From the second weekend in October.
Well it was a fun 3 Days spent in the Black Hills with 2 good buddies. Certainly didn't kill the caliber of bull I set out for but man it was a wild ride. It's long but worth the read. I set a goal for the Size of bull I was looking for, but man sometimes the story writes itself, and I'm a suckered for a good story.
Friday we started in an area we knew we wanted to target. Almost immediately we were talking back and forth with a bull. We moved In to a favorable position and things were hot and heavy until we got circled by a cow and busted. The rest of Friday and most of Saturday was spent glassing and exploring. We found plenty of elk just nothing we wanted to pursue.
Saturday late afternoon we were checking out a new area and gained some major elevation. We spent the last hour glassing a massive area and right as we were about to make the long walk back we happened to catch 2 bulls fighting in a meadow. Based on land marks we knew they were between 3 and 4 miles away. Several hours of looking at images on OnX and Google Earth and we were fairly certain we had the meadow found. We decided it would be where we made the final stand on Sunday evening and planned to go back to the area we had found the vocal bull in the first morning hoping to get a look the next morning.
Sunday morning we had excitement on the drive from town as 3 mountain lions bolted accross the road directly in front of us. The rest of Sunday was uneventful and after striking out everywhere else we climbed a different ridge to get another angle on the meadow we wanted to go to and ensure we were headed to the right place. It was time for the final sit of this trip. We pulled up to our parking spot a mile from where we wanted to sit. While we were at the pickup 2 side by sides come down the trail we parked off of. After they left another atv came through from the other direction. We hiked in and confirmed we were in the right spot and found a good shooting location. It was a small meadow that we were able to cover most of from one location. We settled in for the 5 hour sit.
Finally somewhere around 430pm an unexpected bugle cut the silence. We decided not to call and just wait since we knew they used this meadow. We had bugles from 2 different bulls periodically over the next half hour. Then we heard 2 atvs show up somewhere in the distance, based on where the sound came from they were not on a trail. We could hear their entire conversation as they were screaming over the top of their machines idling. They eventually left and everything was quiet again including the elk. We figured the spot was blown out.
Finally about 545 we heard a bugle and a few minutes later another one and so on. We could even hear them moving through the jack pines they were getting closer. This is where this story got crazier.....an Australian Shepard dog shows up first followed by a guy in shorts and tennis shoes apparently just off in the middle of absolute nowhere for a stroll. There were no other trails for miles, no camps, no nothing
. He gets right up to us and shouts loud as hell "I hope I'm not messing up your hunt". Just echoed all down the valley, before trying to call his dog off and clapping loud as hell. It's public ground, it is what it is, but of all the things to happen 
. I may have thought I was hallucinating him if my buddies hadn't have been there. He came from nowhere....and we never seen him again.
It was time to go for broke we didn't have time for a new spot. We started thrashing the trees and Mat got real aggressive with his calling. Finally a bull bugled and another one and another one. They were back down in the valley though. We just kept up the aggressiveness and eventually they started bugling closer and closer. We could hear them back in the trees, we got up and ran down closer to the next tree line and sat down in the tallest grass we could find. Mat kept up the calling and they bugled every time.
Finally this bull burst through the pines and ran directly up to me staring me down at 30 yards. Bugling in my face. I made a move and got on him, I knew instantly he wasn't really what I was after. In my mind I was weighing the cost of more hotels, fuel, etc. Not to mention more time away from work that was already stressed and family that needs my attention more. The bull had looked long enough and headed out. Mat cow called and stopped him at 130 yards.
Lots of stuff to consider before you pull the trigger on what is quite possibly a once in a lifetime tag. In that moment I decided the fact that we glassed these bulls from 3.89miles away the night before. That we managed to find the right meadow. That 2 of my best friends traveled a combined 16hours one way to be here and help. That the peak "hunters moon" was already rising in the east. That so many things about this spot had gone wrong. That it was the 20 year anniversary of the day my Mom died at an age not much older than I am now. This story outweighed the Size of the bull and I ended it right there.
The 300 PRC and 212 ELDX did their job as he only made it maybe 10 yards.
Something pretty special about quartering and packing out a bull elk under a full moon while his buddies were still in the trees bugling away.
So many people to thank for this one. Most of all Mat and Jeb. They both spent their time and resources to make it happen as much as I did. Mat knew what he was doing on the calls and what to expect from the situations. Jeb was Johnny on the spot with everything I needed. He took most of the pictures I have of the hunt and managed to get the last 2 minutes and the kill on video. My wife held the fort down at home for over 3 days with our wild kids.
Wild times.
Well it was a fun 3 Days spent in the Black Hills with 2 good buddies. Certainly didn't kill the caliber of bull I set out for but man it was a wild ride. It's long but worth the read. I set a goal for the Size of bull I was looking for, but man sometimes the story writes itself, and I'm a suckered for a good story.
Friday we started in an area we knew we wanted to target. Almost immediately we were talking back and forth with a bull. We moved In to a favorable position and things were hot and heavy until we got circled by a cow and busted. The rest of Friday and most of Saturday was spent glassing and exploring. We found plenty of elk just nothing we wanted to pursue.
Saturday late afternoon we were checking out a new area and gained some major elevation. We spent the last hour glassing a massive area and right as we were about to make the long walk back we happened to catch 2 bulls fighting in a meadow. Based on land marks we knew they were between 3 and 4 miles away. Several hours of looking at images on OnX and Google Earth and we were fairly certain we had the meadow found. We decided it would be where we made the final stand on Sunday evening and planned to go back to the area we had found the vocal bull in the first morning hoping to get a look the next morning.
Sunday morning we had excitement on the drive from town as 3 mountain lions bolted accross the road directly in front of us. The rest of Sunday was uneventful and after striking out everywhere else we climbed a different ridge to get another angle on the meadow we wanted to go to and ensure we were headed to the right place. It was time for the final sit of this trip. We pulled up to our parking spot a mile from where we wanted to sit. While we were at the pickup 2 side by sides come down the trail we parked off of. After they left another atv came through from the other direction. We hiked in and confirmed we were in the right spot and found a good shooting location. It was a small meadow that we were able to cover most of from one location. We settled in for the 5 hour sit.
Finally somewhere around 430pm an unexpected bugle cut the silence. We decided not to call and just wait since we knew they used this meadow. We had bugles from 2 different bulls periodically over the next half hour. Then we heard 2 atvs show up somewhere in the distance, based on where the sound came from they were not on a trail. We could hear their entire conversation as they were screaming over the top of their machines idling. They eventually left and everything was quiet again including the elk. We figured the spot was blown out.
Finally about 545 we heard a bugle and a few minutes later another one and so on. We could even hear them moving through the jack pines they were getting closer. This is where this story got crazier.....an Australian Shepard dog shows up first followed by a guy in shorts and tennis shoes apparently just off in the middle of absolute nowhere for a stroll. There were no other trails for miles, no camps, no nothing
. He gets right up to us and shouts loud as hell "I hope I'm not messing up your hunt". Just echoed all down the valley, before trying to call his dog off and clapping loud as hell. It's public ground, it is what it is, but of all the things to happen . I may have thought I was hallucinating him if my buddies hadn't have been there. He came from nowhere....and we never seen him again.It was time to go for broke we didn't have time for a new spot. We started thrashing the trees and Mat got real aggressive with his calling. Finally a bull bugled and another one and another one. They were back down in the valley though. We just kept up the aggressiveness and eventually they started bugling closer and closer. We could hear them back in the trees, we got up and ran down closer to the next tree line and sat down in the tallest grass we could find. Mat kept up the calling and they bugled every time.
Finally this bull burst through the pines and ran directly up to me staring me down at 30 yards. Bugling in my face. I made a move and got on him, I knew instantly he wasn't really what I was after. In my mind I was weighing the cost of more hotels, fuel, etc. Not to mention more time away from work that was already stressed and family that needs my attention more. The bull had looked long enough and headed out. Mat cow called and stopped him at 130 yards.
Lots of stuff to consider before you pull the trigger on what is quite possibly a once in a lifetime tag. In that moment I decided the fact that we glassed these bulls from 3.89miles away the night before. That we managed to find the right meadow. That 2 of my best friends traveled a combined 16hours one way to be here and help. That the peak "hunters moon" was already rising in the east. That so many things about this spot had gone wrong. That it was the 20 year anniversary of the day my Mom died at an age not much older than I am now. This story outweighed the Size of the bull and I ended it right there.
The 300 PRC and 212 ELDX did their job as he only made it maybe 10 yards.
Something pretty special about quartering and packing out a bull elk under a full moon while his buddies were still in the trees bugling away.
So many people to thank for this one. Most of all Mat and Jeb. They both spent their time and resources to make it happen as much as I did. Mat knew what he was doing on the calls and what to expect from the situations. Jeb was Johnny on the spot with everything I needed. He took most of the pictures I have of the hunt and managed to get the last 2 minutes and the kill on video. My wife held the fort down at home for over 3 days with our wild kids.
Wild times.
