Tag Archives: Elk

“An elk is a “game animal” with a lot of game. He believes strongly in equal opportunity, for he will take on all comers with hardly a care…

Should you decide to enter his backyard and hunt him, you can tread lightly and show little effort, like many, and experience small success, like most. Hunt him big, and you can peg the throttles until the rockets burn out.

He can take it. Can you?” – Michael Patrick McCarty

Elk and Elk Hunting by Hartt Wixom

Elk and Elk Hunting: Your Practical Guide To Fundamentals and Fine Points by Hartt Wixom. With information on elk history and lore, myths, tactics, scouting, bugling, horses and elk, the elk camp, meat care, and more.

You Know It’s Big When They Call It “The Spider Bull”

BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB CONFIRMS NEW WORLD’S RECORD ELK
FRIDAY, JANUARY 02, 2009

The Record Class Spider Bull Elk

MISSOULA, Mont. (By The Boone and Crockett Club)

Perhaps the largest elk ever produced in the wild—a Utah bull taken in 2008 by a hunter on public land—has been confirmed as a new World’s Record. The official declaration was made today by the Boone and Crockett Club.

A Special Judges Panel determined a final score of 478-5/8 Boone and Crockett non-typical points, an incredible 93 inches above the B&C minimum score of 385 for non-typical American elk and 13-plus inches larger than the previous World’s Record.

With official data dating back to 1830, at 499-3/8 inches it is the only elk on record with a gross score approaching the 500-inch mark.

The giant bull has 9 points on the left antler and 14 points on the right. The larger antler has a base circumference over nine inches.

The Boone and Crockett scoring system, long used to measure the success of wildlife conservation and management programs across North America, rewards antler size and symmetry, but also recognizes Nature’s imperfections with non-typical categories for most antlered game. The bull’s final score of 478-5/8 inches included an incredible 140 inches of abnormal points.

“Along with measurements that honor the quality of the animal, Boone and Crockett Club records also honor fair-chase hunting,” said Eldon Buckner, chairman of the Club’s Records of North American Big Game committee. “Through our entry process, signed affidavits and follow-up interviews with the hunter, his guides, and state and federal officials, we were satisfied that this bull was indeed a wild, free-ranging trophy and that the tenets of fair chase were used in the harvest.”

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

You Might Like Our Post About The John Plute Bull HERE

A Boomer Bull From Arizona

 

A Boone & Crockett Class Trophy Bull From Arizona
A Trophy To Wait For. Joel Ziegler with His Trophy Arizona bull.

 

Joel Ziegler waited for over twenty years to draw a tag for Arizona’s Elk Season. It looks like it was well worth the wait.

Gross score 383 B& C.

Congratulations Joel.

 

A Boone & Crockett Class Trophy Bull Elk From Arizona
After The Hardest of Work is Done – A Moment Of Awe. Joel Ziegler with his awesome 2015 bull.

 

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By Michael Patrick McCarty

Just Another Bowhunting Trophy

Bull Elk Taken With Archery Tackle in Colorado
Rocky Tschappat With Another Bowhunting Trophy

September 28, 2014

Any elk taken with a bow and arrow is a trophy – just ask anyone that has hunted them.

This great bull was taken near Carbondale, Colorado late in the archery season. I am told it was a 73 yard shot too, and I believe it.

Congratulations Mr. Tschappat. Somehow you make it all look so easy, though we all know that is far from the truth!

We can’t wait to see what you come up with next year.

 

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

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September Was Created for Bugling Elk

October 8, 2015

 

A Bull Elk Bugling and Herding Cow Elk
King of The Mountain. Photo by David Schroeder of New Castle, Colorado

 

Call me crazy, but I may never tire of admiring elk.

It would take much more time than I have here to tell you why, but if you are a hunter, or another elk enthusiast, then there would not be much of a point in doing so. You already know what I might say.

I would be with them right now, amongst the herd, if I could. September is the best of all times in the Rocky Mountains, and elk have more than a little bit to do with that. I suspect the elk might agree with that too.

Yet, personal time in the wild lands is limited and precious, and there are always so many things that get in the way. I can appreciate a good picture when I see one though, and this one really puts me in the proper elk-country frame of mind.

A wildlife photographer is a hunter too, though they may prefer a different kind of tool to acquire their prey. With luck and perseverance they may just catch that perfect moment in time, preserved for you and I and for those who may never step foot in the land of rutting and wild-eyed bulls.

They fill in the gaps of our lost experience, and placate our wilderness longings when we simply cannot be there ourselves. We are all so very much richer for their efforts, and I salute them.

This particular photograph was taken by David Schroeder this September in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. He used a Nikon D600 camera with a 600mm telephoto lens, set at ISO 800, an aperture  of f/4, and a shutter speed of 1 /400 sec.

Dave tells me that he has been crazy about elk for over 35 years, and it shows. I can tell a kindred spirit when I see one.

I have no doubt that he, like I, shall never tire of admiring elk.

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

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