After 13 years of applying ofr a
coveted elk tag in Utah, I finally drew. What a bull it turned out to be!
I have been putting in for Elk since about 1990. I
have always put in for the same unit because I am very familiar with the area. In 2003, I
acquired maximum bonus points for elk and thought my chances for drawing would increase. I
was at work when I received a call from my wife. She was excited to tell me that I had
drawn out. At first I didn’t believe her but then soon realized she was not joking.
In about the middle of July I decided to do some pre-season scouting.
My brother Brett and I visited the area on horseback. The terrain is excellent for horses
and less accessible to motorized vehicles. The steep canyons and clusters of trees make
for good glassing. We rode for about one mile and found a point with a good view. We
glassed for approximately 30 minutes and did not see anything.
I returned to the area a week before my hunt to spend some time
looking. The first morning my brother-in-law Mike Thornton and I took off on the
four-wheeler. We got to the top of a ridge and way off in the distance we could hear an
elk bugle. We walked up over a point and Mike blew his bugle. About 250 yards below us we
saw the bull come to the edge of the trees. The bull caught our scent and whirled back
into the pines. We determined him to be about a 360-class bull. I was excited because he
was the first trophy bull I had seen.
 We left the bull alone and looked for others.
I still had a week to scout but thought we had found one of the finest bulls on the unit.
The next day my brother Brett and I decided to take the horses again. We rode up an old
trail maintained by the forest service. It was toward evening about a half an hour before
sunset when we heard a bugle in the near distance. We dismounted our horses and looked
into a little draw. The bull was standing on the same hill as we were and bugled again. We
hunched down and walked a little further until we could see him. We were within 75 yards.
He was about a 350-class bull and appeared to be alone.
After a minute he saw us and slowly walked across the draw. We watched
the bull disappear into the thick mahogany. We then walked over to a much bigger canyon
and glassed it. We were there about five minutes when suddenly we heard a much deeper
sounding bugle, one like I have never heard before. We determined the bull to be within
100 yards. We waited and then bugled back at him. The bull then came towards us. When he
came out of the mahogany I could not believe my eyes!
The bull stood about 30 seconds and then walked back to his herd. Brett
and I were astonished. We had just witnessed seeing our largest bull ever. We estimated
him to be a 380 or 390 bull. We were excited and knew he was the bull I wanted. Now the
question was how to harvest him. It was Sunday evening and the hunt started the following
Saturday.
I had to return to work Monday morning and work through Friday evening.
I knew my only hope was to send Brett over two or three days early to watch the bull.
Brett decided to return Wednesday evening and scout Thursday and Friday. He called me
Thursday evening to say he had not come across the big bull. On Friday he called me at
about 5:30 p.m. and was excited. He told me he had heard the bull bugling in a canyon. He
easily recognized the bull’s deep voice.
When I arrived back at our hunting area Brett had camp set up for me. From my experience
it seems when hunting season rolls around you have a hard time getting away from your
occupation. I work in the trucking industry which demands a lot of time. I did not get to
camp until about 12:30 a.m.
The next morning we left camp at about 4 a.m. We drove up a narrow
canyon to the trailhead where we unloaded the horses. Brett and I hurried and saddled our
horses and trotted up the trail into the north wind optimistic about what lay ahead.
The bull was about three miles from the nearest road in steep, rough
terrain. I decided that if I heard or saw the bull, I was going to hunt very aggressively.
I figured if I didn’t I may not get a second chance. We topped the ridge and could
see the outline of the sun staring over the horizon. We were about a half-mile from where
Brett heard him the evening before. We rode for about 10 more minutes; suddenly we heard a
bugle to the north. We quietly moved closer and then heard the deeper bugle of the monster
bull. Brett said, “That’s him in the canyon to the west of us.” The bull
was a canyon further southwest than where he had heard him the day before.
We quietly dismounted our horses and crept to the top of the ridge. I
looked about 600 yards below me and could see a big bull standing out by himself. We
watched for about a minute trying to determine if he was the monster bull. We heard
another bugle below him in the distance. We thought it might be another hunter. The bull
we had in full view did not answer and was looking down the canyon back to the south. I
looked at Brett and we decided to bugle to see if he would respond. The bull did not
answer back, but behind him we could hear the monster bull we were pursuing. The lead
satellite bull took off to the north. About 15 cows and two smaller bulls followed. The
monster herd bull came out behind them letting me see bits and pieces of his massive rack
moving through the mahogany.
I dashed off the hill as fast as my legs would run. Brett yelled,
“Slow down you’re going to fall.” I had to run down through a little draw
to get closer to the bull. I was hoping to have a clear shot at him. I was tired, winded
and looking for a dead rest. The monster bull finally came into a clearing. Brett clicked
him with his range finder and said, “347 yards - shoot him!” I needed a dead
rest so I propped my gun over Brett’s shoulder. I put the monster bull in the sights
of my 300 Win Mag and pulled the trigger.
“You hit him. Shoot again,” Brett said. I worked my bolt,
shot again and the big bull went down. I waited for about 15 seconds when the bull stood
up. I fired one more round and the bull was finished.
 We walked
down to the bull and immediately recognized him to be the monster bull we had seen
earlier. His rack was massive. It was unbelievable! Brett was so excited, but
couldn’t hear a word I was saying for the ringing in his ear. I thought I might have
to buy him a hearing aid! What a great sport he was. I couldn’t have done it without
him. We knew the bull was a monster but misjudged his mass. We first guessed him to score
380 or 390. As the day progressed we realized he was bigger. He officially scored 414 6/8
gross Boone and Crocket points and netted 396 and 7/8 typical. It was truly the hunt of a
lifetime! 
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From the
June/July 2004 Issue of Hunting Illustrated Magazine - posted May 12, 2004
