Suffield Bull Elk

[BuckMaster101]

Love to see those bulls Springer, Thanks

[bonedogg]

Some Bulls in the 320 range?

[elkhunter11]

Myself and two friends sat across the river from the base on private land, and watched the elk on the base when we were hunting antlerless elk a few years ago. While sitting on one hill, I could see between 200 and 300 hundred elk, and at least three bulls would have easily surpassed 350. There seemed to be bulls of every age structure, but the percentage of mature bulls appeared to be higher than I have ever witnessed before.

[IronNoggin]

Originally Posted by Springer

Iron Noggin you have seen this i believe already ...

aYup, I had indeed seen that clip before. That said, footage of bull elk always gets my Mojo Going!!

Many thanks for sharing again!

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

There seemed to be bulls of every age structure, but the percentage of mature bulls appeared to be higher than I have ever witnessed before.

Given the lack of both pressure and predators I don't believe that to be a surprising outcome. Here's hoping one or two of those Bad Boys are still kicking when we wander over!!

Cheers,
Nog

[Triple droptine]

Thanks for sharing that.

[elkhunter1234]

Thanks for sharing that, Nov 17 seem SO FAR away still... Lol

[Springer]

Ya I think all tag holders should do well ,early or late..looks like theres a late season outside the base so those hunters may bump them back inside ..
I am not fussy about a Cranker as long as my son and a friend of mine who walks with a cane get theirs Bulls first.

[IronNoggin]

Originally Posted by Springer

... I am not fussy about a Cranker as long as my son and a friend of mine who walks with a cane get theirs Bulls first.

Good on Ya Springer! I'm right pulling for the Man with the cane too!

Cheers,
Nog

[elkhunter1234]

Originally Posted by Springer

Ya I think all tag holders should do well ,early or late..looks like theres a late season outside the base so those hunters may bump them back inside ..
I am not fussy about a Cranker as long as my son and a friend of mine who walks with a cane get theirs Bulls first.

I'll try my best to bump some Bulls back onto the base for you guys, I only want the 4 biggest Bulls to stay off the base so me and the kids can fill our tags.. Lol

[Springer]

Ha Ha , right on EH1234..works for us !! I am just excited to travel the base for 3 days with Good friends.

[Don K]

Good luck guys! Headed down next week to start looking around for the September season.

[calvin]

I drew a tag last gal for 108 in the first season and was trying to find out the whole field judging other than the current "there's a bull'. Take 'im.. Anyhow there is a fellow on youtube that has done a series of ten videos on field judging elk. a quick search there should yield you the vids there. Anyhow, the thing that i got from it. they have what is the '350 Rule'..
first the bull needs 50inch main beams.
second the bull needs a 50inch spread credit.
third, if the bull has the above he should have 50inches in circumference..
the bulls need to have 6 points at least both sides, the biggest telltale of a bull score is his G-3's. if they are weak then the bull will not likely score 350.
to tell the bulls main beam length being 50 inches, his G-4 should be nearly at the halfway point of the main beam. that should make him yield a 50inch main beam.
I believe the hardest thing about judging elk is how long are his points. a bull with eyeguards that are quite straight and have no good curve to them will be shorter than thought usually. they need to have some curve to them. most importantly is if the g-3 are long and have a nice curve to them then he should score well. if a misjudging of his points by a mere inch on each point will yield a deduction of 10 inches which puts a bull from 370 to 360 quite easily. difficult to do and needs lots of practice.
the videos i was talking about were great as they showed quite a bit of footage then towards the end they showed the actual scores when on the ground. i will try to find and post link. good luck guys and if i had one tip that i used was i went to Cabelas in Edmonton and looked at the mounts they have there to actually get used to seeing bigger bulls and what to look for.

[calvin]

How to Field Judge Bull Elk Antlers 1 by JayScottOutdoors

do a youtube of this and you will find. lots of good info there.

[bonedogg]

Originally Posted by calvin

I drew a tag last gal for 108 in the first season and was trying to find out the whole field judging other than the current "there's a bull'. Take 'im.. Anyhow there is a fellow on youtube that has done a series of ten videos on field judging elk. a quick search there should yield you the vids there. Anyhow, the thing that i got from it. they have what is the '350 Rule'..
first the bull needs 50inch main beams.
second the bull needs a 50inch spread credit.
third, if the bull has the above he should have 50inches in circumference..
the bulls need to have 6 points at least both sides, the biggest telltale of a bull score is his G-3's. if they are weak then the bull will not likely score 350.
to tell the bulls main beam length being 50 inches, his G-4 should be nearly at the halfway point of the main beam. that should make him yield a 50inch main beam.
I believe the hardest thing about judging elk is how long are his points. a bull with eyeguards that are quite straight and have no good curve to them will be shorter than thought usually. they need to have some curve to them. most importantly is if the g-3 are long and have a nice curve to them then he should score well. if a misjudging of his points by a mere inch on each point will yield a deduction of 10 inches which puts a bull from 370 to 360 quite easily. difficult to do and needs lots of practice.
the videos i was talking about were great as they showed quite a bit of footage then towards the end they showed the actual scores when on the ground. i will try to find and post link. good luck guys and if i had one tip that i used was i went to Cabelas in Edmonton and looked at the mounts they have there to actually get used to seeing bigger bulls and what to look for.

How did your 108 draw go last year? I have two buddies drawn first season this yr. I hunted it second season about 6 yrs ago and enjoyed the hunt

[calvin]

Bonedogg; it went very well. myself and a buddy each drew a tag. After a rainout opening day, second day my buddy shot a bull on the Knight ranch. we got in quite late and after walking all day I was quite sore and needed a bit of a rest. I just basically cruised around and ended up in the afternoon on the west side of the ranch and found a herd i had seen before. So i got the pack on and away I went. I shot a bull and again got in quite late. It was all worth it though. He green scored just under 340. I had never seen an elk that had the body size he carried. Massive hips and totally large bull in every way. Loved the hunt and am quite jealous of the guys that get to go in a week or so. Good luck to them though. PM me if they want or need more info.

[bonedogg]

one guy told me that he was told that these elk from 108 may have closer ties to Manitoban sp. blood lines with some rocky mtn in the mix as well, that produce bigger bodied elk. My bull had a beast of a body as well, which made his antlers look smaller, but all worked out in the end. who knows....

[gregory_100]

Was camping on the north edge of the base in June.

Directly south of Attlee.

3 herds of apx. 60 females each.

Not spooked drove by them at less than 50 yds., they just stopped and watched me drive by.

No mature bulls spotted.

Lots of water holes...

Lots of good grass.

So they may move back up into the grazing reserve when things get busy on the base.

Greg

[Evan83]

Quick video from the other night.

https://youtu.be/HyTqftA24gc

[IronNoggin]

Picture from 2 days ago. Just inside the fence...



Poor cell phone photo, but methinks you'll get the drift...

Cheers,
Nog

[double gun]

Thanks For sharing nog

[BuckMaster101]

Thanks for posting, like I wasn't pumped enough. your Killing me. BUT I'd like to see some more.

[Sparx]

Is that velvet or drop tines on the bull facing with the huge fronts? Damn sexy either way! Haha

[Bobbydee]

can not wait to get out there and hunt these bulls

[Springer]

Originally Posted by IronNoggin

Picture from 2 days ago. Just inside the fence...



Poor cell phone photo, but methinks you'll get the drift...

Cheers,
Nog

Hello Mr Non Typical !!
Some great Bulls there Matt..Thanks again for sharing n Teaseing!!

[Buckhunter123]

Originally Posted by Springer

Hello Mr Non Typical !!
Some great Bulls there Matt..Thanks again for sharing n Teaseing!!

That's velvet by the way

[Springer]

Originally Posted by Buckhunter123

That's velvet by the way

You positive about that .....just like long hair blowing in the wind eh! darn well could be to.

[IronNoggin]

Originally Posted by Buckhunter123

That's velvet by the way

The fellow who took that picture said it was antler, not velvet. Said even with his experience, he has never seen anything like that one.
He was there. I wasn't.
Tough to argue from where I sit.
Also said they saw two other "non-typicals" that displayed a good amount of irregular "crowning" - much as our Roosevelt Elk do here on the Island.

Cheers,
Nog

[dbllung]

Just got a picture e-mailed to me of a beauty bull killed just off the base

360-380 min

It was harvested this past weekend. At least Full week ahead when general archery season starts!

Pretty sad!!!

[albertadeer]

Originally Posted by Buckhunter123

That's velvet by the way

Guess again...

[bonedogg]

I have heard that a few have been taken already actually.