Back in August I received a phone call from a lady who was looking for my wife. Turns out it was Utah's DWR letting my wife know that someone had turned in their late season tag and she was next in line. We knew the unit well and it could have very well been another 10 years to draw the tag, so it really was a no brainer in accepting this gift lol.

The bad thing about the late tag is having to sit back and watch nice bulls get harvested ahead of your turn. At the same time I knew there would be some nice bulls left. The three months went by quicker than I would have thought and soon we were off for the mountain.

We had no intentions of trying to kill the biggest bull on the mountain, just a decent 6 point was the hope. Saturday and Sunday I had some friends who said they would be around to help spot and pack out if needed. We were really hoping to get it done one of those days for that reason, but nothing decent presented itself.

By the third day my wife was getting somewhat discouraged. Not because we weren't having a good time, but I think mentally she had prepared herself for two days of hunting and was hoping to get back to the kiddos. That night we found a very tag worthy bull and the hunt was on.

The next morning we were back in the same area and glassed up a decent 6 point. It was now decision time. Shoot this bull as he was about what our hopes and goals were or pass knowing that there was a significantly bigger bull in the area. We elected to take this opportunity and be happy with the outcome.

Kelli got into position and touched off two 180 grain NAB hitting the bull both times at 475 yards. Even though we were a little worried with where he was hit, the bull did not go 10 yards before he expired.

The rest of the day was fun packing the head and wet cape through the thick baby aspen, but we finally made it back to the truck just before dark. Battery problems coupled with a bunch of snow we had received forced me to return 2 days later with a friend to gather up the meat. Luckily, no animals had bothered the hanging meat and the weather had kept it nice and cold.

Here's some pics and video (including the harvest shot!)

Very nice bull!!!! Congrats!!!!!!

Very cool, nice bull. it's rewarding hunting with my wife. Can't wait for the kids to get old enough to teach as well. Congratulations to both of you.

Awesome bull and amazing video! Well done!

Awesome bull. Congrats to the Lady.

Is it the angle or is the tri on the right antler shaped like a candle snuffer?

Thanks guys, it really was a fun experience.



When we first saw it we were like, what the ...?
It's hollow on the inside like a tea cup.

Thanks for sharing and congratulations to you both!

Great bull. Congrats to you and the misses. Fine shooting too.

Congratulations

How great, congrats to the two of you, what a beautiful animal, enjoy!

How great, congrats to the two of you, what a beautiful animal, enjoy! Thanks for the great post.

BTW, great video!

Congratulations!

very nice

Awesome!!

That's awesome and great bull!

Looks like a good time.....congrats to your wife on a nice bull!!

Very nice! Congratulations to both of you and best wishes for many more memorable hunts together!

I'm disappointed. I half expected to hear about a 'uber winch and 5000 feet of cable' retrieve after seeing that second impact.

congrats, kelli.

Congrats to you both. I sure would like to hunt in a place where I settled for bull like that:) That's a really nice bull and it sounds like everybody had fun so even better!!

Congrats on a dandy bull!

Great bull and story, congrats to you all.

Certainly spoiled huh.

As big as the unit is, she harvested her bull in the same canyon (1 mile away) from where I harvested mine two years ago.

Very nice bull and enjoyed the story and video. Way to grind it out and be successful.

Congrats to Kelli on a SUPER nice bull.

A couple of questions
Rifle, Cartridge, Scope?
Did you find the second bullet? How much do you think it contributed to the kill?

excellent video.... that's not your first one.

Be Safe,

That looked like a great hunt, and a beautiful bull, I don't envy you that pack out though, it looked like some hard slippery walking with a pack out.

Sweet vid and nice bull.

Congrats to the wife, good shooting.

Great story, pics and some very good shooting by the lady. Congratulations on a very nice bull.

Thanks. I'm real proud with how she handled the cold, hiked, and stayed compose during the shot. She's a real trooper.

I've been messing around with putting videos together the last couple of years while out hunting. It's fun, but I have lots to learn. During the hunt I hate recording then I usually am wishing I would have recorded this and that lol. For me music is the hard part.

The rifle is a Borden alpine mag, 300 wsm with a Leupold VX-6 on top. Absolutely love the rifle. When I first found the site a few years back and was wanting a custom, many people lead me to its specs. Thing shoots dimes with factory ammo.

I found the first bullet but not the second. As far as I could tell it never excited the chest cavity. I honestly feel that the second shot was the one that did him in. He didn't go but ten yards from where he was and had been dead a while. I thought we were going to lose a lot of the hind quarter but we lost nearly nothing from the shot.

Thanks for all the positive comments.

How much penetration did you get on that tailpipe shot? Recover any bullets?

For me, the music ruins it. Especially the guys that use that headbanger BS..... Never could figure why there has to be background noise. A little narration goes a long ways.

I have the exact same rifle, though mine sports a Swarovski 3-18 BT "Sheep Hunter" optic. Don't shoot factory ammo in mine but it shoots the same as yours. It's nice to have good tools.

Very nice bull. Congrats to all involved!

I'm not sure as I used the gutless method and didn't poke around in there. I do know it stopped somewhere inside and didn't exit.

I did recover the first bullet at the hide of the backside.

Well done!

Plus several! Dang good on the both of you! Great post, pics and video.

Congratulations to her and good on you for helping her