Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 2011 Utah Muzzleloader Elk

Just returned home from the 2011 Utah general muzzleloader elk hunt. We had six guys in camp the entire hunt, with a few others coming in for a day or two at a time. When it was all said and done, we ended up with three bulls and six cows on the ground. I killed a raghorn 4x4, my buddy Mark killed a 3x5, and another buddy killed a spike.

If any of you have ever hunted bull elk in Utah on a general season muzzleloader tag, you know what a feat it is to kill a bull, any bull, so we were thrilled at our success. Two other guys had chances at branch antlered bulls, but just couldn't quite put it together.

It started snowing when we were setting up camp and we were in 8" to 10" of snow the entire time. Snow makes it nice for spotting and tracking elk, but makes it a biotch getting around and everything I wore was soaked at the end of the day from either snow on the outside or sweat on the inside. We had one guy in camp who never left the road (and never fired a shot!), but the majority of us put in several miles a day on foot. My bull was far enough in he was quartered and packed out on our backs. We also brought out three cows in quarters.

Mark killed his bull at 35 yards with a .50 cal. T/C Encore topped with a Bushnell Trophy red-dot, shooting 150 grains 777 and a 250 grain Barnes TMZ.

I killed my bull at 125 yards with my .50 cal T/C Triumph topped with a 1x Sightron scope, shooting 100 grains 777 and a 250 grain T/C Shockwave. My bull was shot broadside through the left shoulder and the bullet was recovered in the off shoulder when he was quartered. It resulted in a dead bull, but I'm done with Shockwaves and will be switching to Barnes. We recovered two Barnes from cows and they were picture perfect; the rest were complete pass-throughs.

I'm still waiting for a couple of guys to send me pictures of my bull, but here's a couple of camp and a picture of Mark's bull for starters.

Congratulations. Nice bull great pictures, looks like a great time. Thanks for sharing

Congratulations! Looks like a fun hunt.

Congrats to all. Out of 5 elk I have only recovered one TMZ, love them.

Great job Wapiti. I have never notched my General ML elk tag. Did finally take a small branch antlered bull with a rifle this year, but your feat is much better. Congrats!

Fire Hawk, congrats on your success. Believe me, I know how hard a bull is to comeby on a general hunt here, so that's a great accomplishment, whether with a rifle, ML, or a bow.

The bull I got this year is actually the first branch antlered bull I've ever killed. I've killed a few spikes and some cows, but have never hunted elk out of state, and don't have anywhere near enough points to draw a limited entry tag here in Utah. I just hope they leave the ML hunt alone, because I'm finally starting to figure them out a little bit.

Here's a little different angle (Wish I hadn't left my camera in camp that day!)

Nice elk. I am new to Utah, when do you apply on-line.

Nice bull - congrats to you!!

Congrats. Appreciate the write-up.

MtnPirate,

Unless you are talking LE elk, the other elk tags are general over the counter. Rifle and ML take from the same pool of tags, so when they are gone, they are gone. Typically they go on sale in July.

Draw period has been Feb/March, although I am hearing that with all the deer changes next year, we may have a different draw deadline.

Wapiti,

I am with you brother. I have taken 4 cows and two bulls (4x5 this year about the size of yours and a spike) from within a couple miles of each other over the years now. This is the only unit I have spent enough time in, to finally figure out when and why the elk are there. It is heavily hunted and can be downright frustrating. They are either there or they are not.

Have seen them during the ML elk hunt too, but have never been able to fill that tag. Almost opted for that option this year too, but my buddy's horses beckoned me and I obliged. Great job again! Love hunting in that snow.

I am sitting on 11 points now, so I should be drawing close.

FH

Great write-up, sounds like an exciting hunt. Really like the pics, thanks for sharing them.

Saved the best pic for last...

That is a great picture.


ddj

Great job!

Nice bull but I must say I now have a killer sense of freezer envy ! Congrats on both counts!

Congrats Wapiti. We all know how tough it is to get a decent over the counter bull here in Utah. Most are spikes and rag horns. Here are half of the bulls I have taken in Utah. I have taken a lot of cows and spikes that I haven't taken pictures of. No monsters in the pic, but they are all very memorable. Utah is pretty much a meat hunt, unless you can get on private property or draw a tag Flinch