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.
