How old were you when you tipped your first elk?

[raybow 1]

I was sixteen when I tipped my first elk with a 243. It was a model 788 and had I carried more than two clips I still woulda been jacking em in that Rat Bastard!! Six shots later he was staggering hard and I was outa bullets!! That's when I knew there was more to life than the 243. I knew I wanted their dicks in the dirt so I introduced the next one to my brand new 338 with 250 grain nosler partitions.

 

[Ol Bull Shooter]

Raybow 1,
I was 21 when i got my first elk. It was a 6x6 and my largest to date. After that i went 3 years dry and then got on track. I've only gone 4 years without filling my tag counting this one an for two of those years i didn't get to hunt do to work. Shot the first one with an 8mm mag and all but last years with a 338mag. Last years was with my 358 Griffin & Howe Imp.

 

[Boman]

I was 17 when I got my first.. a real small 5x5 with a .308. I then learned the meaning of hard work.. My dad said well let's quarter it and take it out..I said what..let's just grab the damn thing and start dragging..(I was so strong and tough you know) So he laughed and said Ok.. we grabbed a leg and made it 10ft and stopped.. I told him "So do you want to start quartering or me...he he.. I couldn't believe it!

 

[Calif. Hunter]

I was 48... (Someone had to start! )

 

[Nut]

LOL Rick.....I still have a few years to beat you yet

 

[trophy_killer]

It was 2 months and 2 weeks ago today that I shot my first elk. It was an okay sized 5x4 raghorn. I'm as proud with him as I would be with any other bull. Oh yeah, I'm 15 and I shot him with my 7mm STW.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 12-17-2002 16:29: Message edited by: trophy_killer ]</font>

 

[Blacktail boy]

Raybow, Good topic.
I had just turned 14 when I killed my first elk, A cow with a bow, that was 19 years ago on the noochie.

 

[The_Yetty]

I was six months old. I shot him with my .338 which I bought with the money I saved from doing commercials at the age of six days old. The bull was running at 1000 yards in 70 mph winds and I shot him in the heart on the 14th shot. I can't tell you how big he was. To this day I rarely go check them out after I shoot them because I'm usually on private land and just want to get the hell out of there!!!

 

[Elkhunter]

I got my fist elk, a cow, when I was 37. Man that seems so very long ago now. She was shot at roughly 10 yards with a 30-06 shooting 180 grn. Federal Premiums.

 

[BuzzH]

I shot my first elk, a cow, when I was 12.

 

[Ithaca 37]

I got mine the first day I ever hunted elk, when I was 24. I was living in Vermont and decided to be the advance scout for five friends of mine who all wanted to go to Colorado and go elk hunting. What an adventure that was going to be!

I left in August and drove my van to CO and spent the next eight weeks camping, fishing, exploring and scouting for elk in the flattops of Western CO and mulies around Rifle. I'd never seen an elk until then, or a mule deer either. By the time my buddies showed up a few days before the season started I had a pretty good area scouted out and we all got bulls in the first two days! Then we drove to Rifle and started on the mule deer. Took us about three days to all get nice big five points! Even the locals were amazed at our haul! Cap Atwood, the legendary lion hunter from Rifle whom I had gotten to know, said he'd never seen a bunch of dudes from back East do so well!

That trip convinced me I needed to move West and I spent the next seven years in Colorado. Cap became a great friend and mentor---the best any young hunter like me could ever hope for!

Cap died a few years ago. In his lifetime he had killed over a thousand lions and a thousand bears. Probably closer to two thousand of each! He was the greatest houndsman and the greatest outfitter and the greatest story teller I ever heard of!

 

[Horn Seeker]

I was way too Old. 29. With and 06. Second was this year at 31. 3rd will be next year, but with a bow.

Ithaca, wow, I've never heard of Cap. I've read alot about hounds and hound hunters, but he sounds like one helluva hound hunter. I know one like that myself, unfortunately they screwed his life up by banning hounds in Washington.

 

[T Bone]

I was 12 years old. 1984's opening day of Idaho rifle season. Unit 59. Spike bull, 150 yards, running. My Grandfather's Remington 721 in 30-06 with 165 grain Hornady handloads.

My first shot double lunged him. He stopped and stumbled around for about 2 minutes. During that 2 minutes I fired over 3 magazines at him. He finally fell over, I grabbed my barrel to run over to him, and burned my hand bad enough to raise blisters. I only hit him with the first shot.

 

[Ithaca 37]

"...This outfitter has Bear and Lion hunted with the legendary Cap Atwood, one of the best hound men to ever live..."

http://www.snodgrass-hunts.com/lion/lion.htm

"Cameron also gives, in a chapter titled "Trip To The Southwest," a revealing sketch of some of the country's older famous lion hunters at that time such as the legendary Jack Butler, Dale and Clell Lee, Garn Blackburn, Smoke Emett, Willis Butolph, Cap Atwood and others.,,"

http://www.callofthehounds.com/about_the_book.htm

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 12-17-2002 23:13: Message edited by: Ithaca 37 ]</font>

 

[1_pointer]

I'm hoping a year from now I'll be able to reply 25yrs old!

 

[raybow 1]

12 14 15 16 17 21 24 29 37 and 48 !!
AWSOME!!
So far the 12 year olds have smokepoled us.

Woops, Yetty's don't count as that was merely population control!

 

[schmalts]

Ah yes, i can remeber being 15 years old and my freinds big brother got us a 6pack of Schlitz . I slowely pulled the pull tag and the spurt noise was like heaven. I remember putting the cold can up to my mouth and ... Hey! was this toppic the first bull or first elk?? sorry, i thought it was bull, as in Schlitz malt liquor

 

[Horn Seeker]

I've met Del Cameron a couple times, bought one of those books for my dad and picked it up from Del and had him sign it.
I think some of the hound hunters in the northwest have been left outta the mix here and would compete with any of those men. The Lee brothers were a hell of a pair. Old Ben Lilly was unreal, you ever read about him. There's another guy, cant remember his name, but there's a book called "Blaze" about him and his dogs. He was something else too.

Anyhow, some of these guys mentioned here, like the Blankenships, or my friend Jack Schubert have treed and killed as much game as any of these guys. I know another guy that I have no doubt has killed more bobcat with dogs than anyone alive and has treed an awful lot of lions too.

I'll have to read my dads copy of Dels book and see what I can find out about some of these Southwesterners.

 

[Oak]

First try, 14 years old. A big ol' cow with my stepdads 03 Springfield 30.06 (redundant ). Since then 12 others have ended up in the freezer, and hopefully #14 and #15 will this weekend!!

Oak

 

[Carnivore]

Idaho, area 39,Nov 7, 2002, at 3:45P.M. I'm still 32. First elk hunt and I went solo. Shot him at 230 yards with an old Savage .308 Win.

I'll have my next one in 9 1/2 months. But who's counting