It was about 5 or 6 years ago. I was hunting spike bull elk in Utah. In case you're wondering why I was hunting spike bull elk. This area only allows hunters to take spike bull elk unless you draw a special tag. My buddy and I had been hunting very hard for the the past 4 days since opening morning and had seen lots of elk but not one single spike. Only great big bulls and cows. So as you can imagine we were getting frustrated. We had logged a lot of miles and hours in the steep, rugged Rockies.
On the fifth day as the sun was starting to set we were positioned on a great vantage point over looking 4 different canyons. We'd taken elk out of this particular area before so we knew we had a great chance of getting some action as the sun set.
After about an hour of silence out of nowhere 3 elk show up on a south hillside. I was the only one with a tag so I was the only one hunting. My friend was doing the glassing and spotting for me. Right as I raised my rifle my friend yells out "we got a spike". I immediately took aim and started firing. During which I was suffering from some serious buck/bull fever and could barely control my hands from shaking. Which didn't help my aim any.
Needless to say I fired over 8 shots at him and came close to hitting him but never did. My friend and I could only see the dust flying as the bullets hit below him and above him.
What's the point of this story you ask? Well, I wasn't prepared and I'll tell you why. My scope is sited in for 100 yards which is usually a standard setting depending on your preference. 100 yards has served me very well over the years except for this one time. Our mistake was not bringing our range finders with us that day. The next day we went up to that same spot we both brought our range finders and discovered that the shot I was taking at that elk was right at 500 yards. I've taken a few animals at that distance before and 500 yards is the maximum I will shoot at an animal with the particular rifle I was using that day.
Another problem I was having is those canyons are positioned in such a way when you're sitting there looking at them, 500 yards away does not look like 500 yards away. I was judging that elk to be around 250-300 yards maximum. Anyway if my friend or I would've had our range finders with us that day we would've been eating elk back straps back at camp that night. Instead we went back to camp with broken and tired spirits. It was completely our faults for not having our range finders and for not checking the yardage of those canyons before the hunt. Needless to say that never happened again.
Always remember to bring your range finders or at the very least check the yardage from your vantage points during your scouting trips. It will pay off 10 fold and help you big that big buck or bull that you might otherwise not get.
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