Although I'm a deer hunter, elk help pay the bills around my house and I must admit that I have a certain affinity for gagger bull elk in the rut.
Jodi and I have ran a private land outfitting service since 2001. We manage about 20,000 acres of private land in SE Idaho for quality elk and deer hunting, all wild, all free range.
While I realize hunts like this aren't in the budget of many of us (including me!), I thought you might like to follow along this week as I take an experienced hunter, Nate Mabie, on his first Rocky Mountain Elk hunt.
Nate's father, Craig, hunted with us last year for the rifle season. He killed a great bull with me on the last day of the season.
Being the great dad that he is, he gave up his slot this year to his son Nate, but we're bowhunting this time.
Here are a few more of the bulls we've killed over the last few years.
Stew Stone's 2008 bull
Daryl Munoz's 2009 bull shot at 550 yards with his trusty 'ought-six
Ted Hultman's 2010 bull
These are all rifle bulls and we'll have our work cut out for a bull like that with a bow. Nate would be happy with any mature bull but will give it our best on one of these big boys.
I met the hunters yesterday after their LONG drive in from Michigan
Left to right: One of our landowners, Al, Craig & Nate Mabie, and of course, the one and only Cowgirl Up!
She's a great companion and plus I don't have to mess with the gates
So come along, you never know what is going to happen during the rut! I can say we will be into the elk! I started scouting Thursday and have seen about 50 elk and 3 bulls over 320"
Jodi and I have ran a private land outfitting service since 2001. We manage about 20,000 acres of private land in SE Idaho for quality elk and deer hunting, all wild, all free range.
While I realize hunts like this aren't in the budget of many of us (including me!), I thought you might like to follow along this week as I take an experienced hunter, Nate Mabie, on his first Rocky Mountain Elk hunt.
Nate's father, Craig, hunted with us last year for the rifle season. He killed a great bull with me on the last day of the season.
Being the great dad that he is, he gave up his slot this year to his son Nate, but we're bowhunting this time.
Here are a few more of the bulls we've killed over the last few years.
Stew Stone's 2008 bull
Daryl Munoz's 2009 bull shot at 550 yards with his trusty 'ought-six
Ted Hultman's 2010 bull
These are all rifle bulls and we'll have our work cut out for a bull like that with a bow. Nate would be happy with any mature bull but will give it our best on one of these big boys.
I met the hunters yesterday after their LONG drive in from Michigan
Left to right: One of our landowners, Al, Craig & Nate Mabie, and of course, the one and only Cowgirl Up!
She's a great companion and plus I don't have to mess with the gates
So come along, you never know what is going to happen during the rut! I can say we will be into the elk! I started scouting Thursday and have seen about 50 elk and 3 bulls over 320"
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