Pictures of my elk.

[petey]

Story to come after I get a little more settled in. Work is hectic to say the least! I have a pile of paper work and emails to sift through so give me a bit. I’ll be working on some video segments also, but here’s some photos for your pleasure. I can’t say enough about DAL Outfitters! They are top notch…

[petey]

another view.. more to come!

[VinVega]

Great bull...any pics of the whole animal?

The size of those animals absolutely amaze me. Keep the pics and stories coming.

[mazter]

Nice Looking Shirt too;) :D

[VinVega]

Originally posted by mazter
Nice Looking Shirt too;) :D

Huh!
I didn't even see the shirt...:D

[petey]

Hot off the press. Notice the strap I had to use to tie up the leg just to gut him out!

[petey]

The Story:

2 Days before the hunt:
We arrive only to find a nice bull and over 30 cows not more than 300 yards from the lodge. He was putting on quite a display and it was a GREAT welcome! Talk about chomping at the bit for season

Day before the hunt:
We went to the Dillon Rifle Range to shoot the guns, enjoy the scenery and get some good filler footage for the TV show.

1st day, 10/9: Ol_spark, Leo (ranch hand) and I were heading to the “knob” to try our hand at a long range elk. As soon as we got out of the truck 2 bulls were bugling not more than a couple hundred yards away. At a couple points in time we could hear the herd walking, but it was still too dark to shoot. They moved their herd up higher and we never caught up with them. As we got to the knob, we set up the camera and guns getting ready for some action. We heard another bull later on that morning and DJ (co-owner) and his daughter had a cow run up to them but they never got a shot at it. It was to be her first elk.

We met back at the truck around 10:30, with no elk but a very exciting morning to say the least. At 4:30 we left for the “high-parks”. Ol_spark set up in the one park, I hid in the heavy timber over looking another park and Dave (co-owner) went to the higher park. No elk tonight but as we walked out we ran into a nice herd bull with about 20 or so cows in the dark just bugling his head off. We got pretty close until they smelled us and took off towards the “Bowl”. It sounded like 20 bulldozers crashing through the woods as they took off. As they reached the Bowl another 600 yards off that bull gave us one final farewell bugle. I thought, “I’ve got your number tomorrow!”

2nd day, 10/10: Ol_spark and I head to the “knob”, but I split up with him wanting to go after that bull we busted the night before. I got about 300 yards from him and the bull bugled in the same spot we had left him the night before. I took off after him. I could hear the cows mewing and he’d bugle every 2 or 3 minutes. It appeared as if he was moving his harem up again so I tried to get higher and then move in on him. I used a Primos Pack bugle and started bugling like a young bull, only to keep track of where he was at all times since I knew he had about 20 or so cows with him. Every time I’d bugle, he’d bugle back, and I’d move in closer on him. My first encounter was on a sharp point on the mountain. I had him with in 100 yards and he’d chuckle, but I couldn’t see him since I was in the dark timber. He was really running around trying to push his cows away from me. The next time he bugled he would be like 400 yards away, so I’d pick up and take off after him. The wind was in my favor so I pushed on. At times I was on my hands and knees crawling and we played cat and mouse back and forth about 4-5 times, bringing him into 100 yards or closer. Finally he had pushed his herd onto a steep ridge that seemed to open up a bit. I bugled, he’d bugle back, then I could see flashes of his cows every once in a while. Even though I had a cow tag I was committed to calling this bull in and killing him. The terrain was steep, but it looked open enough to make my move.

Up until this point I was acting like a young bull trying to move in on him, so I figured I’d try to fool him into thinking I was stealing some of his cows. I used my Scery cow call that I just bought at Cabelas on the way out (That was the best $15 I had ever spent by the way). I cow called twice and the bull bugled, I answered right back with a bugle then cow called again…… That’s all it took. The next time he bugled he was 60 yards and coming. I could just see his big head swaying in and out of the trees in order to get through the heavy timber. He was coming... and fast. I was sitting down with my feet below me to hold me up from the steep angle of the hill and he was coming from my left. I raised the 300 Ultra Mag waiting for my shot. He came to about 40 yards and stopped with his head and full neck showing, with his shoulder behind a tree. With the crosshairs at the base of his neck where it meets his body, I figured this was my shot so I squeezed the trigger. Being in such an awkward position, the recoil of the gun pushed my Butler Creek scope cover into my nose splitting it open. This has never happened to me before, but I’ve seen it happen to others. As I walked up to this massive animal, the sting in my nose didn’t matter and I took a knee to thank the Lord for what he had given me this morning. I was close to tears as I sat there to admire this beautiful animal and the dual we had that morning was probably one of the most exciting days of my life, next to the day I was married and the day my son was born.

After the shot the rest of the herd scattered, but that didn’t matter to me. I guess I did have his number this morning and now the work began. The bull came out on our backs because of the extreme steepness of the hill we couldn’t get horses to him. The pictures don’t do it justice. Cleve the guide and Ol_spark were there to enjoy the labor that lay ahead. We filmed the interviews and packed the bull out just in time for that evening’s hunt…..now for the cow tag

[Dan Morris]

Dang nice head! Glad you guys had a good trip!
Dan

[royinidaho]

Congrats, fella......

Nice bull, good story, no bull:)

Them 300 RUM are really good at those loooooooonnnnnnnngggggg distances;)

Yep can see the mark on the nose, even without enhancements..;) But cha cleaned up pretty good

Took the rear one off of my 338 for that same reason. Plus that little red release looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Hey, how do ya get one of those shirts. Don't want it to say staff though. Maybe something like "Gimme a head shot any time" or something real redneckie.:rolleyes:

[supersider34]

Great bull. Congrats.

[Jack]

Congratulations, Petey !

[Dom]

Waidmannsheil Petey!! Great story, memories last forever, Dom.

[ChrisS]

Great story, nice looking rack too. Glad you were successful and able to bugle one in like that. Getting them in close after calling is an experince like no other. Congrats to you.

[grayghost]

Nice bull Petey, congrats. The story was great reading too. I look forward to the show. Good hunting, grayghost

[Big Bend Brian]

Awesome story Petey. Thanks for sharing it.
Brian

[toxic111]

Hopefully when I finally go for elk I have a story like that to tell!

Nice bull!