RyanG
02-06-2017, 11:40 PM
I had the privilege of guiding my son on his first bull hunt here in Colorado this past November. We both had 4th season rifle either sex tags and he wanted a bull or nothing. I didn't care, actually I wanted a young cow.* My son worried that by the time our season rolled around I would be tired of being in the woods hunting elk. I started guiding archery hunters the last week of August and with rifle hunts the weekend before our hunt started on the 16th. But who in their right mind wouldn't not wanna go into the woods to hunt with their son!!! Especially on the first attempt at a bull.
We were hunting in the same game unit that I had been guiding in but we weren't able to hunt the private land that I had been working on. That first day we only saw elk on private property. I bet we saw well over 300 head that first day. After the end of the second day we couldn't find an elk to save our lives, some guide! We had finally gotten some snow but not really enough to really start pushing the elk down to the lower country, but I couldn't find them up high either. About noon on the third day we were sitting on a edge of a canyon watching a huge mulie buck on the other side when I spotted an elk working down into the bottom of the canyon from a feeder canyon. I grabbed my son and we moved about a 100 yards closers to where I had seen the elk and started to glass again. After about 15 minutes of searching we couldn't find it. My son turns to make and says "there isn't any elk, this is just another guide trick!" I swear to him that I had seen an elk but I didn't know if it was a bull or cow. Another 5 minutes or so go looking I finally find the elk, a good bull from the looks of the brow tines.* I say let's move a little closer and my son says "how far?"* 548 I say after getting a good range. He says "nope" "let's take him from here"* "Really" I say "Im sure we can get closer, he doesn't know we are here".* "No, I can make the shot from here. I have made this shot hundreds of times at the range."* Ok... I try and get him set up on the shooting sticks but he can't get comfortable and insists to go prone. Even after I explain that we are on the side of a canyon and there is nowhere to lay down. We set up my pack and he gets himself into a contorted prone position and says that's he is ready.
I range the bull for a third time and we get the range all dialed in on the scope. I'm slightly behind Tyler watching through my binos and I wait and wait and wait for him to shoot. The bull is just standing there broadside chewing.* I finally ask "are you gonna shoot?" He says "ya, now?"* And I wait and wait some more, so when the shot finally broke I flinched* (some guide). I didn't see any impact on it and I call the shot a miss. The bull took about 5 steps and stopped still standing broadside when the 2nd shot broke. I watched the bullet's trace cross the canyon and strike the bull just above and behind the shoulder. It turned away from us and just stood there for what seemed like forever. He finally bobbled, caught himself and then piled up without taking another step!
Ty rolls off of his rifle and gives me the biggest bear hug ever, all the while screaming in my ear. It brings me to tears which makes him tear up too. And we haven't even gotten to the bull yet! My best elk hunt ever! My son was using* rifle that I put together for him a year before. It was a Savage action with a 24" CBI 6.5 Creedmoor barrel with a Vortex Viper HS-T scope.
When we finally get to where the bull went down and I get my hands on its rack I realize that the bull is even bigger and more unique than I thought. He was broken on the main beam just above hint number 3 but the other side was palmated like a stage and had 7 points. As we started to dress the bull out I saw that the first shot was not a miss. It was about 2 inches from the second shot. The Bulls lungs were jello from the 140 grain Berger VLD bullets. I could not have been more proud. The next day was a little rougher cause we had to pack that dude bout a mile and a half to the truck.
We were hunting in the same game unit that I had been guiding in but we weren't able to hunt the private land that I had been working on. That first day we only saw elk on private property. I bet we saw well over 300 head that first day. After the end of the second day we couldn't find an elk to save our lives, some guide! We had finally gotten some snow but not really enough to really start pushing the elk down to the lower country, but I couldn't find them up high either. About noon on the third day we were sitting on a edge of a canyon watching a huge mulie buck on the other side when I spotted an elk working down into the bottom of the canyon from a feeder canyon. I grabbed my son and we moved about a 100 yards closers to where I had seen the elk and started to glass again. After about 15 minutes of searching we couldn't find it. My son turns to make and says "there isn't any elk, this is just another guide trick!" I swear to him that I had seen an elk but I didn't know if it was a bull or cow. Another 5 minutes or so go looking I finally find the elk, a good bull from the looks of the brow tines.* I say let's move a little closer and my son says "how far?"* 548 I say after getting a good range. He says "nope" "let's take him from here"* "Really" I say "Im sure we can get closer, he doesn't know we are here".* "No, I can make the shot from here. I have made this shot hundreds of times at the range."* Ok... I try and get him set up on the shooting sticks but he can't get comfortable and insists to go prone. Even after I explain that we are on the side of a canyon and there is nowhere to lay down. We set up my pack and he gets himself into a contorted prone position and says that's he is ready.
I range the bull for a third time and we get the range all dialed in on the scope. I'm slightly behind Tyler watching through my binos and I wait and wait and wait for him to shoot. The bull is just standing there broadside chewing.* I finally ask "are you gonna shoot?" He says "ya, now?"* And I wait and wait some more, so when the shot finally broke I flinched* (some guide). I didn't see any impact on it and I call the shot a miss. The bull took about 5 steps and stopped still standing broadside when the 2nd shot broke. I watched the bullet's trace cross the canyon and strike the bull just above and behind the shoulder. It turned away from us and just stood there for what seemed like forever. He finally bobbled, caught himself and then piled up without taking another step!
Ty rolls off of his rifle and gives me the biggest bear hug ever, all the while screaming in my ear. It brings me to tears which makes him tear up too. And we haven't even gotten to the bull yet! My best elk hunt ever! My son was using* rifle that I put together for him a year before. It was a Savage action with a 24" CBI 6.5 Creedmoor barrel with a Vortex Viper HS-T scope.
When we finally get to where the bull went down and I get my hands on its rack I realize that the bull is even bigger and more unique than I thought. He was broken on the main beam just above hint number 3 but the other side was palmated like a stage and had 7 points. As we started to dress the bull out I saw that the first shot was not a miss. It was about 2 inches from the second shot. The Bulls lungs were jello from the 140 grain Berger VLD bullets. I could not have been more proud. The next day was a little rougher cause we had to pack that dude bout a mile and a half to the truck.