Hi All,
First post here but I am a big fan of Randy's, his shows and cause - as well as many of the posters on this forum. I wanted to share our hunt and offer a few insights from our trip. First, we are from northern California (near Auburn) and we have hunted deer since age 13 (I am now 52 and my brother is 45 and son 12). While my dad is 80 and does not physically go on the hunts with us anymore, he travels with us in spirit and wants frequent updates - which we of course provide. Anyway this isn't our first elk hunting trip but it is our first success with elk hunting. And, I got to share it with my 13 year old son on his first elk/deer trip. Anyway, on to the hunt...
...we arrived the Friday morning before the opener 10-21 after a 16 hr drive straight through. We gassed up in Ennis, filled the thermos with coffee and headed up into the mountains for some scouting. After a full day we thought we found a couple of promising areas that we would head to in the AM.
The morning of the opener we were up early and in the field before day break. Weather was cool, windy and clear. My son and I were on one stand with my brother about 200 yds below and to the right. Well, my brother was in the right place at the right time and about 1/2 hour after daybreak, I see him throw up and boom! he was able to take his first elk - a nice 5x4 with a battle broken off #4 on its left side. Side note: this was his first elk after many years of either seeing elk (and having deer tags) or vise versa or passing on animals in hopes of something larger or whatever. Needless to say, we were all ecstatic for him. And, we celebrated with Willey's whiskey in Ennis later
.
We went back to our spot that evening but didn't see anything except some deer. After moving up to higher country and scouting a few other areas during the next 2 days, we decided on one area that had two drainages converging. We put my brother low and my son and I were up at mid and high stands. And, we waited...then about 10am as we began to walk up and out, we spotted a lone bull (BIG bull) running up the far drainage. After ranging it, he was about 704 yrs away running. I didn't feel right bout the shot so we started hiking. After we were about to pass out due to altitude, we spotted him again. This time he was at 790 yds and about 15 seconds later, disappeared into the timber. My son asked why didn't we shoot him? I was asking myself the same thing since I have shot at targets at 500-600 with good accuracy. Well, I just didn't feel comfortable with this shot since I didd not have a bi-pod opportunity. So, I took this as a teaching moment to discuss with my son about the responsibility of pulling the trigger or not (because of not feeling comfortable). Anyway, even today, I know it was the right decision but boy I sure play that back over and over in my head...and, it was a beauty).
On the last day of the trip, I said to my son its his turn and if we see one - to take it. Well, the highlight of the trip was when my son spotted a group of deer at about 100 yrs and he took his first buck (we always remember our first with a great shoot. And as you can see by the smile on his face, he was very proud (as is his dad, uncle and grandpa and the rest of the family!). As Randy has taught us, we thanked each animal after taking them. When my son thanked his buck, I must admit I got a little choked up for him.
We feel truly blessed this year to have this time together in the beautiful Montana mountains with family. Now, our freezer is full as well as our hearts.
Thank you Randy and Hunt Talkers for the good reading and company.
May all of you have success this year.
Blessing to all,
GBear
First post here but I am a big fan of Randy's, his shows and cause - as well as many of the posters on this forum. I wanted to share our hunt and offer a few insights from our trip. First, we are from northern California (near Auburn) and we have hunted deer since age 13 (I am now 52 and my brother is 45 and son 12). While my dad is 80 and does not physically go on the hunts with us anymore, he travels with us in spirit and wants frequent updates - which we of course provide. Anyway this isn't our first elk hunting trip but it is our first success with elk hunting. And, I got to share it with my 13 year old son on his first elk/deer trip. Anyway, on to the hunt...
...we arrived the Friday morning before the opener 10-21 after a 16 hr drive straight through. We gassed up in Ennis, filled the thermos with coffee and headed up into the mountains for some scouting. After a full day we thought we found a couple of promising areas that we would head to in the AM.
The morning of the opener we were up early and in the field before day break. Weather was cool, windy and clear. My son and I were on one stand with my brother about 200 yds below and to the right. Well, my brother was in the right place at the right time and about 1/2 hour after daybreak, I see him throw up and boom! he was able to take his first elk - a nice 5x4 with a battle broken off #4 on its left side. Side note: this was his first elk after many years of either seeing elk (and having deer tags) or vise versa or passing on animals in hopes of something larger or whatever. Needless to say, we were all ecstatic for him. And, we celebrated with Willey's whiskey in Ennis later
.We went back to our spot that evening but didn't see anything except some deer. After moving up to higher country and scouting a few other areas during the next 2 days, we decided on one area that had two drainages converging. We put my brother low and my son and I were up at mid and high stands. And, we waited...then about 10am as we began to walk up and out, we spotted a lone bull (BIG bull) running up the far drainage. After ranging it, he was about 704 yrs away running. I didn't feel right bout the shot so we started hiking. After we were about to pass out due to altitude, we spotted him again. This time he was at 790 yds and about 15 seconds later, disappeared into the timber. My son asked why didn't we shoot him? I was asking myself the same thing since I have shot at targets at 500-600 with good accuracy. Well, I just didn't feel comfortable with this shot since I didd not have a bi-pod opportunity. So, I took this as a teaching moment to discuss with my son about the responsibility of pulling the trigger or not (because of not feeling comfortable). Anyway, even today, I know it was the right decision but boy I sure play that back over and over in my head...and, it was a beauty).
On the last day of the trip, I said to my son its his turn and if we see one - to take it. Well, the highlight of the trip was when my son spotted a group of deer at about 100 yrs and he took his first buck (we always remember our first
with a great shoot. And as you can see by the smile on his face, he was very proud (as is his dad, uncle and grandpa and the rest of the family!). As Randy has taught us, we thanked each animal after taking them. When my son thanked his buck, I must admit I got a little choked up for him.We feel truly blessed this year to have this time together in the beautiful Montana mountains with family. Now, our freezer is full as well as our hearts.
Thank you Randy and Hunt Talkers for the good reading and company.
May all of you have success this year.
Blessing to all,
GBear
