Had a little 2nd rifle season success!

Nice elk, congrats!! Looks like he dropped close to the road, can't beat that!

I was laughing till I scrolled down to the 2nd picture. Nice bull.

Nice Bull!

Congrats on the bull.

Beautiful bull!
for the 1st time in the last 9 years I didn't get to hunt Colorado elk this year, I sure missed it...congrats!

Wow, great bull congrats for the yuge success!

Fabulous bull !!

My God, beautiful bull!

Excellent..

Very hard to beat that on public land partner!

Looks like a monster bull to me. Congrats!

Congratulations !!! Beautiful Bull!

Is it public land?

Gorgeous bull! Certainly very proud for you. Good job!

Very nice! Congratulations!

A bit of an understatement....congrats on the great bull.

+1 that’s awesome congrats!!!!

👍

Congrats, super nice!

Well done! MB

DAMN nice bull for Colorado....or anywhere!!!

So.....can you tell us what unit he was killed in?

Yep nice bull, looks like he was in a pasture.

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

Oh my! Great bull - congrats!

Nice bull there buddy! Was a fun hunt!

And the fishin doesn't look too bad either! Beautiful bull.

Very nice bull - congrats!

Oh, it's a pasture alright.........

Oh come on, everyone wants coordinates. LOL.

NICE bull, NICE fish. Can't beat that!

Congrats!

Just a guess, but I don't think coordinates alone will get you there.

Backpack OTC public land no doubt.

Wow! Congrats!

Might as well sell your gear in the classifieds because you done maxed out.
I've been going for 20 years and haven't seen anything that big live or dead.

I'm sure it was a fair hike from the road in the background.............

Well, maybe the coordinates to somebody's bank account..........

Ya I see the fence and might even be a road in the back ground.

Congratulations, that looks like a great time.

Thanks to everybody for the kind responses, sincerely! I've enjoyed reading hunt stories and looking at pics on the forum for years, just thought I'd share some. Casey, I'm not sure what I did to ruffle your feathers. Not sure your comments are even worth a response. Wasn't sure which one to respond to either, since they all were so cordial. This is why I don't post a lot on forums, and probably will never post a success pic again here. Won't respond to this thread again either. Always someone that wants to start something. I could give you coordinates that would take you exactly to the kill site with no problem, no locked gate, private road, nothing. I could also give you the coordinates to my bank account, but I'm not sure you'd be impressed when you got there. Sometimes there's a reason the location/unit/coordinates of a successful hunt is not disclosed on a public hunting forum. I've learned that lesson the hard way. I never claimed I hiked ten miles, glassed him over a mile, spent three days getting close, the next two packing him out, or anything. Matter of fact, I never said anything about the hunt itself. Never hiked to school in the snow barefooted, uphill both ways either. I will say I got very lucky...I figure about as lucky as one can get without a guided/outfitter type hunt. Sometimes its better to be lucky than good is what I've always heard. That IS a road in the background. There ARE some very old fence posts along part of it with no standing wire. Pasture? Maybe in years past or maybe in your opinion. I don't care what you call it, or what you think of my hunting skills. Sorry if I offended you with my original post.

I'm sure you'll peek in again Rusty,

Drive-by post's like yours are quite common, and when the poster doesn't mention he killed his critter on public land or a few other bits of info, it's usually a good indication it was private. Indeed, your cordial response to me still doesn't specify much........
Plus as a lifelong resident and elk hunter, there's always those telltale signs in the photo and post.........

Hunting private land or a limited entry unit isn't a gimme by any stretch, and I'm glad you got a very nice bull.

I don't want your coordinates to the hunting spot or your bank account, I sure won't give any of my elk spots out either, and you definitely don't want my bank account--I can't even afford one of those Under Armour hats........

I'm betting you posted those same pics on a number of other forums too?

Don't worry, your post couldn't possibly offend me, I'm merely bemused.

That is a great bull and will make an impressive mount, any way you slice it. Not to take away from it but I'm always interested in whether a bull like that was killed on public land vs private land because a public land bull is just that much more impressive.

Especially in CO these days.

I always wait for my bull to jump to the public side of the fence just so's to be more impressive to smokepole.

I'd be impressed too if I witnessed it!

I've bugled 'em off private land a number of times.

Once I bugled a big azz bull off of private onto public during archery season from a long ways away--I don't know what got into that bull to come that far.

Then I missed............

Jump on this, big boy.

I'll say you had success, wow, and some great pictures too.

Beautiful Bull no matter where taken.

I’m afraid my prejudices about elk hunting make me value where/how the elk was killed differently too.

Killed in a pay by the inch guaranteed kill location - not very impressive.

Killed in a high dollar guided hunt with a rifle sipping wine in the lodge every night - okay fair chase kill by me.

Killed in a tough country hunt with a bow - absolutely the pinnacle.

Killed on a horseback wilderness guided hunt - dream of mine and still impressed.

Killed on public land right time right place with a rifle - very impressive.

Killed on public in rough country lots of packing out and exhaustion - wow just about as good as it gets.

Those are my own perception of what it takes to be successful making an impression on me. Any fair chase elk that ends up in the freezer is a great thing and should be celebrated. I tend to think of elk hunting as a series of failures occasionally punctuated with a stunning success. When you get a nice bull like the OP killed the success is even more stunning and if the animal ends up in a good spot even better. It makes up for the near misses and the animals that end up in the bottom of a steep nasty canyon.

Guys, this is exactly what it wrong with our society these days and why we may ultimately end up losing our rights towards hunting.

We can't get along and be excited for each other and feel the need to run other people down belittle their accomplishments to make ourselves feel better. It's a societal problem on a bigger scale and I guess it carries over into the hunting world as well. I like to think that the hunting community is above that kind of stuff and more down to earth guys who see the good in others and not the bad. People are so consumed with hate and anger these days. Be happy. Enjoy your success and rejoice in the success of others. Stick together and be united and spread a good positive message.

If people aren't breaking laws, celebrate them. Be happy for them. If they don't hunt the way you like to, keep it to yourself. Everybody does things differently and hunts different animals and different terrain and different circumstances. Doesn't make it wrong or right, just different.

As far as this hunt goes, I've been on it twice. Not an easy hunt by any means. I've been skunked both times I've gone. There is some road access but there is also some extremely difficult terrain and places that are nearly inaccessible. We have hauled some bulls out on our backs for miles up and down those hills. Sometimes, they die near a road. It happens and we get excited, not mad or angry. This is an unguided hunt and completely DIY. I did not hunt this year.

I guess I should be mad because he killed one and I went 2 times to the same area and didn't kill. However, I'm not mad at all! I'm thrilled for him and will congratulate him! Great bull. Worked out well that you killed him near one of the few roads around so you din't have to pack him out a long way.

Guys really need to get their priorities in order and think hard about their life and situation if they feel the need to run down another fellow hunter because they think he didn't kill something the "right way". Do your thing, enjoy your time out there and be happy for others when they have success.

Lee

I agree with most everything you said......but. If I killed a bull that big, and posted that photo with the road and fence posts in the background I would 100% expect to get questions about what kind of hunt it was, and the questions would not bother me.

That's exactly what happened, and the OP chose not to answer any of the questions. I think anyone who kills a bull that nice can expect to get questions about the hunt. That's just natural.

Dang, Ebby, you hunted there too and won’t tell us where it is. That is a fine bull and I am glad he got it. But, whenever I run into one of my friends in town and they show me their bull I pretty much always ask “where’d you get him?” I’m not expecting GPS coordinates, but most people will be happy to tell me what unit, what drainage etc. If they hunted on private, they will say...an I think that is great. I’d like to hunt on private more. Or, they might say “my secret place” and that is fine too...but like smokepole says, when you see the road in the photo people are going to comment. I’ve never yet killed an elk where I could back my pickup right up to him but I hope to someday.

I don’t think there is any hating going on here, just legitimate questions...especially when a guy puts photos on the internet of how cool his bull is, then gets defensive when people ask normal questions. We ask the questions because we are happy about it too.

Hard to know if he is or is not hunting the way I like to if he won’t tell his where and how he hunted.

Ebby, could not agree more....wow. I've been there several time, it's 5 miles up no tell-em creek and then go the left. :-)

Who cares if he is doing it the way someone else would or would not do it. He had a good time outdoors and I wish the same for all of us.

Great rack, exceptional eye guards, bays and treys.

No one asked how it scored, looks like 300 class to me.

Will make a great mount.

Did you weigh the dressed carcass? Lots of good eating.

DF

Smokepole and Riverdog, I agree with you that some things were left unsaid and that he should expect some questions. Totally normal and part of the process and part of the excitement of the hunt. I too want details when talking with my buddies about their hunts!

If you notice though, he left some of those details out and then was apparently away from the board. He didn't really dodge any questions although he left out some details. By the time he got back to answer some of those easy questions, it had deteriorated and people were calling him out and passing judgement. By that time, he's defensive and having to respond to silly people who obviously have issues in their life to be running other people down. I don't blame him at that point for not answering any more questions.

Just saddens me to see the meanness in people instead of the good. You see it every day on every forum and twitter and Facebook or whatever. People are just jealous and angry all the time. Not a good way to go thru life in my opinion. We cannibalize each other and it's not a good message.

By the way, most of the responses and people on here were super supportive. As usual, just a few bad apples.

I just looked at this post yesterday for the first time and was admiring the bull and all the responses from people and as I kept reading, I saw the downhill turn. It just rubbed me the wrong way and I posted a sermon. Ha! Sorry. I'll go away now.

Also, the years I hunted this place it was not a "high dollar" hunt. Not even close. I don't know what they paid for the hunt this year but it wasn't much when I went. OTC tag and cheap hunt.

Lee

I don't see knocking a man's success. It's all too common here on the Fire and we've lost some good contributors.

Keyboard ninjas can be hostile, probably would be a bit nicer, face to face. That's a well documented internet phenominon.

DF

I don't think any of the commenters are keyboard ninjas when it comes to elk hunting.

I hope not, was speaking in general, not addressing anyone in particular.

DF