Wyoming Desert Elk Hunt Double

elkantlers said:
The Next day we headed back to the same area as there were lots of elk around and I knew there had to be other elk we hadn't seen. As it got light, we up on our high ridge glassing. we saw several bulls in the distance, but none were what we were hoping to see. We headed up the ridge and walked over into one of the sage basins to look around. Not seeing anything I gave out a bugle and right in front of us, in some deep sage just a couple hundred yards, out a bull stands up and looks at us. It was a six point, I was tempted but I held off as thought we could probably find something a bit bigger.

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We hunted around for a few more hours and found a few other bulls but nothing very big at all. As mid-day came around, we headed back to camp for some lunch. After getting something to eat and a short siesta I decided to go for a little ride just behind camp to see if there was anything in the area. We were going down a little two track when we rounded a little hill and saw some elk up on the side hill. It was a 6 point bull that had really long eye guards but everything else was either short or broke.

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That evening and the next day was more of the same. We saw several bulls but nothing too big.
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On Friday morning we headed back to our glassing spot and saw a few elk but not as many as previous mornings. we continued up the ridge and decided to look off to the west into a big sage covered valley. We glassed for quite a while and didn't see anything other than a few deer, antelope and a bunch of Horses off in the distance. I'm not sure why, buy I decided to throw out a bugle. It wasn't two seconds later when a deep growling bugle rang back. we all looked at each other in surprise as we had glassed every bit of the valley below us and there wasn't any elk. My Son Spotted him first. There was a bull out about 700yds looking up in our direction. I could see enough to know that if he got in range, I was probably going to shoot him. He must have been bedded in the deep sage and stood up when I bugled, either that or we're blind, lol. We had the sun at or back and I don't think he could make us out. I gave out a few cow calls and another bugle and he slowly started heading our way. I quickly got the rifle setup and tried to keep him interested in us. He was getting closer but wasn't in much of a hurry. He finally decided it wasn't worth the effort to climb the hill and turned to head back into the sage. I got a good range and told everyone to keep an eye on him. One more cow call turned him mostly broadside. A couple deep breaths and I felt very steady. At the recoil I lost the bull in the scope. I was just chambering another round when my son said the bull was down.
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I never could find the bull again but my son was certain it was a good shot and it was done. the tall sage made it impossible to see it once it dropped. we made our way down to the bull and he was as good as we thought. He wasn't however as big as my daughters which I will be reminded of several times I'm sure. :D

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We took some pictures, retold our stories and just enjoyed ourselves. These moments are few and far between, so I tried to just take it all in and not get in a hurry.

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One final sunset and we were done.
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