If Roosevelt elk is on the list of species you want to hunt, then you'll be interested in this little-known opportunity in California. Subscriber Richard Manly reports hunting trophy quality Roosevelt elk this past September through California's Private Lands Management (PLM) program. He took a beautiful bull that green-scored 325 7/8 B & C, comfortably surpassing the B & C minimum of 290 inches. (See photo in our online Trophy Gallery.) Manly hunted with Gordy Long of MUM, the same outfitters that have operated those famous trophy Roosevelt elk and Kaibab mule deer hunts on Santa Rosa Island, off the California coast. That opportunity, as we have reported in the past, is coming to an end in 2011 thanks to the island's new owner - the US Park Service. Once the hunting on Santa Rosa shuts down, opportunities for nonresidents to hunt Roosevelt elk in this state will be severely limited, as the only other way to get a tag is to draw the single elk tag available in the draw for a nonresident hunter.
That said, the PLM opportunities are not abundant either. Long says he currently receives only two permits for the ranch he is hunting, although he is hopeful to get the number increased as there are hundreds of elk in the area. MUM hunts the Stover Ranch in central Humboldt County, which lies in northwest California. The ranch is only 7,000 acres, but it is adjacent to Redwoods National Park. There is no hunting in the park, and the elk filter onto the ranch, attracted by the several thousand acres of high prairie, oak woodlands and fir forest.
This was MUM's third season offering this hunt. Over that period, clients have killed five bulls, three of which final-scored well enough to make the All-Time B & C records. The other two grossed over the B & C minimum but did not net out. Two of the bulls were harvested with a bow. The largest bull taken was unrecovered last year. Long estimates that bull would have scored between 345 and 350 SCI. The other hunter last........(continued)
