Corey JacobsenMy good friend and college roommate, Brandon Miller, sent me these pictures of his Idaho wolf shot last week in north-central Idaho.
Brandon Miller's Idaho Wolf
Brandon, and good friend Jeremy Nesset, also sent these pictures of the big elk they shot during their rifle elk hunt this fall. Jeremy recapped the elk hunt as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
Corey JacobsenFormer BSU and NFL football standout, Brock Forsey, sent me this picture of his brother, Heath’s, bull.
“Here is a pic of the bull my brother shot, first morning called him in to 40yds and he let him have it, went about 50 yds and crashed! I had an opportunity at a really nice six point that we called in. I wasn’t able to get a range on him as he was walking away with his cows. I centered my 40 pin on him stopped him with a soft cow call almost touched my release, took one more look and estimated that he was more like 50 yds. When I released my arrow with my 50 pin centered right behind the shoulder the arrow sailed about an inch over his back! I almost threw up as I knew this was probably my one opportunity at a nice bull! Turns out I was right, we had several close encounters with nice bulls but could not get them to quit commit to that last 40 yds into bow range. None the less it was a great hunt!”
Heath Forsey's Idaho Archery Elk
Congrats Heath and Brock!
Corey JacobsenCory Chilton came out to Idaho from Iowa for a DIY, public land archery elk hunt and took his first elk ever!
“Here is a pic of my 2009 6X6 bull taken at 9:30 AM on 9-19-09 in Idaho on public lands. He came in screaming to a few soft cow calls, offered a 30 yard quartering to broadside shot from my Bowtech Guardian and a Montec tipped gold tip 7595shaft, and was recovered 170 yards away by 11:30 AM. No instant replay on my hunt, but we heard him groan about 10 min after the shot! I waited 2 hours to take up the trail and found him hooked on a tree on the downhill side of the game trail! I owe that tree big time! We had a five mile pack back to camp with about 8 loads including cape and head,and managed to get all meat,cape and head home to Iowa without any spoilage! This is my first elk ever, after starting to elk hunt back in 2006. I don’t know score yet but was told he would go around 320! But it doesn’t really matter. He is a Trophy to me anyday.”
Cory Chilton's Big Bull Elk
Another view of Cory's elk
Corey JacobsenJason Stafford took this great bull in his home state of Wyoming.
“The bull was taken Sept. 24 on a general tag here in Wyoming. I spotted a cow and the bull at first light feeding on an open hillside. I have horn hunted this area for years, so I knew which bedding area they were headed to. I scrambled to get in front of them and followed the bull’s progress by his never ending bugling. I shot the bull at 15 yards as he bugled in my face. He went about 100 yards and was down for good. He was taken with a Hoyt bow, Easton arrows and a G5 Striker broadhead. He gross scores around 316″.”
Congrats Jason!
Jason Stafford's Big Wyoming Elk
Another view of Jason's archery elk
Corey JacobsenSitka Pro Staff member Greg Bokash took an awesome bull in Wyoming this fall.
“I hope you all are having a great season so far. I just got back from WY last night and got a bull that I am very proud of after 14 days. He is a 6×6 335. I saw alot of elk and they were talking until the 6 to 8 ” of snow came than they all shut up and went into the feeding mode for 4 days . When the snow melted all hell broke loose and it got crazy. I haven’t figured out how to get good pics at 1:00am yet!!!!” Greg
Greg Bokash's Big Wyoming Elk
Corey JacobsenI think I’ve seen more “freak” elk this fall than in years past. Here are pictures of 4 bulls we’ve received, all with similar antler configuration.
You all remember Dave Perry’s big bull…
Dave's big 6X3 freak bull
Read the rest of this entry »
Corey JacobsenSitka Pro Staffer Ron Niziolek hunted his home state of Wyoming with his good friend Joe Bell (Bow and Arrow Hunting magazine) this fall. Ron described their hunt like this:
“I hunted with my Arizona friend Joe on Friday and we did pretty good! This is Joe’s biggest bull ever. We had a blast. I called the bull in to 10 yards. He winded us and took off. I stopped him with an absolutely horrible call and Joe made a great shot. Now I’m on a mission for my own elk for the next 8 days!”
Congrats Joe and Ron!
Joe's Wyoming Archery Elk
Corey JacobsenJeremy Ell shot his first archery elk on public land in Colorado this fall! Congrats Jeremy!
“Just wanted to let you know I took my first archery bull this season (first time archery hunting!) Dan Jordan came down to do the calling for me, which strangely made things easy this year… Colorado is a whole different ball game than Idaho. We used a lot of techniques that we have learned from speaking with you and attending your seminars, and it all worked flawlessly this season. Attached is a picture for your enjoyment!”
Jeremy Ell's Colorado Elk
Corey JacobsenHere’s a report from long-time friend, Michael Kessinger, on his 2009 Idaho archery, public land, DIY bull.
“Well I hunted pretty hard for elk this year. I had a number of close calls and passed on a few spikes and forked horns in the first couple days. By Saturday, September 26, I was pretty sure I had made a big mistake passing on the small bulls early in the season. When I woke up on Saturday at 4am I had given up. I told my wife, Jennica, I was going back to bed. She said I better go hunting, that way I couldn’t complain about not going out for the next 11 months. I got out early and had a number of bulls bugling. Problem was they were down in a big hole. Against my better judgment I jumped off the hill and went down, down, down. After dropping about 1000 vertical feet I was in the elk. I had heard a number of distinct bugles and finally got where I thought I needed to be. I blew an estrus call and the brush around me came to life. I saw three different bulls in the course of about 2 minutes and heard some others not too far away. I was standing in the wide open when a 6×6 came charging into the opening and began walking right at me. I was pretty uncomfortable by the time he was only 8 yards from me, looking right at me, and still walking my way – I was getting a little nervous. He veered a little bit to my right and despite the fact that he was quartering hard at me, I let the arrow fly and snuck it in behind his right shoulder. He bolted, I let out a cow call, and he stopped about 40 yards from me. I sat down to let him expire. After about 20 minutes I walked over to where I had last seen him. To my surprise, he was still standing right where I’d last seen him. I watched him for what seemed like an eternity, just waiting for him to fall. When he didn’t fall I finally I stepped around the bush between him and me and let another arrow fly. The arrow buried to the fletching in his shoulder and he didn’t even flinch. I grabbed my last arrow with a broadhead on it and let it fly. It was a perfect low lung shot. He took about 5 steps and fell over. As it turns out, however, shooting him was the easy part. I called Jennica and a friend Bill. When Jennica called my sister Melanie to ask if she could watch the kids, Melanie offered up my brother-in-law, Lonnie’s, services. It was a good thing. The elk was 2 ¼ miles from the truck and the trip out was very steep. We finished the pack out about 20 minutes after dark.”
Congrats Kess!
Michael Kessinger's Idaho Bull
Corey JacobsenPerserverance paid off for good friend Sean Haggerty as he was able to connect on this great 6X6 towards the end of archery season. Sean called the big bull into bow range on a DIY hunt on public land here in Idaho. Congrats Sean!
Sean Haggerty's Idaho 6X6
Another view of Sean's DIY public land bull
Corey JacobsenGood friend Darren Simonson shot this awesome Colorado bull with an over-the-counter archery tag, DIY on public land. Congrats Darren!
Darren Simonson's Colorado Elk
Corey JacobsenHere is an awesome bull shot on public land, DIY, in Idaho this fall. Brandon Prince arrowed this big bull at 10 yards during the first few days of archery season.
“Corey, what a season 2009 was!!!!!!! Lots of scouting pre season paid off big time. Guiding fishing for a living doesn’t work well with archery hunting. I should be working, but no one likes an over achiever. The bull I harvested was the third bull inside 40 yards on opening morning. 10 Yards was almost too close for comfort. He did everything wrong, I’m still haunted by the sight of him leaving his harem of cows, and throwing caution to the wind, which obviously was in my favor. He came with conviction! Just one more girlfriend. 100 yards, 70 yards 40 yards, twisting and tweaking his rack through the timber, determined to find this mystery cow. 20 yards, I finally drew, with the worst composure I ever had in my short archery career. 15yards, with no intention of hanging up, 12 yards, 10yards………….perfect! I’d be lying through my teeth if Ii didn’t admit I truly thought he was going to run over the top of me. He went 60 yards, and many cow calls and a few bugles he layed down in front of me. I puked several times, too much adrenaline. No tracking, no gut wrenching worry. Alone again. I’d have it no other way, although I’d love to share the experience with hunting partners and friends, part of me is a bit selfish. I made it one full day before I found myself at the counter buying a second tag as a non resident. I passed several other elk over the season including another decent bull in search of the second bull I called in that same opening morning. I hunted and called for several friends as well with a total of three misses. My heart sank for them, as we all know, they too will be haunted by blown opportunities. 2009………what a season, lots of bugling, lots of encounters, a grizzly encounter, wolves, all on public land DIY bow hunting. I tell all my fishing clients and waterfowl clients as well when they inquire, and my response will always be the same. “ Bow hunting, look do yourself a favor, don’t start. It will ruin you, your bank account, your marriage, and most everything else. It will consume you. You’d be better off to start drugs…………at least you could quit drugs, you’ll never stop bow hunting if you start.”
Brandon Prince's 2009 Idaho Bull
