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09-19-2011, 04:21 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 64
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Suffield Elk Hunt.... Complete
Hi all
Thought I pass on some details of my early season elk hunt.
As you all know and many of you had to deal with.. the first couple days around there was HOT and although starting to show signs of rut the elk were heading for the cover/shade early in the morning and things were pretty inactive starting at about 8:30.... this makes for a LONG day of sitting around!! I did still manage to get in on and eventually pass on a couple good bulls in the first couple days, something I have really never done when it comes to elk hunting. After personally giving into the heat I decided to head back to work for a couple days and try again the next week. The middle of week 2 saw me spending 3 long nights/3 very long days in the badlands just above the river. The rut was definitely on and there was elk everywhere, just not at the right time (seems they can tell time and know when to be on the right side of the river/fence). During those 3 days on the river I did cross paths with a handful of elk during the hunting hours, including a bull that came in for a drink mid morning that I'm sure would push the 380 mark, unfortunately he was out of range (470y) and also flirting with the high watermark on the base side of the river as I closed in on him. At night the place would come alive with bugling bulls, I had a very cool experience when on night 2, I was witness in the dark to 4 bulls doing battle for about an hour and half, along the shoreline and in the river about 300 yards from camp. The days were spent glassing and watching the river, looking for fossils and dodging rattlers (man I hate those things).
Finally on Sat I managed to put myself in front of this bull who was with 10 cows about 600 yards off the base and after about 20 mins of trying to decide if he was the "one" and attempting to work with another fellow hunter to try and set him up on it, I decided I couldn’t let this be another “hunting story” and he would do. A couple shots later and my tag was filled.
Smiles all around.
A couple observations
- In the end I did see numerous other bulls that were larger, but just could not catch them in the right place at the right time.
- The body size of the elk down there is much bigger than what I’m used to dealing with which makes field judging them that much harder.
- This hunt is more of an internal mind game than any other type of hunting that I have done, you can see bulls everyday that are HUGE and you feel like they are never going to come out.... many of them never do.
- LUCK... as with most hunting, you need to put yourself in the right place at the right time and still have a little luck on your side (access on the right property on the day that the big one roams out looking for love) there is a really good chance of filling the tag with a good bull.
- The landowners down there were GREAT to deal with and went out of their way to make the hunt work.
- The fellow hunters that I crossed paths with/exchanged info with over the course of the summer and the guys that I met during the hunt were also A+.... Especially the 2 gents that helped me deal with the beast.... I owe you big time!! I would have been up a creek without a paddle without their help.
Cheers
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09-19-2011, 04:27 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,020
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That is a great Bull... Congrats
__________________
"If I could not hunt... The only thing left... I guess would be to die." - Phil Robertson -
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09-19-2011, 04:27 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,122
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Congrats very nice elk !!!!!
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09-19-2011, 04:30 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Iron River
Posts: 5,158
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Nice bull and it sounds like a good time all around.
Congratulations.
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09-19-2011, 04:30 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: High Prairie
Posts: 1,936
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That's a wicked elk! Congrats!!
__________________
Sittin' here waitin' on a deer, drinkin' beer and wastin' bullets, Aimin' at the empties, missin' hittin' pine trees, It ain't my fault them cans keep movin', My baby's on the phone sayin' baby come home, Where you been and What you've been doin', We'll I've been, sittin' here, waitin' on a deer
Drinkin' beer and wastin' bullets
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09-19-2011, 04:31 PM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: A bit North o' Center...
Posts: 11,308
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Great job! That's a bull to be proud of. Thanks for posting the story and pics!
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09-19-2011, 04:35 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 619
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Thats a gagger. Way to go
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09-19-2011, 04:40 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Camrose
Posts: 45,537
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Congrats on a great bull.Hopefully there are still plenty of antlerless elk there for us come Saturday.
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Only accurate guns are interesting.
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09-19-2011, 04:43 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Medicine Hat
Posts: 1,419
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Yeah great bull man ... Hes got alot if cool factor! Oh yeah one more thing glad so see such a whicked bull going to another Montreal Canadiens fan rather than the oh so slumping edmonton/ calgary fan ... 
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09-19-2011, 04:59 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Near Fort Saskatchewan
Posts: 1,226
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Beauty bull man. Congrats
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09-19-2011, 05:09 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Alberta
Posts: 3,650
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Wicked Bull, congrats and thanks for sharing !
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09-19-2011, 05:11 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 5,665
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Fantastic bull!! congrats!!
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Death can have me..... when it earns it..
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09-19-2011, 05:21 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Calgary
Posts: 397
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Congrats on a great bull!
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09-19-2011, 05:21 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Southern Alberta
Posts: 3,666
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Great bull !!! Congrats
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09-19-2011, 05:25 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Calgary
Posts: 2,650
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Awesome bull Darwin! Congrats!!!
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“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
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09-19-2011, 05:30 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,248
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Great bull!!!!
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09-19-2011, 05:36 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: 324/330
Posts: 752
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That is one awesome Bull!!! Well done
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09-19-2011, 05:37 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 1,965
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Very Nice
Great looking animal - congratulations.
Hugh
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09-19-2011, 05:38 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Southern Alberta
Posts: 764
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Wow, Great Bull. Lots of mass and character.
Thanks for sharing.
I should have the priority to draw next year.
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09-19-2011, 05:38 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Lethbridge
Posts: 1,309
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Outstanding elk!!
Thanks for sharing!
__________________
"I find it amazing that we, as a society, find it so easy to view the perpetrators of crime with an understanding and knowing that they are suffering from the frailties of being a human being yet we cannot seem to extend that same courtesy to the very people we ask to face, on a daily basis, the worst that mankind has to offer."
-Dave (Whiskey Wish)-
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09-19-2011, 05:47 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,120
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Wow. Huge elk. Congrats
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09-19-2011, 05:51 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Beaumont
Posts: 4,642
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good looking bull, nice going.
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09-19-2011, 05:53 PM
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: The Forgotten Corner
Posts: 791
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Huge prairie bull man, congrats!
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09-19-2011, 05:55 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 153
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Great Elk Darwin, Congrat's you put your time and effort into him and you fully deserve a great bull like him!!!!
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09-19-2011, 06:29 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Calgary
Posts: 5,310
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great looking bull, how long did it take to get the draw?
Congrats on the hunt.
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Avatar by Gitrdun
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09-19-2011, 06:34 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Medicine Hat
Posts: 1,419
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gramps73
great looking bull, how long did it take to get the draw?
Congrats on the hunt.
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You need at least a P9 or 10 to pull that tag.
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09-19-2011, 06:37 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: calgary
Posts: 863
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wow
wow.....what a bull....congrats man
Darrell
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09-19-2011, 06:41 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: medicine hat
Posts: 9,037
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congrats hab.....sorry i wasnt able to help you more but it looks like you did just fine on your own!
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09-19-2011, 07:17 PM
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 876
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Great bull and story!
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09-19-2011, 07:19 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 7,720
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Awesome bull and some great pics!!!
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