More pictures

This is the same area that I ended up killing my bull. This was Monday morning with Steven, and Brandon. We had just got back to the 4 wheelers. We got into elk there, just couldn't get a shot at the bull.


The boys came up on Monday night and went with us. It was the only time we didn't get into elk.


Me and the super guide!! It was so fun to have Travis there with us when we killed!


We had to get a picture on the steps of the deck!


This topped off the whole trip! They had so much fun coming up with us to pack out the bull. Parker was more excited for all the meat than he was for the horns. They were also loving the horse ride.




This is where the bullet was lodged in the opposite shoulder! The 210 grain slugged worked to perfection. He didn't go 5 feet after I shot!!

Got it done!

Here is a picture of my bull.


I will post more pictures and the story as soon as life settles down a little, and I get some spare time.

In short the hunt was a BLAST, we hunted hard for seven days, and created memories that will last a lifetime!

Its here!

Well the time has finally arrived! I am working until 1:00 tomorrow, then heading up and not coming back until the hunt is over or a bull is dead.

For the next week and a half I will be hunting hard and hopefully shooting straight.

If all goes well this will end sometime soon and life can get back to normal....I think.

I have a lot of emotions going through my head right now. I am so excited, but nervous at the same time. I cant think about anything else. I cant focus at work, and I think my wife thinks I have lost my mind. Its all I ever talk about.

There is a lot of pressure that goes along with drawing one of these tags. All those years of putting in, and all those people that will be there helping me. I don't want to let them or myself down.

There has been talk of a lot of elk being seen this week, and they are starting to rut pretty hard. I should have a lot of help with family and friends looking in different locations. So there should be plenty of options for places to go.

Just stay calm, and be patient. That's what I need to keep telling myself.

I guess all I can hope for is to have fun. We will make memories that will last a lifetime.

This will be my last post before heading up, and hopefully my next one will have pictures of my bull! I was going to try and do posts while up hunting, but the wireless Internet cards wont work at the cabin.

So until next time say a little prayer for me and cross those fingers!!!!

HERE WE GO!!

1 week to go!

Holy crap its getting close, I am starting to get nervous!

I went out on Saturday morning, and got into some elk! Had bulls bugling all around me. It was great. Again, I didn't see any of them. They wouldn't come out of the thick stuff, and I wasn't going to push them out. It is definitely a place I will be going back to. Lots of elk!!


This is where the walking trail starts. Very pretty area.


I found this good wallow that the elk have been using. Another place to keep an eye on.


Oh welcome back fall, how I have missed you so!! See the small patch of yellow leaves on the quakie tree. It sure felt like fall. 23 degrees when I unloaded the 4-wheeler!

Finally got out and shot my backup gun yesterday. My Browning 270. I am going to take it to just in case.

This is how it shot @ 100 yards.

This is @ 300 yards. The bottom one is before I moved it up. Then shot the next 2. I guess that will kill an elk!!

Tonight Lane and I went out and shot the 300 mag for the last time. He reloaded a bunch more bullets, and we thought we better try it one more time.

WOW, that gun is amazing!!

We ranged a rock that was 713 yards away. I turned the turret to 710, and blew the rock to pieces! I guess I cant blame a miss on the gun!

I have 51 bullets left. Hopefully I come home with 50!

First Bugle!

I finally heard my first bugle on Friday night! I decided to start looking down low, and went on a ride in the rose meadow area. I wasn't out for more than 10 minutes when I spotted 4 cows,and a spike.

I watched them go over a ridge then hiked in after them. When I got into the canyon they were in there was 2 bulls bugling back and forth at each other. It was awesome! It got me really excited. I just sat there and listened to them until dark. I didn't ever get to see them because they were in thick cedar trees.

There seems to be alot of elk in that area, so now I have an area to focus on for a couple days.

Only 2 weeks to go!!

Three strikes!

Had a great weekend of scouting, but all I did was eliminate places where there was no elk. Went out 3 different times to 3 different locations, and no elk. Still got some good wheeler rides in, and some good hikes.

Glassing down into Prater Canyon. Nothing there yet, but probably will be when my hunt starts.

Dad and I went on a good hike up Pelican Canyon on Saturday night, and did find a few fresh elk rubs.

This is what is all about anyway, right. Getting out with family, and enjoying the outdoors. Only 18 days to go!

30 days to go!

Holy Crap its getting close! So much to do, so little time.


Here are some pictures that Trevor Gadd took with his trail cam this last weekend. Its another pretty decent bull. Gets me even more excited.



Check out the fronts on this guy!



There is velvet hanging off of his main beam on the right side. The rut is getting close!

There is rumor of another bull that is pushing 390, but nobody will share pictures of it. The archery hunt starts on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see how things start off.

Fun Saturday

I know I should be scouting, but when I get a text from my neighbor that he wants to go to the lake I just cant resist!


Parker and Max body surfing!!



They loved it!!



Braxton liked body surfing on the bare foot pole better than behind the boat.

We went to Gunnison reservoir, and ran into Jason with his ward having a party, so we invited them to come try surfing.
Jason and I decided we now need a new boat!




Craig Black and I body surfing! So much fun!



Thanks Dave, it was a blast!

My first 5K

Well, I decided that I needed to get into better shape for this elk hunt. So I stated running every other day. I kind of slacked off to much during May and June, but picked it back up in July. I have been feeling pretty good so I decided to try my first 5K race. It was the annual Gary's shoes 5K.



I did better than I thought I would. I finished 3rd in my age division, and ran a 9 minute mile. It was actually pretty fun. I wasn't thinking that as I crossed the finish line, and I probably wont be saying that in the morning, but I am glad I pushed myself to do it.



“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” – John Bingham

Wet weekend!

Well, I made it up this weekend for my first real serious scouting trip. Overall it was a success, but I ended up getting pretty wet and cold on Saturday morning. I only saw two bulls. One big 5x6 and a small rag horn 4 point. I did get a couple good long hikes in, and saw some beautiful country. Everything is so green up there right now. It doesn't feel like August.

Here are a few pictures of how pretty is was. We have had a pretty wet summer so far.

This one is looking down into what us Rappleye's like to call EVERYWHERE'S. Dad and Jason you know what I mean!!!

This picture is my favorite. Just before I took this picture I saw 3 great big bucks running away from me. It is exciting to see deer that size on Fishlake. I didn't think there were deer that big left.

This picture is me hiding under a forest service kiosk waiting out the storm. I was approximately 2 miles from the 4 wheeler when this fast moving summer thunderstorm moved in. It actually got a little scary. There was lighting flashing all around me! 11,700' above sea level, and out in the open is not a good place to be in a storm like that.

I got pretty wet and cold, but it was worth it. I was grateful for a warm shower at the cabin when I got back!!
Can't wait for the next trip!

The "No Doubt Bull"

This is the same bull that I posted pictures of last week. They were taken from a trail camera. He is staying in the same area, coming in in the middle of the night.

I am calling him the "No Doubt Bull" because if I saw him opening morning at first light there would be no doubt about whether to shoot him or not! He is exactly what I am looking for. Decent length, a little character, good mass, and perfectly symmetrical. We are thinking he will probably score around 340 to 350.



There is rumor today that people have started seeing the bulls moving away to start rutting, and they are starting to rub their velvet off. If this is true he might be moving to a different location. This next weekend will tell us alot. We will definitely keep watching for him.
The other bulls we have been watching at Gates lake have apparently all disappeared.



I am going up all this next weekend, so hopefully I can get some more pictures of good bulls



These are some other bulls that seem to be bedding in the same area.



My friend said he had 160 pictures of bulls in this location over the last week. He goes up every weekend to check the pictures. So lets keep are fingers crossed that the No Doubt Bull stays put!!!!

Excuses, Excuses

I guess this is a good excuse to not be scouting!




If you want to see more pictures go here http://www.natalieparkphotography.com/blog/

My new little scouting buddy.

The boys went to Grand Junction to spend the week with Jess and Paul, so I needed to find someone else to go scouting with me.

Doesn't she look cute in the Broncos hat!!

She wasn't very quiet, but the elk didn't seem to care!!

Here are some pictures of the elk we saw tonight. Nothing huge, but still some decent bulls. There were a total of 28 bulls there!

These are pictures of a bull that a friend sent me today. He has a trail camera set up in the Gooseberry area.

Looks like a dang good bull.

All these dang big bull sightings are making it hard to sleep at night!

Big bull!

It sure makes it hard to focus at work when co-workers show you pictures like this!





This is a picture of a bull on Fishlake. Hopefully we see a lot more of this come September!! This bull would be dead at first light opening morning. Exactly what I am looking for and dreaming about every night!!

If that doesn't get the blood boiling nothing will!!!