Kansas Ft Riley Elk
- Thread starter Currycm
- Start date
steeleywhopper
New member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2018
- Messages
- 5
Awesome Bull!
JV842
Well-known member
That’s not a drop tine, that’s a damn club!
Sterling Archer
Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2018
- Messages
- 42
Congrats. That's an awesome bull.
“17 Minutes from Truck to Trigger”, the story of my 2019 Kansas elk hunt.
Sunday, September 22nd, 2019
8:00am - First in the door at the Ft Riley Visitor Control Center to get my weekly access pass.
8:04am - Out the door and off to the hunting area.
9:24am - Out of the truck and ready to hit the woods. Text the wife, “Rain stopped. Only got 1.5 inches. Heading into the woods now. Love you.” Two cow calls followed by a bugle and I’m off.
9:33am - Walking the edge of the woods along an old tank trail. Hunting area had been closed the previous two weeks for a live-fire exercise and I just stumbled upon a dummy warhead. Stopped and snapped a pic and marked the location on my GPS. Bowled area in the trees to my right. Thought about dropping into the woods here but there’s a couple porta-pots laying on their sides here and decide I want no part of that. Let’s move down the tree line a bit further before dropping in.
9:35am - What’s that in the weeds just ahead of me to my left. A sleeping elk. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I haven’t seen an elk since opening morning when two cows ran out of the fog as I was getting out of the truck and now I’m standing 15-yards from a sleeping bull. Now what?
9:37am - Shaking has subsided. Text my employee, Andy, who is an experienced elk hunter. “Suggestion on shooting a sleeping elk?” Can’t go for a heart shot, Andy, the weeds are too tall. Let him sleep and wait for him to stand up? What if he doesn’t give me a clean shot. 2nd best shot option is quartering away and that’s what I’ve got now. Hum.....
9:39am - Let’s get a closer look through the scope. I can tell he’s at least a 4x5, but I had told myself nothing in September smaller than a 6x6. Click the safety off, just in case.
9:40am - The beast awakens. Holy DROP TINE Batman! Is this the 5x8 the other hunter told me about opening afternoon? He ain’t a 6x6, but I could do 5x8. Decision time.
9:41am - Control your breathing, aim, squeeze the trigger. Delay (the joys of a muzzleloader). Kaboom! Cloud of smoke. He rises.
9:42am - Crap! He takes two steps. I make two cow calls and after a few more steps he stops, 35-yards away and perfectly broadside. He finally sees me. No exit wound. I’m pretty sure I put a good hit on him, but was it good enough? Reload? Watch and see where he goes and then track him? He exhales. Oh, sounds like I got at least one lung. He takes a step back, like he’s going to peel off to the left. But it turns into a stumble. Butt down. Then onto his side. He attempts to get back up but it’s not happening. BULL DOWN!
10:01am - The wait has been killin me. Let’s take a closer look. That isn’t a 5x8, that’s a 6x10!
I owe several people some serious thanks.
Jeremy, for loaning me his crossbow. It may not have made it to the woods, but it was my backup weapon.
Mike, for loaning me his .50 cal muzzleloader that made this hunt a success.
Nathan, Travis, and Leon for sharing their wisdom and experience over the years.
Mom and Dad, for giving me the love of hunting and the outdoors.
My employee Andy, for helping me site in the muzzleloader.
My buddy Steve, for loaning me gear and putting the idea of elk hunting in my head 10 years ago.
My boss Mark, for giving me time off to fulfill this once-In-a-lifetime opportunity. Working for another hunter has it’s advantages.
My wife, for not totally flipping out when I told her the state called and I had been drawn for a tag. And for her and my girls’ patience and understanding this past month of being gone on the weekends.
Last, but not least, David. Mr. Hunt Fort Riley. David ran a website and Facebook page dedicated to hunting the installation that I’ve followed for several years. His willingness to share his knowledge of the area and to show me around the weekend before the season opened will never be forgotten. He’s one of the most outstanding outdoorsmen I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet. Without him, I don’t know that this would have been as successful an experience.
Sunday, September 22nd, 2019
8:00am - First in the door at the Ft Riley Visitor Control Center to get my weekly access pass.
8:04am - Out the door and off to the hunting area.
9:24am - Out of the truck and ready to hit the woods. Text the wife, “Rain stopped. Only got 1.5 inches. Heading into the woods now. Love you.” Two cow calls followed by a bugle and I’m off.
9:33am - Walking the edge of the woods along an old tank trail. Hunting area had been closed the previous two weeks for a live-fire exercise and I just stumbled upon a dummy warhead. Stopped and snapped a pic and marked the location on my GPS. Bowled area in the trees to my right. Thought about dropping into the woods here but there’s a couple porta-pots laying on their sides here and decide I want no part of that. Let’s move down the tree line a bit further before dropping in.
9:35am - What’s that in the weeds just ahead of me to my left. A sleeping elk. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I haven’t seen an elk since opening morning when two cows ran out of the fog as I was getting out of the truck and now I’m standing 15-yards from a sleeping bull. Now what?
9:37am - Shaking has subsided. Text my employee, Andy, who is an experienced elk hunter. “Suggestion on shooting a sleeping elk?” Can’t go for a heart shot, Andy, the weeds are too tall. Let him sleep and wait for him to stand up? What if he doesn’t give me a clean shot. 2nd best shot option is quartering away and that’s what I’ve got now. Hum.....
9:39am - Let’s get a closer look through the scope. I can tell he’s at least a 4x5, but I had told myself nothing in September smaller than a 6x6. Click the safety off, just in case.
9:40am - The beast awakens. Holy DROP TINE Batman! Is this the 5x8 the other hunter told me about opening afternoon? He ain’t a 6x6, but I could do 5x8. Decision time.
9:41am - Control your breathing, aim, squeeze the trigger. Delay (the joys of a muzzleloader). Kaboom! Cloud of smoke. He rises.
9:42am - Crap! He takes two steps. I make two cow calls and after a few more steps he stops, 35-yards away and perfectly broadside. He finally sees me. No exit wound. I’m pretty sure I put a good hit on him, but was it good enough? Reload? Watch and see where he goes and then track him? He exhales. Oh, sounds like I got at least one lung. He takes a step back, like he’s going to peel off to the left. But it turns into a stumble. Butt down. Then onto his side. He attempts to get back up but it’s not happening. BULL DOWN!
10:01am - The wait has been killin me. Let’s take a closer look. That isn’t a 5x8, that’s a 6x10!
I owe several people some serious thanks.
Jeremy, for loaning me his crossbow. It may not have made it to the woods, but it was my backup weapon.
Mike, for loaning me his .50 cal muzzleloader that made this hunt a success.
Nathan, Travis, and Leon for sharing their wisdom and experience over the years.
Mom and Dad, for giving me the love of hunting and the outdoors.
My employee Andy, for helping me site in the muzzleloader.
My buddy Steve, for loaning me gear and putting the idea of elk hunting in my head 10 years ago.
My boss Mark, for giving me time off to fulfill this once-In-a-lifetime opportunity. Working for another hunter has it’s advantages.
My wife, for not totally flipping out when I told her the state called and I had been drawn for a tag. And for her and my girls’ patience and understanding this past month of being gone on the weekends.
Last, but not least, David. Mr. Hunt Fort Riley. David ran a website and Facebook page dedicated to hunting the installation that I’ve followed for several years. His willingness to share his knowledge of the area and to show me around the weekend before the season opened will never be forgotten. He’s one of the most outstanding outdoorsmen I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet. Without him, I don’t know that this would have been as successful an experience.
Be more than happy to help you out. BTW, notices went out July 2nd in 2020. Hopefully I’ll draw a tag for a KS muley this year. Drew a WY one today.
Cue the Price is Right trombone.....not successful for the 9th year in a row.
Next year will be the year. I didn’t pull an either species deer tag so I’m heading for my first out of state hunt.
Same here. I think Im only 6 years in though. Not sure if i’ll ever draw in KS. I did get a rifle antelope tag for unit 2 so that should be fun.
Took my antelope in Unit 2 last year.
