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Hope I am answering flintlock whiskey. The range I shot that bull was about 70 yards. 54 hawken patched round ball 125 grains of Goex 3 f. Shot clean through him. Get. Them bleeding put both sides they don't go far
 
Exactly what happened on my last elk hunt. Next time I'm dragging the
Lay-z-boy up and put it down 50yds outside of camp. I don't know about the rest of the country, but in northern AZ, they stay in a given area but walk around randomly. Chasing them around the country side doesn't seem to do it. The deer around here are predictable and seem to have their own highway system.
Sometimes I think I move too much, but when I’m sitting I think I’m not moving around enough. I’ve had good experiences with covering a lot of ground and have never found the right place to sit and wait all day. If I was cow hunting today, I could have sat and waited. I’ve seen them across the drainage in the same spot 4 days in a row. No bulls with them. The one spike that I saw, only bull I saw this entire season, was by himself. I’ve put a lot of miles on my boots over the last few weeks. Today was the last day for deer and bull elk. Cow hunt starts tomorrow in the next unit over, but has to be within a mile of private land. It’s looking like tag soup this year.
 
Chorizo ask for this so here we go. I could tell this a lot better around a fire passing a jug but I'll give it a shot. In 2020 I drew a bull elk muzzleloader tag, That's when I first encounterd the big 8 point. Best elk I've ever seen, I shot at him that year but missed, then didn't see him again till after the season. Then in 2021( picture of him in 2021 below) I saw him again in the same area, l thought I'd give him a second try. After several failed stalking attempts I saw he had one horn broke half off. I quit huntin him, flat gave up on that year. In 2022 I drew the tag again, low and behold there he is in all his glory hearding cows. I was able to Indian up on him with 125 grains of 3f goex and a patch round ball in the Hawkin. If that load won't kill him, it will drag him to death, so at 70 yards I let the "Hawken do the talkin"... When I approached the old bull I couldn't believe after 3 years of huntin he laid before me. Might be awhile before I kill a better one. Happy hunting and good luck to all
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Chorizo ask for this so here we go. I could tell this a lot better around a fire passing a jug but I'll give it a shot. In 2020 I drew a bull elk muzzleloader tag, That's when I first encounterd the big 8 point. Best elk I've ever seen, I shot at him that year but missed, then didn't see him again till after the season. Then in 2021( picture of him in 2021 below) I saw him again in the same area, l thought I'd give him a second try. After several failed stalking attempts I saw he had one horn broke half off. I quit huntin him, flat gave up on that year. In 2022 I drew the tag again, low and behold there he is in all his glory hearding cows. I was able to Indian up on him with 125 grains of 3f goex and a patch round ball in the Hawkin. If that load won't kill him, it will drag him to death, so at 70 yards I let the "Hawken do the talkin"... When I approached the old bull I couldn't believe after 3 years of huntin he laid before me. Might be awhile before I kill a better one. Happy hunting and good luck to allView attachment 179771View attachment 179770
Thanks for sharing that story! Awesome bull! I’m glad it worked out this way in the end and the stars aligned for ya. After the way the last couple years have gone for me hunting the general tags on public land, and seeing this beautiful bull, I’m encouraged to start putting in for some of those special tag hunts. Muzzleloader in September would be a really fun hunt if you got into the elk, regardless of success rate.
 
Chorizo ask for this so here we go. I could tell this a lot better around a fire passing a jug but I'll give it a shot. In 2020 I drew a bull elk muzzleloader tag, That's when I first encounterd the big 8 point. Best elk I've ever seen, I shot at him that year but missed, then didn't see him again till after the season. Then in 2021( picture of him in 2021 below) I saw him again in the same area, l thought I'd give him a second try. After several failed stalking attempts I saw he had one horn broke half off. I quit huntin him, flat gave up on that year. In 2022 I drew the tag again, low and behold there he is in all his glory hearding cows. I was able to Indian up on him with 125 grains of 3f goex and a patch round ball in the Hawkin. If that load won't kill him, it will drag him to death, so at 70 yards I let the "Hawken do the talkin"... When I approached the old bull I couldn't believe after 3 years of huntin he laid before me. Might be awhile before I kill a better one. Happy hunting and good luck to allView attachment 179771View attachment 179770
Damn, I am not much of a drinkin man😉, but after reading that story I wish I was sitting around the campfire with you and pulling on a jug while you told that story.
Hell,I feel like taking a slash as it is!
 
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