squeege
09-08-2012, 10:26 AM
So my 11 year old son took his CORE in Aug this year and after not much deliberation, decided that he didnt want a moose but rather a bull elk. He thinks Will Primos is a god and watched every Big Bulls video they have so this was a goal he set for himself and boy did he succeed. Well off to camp we go for a 5 day elk hunt at our secret spot and on opening day managed to chase a herd around with a bugling bull in it but never got a glimpse of him.
Second day went way better than the first. We got up extra early and started our walk at dark into the same area as the day before and bugled prior to shooting light to see if we would get a response. Imediately a bull answered and started coming into the call so we decided to wait before calling again just in case he came all the way prior to first light and we couldnt shoot. We waited a half hour for some shoot light and bugled again and he kept answering but would not come in. It was so dry and noisy walking that there was no way to walk into where he was without making a huge racket so we decided to leave him alone and try another spot before it got too late in the morning.
We got to the other spot we wanted to check out but there was no elk around. I asked Luke if he wanted to go back and give the bull we heard earlier another shot. His answer was "geeya" so off we go back to where we thought the bull was hiding. We backtracked and found a small trail going into the spot where the bull was calling from and tried a bugle and got a immediate response. We slowly walked deeper into trees towards the bull and only went in about 100 yards and saw the bull lying down about 150 yards ahead bugling with a few cows around him.
We were only about 150 yards away but there was too much brush in the way to make any sort of shot. We edged closer to the bull ever so slowly trying to a good rest for Luke to shoot but as we got closer the bull got harder to see as there was an alder patch in the way. As we edged closer the bull got up and started to move around chasing his cows so I turned the call around and stuck it into my jacket to muffle the call a bit and he started to gather his cows up and chase them up the hill behind him. I called again in the same fashion and he came back and started to rake the ground and beat up a few bushes with his antlers. There was no way for us to get any closer so we were hoping that he would come to us. I did another call but this time turned the call towards him and blew fairly hard as if the challenger was coming closer. The bull turned and started walking right towards us disappearing into the alder thicket 75 yards in front of us. We were not sure where he was going to come out so I told Luke to put up his gun and flick the safety off and get ready. All of the sudden we saw the antlers going through the alders to our left and I leaned down over Luke's shoulder and whispered ever so quietly "Here he comes".
The bull kept coming and there was only a 3 foot opening at 35yards to shoot and Luke had no other choice but to shoot offhand. Once the bulls shoulder got into the opening I told Luke "Shoot".....boom the gun went off and drilled the bull square in the shoulder and he took 4-5 steps and fell over.
We walked up to it and could not beleive what just happened. It scores 305 and weighed 625lbs at the butcher. I told Luke that he is the luckiest 11 year old there and that I think his elk hunting is all down hill from here.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC00088.JPG (javascript:;)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC00082.JPG (javascript:;)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC000761.JPG (javascript:;)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSC00073.JPG
Second day went way better than the first. We got up extra early and started our walk at dark into the same area as the day before and bugled prior to shooting light to see if we would get a response. Imediately a bull answered and started coming into the call so we decided to wait before calling again just in case he came all the way prior to first light and we couldnt shoot. We waited a half hour for some shoot light and bugled again and he kept answering but would not come in. It was so dry and noisy walking that there was no way to walk into where he was without making a huge racket so we decided to leave him alone and try another spot before it got too late in the morning.
We got to the other spot we wanted to check out but there was no elk around. I asked Luke if he wanted to go back and give the bull we heard earlier another shot. His answer was "geeya" so off we go back to where we thought the bull was hiding. We backtracked and found a small trail going into the spot where the bull was calling from and tried a bugle and got a immediate response. We slowly walked deeper into trees towards the bull and only went in about 100 yards and saw the bull lying down about 150 yards ahead bugling with a few cows around him.
We were only about 150 yards away but there was too much brush in the way to make any sort of shot. We edged closer to the bull ever so slowly trying to a good rest for Luke to shoot but as we got closer the bull got harder to see as there was an alder patch in the way. As we edged closer the bull got up and started to move around chasing his cows so I turned the call around and stuck it into my jacket to muffle the call a bit and he started to gather his cows up and chase them up the hill behind him. I called again in the same fashion and he came back and started to rake the ground and beat up a few bushes with his antlers. There was no way for us to get any closer so we were hoping that he would come to us. I did another call but this time turned the call towards him and blew fairly hard as if the challenger was coming closer. The bull turned and started walking right towards us disappearing into the alder thicket 75 yards in front of us. We were not sure where he was going to come out so I told Luke to put up his gun and flick the safety off and get ready. All of the sudden we saw the antlers going through the alders to our left and I leaned down over Luke's shoulder and whispered ever so quietly "Here he comes".
The bull kept coming and there was only a 3 foot opening at 35yards to shoot and Luke had no other choice but to shoot offhand. Once the bulls shoulder got into the opening I told Luke "Shoot".....boom the gun went off and drilled the bull square in the shoulder and he took 4-5 steps and fell over.
We walked up to it and could not beleive what just happened. It scores 305 and weighed 625lbs at the butcher. I told Luke that he is the luckiest 11 year old there and that I think his elk hunting is all down hill from here.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC00088.JPG (javascript:;)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC00082.JPG (javascript:;)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC000761.JPG (javascript:;)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSC00073.JPG