"Eleven Points"
On the second night of our week-long trip to the Missouri Breaks, my dad, brother, and I noticed an odd bull in a field. One side of his antlers looked normal, but the other was extremely confusing. Every time he turned, his antler looked different through my binoculars.
The next morning, despite the light rain, I brought my camera and spotted the funky bull again on a sage flat over 1,000 yards away. I took a bunch of photos, hoping to figure out what made his antler so unusual. Once I viewed them on a laptop, I could see a thick club in the middle of his antler, with multiple points splitting out from it.
The following morning, we heard a bugle across a deep, muddy canyon. After my brother and a nearby herd bull bugled, the distant bull responded and came closer. I quickly recognized the funky bull and captured more photos. Two of his longer points even had crab claws.
We tried to get closer, but the wet canyon mud was too slippery, so we left him alone. We didn't see him again for a couple of days, but on the fourth night, we settled into the trees near a ridge where we had been hearing elk bugle.
After a few days of listening to him, we could almost instantly recognize his distinctive bugle. We started calling, and he gradually made his way toward us, covering more than 400 yards in about 20 minutes.
I started recording as we waited for him to appear over the ridge. A few seconds later, he poked his head around a tree. He continued bugling and eventually came within about 40 yards of us. He stood behind a nearby tree for a few minutes before stepping forward, spotting us, and trotting back up the ridge while bugling.
It was an incredible experience to observe such a unique bull at such a close distance. His unusual antlers and distinctive bugle made him stand out from every other bull we encountered throughout the trip.
This was one of the best elk trips I've ever had, and I'm glad I was able to photograph and video so many bulls, especially this unique one. I'm grateful to have experienced the beauty of a wild Montana elk rut and captured these memories. I recently found out that this bull had 11 points on the one side which is insane!
On the second night of our week-long trip to the Missouri Breaks, my dad, brother, and I noticed an odd bull in a field. One side of his antlers looked normal, but the other was extremely confusing. Every time he turned, his antler looked different through my binoculars.
The next morning, despite the light rain, I brought my camera and spotted the funky bull again on a sage flat over 1,000 yards away. I took a bunch of photos, hoping to figure out what made his antler so unusual. Once I viewed them on a laptop, I could see a thick club in the middle of his antler, with multiple points splitting out from it.
The following morning, we heard a bugle across a deep, muddy canyon. After my brother and a nearby herd bull bugled, the distant bull responded and came closer. I quickly recognized the funky bull and captured more photos. Two of his longer points even had crab claws.
We tried to get closer, but the wet canyon mud was too slippery, so we left him alone. We didn't see him again for a couple of days, but on the fourth night, we settled into the trees near a ridge where we had been hearing elk bugle.
After a few days of listening to him, we could almost instantly recognize his distinctive bugle. We started calling, and he gradually made his way toward us, covering more than 400 yards in about 20 minutes.
I started recording as we waited for him to appear over the ridge. A few seconds later, he poked his head around a tree. He continued bugling and eventually came within about 40 yards of us. He stood behind a nearby tree for a few minutes before stepping forward, spotting us, and trotting back up the ridge while bugling.
It was an incredible experience to observe such a unique bull at such a close distance. His unusual antlers and distinctive bugle made him stand out from every other bull we encountered throughout the trip.
This was one of the best elk trips I've ever had, and I'm glad I was able to photograph and video so many bulls, especially this unique one. I'm grateful to have experienced the beauty of a wild Montana elk rut and captured these memories. I recently found out that this bull had 11 points on the one side which is insane!