Ranch Reviews!

BROADMOUTH CANYON BULL

RACK Magazine, December 2003, by John Romero

For this Denver Broncos fan, an obscenely huge elk in velvet was but icing on the cake!
Tired of chasing cow elk in Colorado and eager to meet his favorite football legend, the author found a way to fulfill two fantasies at once by making a relatively short drive to Utah.

    I have always been a huge fan of Denver Bronco Defensive End Rulon Jones, and I’m addicted to elk hunting. So when I noticed an advertisement for northeastern Utah’s Broadmouth Canyon Ranch, which Rulon owns, I simply had to boot up the computer and check out his website.
    I have never been a “horn hunter.” I’ve always been content to hunt cow elk every season in my home state of Colorado. But that changed when I saw Rulon’s Internet “Trophy Gallery” filled with ungodly bulls.
    Lust seized me!
    I fired off an e-mail and soon received a call from Rulon himself, Being a die-hard Broncos fan, I probably made a total idiot of myself, but Rulon acted like he did not notice.
    I told him that I was interested in a 400-plus-inch bull, and we set a date for a late-August hunt. It took forever for the day, to arrive, but I felt prepared when it did, having sighted in my gun, examined count~ less pictures of huge bulls, and packed and repacked my gear numerous times.
    It was a short eight-hour drive to Utah, where I was supposed to meet a guide at the gun range before heading off to a spike camp within the 12,000-acre ranch. Imagine my surprise when Rulon met me.
    We talked for 10 minutes or so, mostly about football. I think we might have mentioned elk hunting in there somewhere - or maybe not. Rulon’s head guide, Chuck, showed up a little later and I followed his Jeep to my home for the next four days.
    Set in a beautiful grove of shimmering aspens were tents for cooking and sleeping. Get this, we even had a shower. How’s that for luxury?
    After a great supper of pot roast with potatoes, carrots and gravy, I visited with the other hunters and hit the sack.
    Morning came fast. After breakfast, I was paired with Shane, who would be my guide and became a good friend as well.
    I did not want to shoot a bull on the first day, so we went on a long extended hike to examine the ranch’s upper reaches.
    I can’t begin to guess at the total number of bull elk we saw that day, but 50 would be a conservative estimate. They were everywhere. Though I’m accustomed to picking them out of the brush, Shane showed me many more I’d never noticed.
    We saw a huge bull that was a potential shooter and stalked it for three hours to determine if it was indeed worthy. The bull was incredible and as smart as they come, but I wanted something bigger. We returned to camp at dark and enjoyed another great supper.
    My hunting companions had shot two great bulls that morning a 6x6 scoring 340 and a gorgeous 7x7 that taped out at 360 inches. I was pumped and could not wait for morning to arrive.
    The next day, Rulon accompanied us. We talked about his incredible nine-year career in Denver as we saw countless huge bulls all around us. It was a dream come true for me.
    Suddenly, Rulon spotted a potential 400-inch specimen while glassing with binoculars. It was several hundred yards distant, and it took us a couple of hours to get close enough to evaluate it. The solid 385-incher wasn’t big enough.
    Can you imagine that? As incredible as it sounds, we walked away from a record book elk!
    Back at camp, I learned that another great bull, a 7x7 scoring 350, had been taken. I was the only one left without a bull!
    On the third day, Shane decided to hunt a ridge rising above the lodge, where upwards of 30 big bulls had been seen the previous day. One of the brutes was at least 50 inches between the beams.
    The morning was a bust. With the final hours at hand, that 385 bull we saw and passed up the previous day was haunting me. I even told Shane that I wanted another look at it, so off we went.
    It didn’t take us long to find it either. When we did, the bull was lying down in the brush at 100 yards. One pull of the trigger, and my hunt would be finished. Shane, however, wasn’t happy. He told me that we should not give up on an even bigger one. We still had tree hours!
    Always trust your guide, if he is a good one. I’m sure glad I did.
    Rulon called about that time. He proposed that he, Shane and two other guides search the draws to see if they could locate a good bull.
    An hour later, they spotted one with extremely heavy antlers in a canyon. If it was not a 400-incher, it was darn close.
    It was an hour-long hike to that canyon. I wondered how Shane could possibly muster the energy to do it again. As before, however, he ended up waiting for me to catch my breath. The guy is amazing. He must surely be part mountain goat.
    We entered the canyon about halfway up and saw several bulls. We had to be careful not to spook them.
    “There he is,’ Shane suddenly pointed. The biggest bull I’d ever seen - as well as several other bachelors - was lying beneath an oak brush canopy. The deed was done after I found a handy rock, used it for a solid rest and squeezed the trigger.
    We called Rulon afterward, and he came up to see my bull, take some pictures and help with the hauling - a fitting end to an incredible journey.

Hunt with former Denver Broncos All-Pro RULON JONES
Request a free DVD: Send your name and mailing address to: rulon@utahelkhunt.com