2017 Solo Elk

[Muleyfanatic]

Went in to set camp up day before opener. Set camp up in the rain. Hunted opening day without seeing any elk and not much sign. The next brought snow rolling in around 8am and the cold temps. It got down to about 10 at night and up to 25 the next few days not making it all that pleasant in the tent (I will be looking for a different camping shelter with heat before my next hunt).

I cut a pair of elk tracks and followed them to a cow and calf at about 25 yards in the timber.

I actually had to work the bolt of my rifle pretty hard th get it to open as it froze through the night. I emptied the chamber and dry fired it a couple tims just to make sure everything was in working order.
The following day around 9:30 I had herd of elk go through the timber at about 120 yards contains 2 bulls not presenting a shot. I watched 1 of the bulls break off from the main herd. I went down and started tracking the lone bull through the timber for about a 1.5 miles over 2 ridges and finally caught put him. He was about 80 yards away and I was able to sneak a bullet into him; he went down after about 10 secs of standing there after the shot. Luckily he actually got closer to the trailhead from where I had first spotted him only making the pack out about 2.5 miles.

 

[Kiwi]

Very impressive! Well done on a great hunt. Memories for a life time.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Very nice, tough backpacking weather to power through. Catching up to him that second time is a great feeling.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Congratulations on your bull, tremendous amount of drive and perseverance to get that done solo! What state were you hunting?

 

[Sask hunter]

Congrats!

 

[JohnCushman]

Hardcore! Congrats!

 

[sneakypete]

Way to stick with it and get it done!

 

[hank4elk]

Cool! Literally.

 

[Kevin W]

Wowsers, way to persevere, great bull to boot too!!!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[fulldraw]

Congrats on a well deserved bull!

 

[Walkathon]

You're a lot tougher than I am - that's for sure. Way to stick it out and score on a bull !

 

[CTELK83]

Great effort. Congrats

 

[JMG]

Nicely done.

 

[Crumb]

Great job!

 

[SFC B]

Strong hunting there...extra kudos for gratuitous snow pics!!!!

 

[LopeHunter]

Great job. Yep, can spend more of gear or get tough because lacking the appropriate gear either breaks you down or puts you at risk. There are very good sleeping bags for well below zero that you can cocoon in at night. I wear a stocking cap over my ears, eye guard sleep mask to cover my eyes and some of face and ear plugs with a thick pad under the sleeping bag to keep the cold from the ground away and then a cover over the sleeping bag. As long as the tent does not collapse in the wind or from ice or snow then you should be able to stay comfortable. If really cold, I wear a balaclava at night to keep my face warm.You may have to put some water in your sleeping bag to have melted water when you wake up in the morning. A jet boil can melt snow or ice as well but at altitude you need a lot of hydration so plan for freezing temperatures around your water supply. You can also get some of those air-activated foot and hand heater pads to put in your socks at night or gloves if sleep with hands outside the sleeping bag.

 

[7mm08mo]

Congrats

 

[Muleyfanatic]

Congratulations on your bull, tremendous amount of drive and perseverance to get that done solo! What state were you hunting?

Hunt was inWY

 

[Muleyfanatic]

Great job. Yep, can spend more of gear or get tough because lacking the appropriate gear either breaks you down or puts you at risk. There are very good sleeping bags for well below zero that you can cocoon in at night. I wear a stocking cap over my ears, eye guard sleep mask to cover my eyes and some of face and ear plugs with a thick pad under the sleeping bag to keep the cold from the ground away and then a cover over the sleeping bag. As long as the tent does not collapse in the wind or from ice or snow then you should be able to stay comfortable. If really cold, I wear a balaclava at night to keep my face warm.You may have to put some water in your sleeping bag to have melted water when you wake up in the morning. A jet boil can melt snow or ice as well but at altitude you need a lot of hydration so plan for freezing temperatures around your water supply. You can also get some of those air-activated foot and hand heater pads to put in your socks at night or gloves if sleep with hands outside the sleeping bag.

Thanks for recommendations.
Once I was in my bag for about 10min I was good but it was the getting out part in the morning that wasn't much fun.

 

[dcopas78]

Great job, congratulations!