406Born
Well-known member
I shot one the smallest bulls on the mountain and I am good with that. I already have antlers on the wall and my freezer was empty of elk. The best part of the hunt though is that my 4 year old son was with me. He has been super interested in hunting with me and has wanted to go every chance he can. It definitely makes the difficult activity of elk hunting a little harder.
This hunt was a true elk hunt up the mountain through the woods on forest service land in a general unit in Montana. We made it 1 mile up the mountain to a clearing and sat down to wait the last half an hour of the hunting day. About 15 minutes before end of legal shooting a 2 point mule deer walked in front of us at 20 yards. I watched as my son’s eyes got big wondering why I didn’t shoot. He stayed silent and sat as still as a 4 year old can. It was pretty funny to watch. After the deer walked out of sight my son said he thought we should go back to the truck. I told him just a couple more minutes and gave him my phone to keep him happy. 5 minutes later we heard breaking sticks and lots of noise at the edge of the clearing. After another 5 minutes the little bull stepped out and a shot was fired.
My son has seen me bring animals home but never been with me when I got an animal. By the time we got to the elk it was almost dark and at first he was apprehensive and did not want to go up to the elk. Soon though he was touching the elk and said, “ thank you mr elk.” ( I think we watch too much fresh tracks). It was an amazing experience and he was such a trooper the whole evening getting the elk broke down and back to the truck.
This was elk #10 for me and I think no matter what will always be one of my favorite hunting memories. Expensive hunting gear is nice and I own way too much of it but my son was wearing a bright blue Columbia coat and blue Batman cap so just proves to don’t need top of the line hunting gear to get an elk.
This hunt was a true elk hunt up the mountain through the woods on forest service land in a general unit in Montana. We made it 1 mile up the mountain to a clearing and sat down to wait the last half an hour of the hunting day. About 15 minutes before end of legal shooting a 2 point mule deer walked in front of us at 20 yards. I watched as my son’s eyes got big wondering why I didn’t shoot. He stayed silent and sat as still as a 4 year old can. It was pretty funny to watch. After the deer walked out of sight my son said he thought we should go back to the truck. I told him just a couple more minutes and gave him my phone to keep him happy. 5 minutes later we heard breaking sticks and lots of noise at the edge of the clearing. After another 5 minutes the little bull stepped out and a shot was fired.
My son has seen me bring animals home but never been with me when I got an animal. By the time we got to the elk it was almost dark and at first he was apprehensive and did not want to go up to the elk. Soon though he was touching the elk and said, “ thank you mr elk.” ( I think we watch too much fresh tracks). It was an amazing experience and he was such a trooper the whole evening getting the elk broke down and back to the truck.
This was elk #10 for me and I think no matter what will always be one of my favorite hunting memories. Expensive hunting gear is nice and I own way too much of it but my son was wearing a bright blue Columbia coat and blue Batman cap so just proves to don’t need top of the line hunting gear to get an elk.
