I'm not going to lie, my passion for wilderness backpack elk hunting has diminished. As anyone knows that has done it, it's just so damn much work! Having killed enough mountain bulls over the years, I've become picky about what I'll pull the trigger on (as you know, that's when the work starts). As a result, I've haven't shot an elk since 2016 (I didn't hunt last year - opening weekend was a blizzard, then I got Covid that same week).

So Covid - yeah that took a few months to get over, though I still don't have all my taste or smell back one year later. No worries, I continued to work-out, thinking about the coming summer of backpacking. Then, 2 weeks before my 60th birthday in June, I had a delightful incident that tore my shin open to the bone. 33 stitches is what it took to sew up. Got through that, continued to work-out and did several great backpacks and day hikes through the summer.

For the opening weekend of the general elk season I did my usual backpack into a favorite spot. It's more or less habit, and I honestly didn't expect to find a bull. I didn't. I did lay in my tent listening to the playoff's which has been a ritual of mine for years now (or the world series, depending). So, I decided to wait for some weather to stir thing up a bit. Finally, we got some snow this past Sunday, and this Tuesday night we got a bit more. I decided Wednesday (yesterday) was my day.

I left my truck at o-dark-hundred (temps in the teens) and began the climb up to a place I'd been thinking of. It's a beautiful spot in the wilderness area that has water and some scattered South facing meadows. I'd not hunted the place in well over a decade, but I had a feeling. Sure enough, at 7:10 am I spotted a bull below me, bedded watching his backtrack. I was above him and he had no idea I was there. I put the binoculars on him and could see he was a broken up old mountain bull in poor flesh. This is the kind of bull I was looking for! I shot him at 75 yards. The bullet went through the front leg bone, across the forward lung tops, and exited. He didn't get up, but I did put in a finisher when I got to him.

In all my years hunting and watching elk I've never seen a bull in such bad shape. Not only did he have a broken-up rack, but much of the hair around his neck was gone, exposing dried skin. His eyes were sunken deep in their sockets, and his backbone looked like a mountain chain sticking above the plains. He's an old, old bull that wouldn't have made it through the winter. It really felt like a mercy to take him.

Next job, packing out more meat...



[Ballistic gak for those that care - 308 Win, 165 Sierra Game King]

Fine old Bull...a fine Trophy. Congrats.

Congrats. Thanks for the interesting story, I'll wait to hear the rest of it.

Very nice, congrats.

Good hunt and tale. The loss of hair is probably due the bull's poor physical condition depressing his immune system. This allows either demodetic or sarcoptic mange mite populations to explode, it doesn't harm the meat. https://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/Wildlife-RelatedDiseases/Pages/Mange.aspx
You may have to use the crock pot on all that old fellow. He looks like he had quite a rut and hopefully left a lot of offspring in the mountains.

Very cool, Brad. Glad to see you've healed up from illness and injury and made it back to the mountains where the old bulls reside.

Excellent-Well done Brad…

Awesome write up. Thanks for the ballistic geek info! lol

Nice bull Brad…

Neat old bull, congrats.

Well done Brad - really a fine old bull.

Beautiful bull Brad - looks like he might carry his mass just a "bit"....

Now THAT'S a hunt! Like taking an old scrum cap buffalo, they don't get much better than that. Congrats!

What a great old bull. Congratulations to you.

Good deal all around.

That old guy would have likely been trapped by snow, or been shredded by a bear or wolves, so you absolutely did him a merciful favor.

I see the .308 did what it does, with no fuss.

Congratulations Brad.

Great story and nice old bull. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Manny

.I wish my last bull was even close to that. Congratulations. 60 isn't anything. Wait until you are 78+. It doesn't get better.I have not killed an elk for two years now. Doubt if I will ever kill another. I have killed enough elk,I don't need to. I have never had Covid. Tested negative before I went into the hospital two weeks ago.I am just wore out. Knees,back,elbows, hands, shoulders,lungs.The last two years,I could ride out 2-3 miles on the mule, hobble 100 yards and sit down

Good thing I didn't shoot one. A week ago I went out and shot a young muley buck. I could hardly move it around to field dress it and had to cut it in half to get it in the truck bed and that was tough to do.

In 2018,I killed my last bull on a solo hunt. It took me 2 hours to get it in bags and once I had it packed back to camp on the mule,I couldn't lift the panniers off the saw buck. Others close by helped me.To say the least, it used me up.I probably felt like that old bull you shot.

Awesome Brad, just awesome!
S.

Well done!

Very cool!

Congrats on the bull.

That’s awesome Brad. Congrats on a fine old bull. Color me jealous and impressed.

Dave

That's an awesome bull! Covid does suck and solo hunting elk is a lot of work.

That old bull has character extraordinaire. Congrats. Style points for hunting with that 308 Win.

It's all a fabrication. There's just no way a Sierra Game King went through an elk leg bone, let alone exited afterwards. They're barely adequate for deer, right?

Cool old timer you found. Congrats!

🦫

Well done and good on you for not saying whoa in the middle of a horse race

Congrats Brad!

Who's the young guy in the photo?

Well done! Great recovery on your part, great hunt, great story, and great to see the 308 taking care of business.


Okie John

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing!🙂👍

Congrats, Brad!

Well done hunt, quality bull what's not to like. Mb

Quite a fulfilling story between the 5 year drought and then putting a good old bull to rest. Enjoy the good stockpile of meat that will continue to evoke the memories of another grand adventure.

Congrats on your hunt and taking a fine old bull. After the past couple of years you've had, the smile on your face says a lot.

Very well done! IMO, any bull shot in that manner is a trophy!

Proud for you! Great job on a beautiful bull.

Brad;
Good afternoon sir, I hope that this Veteran's Day afternoon finds you and your fine family well.

Thanks for sharing the hunt photo and story with us and for sure hearty congratulations.

If I'm not wrong you're just a few months older than me so I'm mightily impressed seeing you still out there and getting it done solo. Sincere kudos for that.

When I was wandering up in the local mountains this fall looking for elk earlier and lately moose, I'm "extremely careful" to pay attention to just how far from vehicle access points I'm at. Funny how 25 or 30 years does that to us?

Honestly though Brad, you're an inspiration to me to keep fit and do my best to stay in shape so I'm able to cruise the mountains behind the house each fall. Thanks for that for sure.

All the best to you all as we head into cooler and shorter days Brad.

Dwayne

Nice job.

I wish for one more. Hard to find in my home country nowadays but the looking is still grand.

Darn fine bull Brad! Congrats.

If it were possible, that bull could really share some stories.

Heck, if it means anything, you sure don't look 60+ All that good living evidently.

Fine old trophy - congrats!

Outstanding Brad Little mass on that guy. 75 yards with a plain Jane round, almost defies reasoning!

What a great old bull and hunt for him. Nice job still getting it done.

Great bull Brad, nicely done!

Excellent, what a great old bull. Good job!

Cool bull Brad, congrats!

Congrats.

Last fall I was on a camping trip and took an early morning walk through a stand of quakies. As I was coming back down the trail, I started hearing some grunts coming up the trail. I stopped to watch to see what it was and an ancient bull moose came through the trees. His antlers couldn't have been over 30" wide. You could count his ribs and he was limping. Every time he stepped with his left front he grunted. He looked at me and wandered away, still grunting every step. I doubt he made it through the winter. I hope some hunter didn't waste a tag on him.

Excellent hunt all the way around and a fitting end for an old monarch of the mountains. Much better than his fate would’ve been if you hadn’t stalked into his little patch of wilderness.

Indeed, that's what the taxidermist said when I dropped off the head to be beetle-cleaned yesterday. They were seeing a lot of mange from the area I took my bull. He also mentioned he's seeing a lot of broken antlers this fall. I asked him what's up with that, and he mentioned anytime we're in drought (we are) he sees this. Apparently the hard outer shell of the antlers isn't as thick in a drought year. Who knew?

Thanks for the kind words gents. It was a short but fulfilling hunt. Back into the mountains today to pack meat. Good times

Fantastic! You're doing a bunch of things right if you can get that close to that much wild wisdom and take him unaware.

By the way, I'll be 50 in January. You make me feel lazy! I'll try harder.

Getting close to a big old mountain bull in his bed is "it" for me. Obviously I'll take them any way I can, but my favorite hunts have always been tracking them to their beds, or sneaking up on them unaware feeding or resting.

Aside, here's the knife I was packing this year... Opinel no.8 (3.25 " blade). I like it because it's light (1.7 oz's), but still has a big enough handle to feel secure with blood covering everything. I would have used the smaller no.6 but I feel the handle size of the no.8 puts the advantages in its court. I've used smaller knives, but this one seems about right. Still, I prefer a fixed blade, and will look for something small and equally light in the 2.75-3" blade length.

That’s awesome, super cool bull

Thanks for sharing, Brad. I hear ya on the wear & tear of mountain hunting. Glad that today worked out so well & geeze - got an old dude that bull has some nice mass. Hopefully the downhill to the switchbacks don’t make the pack out too long.

Excellent hunt. You’re the youngest looking 60 year old I’ve ever seen.

Lol, thank you. You should see my nearly 93yo father… he’s thought to be in his 70’s by most.

Pints, indeed thankfully most of the pack-out was downhill, and not in a blowdown hell!

Wishing a great deer season for you and yours…

Good job Brad!

Congrats Brad, Awesome bull.

Congrats on your hunt. Glad to hear you are healing up from covid and your injury.

Cool Ol bull and hunt. 👍

^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^
What he said.

Thanks for sharing the pics and story.

Cool on all levels, Brad !

Congrats Brad, You continue to get it done. That bull looks like he didn't turn away from any other.

Nice Brad, congrats. Good stuff all the way around.

Congrats, Brad! Awesome bull!

That is so cool. A grizzled ole vet for the grizzled ole vet.

Congrats!

And glad to hear you've put COVID in the rear-view mirror.

Congrats, on the old Bull!

Very rewarding!

Fella, that is an "old bull" but let me assure you that you are not an "old mountain hunter". You look like you are in your 40's, wait till you hit 60 to call yourself old. I know these things because I have been an old hunter for the last 10 years.

Hmm, thought it was pretty clear if you actually read my post.

I am 60…

SMH 🤦‍♀️

🦫

I did miss that in your post, you still look 45yo and take that as a complement.

Brad,

Congratulations on a fine bull and a great hunt.

All the Best

Dandy old bull; I'd like to hear his stories. Brad, you're lookin better than you report. ;-{>8

Awesome!
congrats on a fine old bull, thanks for sharing

That is a pretty cool old bull, Brad! You have done well and some of us know all too well how much work things turn into. Am glad I got to roam those hills when I was younger!

Well done Brad!!! A fine old fellow!!

Good for you, nice bull and a great hunt! Also good to see a regular cartridge still kills elk :-)

Congratulations.

Very nice old bull! I'm a flatlander, that mountain hunting is hard on everything, mostly me.

Great bull and story. Congratulations.

Very nice bull, Brad! Congrats! I'm sure you'll be hunting more of these ol' boys before you're done.

Saw an old bull like yours only once, about 5 years ago when I scouting for my 75 year old Dad. We hunt in the mountains above 10,000ft elevation, so mountain hunting is all we know. Anyways, a week before the season I saw a bull at about 100 yds that looked very similar to your bull, maybe a bit bigger in antler length, but maybe not as much mass. However, his coat was almost completely white, except for his mane. Had a hard time getting out of this bed and his bugle sounded like a mule braying. I was back there on opening day with my Dad, hoping to find that bull since I knew he couldn't possibly make it much longer. Never did find him. I'd like to think he had a good ending, but I doubt it. By the way, that was my Dad's last elk hunt and he ended up getting a 5 point bull, which he was happy with. I'd bet you'll still be after it at 75! Good luck.

Nice work...Always have enjoyed your Elk success stories of doing it the hard way...Sincere congrats!!!!

Might submit a sample for CWD assay. Nice mass going up those beams and tines.

Beautiful old bull there Brad, no doubt you still "got it".

congratulations nice old bull, like your caliber choice

That's excting!

Congrats on keeping in shape and taking a great old bull.

great story to read , neat horns on that old bull ,Congrats !

Friend Brad, I'm glad you had a good day on the Hill.
I'm really glad you got past Covid. I had my turn Last December, it put me in the Hospital for three days. It also took me about two months to get over it.

You are looking great for your age, that's a blessing. I hope you had a great birthday.

Those bugs can do a really good job of cleaning up a skull. I'm sure you'll be pleased.

I hope your bull was/is great table fare. I'm sure you know how cook up some elk meat for the table.

Nice to see your .308 is still getting it done. I've really gotten hooked on shooting that round. It works great and doesn't beat you up at the bench. I'll be 65 in January. Not caring much for hard recoiling rifles any longer.

Wishing you all the best, I hope your health continues to be good for you.
Blessings your way.
Take care.

Congrats, enjoyed the story

Well done Brad. That ol’ bull didn’t know it, but how much easier to go this way than laying immobile for two or three days while dying, or have wolves pull you down and begin tearing from the back to the front. Or a grizzly, or just die too tired in chest deep snow..

Dying “naturally” is seldom a peaceful affair for the old warriors. No hospice. Getting older grants you that empathy I guess.

Hello Brad,

Very well done, Sir!
To me there are no better Red Deer, Elk in this case, trophy than a really old one finished at the end of a very azardous life...a life of a SURVIVOR!!!! NONE BETTER! Congrats!!!

PH

Very nice Brad! Thank you for sharing your hunt for that old bull.