After hunting in California for twenty-five years, I have had the good fortune to be drawn for all four of California’s premier big game species. I first drew a California Bighorn in 2017, which was probably the luckiest draw I’ve had. I drew Antelope that same year but gave the tag back to focus on the sheep hunt and kept all my points. My second draw was the Lassen Mountain M5 muzzleloader hunt in 2019 for California Mule Deer. That was also a successful hunt taking my fourth and largest mule deer.
And now, this year, after being in the draw for many years, I drew hunt 355, the Northwestern Bull, for the Roosevelt Elk hunt in the same region where I hunt blacktail each year. My longtime guide and friend, Dylan Carr, would guide me.
In preparation, I start sighting in my Cooper .300 Wby rifle. While I can usually get it to shoot a good first shot, subsequent shots are all over the place. Ultimately, I don’t trust it for the moment of truth. Dylan offers me the use of his Fierce 300 PRC, a one-hole rifle that hits steel at distances far beyond what I would consider for shooting an elk. It’s shooting the modern 300 PRC with 200-grain Barnes LRX bullets and also has a muzzle brake, which should make a follow-up shot much easier than the Weatherby, which is a beast for recoil.
A few hunters had been up before me, but my turn was up on the 8th, so I headed north to meet the crew. Juan, Carlos, and Dylan’s son, Clayton, would assist. All folks I know from hunting blacktail with Dylan every year.
I joined them at a cool Airbnb they had rented, and we relaxed before heading out around 4 pm. We would hunt on a nearby property where they had seen a couple of big bulls. One they called ‘the Swede’ and another ‘the Dropper,’ as he looks like he has a drop tine in the pics. That’s the bull I would ultimately shoot. Clayton had a couple pics of him and here is one where you can see what looks like a drop tine on the right.
We set up on one side of a long draw. John and Carlos took up a position on the other side to see what they could. As the evening progressed, we started spotting some bulls. Mostly smaller ones. We periodically moved up and down the ridge to get a better view. The evening started closing in, and finally the sun went down at 7:35. We had another 30 minutes of legal shooting time. I figured we were probably done for the day. Only a few minutes after Dylan spots a good bull that’s stepped out into a clearing. I can see him clearly in my binos and he looks like a shooter. I range him at 410 yards. Dylan quickly decides he’s a shooter and we set up on him. I’m on the rifle and he’s giving me a great broadside. At first I have a hard time getting steady. I give it a little more magnification and then it feels good as I press the trigger. The shot is good. Clayton filming, says I hit him just behind the shoulder. He goes about ten steps left and it takes me a while to acquire him in the scope after the recoil of the shot. When I do he is still presenting a perfect broadside and I touch off the second round. Another hit and he is down soon after. Clayton captures it all on video.
At the end of the video that tall tree on the horizon serves as our landmark to find the bull. The landowner lets us drive a truck to the base of the hill. We soon are hiking up a narrow elk trail through some pretty vicious briars. I am wondering how we’ll even find him but after emerging through the thorn tunnel it’s not long until I see antlers in the distance. He is a great bull! An 8×8 Monarch with some great mass and a lot of character. He is the ‘Dropper Bull’ that Clayton had seen before.
We try for some pics, but it’s tough now that it’s dark. The crew gets right to work on him. Cutting him down the back, and soon we have back straps in bags, quarters, and hams all sorted. As they skin and quarter, you can see this guy had got the worst of a few fights, with some deep injuries. One small point in a deep fork was almost busted off, and there were some deep scratches on his horns. He’s definitely been in some serious fights and looks like he may have got the worst of it. What a great crew to have on your bull. These guys sorted him out in no time.
We get the hams and quarters down. It’s a steep climb back down through the briars, and I fell into them more than once. They don’t let you go, so you just have to disentangle yourself. Clayton just picks up the head and heads down himself, which was impressive. We had to untangle them both a couple of times. Pretty soon it’s all over the fence and in the back of the truck. We head from there to Carlos’ place.
At Carlos’s, he has a high garage where we can hang the quarters. Luckily, it’s cooled down to the low 60s after quite a heat wave. He put the loose meat in the fridge. So grateful to have all the meat cooled down quickly; it makes a huge difference.
By 10 pm, we are enjoying a wonderful steak dinner. Thank you, Rene and Carlos. I was so hungry by then. I didn’t have much to do, but I’m glad I can still climb a steep hill when called upon. We got home around midnight and slept in. Then back to Carlos’ the next morning for caping, scoring, and sorting the meat out.
Dylan does a great job caping my bull. Then we put the tape to him. I’m not too concerned as he is huge and is everything I could have hoped for. He has all those extra points and great mass. They score him out at 365 inches. Amazing. The minimum score for the Boone & Crockett all time record book is 290 for Roosevelt Elk so he is an all time book bull by a huge margin. I will probably submit him as I have four Blacktails in the book already.
It’s hard to appreciate how cool the bull is from a two dimensional photo. Here is a short pan around the horns where you can appreciate the details.
After we get all the meat sorted into my coolers, we take him to the local police station to sign off on my tag. Now legal, we say our goodbyes, and I head for Los Gatos Meats & Smokehouse to turn him into all my favorite cuts, sausages, and burgers. Blueberry, Italian with Provolone, Cheesy Bavarian with Jalapeño, and all that great elk meat for cooking some of my Mom’s famous recipes.
My man Fabian texts back that he can meet me there after hours. I make great time and am there with him by 7:30. I end up with over 300 pounds of meat: four quarters, back straps, tenderloins, and some shanks for trying Osso Buco. The order is in, and I head home. What an amazing time. Hard to believe it all happened so fast, but I wouldn’t change anything about it. What a great experience. I’m so blessed to have the great friends who helped make it happen. Thank you ALL!
