"Baby Bulls" 2009 - Finale

So after hunting elk all day Thursday and killing the 2 spikes, we went back in Friday to haul them out on the horses. Our parents went with us to help get them out. We quartered them and hung them in the tree in bags and then had some lunch....but not before pictures of course!!

After wards, we took off on the horses to go see if we could see anything for Mom and Dad to get a shot at since they both had tags as well. No luck, elk were no where to be found that day. We went back, loaded the elk on the pack saddles and headed for the truck.

Saturday was another early day out. We got to the trail head and ran into our cousins husband Warren and his friend. They had one cow tag and were out there on foot to see if they could find one to take. We headed back up to where Marcus and I had gone on Thursday but didn't get that far before we ran into a big bull with about 10 to 15 cows. He was beautiful! I almost wished for a trophy bull tag but to just watch him through the binoculars was amazing. They took off over a ridge before Warren could get there to get a shot off at one of the cows or calves. We followed where they went and about 2 ridges later found another small herd bedded down at least 700 or 800 yards away.  We decided that I would stay up on top of the ridge to watch them while Marcus took Mom and Dad and Richard down closer to see if they could get a shot at the spike that was bedded down with them. They tied up horses and walked the rest of the way to stay quiet.

After watching them for about an hour I decided to glass further and saw the rest of the herd. I bet there were at least 75 to a 100 head of elk just grazing across this grassy ridge. Big bulls, rag horns, cows, 7 or 8 spikes that I was able to count. My heart was beating so hard and my tag was already filled! Marcus headed back up to get their horses and I got on my horse to make my way to them. Once we were all together we watched the herd move down off the ridge into the trees to bed down we guessed. They all took off again down the hill to try to get a shot, while I waited at the top with the horses and to watch in case the herd got spooked. That way we could see which way they went.

Sitting there watching.......waiting.......glassing with the spotting scope.....was the longest 15 minutes of my life. Then BOOM, the herd came busting out of the trees headed back up the hill where they were grazing.....BOOM spike down in the middle of the group. The rest of the elk scattered like the balls on a pool table......BOOM another spike down. He flipped head over hills down the mountain. Then again....BOOM another spike down. Finally one more shot and Warren had shot a calf to fill his tag. WOW!! To be able to have a birds eye view of the way that went down was so much fun. They all felt bad that I was stuck up at the top with the horses but really I think I was in the best place. I was able to watch my family take down three spikes and a calf....in a matter of minutes. I couldn't believe it!  My mom shot hers with one shot.....she's a dead eye and a great shot!! I'm glad I have her genes as well as my dad's, they have raised a whole family of hunters!!

I have to say, even though it was the longest and most tiring 4 days of my life, that has to be one of the funnest hunts we have been on yet! We were there hunting as a family and enjoying time together. Mom and Dad started that tradition when I was a baby and us kids intend on keeping it going as long as we are able. Thanks to them, Marcus and everyone else there for an incredible hunt and memories to last a lifetime.

Fun day at the Bow Shoot!

So my husband and brother talked me into going to the first bow shoot of the year for the archery club. I have never been to one before so I was a little nervous about what it was going to be like. It was at the local indoor rodeo arena and there were about 20 targets setup at different distances to shoot at.

We got our scorecards and got started with the first target which was about 35 yards out....of course I shoot right over the top of it and my arrows sails to the other end of the arena! That was great fun to have to run down there and get it. Then we moved along to the rest of the targets. Things were going pretty good and I was actually shooting pretty good for not having shot my bow for the last 4 months.

Then things went WAY south! All along I had been getting my arrow set in and waiting for my turn to shoot. BAD idea, don't ever do it! I was visiting with one of our friends and then turned to shoot. I pulled back and my friend said "Don't shoot, you don't have an arrow in!!" But it was too late, my brain had already sent the signal to my finger to pull the release. Dry firing your bow at your first bow shoot is definitely not the way to start off with a great impression with the guys in the archery club! They for sure won't forget me though!!

I was done with about 3 or 4 targets left to shoot because my peep went flying who knows where. Leave it to me to be the entertainment at the shoot. Hopefully I can improve my ratings at the next one!

"Baby Bulls" 2009 - part 2

So the first weekend was very cold, snowy and no elk to be seen. We were hoping for much better luck the 2nd weekend. My sister ended up getting sick so she was done. My dad was told by his doctor that he could go so when my brother Marcus got home they went out on Wednesday to the south end of Mt. Dutton. They had a very long horse ride and saw some elk but didn't get shots at them. He was very tired after that day so he didn't go back out with me and Marcus Thursday.

We got back over there and on the horses early. We were up on top of this big ridge when we stopped to call for a minute. The bulls were talking and lead us right to them but they were a long ways away. We could see at least 3 or 4 spikes in this herd of about 30 - 40. We decided to give it a try but didn't hit anything. The wind was blowing so hard right at us and I would guess they were about 400 to 450 yards away. All we did was scare them over the hill. We got back on the horses and followed. When we finally caught up to them 2 ridges over we did the same thing all over again. In fact we did that ALL DAY LONG. The herd kept splitting and we were following a big bull that had about 15 cows with him. We caught them around 2:30 in a small meadow. The cows kept laying down and their tongues were hanging on the ground, we had them wore clear out. They spooked again and headed back to the north so we followed. They hooked back up with more elk and Marcus could see a spike he started shooting at but missed. We decided at that point to stop and eat some lunch. After we got done we were trying to decide which way to go. He wanted to circle back up around to the top but I thought we should go down around the bottom.

I was glad that he went with my suggestion because we spooked the elk out again. The majority of the herd headed straight up the mountain with the big bull and some of the cows went a different way up the same hill....then there were 2 spikes going down the mountain trying to escape. It was like the herd was trying to distract us so the spikes could disappear. My brother saw them though and said he was going to shoot. I said if there is 2 of them wait for me to get down there so we can shoot together. We both sat down and count of 3 started shooting. We had for sure wounded them and they were just standing on a side hill. We moved closer and Marcus finished his off. He was shooting his brand new 270 and using the new Leupold VX-3 3.5x10x40 B&C scope he bought from my website, www.sneak-a-peek-optics.com. I then did the same and they fell within about 10 yards of each other. WOW! We couldn't contain ourselves. It was such a rush. Since it was around 5:00 that afternoon when we got to them, we then had to get them cleaned out so that we could come back in with help to get them out the next day.  One of the most exciting and exhausting days ever!

There is still more to this story!! Of course we weren't done then!! Stay tuned!

"Baby Bulls" 2009 - Part 1

Since I drew the elk tag in 2007, Utah DWR will not let you put in for a limited entry tag again for five years. I have been putting in for the limited entry deer tags with no luck. I also put in for cow elk and can't seem to draw that tag either. So, instead we decided to go buy the over-the-counter spike only tags and go for a spike bull. It was all planned, we had 7 of us with tags and were ready to go. Myself, my mom and dad, my brother, my brother in law and my sister and her husband. My other sister was 8 months pregnant so she was out on this one. She did go hunt muzzleloader deer in September though. I was very proud of her out hiking and packing that little baby around in her belly. She's a tough one!! 

The hunt started October 3rd and my dad had been having some heart trouble in September so he ended up having to have a stint put in his heart a week before the hunt started. My brother was at work so me and my husband loaded up kids, camp and the horses and headed to the north end of Mt. Dutton to meet my sister. Her husband was at work too so us girls were on our own. My husband stayed at camp with the kids because he had hunted archery elk instead. My dad was so worried that the girls would get lost out on their own but we didn't. We also didn't see a single elk that really windy cold weekend but we had the best horse ride and a lot of fun together. Sometimes that is the best part!

Elk Hunt 2007

So, I am obviously having a hard time keeping up on this! I promise to get better! I need to get caught up on my previous hunts before this next years adventure sneaks up on me.

In November of 2006 I found out that I was having another baby. We were so excited to welcome another member to our little family. I was completely wrapped up in taking care of my son and being pregnant that I wasn't even thinking about hunting. My hubby however didn't forget the dates for entering the draws and put me in for limited entry deer, elk and bison (of all things) the year I was having a baby in July! So needless to say when I drew an elk tag for the Mt. Dutton unit I was shocked but not near as shocked as he was. Only 3 points and elk hunting here we come!!

My baby girl was 2 months old when the hunt started. She got to go scouting at 6 weeks in the jeep. We also went back to camp/scout the weekend before the hunt. The day before the hunt started I took my son and went to look around on the 4-wheeler with my brother. We saw a small 5 point but that was about it. My husband stayed back at camp with the baby and took her out in the truck to look for deer because it was the last day of the bow hunt for him. He ran across a herd of elk at a pond right at dark and spotted a very nice bull.

We talked about it that night with my Dad and my brother and decided to go after that one on the pond. So I got up at 3:30 to feed my baby and took her to my awesome mom. Without her I couldn't have done it! We rode the 4-wheelers around to a spot where we could walk out to the pond and sat and waited in the dark. It felt like forever! Around 6:00 we started moving to get into position, then sat and waited some more for daylight to come. As it started to get somewhat lighter my brother was glassing across this sagebrush flat that we were on the edge of. My Dad asked him what he was looking at and he said it was a big rock. My Dad got his binos out and looked across the flat. He told us "THAT ROCK JUST GREW HORNS!!" They moved back behind me and told me to get ready. My husband had bought me a new sling for my gun (which was a 7mm08 with a Leupold 3x9x40 VX-1 scope)that had shooting sticks in it called Sling Sticks. He told me to pull them out so that I was ready. My brother was shedding his backpack trying to get the spotting scope out to take a better look. As I waited for the 3 of them to look at the bull my brother said "SHOOT THAT BULL, SHOOT THAT ELK, SHELLIE, SHOOT THAT S.O.B.!"

I could just see the silhouette of his body because the sun hadn't come over the ridge yet and he was about 300 yards away. My brother chirped at him with a cow call and he turned and looked at us. To watch his rack move was amazing!

The sagebrush was too tall and the stupid "Sling Sticks" turned in to "Swing Sticks" because they were too short! So I moved over, plopped myself right in the middle of a sagebrush to steady myself, aimed and fired. I hit him for sure but he didn't go down. It took us about 2 hours to find him with the help of some other hunters on the other ridge that watched where he went. We had to search in really thick timber to find him and were all spread out looking when my Dad came over the radio.....Shellie, I got your bull! I was ecstatic!! We all made our way to where he was and celebrated! I for sure couldn't have done it without my Dad (scouter/tracker), my brother (caller), husband (scouter/bullet loader/gear help/anything I needed) and my mom!

We walked back to camp to eat breakfast, get the horses and the rest of the family to go back and get him. It was about a mile and half from camp. My sister and her family was there with my mom so we all went back down to get him.



Mom stayed at camp with the 2 little girls. Thanks to everyone in my entire family for supporting me on this hunt! I couldn't have done it without any of you!

My little girl is definitely my good luck charm because I was able to bag a very nice 6 X 7 on the opening morning of the hunt. She still to this day 2 1/2 years later LOVES camping, hunting and "going to da mountain!" Someday she will be posting her hunts on this site with me!