After starsky left to tend to his corn-fields in Nebraska, I still had an elk tag burning a hole in my pocket and a few more days to dick around. So the next day after getting his bull out I took a real light spike camp up into a Wilderness area I'm somewhat familiar with and pounded out 7 miles early in the morning. Found this guy bugling up high in the fog with 7 cows and a shot opportunity came at about 5PM last night so I took it. Solo elk hunting is fun but I'm pretty glad my dad and brother met me halfway down the trail to help out with the pack-out. There's still some adventure out there.... Not quite a Broadmouth Canyon type experience but still fun.



Happy elk camp this morning.


Pretty happy to see these guys when I was in the spirit world packing down....





Tanner

Tanner.... very nice bull. Congratulations.

First a buck, then a bull, sheesh, you need to stop shooting all the dinks... well done!

Very nice bull taken on what sounds like a fun adventure. Congratulations!

Very nice! Taken with your 7-08 by chance?

Damn nice bull

Excellent!!

love those dark-horned bulls...

You the MAN !! Great looking bull & a hunt to remember ! Conglads--Bob

Well deserved bull there. Good work Tanner.

Well done,thanks for posting the pic's. I dont envy you having to pack it out..But its a satisfying misery!

Wow! Very nice.

Very impressive, Tanner. Nice bull.

donsm70

How did you pull this off? That POS wont even lock the bolt down with the safety on! Glad you werent charged by anything.

Stuff you need to think about while sitting around.

Congrats, thanks for sharing!

What sling do you have on your rifle?

Congrats on a nice bull! What pack do you use??

What a great looking family. Tanner you are a blessed man.

Great bull! Congrats on an awesome hunt.

Awesome! Great bull!

Damn Tanner, he's a beauty. Congrats on the bull and the year you're having. 7 RM, long shot?? I liked the way you slipped in the references to corn farmers and the Broadmoor, LOL.

Great hunt, and bull, Tanner!!! The way I REALLY LIKE to hunt!! Congrats!

PH

Nice job! I'm envious as I'll likely never tag an elk, and then you go smack a dark one! I've loved dark antlers ever since I saw a bull out of Idaho once as a youth!!!

Great job, glad you had some help on the pack out, but then again if you didn't, you'd have been fine too!

Jeff

Very well done. My brother would, maybe, have sent a reply text of "good luck"...

Congrats!

Good job Tanner!

I love those dark horns. I can't imagine how fun it must be to rifle hunt rutting elk.

I was very surprised to hear this bull bugling that much. When I first heard him through the fog, I almost thought it had to be another hunter up there. He would bugle once every 2 hours or so, and then really started ripping them off consistently in the late afternoon. Finally the fog cleared and I got eyes on him and his group of cows. They weren't throaty, gritty rut sounding bugles, so maybe just locating and herding his cows up. I am no elk expert so that's just a guess, but I will definitely always remember hearing him up there! One of the coolest sounds in the world I think.


Tanner

Kifaru AMR with their Duplex frame. The sling is their Gunbearer. Very good system for sure.

Tanner

Without a doubt.... They saved my butt yesterday. I'd still be packing out!

Tanner

What you kill him with and what bullet?

My 7 Rem Mag, 168 VLD at 498yds. Slightly quartering away, entered in front of the first rib and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. I'm thinking it must have blown up his pumper but I didn't inspect too much.

Tanner

Great looking bull.

7 easy miles....Lol. Only easy going in!

Another beauty. Guiding and hunting suit you well.

Congrats! Fun to see a strong young man using what he's got and doing it well. You are also blessed to have family like that.

Excellent work, sweat equity always adds to the enjoyment.

Another fine critter!! Congrats on the nice bull, appears your having a pretty good hunting season again this year.

That's a great hunt. You make it sound easy.

Congrats - 7 miles is a loooong ways to carry a bull.

Nice going Tanner. My back hurts just looking at that bad boy with the dark antlers!

Bad ass!

Great bull Tanner, congrats. And good job taking pics along the way. I bet you'll cherish those and the memories, down the road.

Jason

Friggin' AWESOME!

Tanner;
Good evening to you sir, thanks so much for sharing your hunt photos and story with us.

Congratulations on that nice dark maned bull and even further, hearty congratulations on having family members who'll help with a pack out. That - as you know - is the grandest part of the tale.

Thanks again and all the best to you and your family this fall Tanner.

Dwayne

Good job! great bull, what a load of fun!

Very nice he's a beauty!

Nicely done, Tanner!

Tanner,

You're handsome as ever.

Let me know if you ever want to share a tent.




Clark

Good shít, Tanman.

Nicely done!

Damn nice!!

Very cool!

That is a gorgeous bull!

Some guys have all the luck... weird.

Beautiful animal, congrats.

That big 7 mag didn't slow you down much even on a solo backpack hunt. At any point do you leave it in the safe and pull out a montana or similar?

cast, that 7 mag isn't too much of a lunker, I think it weighs something like 8.5# all up. Definitely not a lightweight but it's a rifle I am super comfortable with. Really the only time I use my Montana anymore is when I'm guiding up north.

Tanner

Tanner,

"Wilderness area you are somewhat familiar with"? One I might know?

If so, I won't hate you....much....

That's a great bull fella.

It's a blessing to have help when packing animals off the hill

Congratulations Tanner, sounds like a solid hunt all the way around.

Way to go, bud!! Congrats!

Excellent job, My Brother is 52 and my dad is 80, my brother probably would not have answered the phone knowing I was elk hunting and my dad has a tough time following along in general conversation, let alone pack an elk out. You are blessed to have family support your adventures.

Nice Tanner that is a brute!! Congrats man!

I was really dreading getting up to go to the gym in the morning, thanks for the motivation. That's a great bull and overall experience, cheers.

Outstanding! Great hunt.

Awesome bull!

Thanks for your post Tanner and congrats for getting it done, with every elk I've gotten I'm reminded on the pack out how big they are.....

Great looking elk Tanner!!

Great bull.

Beautiful bull and great pics. Good job, for a young man.

Love solo elk hunting ..its the solo pack out that sucks !!! Well done

Congrats Tanner, solo hunting sure isn't for the faint of heart, but it's very rewarding when it all comes together that's for sure. Plus when you have reinforcements to help that makes it a little easier for sure.

Now that is hunting, uber nice work there Tanman!

EXCELLENT!


You have my permission to marry my beautiful step daughter...

You are one hell of a Hunter. It's very apparent your passion and skill set for chasing critters is second to few. Well done young man.......wish I had that drive but at 60 it's getting tough.

Nice! Congrats. What kind of 7mm rifle are you using? Been getting a strong itch for a 7 mag.

I just saw your question, sorry for the delay.

That's just an older factory stainless 700 7mm Rem Mag bedded into a McM Gamescout, topped with a SWFA 10x42 MQ in Talleys LWs. The bolt has some bling done by Feldkamp but that's about it. Pretty low drama and affordable rifle and it's been super reliable so far. I'm a big fan.

Tanner

Congrats on a great bull and solo effort!

Tanner - is the twist on your factory barrel the reason you're not using 195 bergers or 180 scenars?

No sir, my barrel stabilizes the 180s fine, but it shoots the 168 VLD quite a bit better and I like how they do (most of the time) on animals. The 168 and 180 are pretty much a wash for drift when you factor in the additional velocity on the 168.

I haven't tried the 195 in my barrel and don't imagine I have enough twist for it.

Tanner

You say most of the time for the 168s What problems have you had

I was wondering the same thing.

My style of hunt! Great read! I'm trying to decide where out west I'm headed next year!

Awesome congrats! Tanner, one or two man tent? I see it's a big agnes fly creek?

In Rosee county that would have been a spike. Great pro pics too. Funk chit is easy for guys like us. LMFAO co dinks are still dinks. 👍🏻tanner

Cy

Damn, they must make sum good likker in Rosee county.

You so totally are the man Tanner. That is as cool as it gets great bull excellent work on yer own!

lawnman, that's a a BA Fly Creek UL2. I've used it for 2 people before but it's a way better one man tent in reality. Way too cramped with two dudes. Nice and light for these type of hunts though!

Tanner

Plus one, great job across the board!

Way to live brother...

Tuner,

Awesome bull and great story. Great shot, too!