Follow Up: The Spider Bull

It Looks Like the "spider bull" will become the largest non typical elk ever recorded by the Boone and Crocket Club.

Click Here to read the article that appeared on January 5, 2009 in the Salt Lake Tribune

Calico Buck

Here is a picture of a cool buck that I was emailed to me.  I have not researched any of the details, and have no when the buck was shot or if Wisconsin was where the deer was actually killed.  The message that accompanied the email stated:

Here is a crazy Buck that a hunter got over in WI. 

He sent these pictures to a bunch of people to see what he could get and

the owner of Cabela's paid him $13,000 for the head and hide. 

A calico buck like the one below is rarer then an albino. 

Type The Rest Here

Brady 20" Management 8

My dad and I decided to drive down to Brady on Thursday night for a weekend hunt. There was a cold front moving through and the deer were in full rut, so we figured it was going to be a good weekend. When we arrived at the lease at about 1:00 am the temperature was about 30 degrees.

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The next morning when we woke up it was even colder, the thermometer in my jeep said that it was 24 degrees. I decided to go to my honey hole that I have had so much good fortune in seasons past. I knew that there was a big eight point hanging out in the area. I had a few trail camera pictures of him from late summer when he was in velvet, in fact I posted them on the blog back in September. Click Here To See The Blog Post.
So far I had not seen him, but the weekend before my cousin Tyler sat in the stand and got him on video. He was very wide, we estimated him to be about 20” inside. Up to this point I had not seen any deer that I would consider a “trophy” by our lease standards, so I decided that I was going to focus on taking a mature eight point management buck. From the video I could tell that he was a perfect management buck, he probably was not going to ever be any better than an eight point.

I got into the stand at about 6:45 am. As I was getting everything situated and my camera set up I noticed a small doe walking toward me at about 30 yards. Well, as usual I dropped something out of my back pack and she ran off. After getting set up, the sun was just starting to rise over the trees. I pulled out my grunt tube and rattle bag. I hit the grunt tube once, and then proceeded to lay down a pretty aggressive rattling sequence. As soon as I stopped rattling I noticed movement out to my left. Then I noticed movement to my right, then straight in front of me, and the whole time I heard movement behind me. Within a minute of finishing my rattling sequence I had five different bucks in my area.

It was still too dark to shoot, and really too dark to see, but I could tell that the big wide eight point was coming in at 10 o’clock from my position at about 60 yards away. I watched as he continued to make his way to about 30 yards from me. The whole time the other four bucks (all of them smaller) where chasing does and carelessly walking right into my setup. I watched all of the deer for about 20 minutes, even though I had decided that I was going to take the eight point, I was still holding out hope that something bigger would come in.
At 7:30 the feeder went off and temporarily scared all of the deer out of bow range. About 5 minutes later the big eight point made his way back to within 25 yards of me. I decided that I should go ahead and take the shot. I grabbed my bow and focused my camera on the buck. Just as I got ready to draw back he moved out of the cameras view. This happened several times. I finally got the camera focused on him long enough to allow me to draw back and take the shot. I touched the trigger and watched the Easton Full Metal Jacket arrow disappear right in the boiler maker.

The buck darted away like a scalded cat, and I tried to refocus the camera on him, but could not find him in the view finder. I could see him, just not in the camera. I watched as he crashed to the ground about 60 to 70 yards from my stand. There was not going to be any tracking job on this deer, which was a huge relief. I have had some very long tracking jobs on deer I have shot out of this stand in the past. I actually had to hire a tracking dog to help me find a buck last year.
I watched the deer for about 10 minutes and decided he was down for good. I decided to get out of the stand and go check him out. While making the short walk to the deer , it was very obvious that the deer had been hit very well. There was blood everywhere. So many times in the past I have had deer that did not leave a blood trail at all. That was not the case with this deer, Stevie Wonder could have probably followed this blood trail. I have to say that the 100 Grain Grim Reaper broadhead is worth every penny. It does some serious damage and makes for a quick and humane kill.

As I got closer to the buck, I could immediately tell that he was definitely the widest buck I had ever killed. His inside spread measured 19 3/4". He had decent mass, but was not anything special. After removing his jaw the wear on his teeth showed him to be 5 1/2 years old. He was the perfect management type buck to remove from the heard in order to let the younger bucks grow up and breed the does.

Cassie "Big Guns" Hampe's First Buck

This is a deer that a good friend of mine Cassie shot this past weekend. What a great first deer. The funny thing is that I was just at her wedding on December 20th. What a lucky man her husband Clark is to be able to talk her into deer hunting instead of a honeymoon.  

Click here to read the story written by Cassie!

Ok so Clark wanted to take me Deer hunting this past weekend..no, not our official honeymoon, but it wouldnt surprise me if he offered that up!

Anyway, we got to the deer lease on Friday and went hunting that afternoon. I got to take my dog, Tucker. Anyway, Tucker is the gayest dog you will ever meet.

He is scared of everything so I wanted him to get out in the country. Well, we took him to the first deer stand that was on the ground and we all got into the old crappy deer stand and well lets just say, Tucker was panting so loud that he scared off any animal that might have come into a mile radius. 

So we gave up and went to another deer stand. Tucker stayed in the car, which was fine by him! We climbed up into this really nice deer stand and watched for about 2 hours... 9 doe and 2 bucks come up and eat corn. It was really cool. Of Coarse each one that came up, I asked Clark " can we get that one?" 11 times I asked and 11 times he said "no there too young" so I was kinda happy that I/we didnt have to slaughter any animals. 

Then next day we got up early to hunt and went to the same deer stand (nice one) and saw nothing! Then that afternoon we moved to another stand which is crappy. basically 4 pieces of thin wood somehow put together. There were 2 stands side by side. Clark was in one and I was in the other! Believe it or not we had to text message each other to talk and only 1 pair of binoculars. He used them. I used my scope. 

So we are sitting there and 1 comes in and I text him" ...huge deer 12:00...clark texts "nope too young" then another deer comes in and I say "huge deer 2:00" he says "nope too young" again this happens with 2 more deer. Then an hour before it got dark i see horns move in the bushes and type so fast i misspelled every word to clark..."huge deer 12:00" well , he saw it too and I was right this time it was huge. Clark said that it was a shooter and if HE could do it. I said

"yes" and then he texted me again saying no you do it! ...My hands were shaking soooo hard and then he said "now" so I shot and cant believe I got him! 

Well , then we had to go look for the deer. I knew exactly where I lost it ..so we went there and there he was. He did look alot bigger in my scope! (he looked like an elk) 

So, my deal to go deer hunting was that I would shoot but not clean. Clark was ok with that. So we found the deer and then I went off to get the car and bring it around. About 20 minutes later i pull up and the gross stuff had been done and we took it to the barn. Thank god 2 guys drove up and helped Clark cause I could tell by the look in Clark's eyes that I was gonna have to help or do something near all that blood. So they helped him hang it and jesus, they talked about the horns for about 30 minutes...kinda like golfers talk about EACH stroke they hit playing 18 holes. 

It was really fun, but the house that we stayed in scared the crap out of me. It was a..i dont know what to call it, but when you got about half way thru the house it started slanting and you had to put on the breaks before you ran into the wall on the other side. Plus the oven was dated from like 1920! Oh yeah and Tucker was just as nervous as I was in the house, but as soon as he got his tennis ball he was fine. I never found my "tennis" ball so of coarse the more time we could spend in the deer stand the better for me! I couldnt stare in one place for too long in that house or I would have had a melt down. 

All my friends kept saying, "cant believe you shot a deer" . We were staying in town next to a crack house and between the crackies music next door and Clark snoring, I would have shot my own mother to get home sooner! 

I also got to carry my gun on my hip like a cowboy and shoot up some bottles and cans. That was a lot of fun... and after our Snake story, You better believe I had my snake boots on/ and gun at my hip (with those special snake bullets) (I added the snake story below) 

my deer: 

Used to be 8 point but a horn had broken off so it was 7 points.

It was the biggest deer caught on all three ranches so far this year!

Clark says I am spoiled now! 

Here are some pics of the weekend.

The first one is of Tucker looking pretty handsome...as you can see his ball is next to him and it is the only way to get him out of the car.

The next deer picture is of me and then the next one, I made Clark put the deers tongue back in his mouth.

 

-Cassie "big gun" Grimes..oops I mean Hampe.

 

 

Jack Brittingham's 2008 Season

Brittingham has been at it again this year! He has taken 4 bucks that gross over 180. Including one main frame 8 that scores 187. I believe that all of these bucks were taken on his Athens, Texas Ranch and his south Texas ranch (Rancho Encatado). I hope he will have a new video out soon with all of these hunts included.

Congratulations Jack!!!

Click Here To See The Pictures

What Is Wrong With This Picture?

I got this picture emailed to me. The subject line read: I think we have been shooting too many does

The Now Legendary and Controversial Spider Bull

This is a story that has been much publicized on the internet for a couple of months now. Hunters are torn on whether this bull should be considered for the new world record non-typical elk. I for one think that if the story checks out and this was not a ranch raised bull it absolutely should be considered. Just because the hunter had the means to spend six figures on a governors tag that allowed him to hunt any unit and with any type weapon does not mean that the hunt was not fair chase. After all I think that governors tags and other similar tags in different states go towards what all hunters and the Boone and Crockett club stand for which is conservation. All money raised from this tag goes directly toward conservation efforts in the state of Utah.

I'll let you read the story of this incredible bull from ESPN Outdoors and decide for yourself

Click Here To Read

The 'Spider Bull'
Idaho hunter's elk that tops 500 green-scored looking like world record

By Joe Keller
ESPNOutdoors.com


An Idaho hunter tagged what looks to be a new world record Rocky Mountain elk. The huge-racked "Spider Bull," as the outfitter calls it, reportedly green scores more than 500 Boone and Crockett Club non-typical gross points (the current world record is 465 2/8).

"The Spider Bull is an outstanding specimen and aptly named," said Keith Balfourd, B&C's director of marketing, as he looked at a photo of the bull on the Internet. "Its tines are splayed out" like a spider's legs.
Hunter Denny Austad MossBack Outfitters world record elk boone and crockett

Courtesy KIDK-TV

Denny Austad poses with the 'Spider Bull' that stands to be a world record.
Hunter Denny Austad hired MossBack Outfitters to help him find this 9x12 bull elk on public land in the central Utah area near Monroe. On Sept. 30, 2008, Austad dropped it with a shot from a rifle he designed himself.

Since then, the Spider Bull has had a life of its own on Internet chat rooms and outdoor sites.

Most hunters have a big congratulations for Austad and the MossBack guides. The armchair sportsmen recognize that they're watching hunting history being made.

Never before in the record-keeping club's 100-year history has anyone come close to taking, or even finding, an elk with these proportions: a green-score 500 4/8 inches total antler length, and a net score of 488 B&C inches. The current world record non-typical is a 465 2/8 bull found dead in 1994 at Upper Arrow Lake, British Columbia.

"The reality still hasn't set in," said Brandon Verde of MossBack Outfitters. "Something like this, a pending world record, hasn't sunk in yet, but it's starting to."

The term "spider" comes from guide Doyle Moss' reaction to the way the tines form what looks like the legs of a spider. All bulls have unique tine lengths, points and shapes, but the Spider Bull is overwhelming to elk-hunting experts. It's an explosion of points. The G1s, also called fronts, and G3s are especially mesmerizing.

While sentiments of congratulations pour in, just as many observers complain about the way the majestic bull fell.

Maybe it's sour grapes. Maybe there is something to the accusations.

Austad is a well-known hunter in the Western big-game circles. The Ammon, Idaho, man has taken record pronghorn antelope and mule deer among other hard-to-hunt game. Austad claims he hunted just as hard for two weeks to take the Spider Bull.

But he used a centerfire rifle in muzzleloader season. He also had a large number of guides scouting out the location of the bull for him while he was still in Idaho.

Austad had purchased a six-figure Governor's Tag for the right to hunt any game management unit in the state with whatever legal weapon he wanted to use (Governor's Tag proceeds go to wildlife conservation organizations).

Field & Stream writer Andrew McKean called this hunt "troubling."

"There are a couple of unsettling aspects to this story," he wrote on the F&S Web site. "For hunters who are passionate about America's tradition of free, public hunting and fret the implications of trophy hunting at any cost, the Spider Bull represents a troubling trend."

In phone interviews with ESPNOutdoors.com, some wondered if it was even a wild bull at all.

"Looks like a ranch elk," said one central Utah taxidermist who asked that his name not be mentioned. "There are a few elk ranches near Monroe and this elk looks pretty 'ranchy.' No way of saying for sure though."

Ranchers give bulls lip tattoos. No tattoos were present on the Spider Bull, said Verde of MossBack.

Other accusations range from MossBack guides blocking public access to the hunt area and intimidating other hunters who had heard of this public-land trophy.

"Not true," said Verde. "To discredit the bull is sad. This bull is real. We wouldn't be in business if we did things like that."

Verde said many other hunters had the same opportunity to bag the Spider Bull. It's a fact that about every hunter in the area knew about the bull.

In August 2008, a video of the live bull walking public land surfaced on the Internet. Anyone who drew a tag for the Monroe Mountain Unit was hunting there in bow and muzzleloader season.

Someone e-mailed that video clip to a MossBack guide and he contacted longtime client Austad. Austad hunted the bull with MossBack guides for two weeks in September before Austad had to return to Idaho, reportedly to deal with carbon monoxide poisoning.

When Austad returned to central Utah two weeks later, he wasn't at camp more than an hour before the MossBack guides brought him to the bull, according to reports.

"It was probably one of my most difficult physical and mental hunts," Austad told KIDK TV in Pocatello, Idaho. "Whether it is a world record or not is OK with me. It's just a great animal, and it's created a lot of excitement."


What's next for the spider bull

Austad is expected to enter his Spider Bull for Boone & Crockett Club recognition.

First, he must wait for the mandatory 60-day drying period to end on Nov. 29. Then, B&C will ensure that it meets their trophy entry standards before it is accepted. It must be taken with a legal weapon, be taken in a fair-chase manner, that is, it wasn't in a high-fence enclosure and the bull's antlers must not have been altered in any way, among other prerequisites.

If the entry score is anywhere near the current world record, a special judges panel would convene to confirm the final score and decide if it is the new non-typical world record.

Although the record-keeping body hasn't gotten its hands on this bull yet, B&C's Balfourd said he had a lot of faith that this could be real deal.

"Doyle Moss isn't an official scorer, but he knows how to score accurately," said Balfourd. "I don't suspect the score will be that far off."