2009 California Elk Hunts

I just finished my most successful elk season ever in California. I guided 7 hunters on 4 different hunts and all of them took bulls with 6 of them scoring high enough to make the Boone and Crockett record book. Here's a quick run down of all the hunts. My first hunt was an archery hunt at Grizzly Island and my hunter took a Tule elk bull that is probably going to be the new SCI archery world record for Tule elk and either first or second in Pope and Young. The New York Times did an article on this hunt and you can read it if you go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/sports/13elk.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Jellison&st=cse Here's a photo of Walt Palmer's bull: 




My next hunt was up north on the Del-Norte hunt for Roosevelt elk and I guided 3 of the 6 bull tag holders on that hunt and we took three bulls in three days with two of them making Boone and Crockett. The biggest was a 320 gross and 311 net bull. Here's a photo of that bull:After that I had two hunters to guide on the Northwestern hunt for Roosevelt elk. My first hunter took a huge bull on the second morning of his hunt at 10 yards and the second shot was 5 yards. The bull just kept coming. He ended up scoring 348 3/8 gross and 339 net making Boone and Crockett by 50 inches. Truly a bull of a lifetime. My next hunter was an archery hunter and he took a bull on the second morning at 12 yards with one well placed arrow. The bull only went 20 yards. That elk will also qualify for Boone and Crockett. Here's photos of those two bulls:  

My final hunt was a muzzle loader hunt for Tule elk at East Park Reservoir. We took an 8x8 that will qualify for Boone and Crockett and will be the number two bull in the world for the Long Hunters Society. We took this bull at 40 yards and got some incredible video of the bull I called in an hour earlier at 10 yards bugling. Here's the photo of the East Park Reservoir Hunt bull:

I'm leaving this week to go to Nevada to guide nine mule deer hunters, chukar hunters, and one Nevada desert sheep hunt. It looks like it is going to be a lot better chukar hunting this year than the last two years. I hope everyone has a great fall and good luck on all your hunts.