Coach Potter
Life of the Party
The rest of the story on this bull has now come out. Sounds like a lot of folks owe the hunter an apology. Much of the smearing of this hunt was total BS including altered photos intended to make the guy look bad.
World Record Archery Bull Elk
- Thread starter Long_Rod_Silvers
- Start date
Paige
Wishing I was fishing the Sauk
The Real Story Behind the Casey Brooks Bull, the Pending World Record Elk
After remaining quiet for months amid criticism from other hunters, Casey Brooks is finally ready to share his side of the story.
www.outdoorlife.com
Yeah bunch of drama and jealously over what looked like an incredible hunt.
I'm glad the truth came out.
Coach Potter
Life of the Party
I’m glad too!
Banned user
Steelhead
I spoke with a guy there who said that the land around where I was (Corpus Christi) is so barren that deer tend to be smaller and more widely separated than up north. That's why most hunters put out deer corn as bait.
downriver79
Steelhead
A lot of the big whitetail in TX are due to the amount of private land there. Landowners look at deer herds as an income source so there is a lot of feeding high protein feed year round. The states FnG dept is also really good about conducting deer counts and setting limits in each zone accordingly. My family leased a ranch in Crockett County since 1972. My dad ran the deer lease up until a couple of years ago when dementia got in the way of all things hunting and fishing. In my lifetime I've witnessed the ranch go from being full of scrawny little forked horns and 6 points to a place where 140+ class bucks are killed each year. It's all about having the ability to manage a herd and setting rules for the members to not kill a buck that's not mature, and finding members who will follow those rules.
I have a question, and please don't rail on me because I don't have an opinion either way (it's not my place).
But in the OL story, did I misunderstand or did he (Brooks) state that he did bait the bull? I understand that your allowed to, but is it " good sporting"? Also considering the neighbor also was feeding the bull? I understand he tracked it for months in a much wider are, but still?
Again, I can't stress enough that I'm not asking this from a place of judgement, but just trying to understand as I'm not a hunter.
But in the OL story, did I misunderstand or did he (Brooks) state that he did bait the bull? I understand that your allowed to, but is it " good sporting"? Also considering the neighbor also was feeding the bull? I understand he tracked it for months in a much wider are, but still?
Again, I can't stress enough that I'm not asking this from a place of judgement, but just trying to understand as I'm not a hunter.
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True.
Apples and alfalfa.
Killed on 40 acres of private land with a cabin on it.
Lied to the neighbor who was also feeding it.
Other houses around on smaller parcels as well.
Also sounds like many assistants and cameras involved over the 4 month chase.
The hunter is a killer of dandy bulls for sure.
I would kill that bull in a second and be proud of it, but I enjoy the mountains, the hunt, and the chase way too much to hunt a bull elk like a whitetail deer back east.
Apples and alfalfa.
Killed on 40 acres of private land with a cabin on it.
Lied to the neighbor who was also feeding it.
Other houses around on smaller parcels as well.
Also sounds like many assistants and cameras involved over the 4 month chase.
The hunter is a killer of dandy bulls for sure.
I would kill that bull in a second and be proud of it, but I enjoy the mountains, the hunt, and the chase way too much to hunt a bull elk like a whitetail deer back east.
I haven't hunted big game for nearly 30 years, but I was surprised to learn that it's legal to bait deer and elk in WA. Considering you can't bait bear anymore, it seems like baiting deer and elk would be strictly verboten. Personally I have no issue with it, I'm just surprised.
I do wish the article would've disclosed how many $7 raffle tickets he had to buy to win the drawing for the tag.
I do wish the article would've disclosed how many $7 raffle tickets he had to buy to win the drawing for the tag.
You bring up a good point.
In Washington apparently it's legal to bait up to 10 gallons of baiting material. From what I read in the article they baited with 5 Gallons of alfalfa and 5 gallons of apples at the kill site near the hunting blind. Not including the neighbor doing baiting as well. It was legally harvested but to your question was it "sporting" or fair chase? Evidently P&Y had no problem with the way it was harvested. In Montana it's illegal hunting over bait or using two way communication which includes phones and real time cameras. Ya'll be the judge...
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Interesting. I didn't know this was a thing either.
Pink Nighty
Legend
I believe it's legal in Washington. I've used a spotter to text me the movements of a flock of turkeys while I waited in ambush, and I've been the spotter. I actually might prefer the spotting
I haven't hunted deer in almost 50 years...mostly in Vermont & MA...and a few years in NJ when I was 12-13 with a shotgun and buckshot (slugs and rifles were illegal back then). My dad was quite the accomplished hunter, both with rifle and bows (mostly recurve...compound bows were just getting started). I've never heard of anyone hunting deer with bait growing up unless you were a poacher...doesn't seem ethical to me, legal or not.
Coach Potter
Life of the Party
It’s been legal as long as I can remember…certainly pre 2005. I think it was just assumed to be illegal as that’s the case for every other big game animal and bird.
Coach Potter
Life of the Party
It’s all a matter of perspective. To simply kill any deer over bait is fairly easy. All though, I say that and have known many who couldn’t pull it off. It requires some patience and a decent amount of effort.
I did it for years hunting WT with a bow. I became a fairly accomplished baiter, some might even call me a “master”
. See what I did there? All jokes aside, if you’re using bait to try to kill an old deer and that’s the only deer you intent to take, it is quite difficult. Old bucks tend to be big bucks and incredibly leery. They know they aren’t supposed to be there and mostly avoid the site during daylight. I have hunted a single buck for as many as 4 straight years, get 1000’s of nighttime pics of him and never see him in person. Most of the big bucks I ever killed over bait I saw once…several big bucks I hunted were the same way but I never had a shot opportunity. They have a sixth sense once they get big and I have seen them doing some incredible things to avoid putting themselves in a position to end up dead. I never settled, I either killed my target buck or a doe on the final day of the season. Twice I killed big bucks that I had never seen before but those were total wildcards.
I have never attempted baiting elk but know many who have. From what they have told me, that game is even more difficult.
There's a reason why many states have made baiting and the use of two way communication for deer and elk illegal. It presents an unfair advantage. The accomplished hunter in question would most likely not have had a shot at that bull if it weren't for the baiting. I doubt if the bull would have come closer than a 100yds of the hunters' blind without apples and alfalfa on the menu.
Of the dozen bulls taken in Montana, 3 were P&Y, my hunting was during the rut so no experience with baiting elk. Cow calls, bugling, raking, stalking, yup. Admittedly I'm not a master baiter
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