Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting itty-bitty plains bull...

Finished up my chores and went up the hill to glass the ranch for deer. Late Plains deer opens the first, and I'm keeping an eye on stuff until then. Seen a couple whitetail does starting to filter out into my corn stubble a little earlier than the last few days, as it was a lot colder this weekend. Looked over the creekbottom and didn't see squat. Looked back in the corn and a elk had made it into the field. Season runs from Sept 1st to Jan 31st, and a tag is good for any elk, calf, cow, spike or bull.
I grabbed my stuff and jumped in the feed truck and took the long way around the creek. Thatta way the truck is hidden from anything in the farm field. I parked and left the dogs in the pickup so they wouldn't blow my stalk. Only had to walk about 400 yards, up outta the bottom and follow a weedy fenceline up to the field. Once there, I could see the bull about 250 from the gate. He had come closer, almost 300 yards from where I last seen him. I rested on the fence, and let Percy bark. The bull folded like a cheap tent. Went back and got the truck and drove out to him. He was still alive but paralyzed, so I put a finisher right behind his little trophy-sized head. This is the kind of bull that when you see him up close, the only thing you can say is 'WOW'. Not because of ginormous size, but because this the absolute smallest branch-antlered bull I ever kilt. He had a wad of netting and barbwire wrapping one horn. I drove back to the house to get the tractor so I wouldn't have to work so hard cranking him up on the flatbed with a come-along.
It was getting pretty dark by the time I got back out to him. That makes 2 consecutive years I was able to plunk a bull and get him home whole with a tractor. I've bought a plains tag every year for the 13 I've been here, and this only the second elk seen during the long season, most times we only see them in the spring.
It was nice to get one this year, as I went up first season to hunt, and had to come home as my ticker couldn't handle the altitude again. Just might be relegated to whomping them out on the prairie, from here on out...

Awesome......

Love it.

Nice!

Sorta reminds me of elk hunting here around home. It ain’t like chasing them in the mountains, but it sure beats not chasing them at all.

Nicely done! Tough to beat that pack out! Congrats

Gotta like that hunting opportunity.

Shoot a good eater bull. Get a tractor on it, then back to the shop to undress it. Done deal.

What chambering is Percy?


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Congrats! Love your barn!!

Yep… pretty awesome!

Todd

6.5 PRC and 147's

Very nice!

X2. Pretty place

That's the way to do it! Love those John Deere retrieves.

Good deal!

Well doesn't get much easier than that. Congrats.

A tractor certainly helps a lot.Sure beats the hell out of packing one out.Enjoy that good tender bull.

Don, it looks like you have also decided that if "Johnnie" does the lifting - your back doesn't hurt!
Congratulations on the full freezer, he ought to be tender as heck.

Nice work on every aspect. That's a nice place you got there to hang that bull in and keep a few other things. I hunted with some friends that live in Colorado north of Vail a few years ago and and kidded them about getting a tractor with a loader for chores. One of my friends here in Missouri, construction guy, used to haul and 40 horse Kubota with a loader on it to where he hunted.

Congratulations!

Gotta agree with everyone else hunts , well done. But what I want to know is where do the dogs ride on the JD?.mb

Pretty cool, Huntsman.
Regardless of horn size, nothing like elk roast after a good day of work.

Don. Great elk. I know what you mean about altitude. Same here.This past season I had my battery O2 pack with me, but had no tractor for my elk.

I drew a plains deer hunt for the last of October. I was able to drive up to it, winch the deer up into the bed on ramps of old landing panels, and using a chain com-a-long.