- As most of you know I've written a few articles for
- this site and to add this story of a extremely lucky
- hunt. I was hunting in the north west region of the
- U.S with rifle for elk and was holding out for a 360
- class bull. While guiding hunts for almost 2 months I
- finally had time for a 3 day hunt to fill my tag.
- I had seen many 320-340 to 350 class bulls but have
- tag'd a few of those already. I wanted a mature herd
- bull bigger than I had ever tag'd. While glassing a
- canyon, I spotted a 360 class to my liking that I knew
- and had seen before within the last month.
- Little did I know he would lead me to the "ghost" bull
- you see pictured here. It was a foggy morning which
- would turn out to work in my favor as I started my
- descent down the canyon face. (I love to hunt fog for
- the obvious reasons....It's harder for the game to
- wind you due to the moisture in the air and dampens
- the ground for a quieter stalk.) Form the point where I
- first saw the bull I was going to take across the
- canyon by the way the crow flies was 600yds according
- to my Bushnell 800 range finder.
- BUT down and up the canyon was more like a mile and a
- half. All the way I could hear him bugling and it
- seemed like he was trying to challenge another bull.
- Half way up the other side I heard the other bull he
- was trying to get a response out of. Slightly to my
- right and just below the 360 bull I was putting the
- stalk on.
- In the dense fog I could just barely make out his
- outline at 300yds through the range finder. He was
- partially covered up by some conifers but standing
- broadside and his 900 pounds of bulk hidden behind a
- blow down. I could barely make out his mass of antlers
- but when he tilted his head back to let out that
- distinctive "eeeerrrrrrieee" I could see that his beam
- length could easily scratch his rump.
- With that in mind I forgot all about the 1st bull I
- was on my way to make into sausage. Laying prone on
- the vertical face so as the recoil of the rifle
- wouldn't topple me off the slope I centered the mil
- dot reticule of my BSA platinum series scope on my .270
- just behind his left shoulder as he stepped out from
- the cover of the blow down. I could barely make out
- his silhouette because of the dense fog.
- With my heart rate somewhere in super sonic speed I
- squeeeeeezed the trigger. "BOOM!". As the .270 rang
- out through miles of canyon I lost site of the monarch
- and thought I had missed him clean. After my nerves
- calmed down and a 30 min wait on that slope I figured
- it was time to see if I indeed did cut hair on the big
- bugger.
- I don't have to say how fast I covered that 300 yards
- because an Olympic sprinter had nothing on me. As I
- approached the animal I couldn't believe what my eyes
- were seeing. Was this a freak?....you bet, A Damn
- white elk!. Not a true albino,...just dirty white. As
- the initial shock wore off I sat on the majestic
- animal holding his massive rack in my hands. I thought
- 370?...maybe 380?. Well believe it or not his rack
- green scored 400 even!. Yep,..thats what I said. 400!.
- After the required drying time by boon and Crockett
- standards, a final measurement of 390 was placed on
- the antlers.
- The .270 Federal High Energy 150's did the trick. He
- didn't make it 5 yards after the shot. I do not
- recommend them in auto loaders. At 3,000 fps and 3,000
- ft pounds of energy there way to much for them. In the
- same note good strong bolt and single shooters will
- eat em up.
- As for you're next question,....where did I shoot the
- "ghost"?. Sorry but thats a huge secrete. As he has
- fathered many calves and I'll bet there's another one
- growing up as I write this article. And ya better bet
- I'll be looking for one of his kids in the near
- future. I'll be writing soon on THE best guns and
- calibers for taking big elk so keep your eyes peeled
- on this web site for upcoming articles.
- And as always,. practice makes perfect. and shoot
- straight.
