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Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

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Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 03 31, 2020 •  [Post 1]

Season/Hunt: Solo hunt; muzzle loader tag
Time/Date/Location: Early-October; 9:00ish AM; in an elk state
Camp/gear: Base camp.

Well then, this is a fine scene to be up close to on this fine Indian summer, early October morning. You’re hunting DNR land that borders up again some private (you do not have permission to hunt the private). On your way across a dry brushy, pine flat, you hear several elk bugling, sounding like they’re on the private land up on the hillside. As you get closer, it actually sounds like they may be pretty close to, or on, the DNR land! OK, campers…. NOW you really start thinking they may be on the DNR land by guessing their location via sound and boot scoot boogie to get close enough to tell. Once you’ve moved to where you’re standing now, cocking the hammer on your .50 CAL smoke pole, you see these two amorous bulls having a bit of a shoving contest. They are directly in front of you, to your 12 o’clock, around 80 yards and have no idea you’re even in the county. You’ve only got a couple of seconds to make your move, or, make a knee jerk plan to take one of these bulls home for dinner. Two questions on this one…..

Shoot or no shot here? If shooting, which bull are you shooting and why?

Fighting Elk 1.jpg
Fighting Elk 1.jpg (266.46 KiB) Viewed 2560 times


Reminder that if you save the picture to your desktop and open in MS Paint, you'll be able to place a spot, X, or whatever on the critter before you save it back to a jpg and add the marked up pic with your post.
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby Swede » 03 31, 2020 •  [Post 2]

I see the fence is behind the bulls, so I will shoot the upper bull to the right. I just hope the two bull are hopelessly tangled so I can let a friend get the other bull.
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby Lefty » 03 31, 2020 •  [Post 3]

Early October,, I generally dont set my goose spread that close to timber :lol:
After the rut! Those bulls have enough energy to lock em up,, they do look good and fit,

I havent put enough rounds through my muzzle loader. And if those bulls are clueless ,.. Ill likely move in on them. Just for kicks, and a closer shot,.. I dont really know why but Ill risk blowing them off to get closer to the action and maybe hang out . Im weird that way, and have a history making that as a choice
The Bull on the right appears bigger; So likely after I dink around And move into the open at 12 yards They will figure that blob on the ground( me ) shouldn't be there, will they bust, maybe not.
Aw dang how did the cap fall off,.. where are the caps,. my possibles bag!. oops behind me 70 yards with my pack 8-)

Oh wait: I have a Traditions Buckstalker; the cap is covered and I put finer sights front and back,
I have the gun really figured out , 80 yards, near the top of the crease of the bigger bull.
Aim small, and squeeze.
The bullet enter slightly forward,.. my excuse, tough trigger pull. I may have aimed a bit lower than I should have.
The 270 grain Maxi Hunter soft lead bullet started to expand on the impact on the hide, tearing up the near lung , destroying a major artery, then through another lung stopping just at the hide. The bullets energy was displaced in the soft tissue the lung is mush..

The other bull heard the shot. as the bullets supersonic travel of one and 1/2 times the speed of sound. The sound didn't really register as a rifle shot, the little bull was unaware of the sounds direction.
The hit bull tenses up and pushes into the little bull.
The second bull gives and extra hard push. The Hit bull drops on his front legs . Their antlers separate.

The small bull stands above his conquest, not moving,.. The second bull looking down, stretching out his neck towards the downed bull.
The hit bull rolls onto his side, his front leg pedals in the air. The small bull steps back,.. then another step back, spins and runs towards me . Stops and starts to look back, just feet away the second bull spots me, turning again running off though the thick .

That was so cool,..
My hands are shaking. I smell the smaller bulls stench of rank urine and wallow mud hanging in the air
. The slight wind drift I smell the dead bulls blood. For some reason I realized I never smelled the burnt Pyrodox powder. I grabbed my pack and try to dig out my phone, after a couple attempts my phone falls out of my pack.
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby >>>---WW----> » 03 31, 2020 •  [Post 4]

Sit back and enjoy the show. This is something you don't get to see every day. I'm not shooting! These guys are all worked up and their meat will probably be tougher than shoe leather if it is even fit to eat at all.
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby 7mmfan » 04 01, 2020 •  [Post 5]

I also have a thing about shooting bulls that are fighting, and bugling. I don't know why, considering I've never been given the opportunity to actually kill a bull in either of these situations, but I like to think that I would just enjoy the show, and then let them separate. At that point, I'd pick whichever bull gave me the best opportunity. I would also use that time to sneak in closer like Lefty. Because the fence line appears so close, I'd want to make sure my shot counted and anchored the bull right where he stood.

Unlike Lefty, my phone is in my pocket, so I don't have to search for it. The Clipshot is in the top pocket of my pack, so I'd quickly retrieve it, connect my phone, and set the timer on the camera so that I could get a picture of myself walking up on my kill. Then the work would start. I'd be glad that I had 100 oz of water with me since the only water around is an elk wallow. Swede would be in rough shape.
I hunt therefore I am. I fish therefore I lie.
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby Swede » 04 01, 2020 •  [Post 6]

7mmfan wrote: I'd be glad that I had 100 oz of water with me since the only water around is an elk wallow. Swede would be in rough shape.


No doubt there has been times when I wish I had more water available when I was butchering. I like water to drink as butchering is hard work, especially if you are alone. I could use some water to wash and also to make the elk look better for the pictures I want to take. As you can see many of my elk pictures have blood in them. I would chose to clean up the elk and surrounding area, but I am not hiking off to the nearest stream 300 yards away.
I always start out with a liter of water in my pack. Sometimes I carry a pint extra. Carrying less than some do, and having a filter is just something to think about. If you are not comfortable in your situation with that, carry a gallon with you. I would have no problem filling my water bottle from a stream and drinking it through a filter. Where I hunt there is water always close by. There it too much water to hunt just water holes, so I focus on trails, passes places where trails come into water. That is not much different than when I hunted near the desert, but the emphasis is changed.
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby Lefty » 04 01, 2020 •  [Post 7]

Swedes Alzheimers showing:

This is a shoot dont shoot, not the water thread :lol:
http://www.wapititalk.com/Hunting/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10898
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby Lefty » 04 01, 2020 •  [Post 8]

7mmfan wrote: so I don't have to search for it. The Clipshot is in the top pocket of my pack, so I'd quickly retrieve it, connect my phone, and set the timer on the camera so that I could get a picture of .

I know exactly where my Clip shot is; Center top pocket in the bottom zippered bag :lol:
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby Tigger » 04 01, 2020 •  [Post 9]

Well hopefully already I have had my phone out with OnX open and verified that the bulls are on public land. That is crucial. Assuming that was done and I am okay to shoot, the one on the right gets the magic pill and I just might have to run off the smaller one if he tried to keep fighting the now dead bull. THAT would be an interesting experience....you walking up on a dead bull but his antagonist is still rip-roaring mad! The meat would be tenderized right then and there! As you walk up on them and the living bull turns towards you with pure violence in his eyes, whatcha gonna do?

What everyone wants to know is WWSD? What Would Swede Do? We do know one thing, he wouldn't squirt him with water as he has no more water! Most likely, Swede would yell, "HIYAHH! I am Swede the famous tree stand hunter! Be gone with you!" To which the bull would think, "You should have stayed in your tree stand" and charge poor Swede!
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Re: Shoot or No Shot 2020, Episode #5

Postby Swede » 04 01, 2020 •  [Post 10]

Tigger wrote: I am Swede the famous tree stand hunter!


I see we need to get something straight here. Swede is not a famous hunter of any kind. He has never tried to even suggest he is. Swede is an experienced Blue collar hunter who enjoys sharing the things he has learned over six decades of hunting experience. Swede has a message for all who want to hear it. It is simply if he (Swede) can do it, so can you. Swede will freely share anything and everything he knows to help you succeed. The only way he charges anyone is if you want his book. That book is not promoted like some do. It has been on the market for nearly eight years and has never paid all of the costs associated with its production and nothing for the hundreds of hours preparing it.
Swede prides himself for being able to communicate on the same level with the likes of Saddlesore and WW. These are two blue collar hunters that he greatly respects and appreciates even if on occasion he finds himself disagreeing with them. These three hunters all have come from different barns, so their experiences have taken them down different trails. If you are not being as successful at elk hunting as you would like, you might do well to pay attention and not get too carried away with yourself.
I understand Swedes comments can bite and sometimes he is too corny. I will talk to him about it if he starts getting carried away.
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