So the last couple years I’ve hunted Elk solo here in Colorado. In my quest for a bull I have hiked my ass off in some really steep, thick and deadfall riddled forest. I’ve hiked as far as 6 miles from where my vehicle was parked and reminiscing on the last two hunts I’ve come to a conclusion that I am lucky as hell that I did not kill a bull. I just returned from helping my father in law fulfill his Utah bull elk tag and though he didn’t kill a monster he was as successful as I could have hoped for a 75 yr old man with two really bad knees. He worked his ass off to get on a bull and made a longer shot than he’s ever made. But I realized something on that hunt, there is no friggin way I could have killed a bull the size of the one he shot 5-6 miles from a road over steep azz nasty terrain and packed that thing out without killing myself or losing the meat based on the temps I’ve hunted in during September. So for a guy who likes to hunt by himself it was quite the eye opener, having never been along on a hunt where a mature bull was killed I really didn’t realize the size of these things dead on the ground!, it’s definitely not the same as average cow. When I lived in Alaska I used to always say I wouldnt shoot a moose that I couldnt get a 4wheeler within 100 yards of and that dang bull my FIL shot wasn’t much smaller than a young bull moose. Lots to think about for my future elk plans in search of my own mature bull.
