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Since I am swamped dealing with meat, unpacking, and digging out at work, this will have to do in the short term. More details--including a report on the performance of 168 gr .284" Berger VLDs--to follow.

pretty bull...guessing by the weapon used it wasn't a UT bull?

Grand bull. Congratulations.

Great looking bull man!

sweet

Awesome! I believe he was going to Wyoming..

Great bull!!!

Very, very nice! Congrats!!

One very nice looking bull - congrats!

Nice Bull!

OK, I cut meat all afternoon and just need to rest my back for a while.

This was a Wyoming hunt. I burned all my preference point in UT in 2008, so will not get another decent branch antlered bull tag in this state in my lifetime. The unit in Wyoming is west of Meeteetsee/SW of Cody, and involved a lot of wilderness. The law in WY is that non-resident hunters have to hire guides if they are hunting in federal wilderness, so this was my first go with a guide (whom I sometimes referred to as my babysitter, under my breath, since I was legally supposed to never be more than 100 yds away from him, even though I first hunted elk about the time he was learning to walk.) Now I have burned my points in WY and am at the back of the line there as well.

The guide I chose was actually a product of 24hourcampfire referral; this is a guide that bobski has used several times, and Bob recommended him highly. And for good reason; he was a hard working guide, quite knowledgeable, and with a fine pack string.

This was a horseback-based hunt, and that was a challenge for me inasmuch as I have next to no horse experience. Base camp was about 12 miles back from the trailhead. The hunting day involved getting up at 4:00, and then riding an hour or more in the dark in order to be in position before shooting light. We were typically hunting about 3000' in elevation above camp, would stay there all day until the light failed, and then head back in the dark. The riding was taking a toll on me physically, not to mention the rigors of hunting big steep country. My hunting buddy and I drew this tag together, and we both shot bulls at slightly above 11,000' elevation.


The elk were in stringers of timber, right at timberline. They kegged up in the timber all day, and then came out for that magic 90 minutes or hour at dusk. I have lived in the west most all my life,hunted antelope and mulies for 25 years, and I have never been in a landscape that lent itself to such long shots as this. The steep canyons, and not knowing which stringer of timber the large bull might be in or where he might come out, and the lack of vegetation above timberline all create conditions that put a premium on distance shooting. The ability to reliably shoot 600-800 yards is a critical skill in this setting, not a stunt or gimmick. My buddy shot his bull at 500 yards, farther than he had ever shot any big game animal. My shot was a chip shot--325 yds and I could easily have shot twice as far from the rest I was using.

At any rate, I have to get back at it; more details later.

Very good bull. That last shot sure makes him look like he has a very large body.

What a beast!

+1!! I'll be interested in how those Bergers performed.

Steve, that is a dandy bull. He looks to have a massive body, so I imagine you have a chore ahead to butcher him. Hopefully you'll still be carrying your pictures around with you next week when you visit. I feel your pain when you mention the horses, been there done that, and developed a severe horse allergy. I had to give them up, hard to do when you grew up with Gene, Roy, and Hoppy as your childhood heros. Great looking bull, congratulations!

Great looking bull, congrats! Can't wait to hear more about those Bergers. Rest up!!

Great bull, nice pictures!! Congratulations!

Same here!

Beautiful bull and beautiful country. Nice job.

Report on how the Bergers worked is in the General Big Game forum.