First Elk!

[Jape]

great year to have a full freezer. Congrats!

 

[MTGamecock]

Congratulations, but no pictures????

Actually, I completely forgot about getting a picture in the moment. In the darkness, with temps rapidly falling, once I reached her, my mind was only on getting off the mountain with meat as quickly as I could without catching hypothermia or frostbite. Even my electrical tape that I normally use to wrap the tag around a leg had turned brittle in the cold. I had to stuff it under my armpit to warm it up enough to make it pliable and sticky again. Looking back on it, I am thankful for the experience, but my overriding thought at the time was "what have I gotten myself into?"

 

[MT_elk]

Congrats!

 

[Pucky Freak]

Congrats!

 

[pabearhunter]

Congratulations.

 

[Elkhunter24]

Congrats!!

 

[SBAHunts]

congrats!!

 

[elkrchr]

Way to go!

 

[Redside]

Nice Job! Typically I am wearing thin fleece sitka gloves hunting. Then when its cold like this, during the quartering will put the nitrile gloves over the top of them, warm hands and clean gloves!

 

[MTGamecock]

Nice Job! Typically I am wearing thin fleece sitka gloves hunting. Then when its cold like this, during the quartering will put the nitrile gloves over the top of them, warm hands and clean gloves!

I did think about that after the fact and will try that next time with a thinner pair of hunting gloves. I was wearing a pretty thick pair the other night, so I don't think I could have fit the surgical gloves over them. But that is definitely worth trying. Although I hated the experience and swore many times that night that I would never shoot a cow elk in these conditions again, now that I have done it, I know I can do a better job of it next time if that situation ever arises again. Lots of lessons learned. I will definitely add a thinner pair of hunting gloves to my kill-kit. Additionally, if I had insulated my water bottles better inside my pack, I don't think they would have frozen (possibly even heat the water ahead of time next time) so I would have been a lot less anxious, in general.

 

[FlatlandHunter]

Congrats on your success.

 

[Sask hunter]

Congrats!

 

[kiwi hunter]

it feels good to overcome,,congrats

 

[dsek21]

Congrats! Great job on the solo adventure and glad you were able to keep safe. Those elk burgers are going to taste that much more delicious now!

 

[fmnjr]

Good job!

 

[BrettWindy42]

Good going! Congrats

 

[Elkcummins]

Congrats

 

[GearJunky]

I remember the feeling - killed my second Bull solo on a cold night, just like you describe.

For future reference - Use that cold to your advantage. Hang the meat and come back in the morning. Daylight and sunshine sure do wonders for your spirits.

Congrats.

 

[Wapitiman]

Well done

 

[Salmonchaser]

Well done, I’ve completed 52 consecutive seasons hunting elk, sometimes I forget still and shoot one at last light. Great job getting her done under those conditions, very well done indeed.