First elk

[Elkhunter]

When you pulled the trigger and your first elk hit the ground, How did you really feel?

When I pulled the trigger on that first elk, a cow, I felt joy, a sense of accomplishment and relief as well. I had went against the elk on there terms and I was the victor. Then I felt confused. I had no idea how the hell to deal with an animal of this size. How was I to get it out of here?

 

[FLIPPER]

I'm still waiting for that FIRST

 

[Nut]

same here Flipper.

 

[Westman]

My first was a big cow and I remember walking up to it wondering how to gut a horse

She was a big ol' thing, but we were lucky in that we could drive the truck to within about 20 yds. We cut her in half and flung her in the back and off we went.

That first impression sure does stick with you though.

 

[DM423]

Same here NUT.

 

[raybow 1]

I was pretty jazzed cause I was still in high school and it was the first time I went elk hunting without my dad. My little brother and my cousin were there and we had split up. My cousin and my brother were hunting a nice little patch of fur (I mean fir trees) and I was following some tracks. All of a sudden I looked up and saw a bunch of elk butts as they were walking around a little bench. I seen the back one had a rack. I quickly hurried to the top of the bench and looked over. The 5x5 was around 70 feet from me. It took me 6 shots to put his but down with my .243. I shot him 4 times in and behind the front shoulder and two more below the eyeball. The lead was just a flyin!!! It's a good thing I only had two clips cause I still woulda been jacking em in. I was shooting 100 grain hornady round nose and they were just poking holes with no expansion. Trying to gut an elk in comparison to a deer was a slight bigger task. I could dress a deer in a couple minutes and it probably took me 20 on that bull. I know one thing,dad was sure pissed when I came a totin that thing home and the biggest thing he had ever got was a spike!!!

 

[Tom]

I can't believe that big thing is down, wow, yep, its down.

 

[danr55]

I had been on three elk hunts before I got a tag and shot one. On each of those hunts, I had stayed with the hunter who shot elk and helped gut and bone and pack meat while the hunters with tags went hunting. When I finally shot my first elk, I looked across the canyon at where it lay, then back toward the truck I knew was about three miles away and I wondered "Why the hell did I do that?"
In those three miles where four pretty good sized canyons......

 

[mtmiller]

On my first elk hunt I was with five other guys. They had hunted this area before and planned to stay close to camp. I figured these guys were just lazy and I hiked in three to four miles from camp.

Well four days later the only elk I had seen were just out of camp on the opening morning. I was on my way back to camp, thinking this elk hunting was a bunch of crap. Then only about 500 yards from camp I spotted a cow walking on a side hill. Well two shots later (woops, first shot took out her lower jaw) I was standing over the biggest animal I had ever killed. It took me quite awhile to clean here up and laughed at the thought of dragging her to camp even though it was all downhill.

I went back to camp and three of us were able drag the cow down to the road and load it my pick-up. I learned at that moment, if I ever have an elk in my sights three miles in, he had better be a big one.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-15-2003 07:18: Message edited by: mtmiller ]</font>

 

[jig maker]

My first Elk was a spike. It was not dead so i thought i would just go behind it grab the rack and cut its throat dam thing kicked me in the back sent me flying so im laying on the ground and yelling at my nephew to shoot that S.O.B. Later that same hunt he got one also after falling straddle on a barb wire fence.

 

[trophy_killer]

When I first saw my bull I shot him and he just walked into the trees like nothing happened. When I got up to him he was hunched over so I shot him in the neck to make sure he didn't take off running since it was getting dark. When he dropped I couldn't believe what I had done. It was my first time with a tag and I did something that very few people will ever get to experience. I had rushes of joy, adrenaline and a whole bunch of other emotions flood into me at once. It's an experience that nothing in the world can compare to. Hopefully in a few years I will get to have that same feeling but with a bow.

 

[Elkhunter]

Hopefully next year I will get the same experience and feeling with a moose, a bear and a sheep. Oh, how nice it is to dream.

Never let go of your dreams!

 

[Mntman]

I felt all that you guys did and one other, sorrow for the animal.
But, my happiness over-welmed me and I was grinning from ear to ear. I just wished I had someone to take a picture of me at that moment.
Boy what a picture it would have been.
Not a Del type smile! Even bigger.

 

[Elkhunter]

sorrow for the animal

I think we have all felt that too, jut neglected to say it. Very good Mntman

 

[YoungRobinHood]

Still waiting to be old enough to go elk hunting i'm only 13 now

 

[trophy_killer]

Your time will come YoungRobinHood. Just do what I did, make a deal with your dad when it comes to school. For me it was to get a 3.4 GPA. If I did that and paid for 1/2 my hunt my dad would take me. Try it, it might work. If it does you have to take me with you since I gave you the idea.

 

[YoungRobinHood]

I already got a deal with him. For my high school graduation present, he's gonna take me elk hunting. i'll have to talk him into taking you with me

. That what my sister(deerchik) wants to do to so that what we get for high scool graduation. Thanks for the idea, but i already had that one planned

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 12-30-2002 20:22: Message edited by: YoungRobinHood ]</font>

 

[ELKCHSR]

I was in a tree stand and as the elk started to run away with a good shot, I tried getting my call out of my pocket and my fingers were shaking so bad, I couldn't even open the button. So I whistled to make him stop. Then had to sit down for a couple minutes or I woulda fell out of the stand...Great feeling..

 

[Jack O'Conner]

I shot my first elk when I was a 15 year old boy and hunting with my Grandad. He was an early rancher in Parks County, Wyoming and we hunted his stockman's lease on Forest Service land.

The bull was hit in the neck with a 30-30 bullet from Grandad's long barreled Winchester. His front end dropped but rear legs were upright. Grandad told me to "Give him another". My next bullet hit directly in the shoulder and down he went.

I knew nothing of ballistics and neither did my old Grandad. I doubt the bull knew that countless authors have stated the 30-30 is too weak for elk. It died quickly from two good shots and that's the way it was September 1968 in rural Wyoming.
Jack

 

[mtmiller]

Welcom aboard Jack. It is nice to see someone from the Hills. I grew up in Piedmont and Sturgis. Pretty good bunch of guys here. If you can wade through some of the bullsh@t

there are some interesting stories, information and humor. We are always interested in some pictures and stories. Hope to see more of you around here.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-15-2003 07:25: Message edited by: mtmiller ]</font>