csutton7
Active member
good job on a nice bull --chris
Yes i made it back.... Yes i scored, not the monster but a good one
- Thread starter schmalts
- Start date
D
Deerslayer
Guest
Good looking bull schmalts.
Sounds like the elk were WAY more plentiful in the VV than where were were.
Sounds like you had a blast.
A note on your buddys bull...... Yes, it sucks for him. But I can't say the other hunter who found the bull was totally in the wrong. He had no way of knowing if that bull would ever be recovered and thus he did at least assure the bull would not go to waste. I personally am too damn selfish to tag a bull someone else shot and lost, but it could be said the guy did a pretty admirable thing. I mean, it's not like he stole it from your camp or something. And I doubt he paid $500 for a tag then took off a week and packed in "to steal someone else's bull". Who's to say his conscience just wouldn't let him walk off and let the bull ruin after he observed a dead bull in the forest with no sign of hunters anywhere close at hand? I have known and hunted with guys who are that very way. Not that they can't kill for themselves, but more of they couldn't, with good conscience, let an animal waste. I am sure he did nothing illegal in tagging the animal and saving it from spoilage. While it was a tough pill for your buddy to swallow, it was just unfortunate that you guys lost the trail until the next day when the buzzards started circling. It got in the mid 80's that week......that elk would have been rank at best not being gutted until well into the next day. I wouldn't paint the guy as scum so quickly.
And as far as him leaving quickly......with a filled tag and the hunt over, I'd have been gone as soon as I hit the trailhead as well, and him having no clue if anyone would hike out or not.
Just being objective here......bottomline is, when the bull's fresh blood trail was lost, chances were good of a lost or at least spoiled bull. We've all lost animals if we've hunted long enough........at least this time the animal didn't go to waste.
Congrats to you on a fine bull and an exciting hunt. Great photos!
DS
Sounds like the elk were WAY more plentiful in the VV than where were were.
Sounds like you had a blast.
A note on your buddys bull...... Yes, it sucks for him. But I can't say the other hunter who found the bull was totally in the wrong. He had no way of knowing if that bull would ever be recovered and thus he did at least assure the bull would not go to waste. I personally am too damn selfish to tag a bull someone else shot and lost, but it could be said the guy did a pretty admirable thing. I mean, it's not like he stole it from your camp or something. And I doubt he paid $500 for a tag then took off a week and packed in "to steal someone else's bull". Who's to say his conscience just wouldn't let him walk off and let the bull ruin after he observed a dead bull in the forest with no sign of hunters anywhere close at hand? I have known and hunted with guys who are that very way. Not that they can't kill for themselves, but more of they couldn't, with good conscience, let an animal waste. I am sure he did nothing illegal in tagging the animal and saving it from spoilage. While it was a tough pill for your buddy to swallow, it was just unfortunate that you guys lost the trail until the next day when the buzzards started circling. It got in the mid 80's that week......that elk would have been rank at best not being gutted until well into the next day. I wouldn't paint the guy as scum so quickly.
And as far as him leaving quickly......with a filled tag and the hunt over, I'd have been gone as soon as I hit the trailhead as well, and him having no clue if anyone would hike out or not.
Just being objective here......bottomline is, when the bull's fresh blood trail was lost, chances were good of a lost or at least spoiled bull. We've all lost animals if we've hunted long enough........at least this time the animal didn't go to waste.
Congrats to you on a fine bull and an exciting hunt. Great photos!
DS
D
Deerslayer
Guest
Oh, and schmalts......I am going out on a limb here and assuming your wife neither posts nor reads this board 
.......judging from your reference to "needing to go pork her"
.......judging from your reference to "needing to go pork her" BuzzH
Well-known member
Schmalts,
Congrats on the bull, sounds like you had a good time (for the most part).
Congrats on the bull, sounds like you had a good time (for the most part).
DS, the guy was scum, heres the rest or the story. He either knew we were camped close by or looking for the elk. I have pictures of the carcass that he painstakingly tried to hide with rocks, branches and bushes. given that, he had something to hide. So, he should have dropped by camp to ask if we were looking for one, his horse tracks went right by our camp. This loser even took the cape and will probably mount it and tell everyone the great adventure that he had killing it. I will post pictures of the hidden carcass when i get unpacked some time next week. It is unlawful to take a game animal you did not kill in NM, the Warden even said so. You are only allowed to take shed antlers from animals and anything attached to a skull belongs to the state or the hunter that killed it. It still only had the one arrow hole in it from the one lung hit, so we know the loser didnt even finish it off.
Yes the meat would have gone bad but my buddy would not have kept hunting and killed another bull if he had at least something besides a carcass to take home. One more thing, this guy found it the same day we shot it or he never would have taken the meat in that heat. more reason he should have rode to our camp and asked if we were looking for it. he damn well knew we were the only ones hunting back in this spot as he rode by our tents. Given this extra info what do you think of him now? Not much of a sportsman to tag someone elses kill and try to hide the evidence.
[ 09-20-2004, 16:16: Message edited by: schmalts ]
Yes the meat would have gone bad but my buddy would not have kept hunting and killed another bull if he had at least something besides a carcass to take home. One more thing, this guy found it the same day we shot it or he never would have taken the meat in that heat. more reason he should have rode to our camp and asked if we were looking for it. he damn well knew we were the only ones hunting back in this spot as he rode by our tents. Given this extra info what do you think of him now? Not much of a sportsman to tag someone elses kill and try to hide the evidence.
[ 09-20-2004, 16:16: Message edited by: schmalts ]
D
Deerslayer
Guest
It does sound as though he was pulling a long and curley one on you. He could have easily beaten any charges by either claiming he made the clean kill or simply sticking a second arrow in and saying he had to finish off a "wounded bull". Sounds like he was trying to run under the radar though. Do you think there is a chance he could have been in the area when your buddy's bull came by wounded?....it does happen on rare occasion. The old saying in Co is if you let your bull go over the ridge you stand a good chance of him coming under more fire from other hunters so you better stay right on his ass or drop him in his tracks. Not sure why he would try and hide the carcass though.....sounds fishy. Probably was trying to avoid an ass beating. In light of the new info you posted.....it seems doubtful he was trying to do a "good deed".
At least your buddy did go home with a bull. You guys did great..congrats.
DS
At least your buddy did go home with a bull. You guys did great..congrats.
DS
Ithaca 37
New member
Thanks for the story and pictures! Good goin'!
JoseCuervo
New member
Nice Bull, Nice pictures...
SJ
New member
Very nice bull Pat. congrats.
