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10-16-2009, 09:03 PM
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Hunt Of A Life Time
I got to go on a hunt of a life time with my 2 sons last week. It took us 18 years of applying and getting preference points to finally draw.
I got back today on the Elk Hunt that my two son's and I did in Colorado after applying and waiting 18 years to draw.
We had a wonderful Elk hunt and it was a first on so many levels for all three of us. We had waited 18 years gathering preference points and we finally drew in area 61 near Nucla, Colorado. We were unfamiliar with the area so we hired the Gravey Brother's Guiding Service and it was a first ever guided hunt for the three of us. Stan Garvey runs the company and he and his brother Joe guide on hunts along with Dustin Gravey Stan's son and Doug a long time friend of the family. In fact Doug's dad had his own guiding service in the past and it is closed now so Doug guides for Stan. The last first is that this is the first time in my 27 years of Elk hunting that we were actually hunting during the rut. The rut was winding down but the Bulls were still bugling. So the guides would take us out before daylight to the spot they wanted to hunt and then as it was just getting light they would either make a cow call or bugle and we would wait to see who called back. When a bull responds then the game is on and your guide leads you in a quest to get close to the bull and to evaluate the rack and size of the bull it to see if it's a shooter and one that you want. I passed on several really nice 6x6 bulls the first two days and even a very large 5x5 that was bigger then the bull I eventually killed.
The season was a 5 day season and we hadn't killed anything during the first two days. On the morning of the third day Monday the 12th Jim, Glenn, and I were all anxious at breakfast at 4 AM and we talked about who would get the first bull. We were each going with a guide to a different area and we would find out later how each of us did. I had Stan Garvey that morning and Jim had his Brother Joe. We drove for two hours (40 miles) in a Chevy pickup and did a huge box on the roads to end up in a remote area just 5 miles above our base camp. Stan and I headed out in the dark and we went over a small ridge and then descended into a valley filled with aspen's, pines, and scrub oak. After we went about a 1/2 mile Stan made an Elk Bugle and in almost an instant we had three bulls answering back. Stan evaluated the quality of the bugles and told me which one he thought was the biggest and most mature. We started our stalk and it lasted about 25 minutes and we were really close and when the bull would bugle it was such a rush. Then some cow Elk got between us and the bull and spooked the bull and he went with them.
So Stan moved us a few hundred yards and started over with a fresh bugle. We quickly were on another bull and after a 20 minute stalk we saw the bull I ended up taking. He's a 7X6 and he scores 281 which is a really good bull but not a super bull. He was really hot after Stan Called him in and he basically stepped in between two stands of scrub oak at 100 yards giving me a 10 inch opening to shoot at. The Sako 338 did it's job and he went a very short way and was piled up at 7:30 AM.
My 7x6 Bull taken Monday
Well the day was still filled with more firsts as Jim shot a 6x6 that is perfectly symmetrical and scored the same as my bull and he got his at 8:30 AM. Glenn got a 6x6 that scored 300 and was the best in our group and He got his 9:30 AM. His bull was a fighter as he had two main points broken off but he is an awesome Bull
My Sons Jim and Glenn with their Elk racks after the Elk was caped.
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10-16-2009, 09:20 PM
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What a trip Art! That will go down in your family history.
All three of you did good. The guide service was well worth
it. Thanks for the post and pictures. Don
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10-16-2009, 09:21 PM
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Congrats on the successful hunt and what some wonderful memories for the three of you.
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10-16-2009, 09:46 PM
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The smiles tell the story! Great pictures Art.
(But YOU hear that a lot around here!)
GF
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10-17-2009, 05:58 AM
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Congrats on three very nice bulls, it looks like the 18 yr. wait was well worth it. While attending gunsmithing school in Trinidad, Colorado in the late '70's I had the opportunity to hunt elk in the San Juan mountains to the northwest of Trinidad. I took a nice 6X6 with my pre-'64 Winchester .338 Magnum. Years later I hunted New Mexico in the Tierra Amarilla area adjacent to the Jicarilla Apache indian reservation. My most recent elk hunting has been in the area around Glenwood Springs, Colorado with my borther in law's family. On our last trip the group took 6 mulies and 2 6X6 bull elk.
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10-17-2009, 07:04 AM
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Great story, great hunt, great pictures! Thanks for sharing, and congrats to all!
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10-17-2009, 07:49 AM
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A great hunt indeed! Very nice bulls!!
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10-17-2009, 07:53 AM
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Wow!
Great bulls, congratulations!
I'll bet your sons cheek muscles still hurt from smiling so much. I hope you’re getting yours mounted.
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10-17-2009, 08:49 AM
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Just curious Art. How much meat will you get from that monster? If you run out of room in your freezer, I'd be happy to "store" some of it in mine!
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10-17-2009, 09:15 AM
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Congratulations on some fantastic memories made with your boys!
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10-17-2009, 09:17 AM
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Sure you did
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10-17-2009, 09:19 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fyimo
....he scores 281 .......
that scored 300 .....
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Art,
Please forgive my ignorance, but what do the above "scores" mean? I mean I've figured out higher is better but how are they arrived at?
Tanx....
Edited to add: Forgot to say that it looks like a great time was had by all. Nice elk, congrats! Thanks for sharing.
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Barry, youngest son of Claud
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10-17-2009, 09:22 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s&wchad
Great bulls, congratulations!
I'll bet your sons cheek muscles still hurt from smiling so much. I hope you’re getting yours mounted.
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My son from Memphis and I dropped our capes and racks off at the taxidermist yesterday in my hometown of Russellville. We are both having them mounted in the head down sneak position and he said they would be ready in 8 months. Jim took his rack and cape back to New York on the airplane and he plans to get it mounted there.
As far a meat goes we were lucky and we had it processed before the trip home. They rushed it through for us and we brought back my bull and Glenn's bull and they fill to the brim an upright 14 ft freezer. We donated Jim's bull Elk to the towns Senior Citizen center. The meat processing guy processed that one for free and did the paperwork for the donation to them. Jim has the Elk meat from the 6x6 bull my Grandson shot two weeks ago in Kentucky on the first ever youth Elk hunt.
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10-17-2009, 09:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmhiii
Art,
Please forgive my ignorance, but what do the above "scores" mean? I mean I've figured out higher is better but how are they arrived at?
Tanx....
Edited to add: Forgot to say that it looks like a great time was had by all. Nice elk, congrats! Thanks for sharing.
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The outfitter measures them using the formula for B&C. They measure the beam length from the base to the tip of the last point. Then they measure the length of each tine and the measure the circumference of the beam in 4 places and the spread of the rack. They do this for both sides of the rack and then they add up the scores which are in inches. So my 280 Bull had 280 inches of bone as measured following the formula. My Son Glenn's bull was a full 20 inches of bone more then mine as measured and his rack is taller, wider, and had more bone mass.
The outfitter told me that a bull that scores 270 is their base for what they consider a trophy animal. They really try to get their clients a bull in the 280+ category and a 300 point bull is what they are really hoping for.
When you look at the monster bulls in the record book there are bulls that score in excess of 400 inches and folks they are just that monsters.
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10-17-2009, 09:43 AM
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Thanks for sharing what has to be a dream hunt for most of us.
If that was me I'd never stop smiling.
Next you need to post some dinner shots with recipes.
D.G.
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10-17-2009, 10:10 AM
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Thanks, Art.
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Barry, youngest son of Claud
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10-17-2009, 10:19 AM
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Art,
Sounds like a perfect trip with yours sons. Thanks for sharing the story.
Nice bulls too!
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10-17-2009, 11:01 PM
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I put on my first Elk Stew of the season tonight so it will be tender and ready tomorrow night.
Stan Garvey the head of Gravey Brothers Outfitters
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10-17-2009, 11:50 PM
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Thanks for sharing the story with us, and the pictures.
Congratulations, on your perseverance for 18 years, your thorough preparation as shown by selecting a good guide service, and for your good fortune in the hunt.
Memories for a lifetime, for you and your boys, to be sure!
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