is that? Javelina #1 GO JIM GO! Coues mighty small for>308Might try my bow again.seems like all my arrows are crooked.LOL!!!Maybe your pistol?Maybe they jumped the gun.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

Umpqua Hunter is quite right with his assessment of unit 40 and unit 61. Although this year with the Bull Draw fire going on right now the Weimers are going to have a very tough year. As of right now the fires are headed to there cabins and a ton of there hunting areas are burned or still on fire. I'm actually really surprised that a ton of guys have not jumped ship on unit 61 with there tags this year as the fire is growing very fast and parts of the mountain are closed right now. Archery season is going to be very interesting even for the unit 62 guys and gals. Several of the best areas in unit 62 can not be accessed right now due to Divide Rd being closed.

MuleyHunter, that is great up to date info! With that fire in mind, if it were me, I would hold off and look VERY seriously at 61 in 3-4 years. In my experience that is the peak time for elk after a burn and often antler growth soars with the improvement in feed. I often calendar burns for that timeframe.

 

[JimP]

Depending on how accurate the firs mapping is the firs is still way south of unit 40 and is only in a small section of unit 61.

I shot my bull 4 years ago near Spruce Mountain that is quite a ways away from the fire, but things can change in a hurry.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6059/

As to when to hunt a burnt area, I would be into it the year following the year that it burnt. I have hunted some burn areas the same year when they have had a chance to recover a little and have found that the deer and elk love all that fresh grass and shrubs that pop up after a burn.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

Great info and food for thought fellas. Love all the info and knowledge you guys are sharing. I really appreciate it. The wheels in my head are spinning.
Umpqua Hunter, I enjoyed reading about your hunt. Too bad about loosing your primer at the wrong time. Tried to find the pics of your bull from your original posts back from 2014 but the pics are blocked due to that Photo Bucket thing. Would you mind trying to post some of them in this thread. I would love to see them.


Thx, Joe

 

[JimP]

Just for fun I just posted my muzzle loader hunt story from 2014 in Unit 61.

It is up in the elk section.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

JimP, good story and real nice bull. Sounds like you and your buddy had a great hunt.
I see where you shot the bull several times with the .54 maxi balls. What's the story on the picture of the mangled Thor bullet?

 

[JimP]

I hit the bull 3 times with the 300 grain Thor bullets at a range of 120 yards. My philosophy with elk is if they are still standing to keep shooting. The first bullet was a complete pass through in the lungs. The second bullet that we recovered hit ribs going in and coming out and lodged on the far side hide. The third bullet passed through spraying blood everywhere.

He was dead with the first hit, he just didn't know it.

 

[MuleyHunter]

My brothers unit 61 bull from 2011 and my unit 40 bull from 2015...

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Hatchet Jack]

I hit the bull 3 times with the 300 grain Thor bullets at a range of 120 yards. My philosophy with elk is if they are still standing to keep shooting. The first bullet was a complete pass through in the lungs. The second bullet that we recovered hit ribs going in and coming out and lodged on the far side hide. The third bullet passed through spraying blood everywhere.

He was dead with the first hit, he just didn't know it.

Good deal, again, nice bull. I must have read it wrong. Thought you killed it with your Renegade. Hope I can talk with you some time in the future when I decide to cash in on my pref points.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

My brothers unit 61 bull from 2011 and my unit 40 bull from 2015...

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Muley, those are some sweet looking bulls. Congrats to you and your brother.

 

[JimP]

I don't know why I stuck that Thor bullet in there, it was with the picture of the elk and I just kept uploading.

The bullet that I was using on the elk in the picture and the hunt was a hand cast 430 grain lead T/C mold maxi-ball. But it gave the same results as that Thor. That 430 grain bullet just blows chunks out of animals when they hit them.