We just got back from a great week of hunting for my son's bull elk. Hunted hard all week and saw elk every day. Lots of cows and small bulls. We saw quite a few big bulls as well but some were in places that would have been nearly impossible to pack out.
This bull was one of a group of 5 bulls we spotted about a mile away. We snuck up on him sunning himself in his bed and got to within 20 yards. We watched him for about 10 minutes sizing him up before my son decided to pass on him.
All of the big bulls we saw were very high up where we were walking through knee deep snow. Finally on Friday which was our last day of hunting we spotted this guy a couple of miles from the truck. As we made our way towards him through the trees we stopped at every clearing to see if he was still there and check the range. After about half an hour of sneeking in we made it to 403 yards and could not get closer without loosing sight of him.
My son was shooting my wife's Remington .270 with Federal Premium ammo with 150 grain Nosler Partitions. He rushed the first shot and missed but the bull stepped out from behind a tree broadside and the next shot hit the lungs. We then made our way to where the bull was standing at the shot and found tracks but no blood. I told my son to follow the tracks and luckily they were easy to follow in the snow. We found a single drop of bright red blood about 50 yards later, then one more drop of blood about 40 yards later. My son was worried he had made a bad shot but I told him it was lung blood and the bull would not go far. We found him probably 200 yards from the first shot laying down and he gave him a final shot. The first shot hit high in the lungs so I'm guessing that's why there was so little blood on the ground. When we opened him up all the blood had stayed inside.
This bull was one of a group of 5 bulls we spotted about a mile away. We snuck up on him sunning himself in his bed and got to within 20 yards. We watched him for about 10 minutes sizing him up before my son decided to pass on him.
All of the big bulls we saw were very high up where we were walking through knee deep snow. Finally on Friday which was our last day of hunting we spotted this guy a couple of miles from the truck. As we made our way towards him through the trees we stopped at every clearing to see if he was still there and check the range. After about half an hour of sneeking in we made it to 403 yards and could not get closer without loosing sight of him.
My son was shooting my wife's Remington .270 with Federal Premium ammo with 150 grain Nosler Partitions. He rushed the first shot and missed but the bull stepped out from behind a tree broadside and the next shot hit the lungs. We then made our way to where the bull was standing at the shot and found tracks but no blood. I told my son to follow the tracks and luckily they were easy to follow in the snow. We found a single drop of bright red blood about 50 yards later, then one more drop of blood about 40 yards later. My son was worried he had made a bad shot but I told him it was lung blood and the bull would not go far. We found him probably 200 yards from the first shot laying down and he gave him a final shot. The first shot hit high in the lungs so I'm guessing that's why there was so little blood on the ground. When we opened him up all the blood had stayed inside.
