Bull vs Bull

[Shadow]

I was just wondering why so many big (HUGE) bulls come out of New Mexico and Arizona. I know Colorado harbors the largest herd of elk, or so I have heard. Almost all of the trophy galleries I go to have 99% of the big bulls being from New Mexico and Arizona. I don't think I have seen many, if any from Colorado. Does this have something to do with the winters, or the availability of food sources? http://www.newarchery.com/TrophyGallery/AnimalPicturesByPages.asp?Animal=Elk

This page has been super slow for me the last couple days......

[John Maynard]

Shadow:

Reason is simple -- AZ and NM MANAGE for big bulls. Fewer licenses allowed and a higher price tag in the premimum units. Colorado, on the other hand just wanted hunters to take and elk -- any elk. We got to many of them and there are very few units managed for quality elk.
By the way, called in a 7x7 to 24 yards today but he winded me five feet before he stepped into the open for a slam dunk 20 yard shot. Now there would have been a bull that would have equaled just about anyting out of NM and CO. A true 350 class bull.

[Shadow]

Impressive! I saw a huge bull this trip, or at least believed he was huge. I saw him for a split second at about 400+ yards. He was gone before I could get the binos up. I could see the drop on the end of the beam from where I stood with the naked eye! I would have to think he would be in th 300+ class range. I still have a hard time judging elk. I am not sure what a 200 or 300 class animal looks like. I thought the bull I killed two years ago was just a 2.5 year old, but after seeing some more animals out there, he is actually a nice bull. He had a heard of cows, and I orginally thought he was a satellite bull. I know think he was at least 4 and that was his harem. I will have to post some pictures when Dan gets back. One thing is for certain, I am hooked for life. By the way, I took the altitude pills this year. They worked well. The only side effect was that carbonated soft drinks tasted flat. I had a much more enjoyable hunt this year with only a low grade head ache coming from the altitude sickness.

[Shadow]

John here is a picture of each bull.

This is the small 4x5 from this year.
http://www.newarchery.com/TrophyGallery/AnimalBigPictures.asp?Animal=Elk&PictureID=688

This is the 6x4 from two year ago.
http://www.newarchery.com/TrophyGallery/AnimalBigPictures.asp?Animal=Elk&PictureID=192

[John Maynard]

Shadow:
That bull from 2 years ago has a nice spread and length but the tines are so very short. Strange rack. He may have been an older bull but just wasn't on good feed to develop that rack. Hard to really see the tines on this year's bull from the angle of the picture.

[Shadow]

They were none too impressive I assure you. I will post some more as soon as Dan gets back and can put them on my page. The bull from two years ago was at least twice the body size. I thought he was just a mediocre bull, but the local that came in to pack us out said he was very big(body wise). We had to debone the whole thing to get him on the horse. His tines were short though. He had single eye guards about 9 and 10 inches long. The next point up is really short and is probably only 6 and 8 inches. The top forks are probably 12 and 10, maybe a bit bigger. Tell you what, I called him up eye ball to eye ball (about 10 feet). He looked really darn big then. I was shakin like a leaf. I think the bases were like 8.5 inches or so. Hopefully next year I can get off this 4x kick and get at least a 5x5 or bigger. The Unit we hunt went to limited draw a couple years ago, so maybe that will help the bulls. Have you ever hunted Alpine in the Uncompaghre National Forest?

[John Maynard]

Never hunted that area Shadow. But hey, you're doing better than me. Elk have been acting real strange here this fall. I've called in five bulls so far but only the biggie came in for a real fight. The rest have just slunk off or ignoring me completely. Even had a spike today totally ignore my cow call. I think I must be frightening off the smaller satallite bulls with my heavy bugles and tree smashing. Maybe I got to tone it down a bit. But what is really strange, is of the bulls I have called in, not one had a cow in tow.

[Shadow]

John, my dad just got back today. He said he finally heard lots of bugling Thursday. That is the first we heard all season. He said they were really fired up, and it happened over night. None of the bulls we saw had cows either. He managed to call up a spike at the same wallow I took my bull from. I have always found that it is better to sound like a brave/stupid (there is a fine line there) small buck when rattling for whitetails. Mediocre and even big bucks will avoid me if I sound like the bull of the woods. That is with whitetails though. I am still an infant with this elk stuff. One other note from this years hunt. All the elk ignored the cow calls we made. We did find an area where a bull had ripped two trees completely out of the ground, and places where they had shredded over hanging limbs in the scattered spruce. This was not too far from a big wallow we found, and the big bull I saw. I will most likely start my search there next year. IF I DRAW! Good Luck

[Dan Jackson]

Shadow, way to go. Next year you and John need to head to NM with me... great area and plenty of bulls, we worked several bulls every morning but that dang wind shifts on those mountains so much it's easy to get winded.

[Shadow]

I was going to talk to you about who you got to guide you, and about how much the trip set you back. I would like a shot at a really big bull. I think my chances would be much better in New Mexico or Arizona, but I am not complaining about how my hunts have gone so far.

[John Maynard]

Dan:

When I move to Kentucky -- hopefully around mid-November -- we need to get together and have us a talk. We'll have to meet at some show or something. What comes up in the spring? Besides the national NWTF convention? That's in Charlotte this year and I'm not planning on making it for now. Plans may change through.

[Dan Jackson]

You can come on up to my place and hunt turkeys... :D Jim Strader's Hunting expo is in Feb, which is in Louisville...what part of KY are you moving to ?

[John Maynard]

Maysville -- NE corner