king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated Magazine Dec/Jan 2008 - Coyote Crazy! - Index

BY VERNE ATWOOD
One can only dream of having
a year like the one I had in
2006. In June, my wife and I
had just returned to our home in Ely,
Nevada from a successful black bear
hunt on Vancouver Island, British
Columbia to fi nd out that there was a
$120.00 charge pending on my credit
card. Now, anybody that hunts in
Nevada knows that can only mean
one thing, they had just been drawn
for one of Nevada’s coveted big game
permits. The question was, which
one had I drawn? I quickly found
the fi rst available phone and began
calling friends to see if they had any
information on the results. Soon after,
I found myself jumping for joy over
the Nevada bull elk tag that I had
drawn for the late rifl e season.
My excitement soon turned
to anxiety as I was faced with a
dilemma, was I confi dent enough in
my hunting abilities to gamble this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? I had
never hunted bull elk, but had hunted
38 HUNTING ILLUSTRATED.com
NEVADA DREAM
cow elk with my wife and even that hunt
was challenging. I made a call to one
of my co-workers, Mike Romero, who
happens to be a sub-guide for Timberline
Outfi tters to ask his opinion. Mike
acknowledged that this would be the
most diffi cult hunt I had ever experienced
and that I should give myself the best
opportunity to harvest a trophy bull
because the chances of me ever hunting
bull elk in Nevada again would be very
slim. I asked if he thought I should hire a
guide or try the hunt myself. He told me
to sit down and weigh the positives and
negatives of both and then decide. I have
virtually no experience hunting bull elk,
and after a little contemplation, I decided
that I better call Thomas Brunson, master
guide of Timberline Outfi tters and a local
taxidermist. Thomas books up fairly
quickly on all of his hunts because he has
a good reputation of being one of the best
big game guides in the area. Luckily,
I was able to secure the fi nal open
spot for the late rifl e season. With my
hunt booked, I knew that not only had
I better get my 300 ultra mag. tuned
up, I’d better get my 49-year old body
tuned up as well. So, every weekend
I hiked up different spots and shot
a box of shells from every position
imaginable
I became really accurate
with my rifl e up to 400 yards and felt
pretty confi dent but, when I went to
the range with Mike, he advised me to
be accurate up to 600 yards because in
this open country long range accuracy
is a must.
Summer came and went and
fall was in the air. The bulls began to
bugle and I tried my luck at calling in
bulls to a videotape. It started a little
rough, but after several unsuccessful