Possible New World Record P&Y Mountain Goat

A possible new world record Pope & Young mountain goat has been taken in northwest British Columbia. The goat scored 54 2/8 inches, comfortably surpassing the current Number One of 53 inches. The lucky bowhunter who bagged this exceptional trophy is Tim Metcalfe. He hunted the Telegraph Creek area with Golden Bear Outfitting. A second hunter on this same hunt also took a Pope & Young goat that scores 53 6/8. What's truly remarkable is that this is the outfitter's first year operating in this hunt area.

Elk Opener 2008

Opening day of the general rifle season found me on a new ranch we just picked up. This is a 7,400 ranch that butts up to National Forest and is on the transition from heavy forest to open sage brush. Perfect late season elk habitat. Although I didn't find an elk I wanted to take, I did see an encouraging amount of sign and do believe this is a great late season place to hunt.

A biologist also let me know that since public access is limited in this area that there were a significant amount of elk in the area. He also mentioned that since this ranch lies a transition zone between forest and open sage brush this is great spot for elk after snow is on the ground. We just got some Tuesday night!

Here is a short video of my time on the ranch. If you like what you see check out TRIP ID 188 on SportsmensAccess.com Only members can use the Trip Search feature so Join Today!

Win a Pair of Nikon Monarch 10x42 Binoculars

As a new and growing business, SportsmensAccess.com is very interested in learning more about you and providing the best possible services. Please take a moment to complete our simple survey below - it's just one question.

As a bonus, if you complete the survey you'll be entered in a drawing to win a pair of Nikon Monarch ATB 10x42 binoculars which have a retail value of $299.99! Please click on the link below to complete the survey, and we'll announce the winner of the binoculars drawing on October 30th.

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2drqw9afmdqcoku/start?test=t

Shoot Straight!

Joe Esparza

Pending New TOP 10 Missouri Breaks Ram

The rumor mill is churning about a 204 Missouri Breaks ram that was killed in unit 680. Here are some photos of the awesome ram.

Uncomfirmed reports are the ram green scored at a whopping 204 4/8". The only ram larger than this taken in the US was the James Weatherly ram (204 7/8). The Weatherly ram was also taken in Montana in 1993 in Granite County. This make will make five entries in the top 20 in the world from the state of Montana.

Here are the uncomfirmed detailed measurements.

Right: 41 x 17 4/8 x 17 x 15 2/8 x 9 7/8 = 100 5/8
Left 44 2/8 x 17 4/8 x 17 x 15 2/8 x 9 7/8 = 103 7/8
Total= 204 4/8" green

Pending New World Record Elk Taken in Utah

I just got off the phone with the stepson of the Outfitter that shot the probable new world record elk in Utah. The bull's unofficial gross score in the field was just over 500 B&C. Denny Austad took the bull and was the 2008 Utah Statewide Conservation tag, more commonly known as the Governor’s Tag. This bull was a massive 9x14, with main beams of 49 inches and over 133 inches of mass. He unofficially nets 488! This bull became know as the Spider Bull and if you look at this rack you can guess why.

The bull was taken with Mossback Guide and Outfitters owned by Doyle Moss. Amazingly the outfitter had footage of this bull last year and they estimated him at 350. In one year this bull put on 150 inches of points.

Sounds like Denny earned this bull spending 12 straight days in the field searching for this brute. Another amazing point of this story is he actually missed this bull on the 12 day. One of Doyle’s guides saw this bull over 8 miles away from where Denny took the shot. Denny came back and they were able to locate the bull and took him on the 13th day of his hunt. Congratulations Denny and Team Mossback!

My Last Weekend Chasing Bulls with a Bow

Ok your probably going to call me a liar but this is the truth. I saw 143 total elk in 3 days of hunting. I didn't get one with my bow. I needed a rifle this past weekend. A lot of the elk I saw were over 1 mile away when I saw them. The first night I saw 3 bulls with 2 branch antlered bulls one looked like a smaller 6 point and one spike.

Most of the elk were concentrated on upper ridges. They were in the head of the basin about ½ mile from the top. Hunting this late the elk were not very vocal at all. I heard an occasional soft bugle. No grunts. Just a low soft errrrrhugh…no more than 3 seconds. I also heard no cow calls. I saw cows but when I meowed they were quite. With the elk bunched up like that it was almost impossible to stalk them with a bow.

It raining, windy and with fog on day two. The rain started at 2:45 AM and never let up. It rained so hard it came in under the door of the trailer and in the vent of the refrigerator. Visibility was down to about 100-200 yards. Last night as I drew my bow back I realized some how my peep sight had gone missing. I decided to head to Dillon to Uncle Bob’s and get it fixed. I also stopped at Tim Tollets and said, Howdy too. Opening of waterfowl season was today. Perfect weather for that. They mentioned that a lot of birds were in the area and with the weather for the opener should be fantastic.

On my way back I stopped at a spot I've wanted to check on the last few weekends. I wanted to see if I could legally gain access. I could but only walk in so I humped it in about a mile and started to glass. I saw over 55 elk and three 6 point bulls. Unfortunately, they were on the wrong side of the fence. So I’ll I could do was look.

On day three I forgot my binoculars. I realized this about a mile from the truck I decided to hunt without them and just use my range finder. I was at a serious handicap. Don’t do this. Take the time to walk back and get the binos.

I saw 88 total elk on this day. One group on I saw counted for 74. There were two herd bulls in this group that even from 1 mile away you could see were huge. It looked as there were other bulls in the bunch but the distance and the lack of my Swarovski’s put me at a definite disadvantage. I won’t make this mistake again. Here's a small group of elk I crept up on I couldn't narrate for obvious reasons.



I can say that I absolutely love hunting here. It is wild, it is remote it is spectacular; it is why I live here and get out and do this year after year. Here is a bull that I ended up getting 58 yards away from...he saw me before I saw him. Nice 6x6 though.

So the next elk hunting I'll be doing is with my rifle. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy.

A Price Break Considering The Economy

When the Goin' Get Tough, the Tough Go Hunting

I've spent a lot of time on the road in Montana lately. I've hit Miles City, Ingomar, Broadus, Dillon, Divide, Florence, Troy, the Yaak and many places in between. As a reflection of what is happing in our nation, I've noticed the effects on our economy here in Montana. I also know from experience that there's nothing like time spent in the Montana outdoors to put it all in perspective.

Special Offer on Access to the Best Hunting & Fishing in Montana.

In acknowledging what is happening in Montana and the rest of the county, we would like to offer those of you that have expressed an interest in our site this $40 off coupon. This coupon will give you an opportunity to join the site for just $59.00 for an entire year! Please feel free to forward this great offer to a friend.

As a Member of SportsmensAccess.com You'll Get:

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So don't delay. This offer expires on Opening Day for Deer and Elk - October 26, 2008. Enter Coupon Code F51922BCE4 and take $40 off your membership. Join Now!

Shoot Straight,

Joe Esparza

Owner

SportsmensAccess.com