I won the lottery!!!!!!

[DanWalker]

License draw results came in today. I drew a coveted Bull elk tag and a cow elk tag for the area behind my house that is known to produce huge bulls!!!!
I've been waiting since I was 14 to go chase big bulls with my bow.
If I can't get it done during bow season, I'll be relying on my 7mm08 and 140 grain partitions.
If I can get a shot under 100 yards, I plan on using the 45LC Blackhawk and hammer boolits.
I'm so excited that I was actually shaking for a while.
People wait years for this bull tag, and I drew it on my first time applying!

[Doc Highwall]

Congratulations! I hope you have a great hunt and do not forget the camera.

[Changeling]

Dan, I'ts really great to hear, I sinceely hope you connect! Let me know!

[sundog]

Yessir, we'll need pictures! And a story.

[Dean D.]

Congrats and Good Luck Dan! :grin:

[frank505]

Good deal Dan; use the 45, it makes you hunt slower therefore better. I will not even put in elk until I kill 10 wolves.

[scrapcan]

Nothing llike hunting camp when you are only a few minutes away from home.

Do some scouting and then get some pictures up while you scout and while you hunt. Which area did you draw? I have been trying to get an elk and deer tag down here in a limited area where we ride our horses all summer. Saw a batch of 6 bachelor bulls two weeks ago and then saw a group of 8 cows ready to drop any day abotu 2 hours later.

[missionary5155]

Greetings Dan
That is great news ! Could not happen to a nicer helpful feller. I trust ypou get to see the bull of a lifetime within range of whatever weapon you have in your hand.. although I would vote for bow range.
Mike in Peru

[MT Gianni]

Nice going, the tags have to go to someone, it may as well be you.

[DanWalker]

Thanks guys!
I drew tags for Muddy mountain, which is only 35 miles away from my back porch. My backpack is all loaded up and me and my best hunting bud are heading up there tomorrow to spend the weekend scouting. I will be placing a trail camera as well, and will try to check it about once every week to 10 days. It's 3 to 5 miles in on foot, so you know I will be whipping my sorry butt into shape over the next 3 months!
Took the bow out and shot some this evening. I was just working the kinks out tonight, but groups at 30 yards were suprisingly good. I won't be happy until my 50 yard groups are coffee cup sized. Then I will feel confident out to 40.
I have 300 rounds loaded for the blackhawk and 50 rounds of cast ammo loaded for the 7mm08.
I will be working on my kneeling position with both guns quite heavily over the summer.
I will be boring you guys to tears with all my pics and ramblings, but you asked for it...LOL
Dang! I have been this excited about a coming hunting season since I was a teenager!

[Fishman]

Well it certainly sounds like you are taking this seriously and going about it the right way. I must confess to a bit of jealousy. Good luck and please post pics, even of your scouting.

[Ohio Rusty]

Congrats Dan !! Now we are all waiting to try that elk jerky you'll make from all that meat !!
Hope you arrow a monster .....
Ohio Rusty ><>

[nanuk]

I feel so fortunate that I live in elk/moose/whitetail Country.

regular season is just a easy to get licence away!

I get out for either elk or moose every year.

And I STILL GET EXCITED about it! Every time


congrats on Your score! Hunt hard!

tradition up here is to eat the heart and liver the first night over an open fire. Then the Tenderloins for breakfast!

[TCLouis]

DW I doubt pics of "Country/animals will bore any of us.

If someone gets bored I hope they remain silent and simply don't click on your posts.

I for one will enjoy every tip to elk country via your posts

[dk17hmr]

Didnt draw the elk tag I wanted but there are left over cow calf tags for the area I hunted last year along with a general tag I should be good to go.

I didnt draw a buck antelope tag either....just 2 doe antelope tags, my dad going to get a couple left over antelope tags, and my Uncle drew a deer tag, all in the same area, should be a fun hunting season.

Good luck on the Elk!

[DanWalker]

Ok guys, you asked for updates and photos, so here they are.
We hiked in yesterday to check out the area. We went up a steep ravine, and then benched a few ridges, before getting into where we wanted to check out. It was a leg burning, lung busting climb, that saw us gain 1400 feet of altitude in 2 miles. We were carrying 35lb packs, which added to the fun. We immediately got into elk. We spotted a cow, just as she saw my buddy standing in the trail to take a wizz. We only went a bit further before we started cutting heavy elk sign. There are elk trails there that s blind man could follow. We hopped on a promising one to see where it might take us.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/crowshooter223/elkTrail1.jpg
This trail led us through aspen groves and dark timber, with several heavily used trails intersecting it.
We stopped to refill our canteens from the creek, and spotted a bull in a valley below us, heading for the water we were on. We skirted up and around, and waited for him to give us a better look. Well, one bull turned into FOUR bulls! We sat and watched them from about 125 yards for about 10 minutes before the wind changed and they spooked.
We really gave the timber we were in a good going over, and found a huge spot that had been torn up and was full of tracks and rubs. I put my game camera there.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/crowshooter223/elksign1.jpg
We continued up the mountain, trying to summit before dark.
We made it and found this gorgeous meadow, criss crossed with elk trails, and ringed by rublines.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/crowshooter223/elkCamp1.jpg
We made camp in the timber, just above the meadow at 8700 feet.
Had a heck of a thunderstorm hit us just after dark, but my backpack tent held just fine.
We woke up to deer in camp, but were unable to get them to hang out for pics.
We headed out, determined to see as much of the country as we could, before our legs gave out.
We followed some trails some more, and basically poked around, looking for a quick way down from where we were. Well, we never found it. We wound up coming down a big ravine, choked with deadfall. We found mucho elk sign in there, but there is no way in the world to get an elk out of there!
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/crowshooter223/elkrub2.jpg
Our trip out wound up being 8 miles long, with 5 different creek crossings.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/crowshooter223/wading.jpg
We got back to the truck and did some exploring of some back roads and trails, before heading for home.
I'm dead dog tired, but still pretty excited!

[frank505]

I was on the mountain Saturday evening, saw one mule deer doe. Should have seen some elk out feeding. Nothing. Snuck around in the timber before it got dark and again nothing, no tracks, no droppings. This is in elk calving grounds, before wolves..........................
Dont let any wolves live down there Dan, your elk will disapear.

[DanWalker]

There are no wolves in Natrona county Frank. Game and Fish told me so! So, any LARGE coyotes I might encounter will go the way their smaller brethren have gone...

[scrapcan]

Sounds like a good weekend for you. Nothing wrong with what you have shown us so far.

[DanWalker]

Hiked in and checked the game camera today.
It only took 9 pics before the battery died.
I still got a couple good elk pics before the batteries pooped out though.
I knew elk were in that area though.
I pulled the camera today and will be placing it and the new one I'm going to buy today, in different areas, to try to see how many elk I'm dealing with in this area, as well as see about a few other spots I wanted to drop a camera.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/crowshooter223/SUNP0004.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/crowshooter223/SUNP0007.jpg

[DanWalker]

Went in yesterday and set up camp. Heading in tomorrow to get after them elk!

[dk17hmr]

Good luck Dan...Im going to be filling my antelope tags this weekend and hopefully one of my elk tags next weekend. A buddy of mine shot a 5 point rag horn this passed weekend over by Big Piney that they cow called in, they only heard a couple bugles all weekend but I guess the little 5 point came charging in after a couple chirps.

[TCLouis]

Congrats!!

Go forth and LIVE LIFE on the mountain

[reloader28]

Good luck and have fun.
My brother and me are going up to the Bighorns in 2 weeks and set up our elk camp with my uncle. It opens Oct 15.
I aint elk hunted elk in about 6 or 7 years so I'm PUMPED. Going to use my 44mag with a cast boolit either 250 or 320gr. Need more testing time.

[missionary5155]

Good morning & I trust God drops the bull of your lifetime under 25 yards of bow pull.
Mike in Peru

[Fishman]

Waiting in anticipation for the story. . . :)

[DanWalker]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/crowshooter223/MYBULL.jpg
Story will follow, once I've had some sleep.
He wasn't considerate enough to tip over close to camp.

[waksupi]

Good going, Dan!

[swheeler]

Congratulations Dan!8-)

[plmitch]

That is very nice looking.

[Matt_G]

Outstanding Dan!
Looking forward to hearing the story behind him.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Great job, and great story to come,,, I'm sure!!! We can't wait !!! This is really good so far!!!

The nearest Elk hunt to me is a Tejon Ranch hunt for $20K. So I will have to live vicarously thru you !!!

you done good.

Randy

[Jal5]

Congrats Dan! That is one of my bucket list things to do, elk hunting.

Joe

[DanWalker]

Thanks for all the kind words guys.
I also have dreamed of big bulls since I was a 14 year old kid, reading Outdoor Life and other hunting magazines, in the public library.
Since moving to Wyoming 9 years ago, events in my life have denied me the opportunity to do any serious elk hunting until now.
I really didn't know what I was doing this season, and just kind of learned as I went along during archery season. I had half a dozen close encounters, including a 30 yard encounter with a 350 class bull, who was saved by my decision to go around a small pine tree on it's right side, rather than to the left side of it.
The bull I finally bagged was rather anticlimatic. I was up on opening morning, and stepped out from camp, an hour before daylight. I headed to a canyon I'd heard numerous bulls in, and even called 2 different bulls out of the canyon during archery season.
I sat on the canyon rim, just enjoying the morning, and trying to wrap my head around the fact that I actually had an elk tag in my pocket for a GREAT area, and that I had a really good chance of scoring on a giant bull.
As the sky lightened, the bulls started talking below me. I heard a few squeals, and some chuckles, before hearing a the scream of a mature bull, come up at me from the canyon below.
As I was circling downwind, and planning my approach, I saw something that made my heart sink.... The tailgate of a pickup truck! Some IDIOTS had driven in and camped right on the rim of the canyon. I was sick. I knew what they were up to, so I just turned around and walked back up the trail. Had I not been so busy feeling sorry for myself, I might have noticed the strong smell of bull elk that started to fill my nostrils.
Instead, I blundered into a BIG bull. I only caught a glimpse of him, before he crashed into the timber heading away from me. Now I was really sick. I stood there in the mornings first light, cursing my stupidity. I was standing there, dejected and seriously contemplating wrapping my rifle around a tree trunk and heading home, when I heard a HUGE bugle from the meadow on the other side of the timber the bull had just crashed through.
I circled downwind, and cut through the timber as quickly and quietly as I could. I got to the meadow just as he stepped into another patch of timber. He began bugling for all he was worth, and absolutely destroying the small trees and deadfall that made up the patch of timber he was in.
I could see chunks of sod and tree limbs flying up into the air from where he was throwing his tantrum, but he was screened by a thick layer of young pines and aspen deadfall.
The timber he was in was actually a peninsula, surrounded on 3 sides by open meadow. I knew he'd stay in the timber, as he made his way up the mountain that morning. The next 2 hours were some of the most intense moments of my entire hunting career, as I tried to get ahead of him in the timber without spooking him. I was able to keep track of him by his constant bugling and intermittent stops to rototill the timber around him. He had the luxury to move freely. I had to pick and tiptoe through some of the most challenging stalking I've ever done. At times it would take me over 20 seconds just to complete a step. I'd have to lower my foot, and use the toe of my boot to sweep the area clear of sticks and dry leaves, before I could put my foot down and take the weight off my other leg. My calves were burning and my upper legs were spasming from the effort. I was completely sweat through my shirt, and it ran into my eyes, stinging, and making my already poor vision, even worse.
I was within 50 yards of him 2 different times, and probably spent the majority of the stalk within 100 yards of him, but never got a shot. He finally just outwalked me. I lost track of him in the timber, when he finally quit bugling around 9 in the morning.
I spent the rest of the morning climbing up to the top of the ridge where the bull had been heading. I was hoping to catch a late riser or lolligagger, coming up the ridge, to escape the rising heat. I'd heard several shots from various directions, throughout the morning, including a couple shots from the canyon I had started the morning at.
I got to the top around noon, and just lounged in a rockpile, trying to recuperate from my mornings exertions, and formulate a plan for the afternoon.
After about 2 hours, I began working my way along the ridgeline, looking for a good spot to overwatch the saddle where I had placed my game camera this summer. The saddle is crisscrossed with elk trails, and is a major thoroughfare for elk movement between the numerous canyons in the area.
I found a good spot, just blow the cliffs that rim the east end of the ridgeline, and set up to glass. I hadn't been glassing 30 minutes when I spotted a bull directly accross the canyon from me.
He was on a high bench, with cliffs and steep terrain above and below him. It was a pretty cozy spot for him to hang out, without worrying about anyone sneaking up on him. I found out later, he was less than 100 yards from where I had my camera.
My lazer rangefinder read 235 yards from me to him. I was shooting my Savage mountain rifle in 7mm08, loaded with 140 grain Nosler partitions, over max charges of Varget powder. I keep this gun zero'd at 200 yards. I've killed numerous antelope and deer with this rifle, not to mention shooting hundreds of cast boolits out of it for practice. It's a proven gun, with a history of high accuracy. I took a rest on a large rock, and settled the crosshairs of the Leupold on his shoulder. As I flicked the safety off, the warning from my best friend came to mind."I dunno if that gun has enough oompf for elk past 200 yards." Erring on the side of caution, I shifted my aim point to the joint at the base of the bulls neck, where it meets the shoulder. When I fired, I lost the bull in the scope, but clearly heard the smack of the bullet from the other side of the canyon. I cycled the bolt as I came back on target. I could see the bull, laying right where he'd been standing. he was thrashing weakly, so I put a second round through his chest, just to end it faster. He layed still, as the echoes from my shots rolled down the valley below me.
I scrambled down from my spot, and hustled over to where he was. I had a tough climb to get up to where he lay. I'm not gonna get all weepy and mushy now, but it was a very emotional time for me, standing over my first bull. I'd done all the scouting, hunted hard, and was totally content with the honest way I had hunted. He will never be in any record book, but he's mine, and I got him MY way.
I skinned him and began quartering him, as the sun began to sink. I made it to camp at dark, and had to come to a harsh realization. It was forecast to be over 80 degrees the following day. If I was gonna get him down from that cliff before he spoiled, I was gonna need some help.
My friends were either working, or wrapped up with their own elk.(Kirk killed a cow with a MIHEC 45/70 boolit)
I fired up the fourwheeler and headed to the truck. I got to my house around 930 that night, and gave my wife the news. Gentlemen, I honestly try not to brag too much, but I have to brag on this woman. She went up on that ridge with me the next morning, and we got him out. I put a front quarter in her pack, and I tried to take out both hindquarters. I made it about 50 yards, before my knees let me know I'm not as young as I once was. I swapped out one of the hindquarters for a front quarter,a nd we headed down. We got to camp, drank some water, and headed back up for the rest of him. This woman of mine GOD BLESS HER, carried that head and horns down the mountain on her back, as it drizzled blood down her back.
We got the second load out and headed for home, just before dark.
We now have 2 coolers full of meat on ice, waiting to be cut up. We went shopping for another freezer today.
This has truly been the most exciting and fulfilling hunting season of my life. Thank you all for letting me share it with you.

[waksupi]

Good report, Dan, I love it when a plan comes together!

[runfiverun]

dan i keep hearing the same thing about my 7x57.
great narrative.
wait iv'e seen that rifle before....

[19112TAP]

Thanks for the story and congrat's on the nice elk.

[legend]

dan, great hunt! it was fun hearing the story. well done.

[ErikO]

Yessir, we'll need pictures! And a story.

^^^ This!

Got pics? Great story!

[xr650]

Dan,
Nice Bull.
Enjoyed the story.

[ph4570]

Great hunt and report. Thanks for sharing.

[Matt_G]

Awesome write-up Dan.
You've got a real peach of a wife as well, you lucky dog!

[JesterGrin_1]

Dan Great Hunt and a Nice Bull. Do not let anyone tell you Different. It is not the size of what we are after but the Hunt in itself whether you bag something or not. Many have forgotten that or never knew it to start with.

Many here Dream of such a hunt that you had. And the chance to take including myself. :)

[waksupi]

The best thing about getting your bull, you can concentrate in the future on just shooting cows!

[JesterGrin_1]

The best thing about getting your bull, you can concentrate in the future on just shooting cows!

Yep I have found that no matter how you cook those horns you just can not eat them lol. :bigsmyl2:

[man.electric]

Nice work Dan. Could not have been killed by a nicer guy.

[kbstenberg]

Dan where would we be without wifes to help us??? And Without all your hard efforts in pre-hunting, luck would have been all that you could have counted on.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Great story!

Randy

[MGySgt]

Nice Bull and a Keeper Wife - How can you be so lucky!

[Poisonslinger]

Dan,
Congrats -

Thanks for sharing the story -

[zac0419]

Great write up Dan, thanks for taking us along.

[OnHoPr]

He[[, that story got my eyes wider and red corpuscles tingling.:popcorn::)

[nanuk]

Dan:
great story and a nice bull

I too know the heartbreak of walking into your area and finding a truck there...

but sounds like it worked out great for you anyways.

I have a friend who uses the same round. He would not hesitate to take a Bull Moose at 300yds with those 140gr Partitions. He had a complete passthrough on a "quartering to" bull at 250yds. Broke the shoulder going in, took the heart out, then broke a rib on exit. I'd say you have a capable round!

[Got-R-Did]

Definitely a Dream Come True through hard work, perseverance, preparation,and skill! You are doubly blessed with the devotion of a Great Woman! Doesn't get much better than that.
Thank you for sharing. Still hoping to draw a Bull Elk Tag here in KY someday, no luck yet after ten years of trying.
Got-R-Did.