Caribou Gear

Kentucky 1st week bull rifle unit 3 diy rookie elk hunter

seeth07 said:
@OleRedbeard awesome information shared in your post here, very nice of you to get that detailed. Matches up to all the information I've personally gathered for my own elk hunt this year in unit 3 :)
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I got help on here on a hunt once and feel like I owe it to pass it forward. Its not like anybody is going to lose out on sharing info on a tag that hard to draw so might as well help where I can.
Same to you if you need any help with anything in that unit. I live on the Va side but hunt that area enough to know a little since Ky season starts earlier than mine does here and allows me a extra month of archery season almost.
 
OleRedbeard said:
ok sounds good. I dont think you will need to shoot that far so you should be good to go. That hunt isnt a slam dunk at all but you really should bring an elk out of the hills if you put in some time. If your willing to leave the side by side for a few hours and get up or down into some steeper places I can show you a few areas if I am not on the road by then. Depending on the weather and such it would be wise to have your coolers already prepped. It will spoil fast if were having a warm fall.
Do you have good game bags? and a decent frame pack?
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Ok i am going to hunt as much as possible i plan on hunting from daylight to dark everyday. I have some game bags and pack frame that was bought for the hunt. I also can use a freezer that is used to sell ice cream in convenience stores. My uncle uses it when he drives to colorado and he said it works pretty well.
 
OleRedbeard said:
I got help on here on a hunt once and feel like I owe it to pass it forward. Its not like anybody is going to lose out on sharing info on a tag that hard to draw so might as well help where I can.
Same to you if you need any help with anything in that unit. I live on the Va side but hunt that area enough to know a little since Ky season starts earlier than mine does here and allows me a extra month of archery season almost.
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Truly many thank you's for all u have shared with me. Depending on how work is this week for me i am going to make a scouting trip next weekend and what you have shared has helped me already. I hope things work out where i get to thank you in person but if not it is much appreciated!
 
Jimru said:
Truly many thank you's for all u have shared with me. Depending on how work is this week for me i am going to make a scouting trip next weekend and what you have shared has helped me already. I hope things work out where i get to thank you in person but if not it is much appreciated!
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It's no problem at all I'm glad I can help Just remember they're still making movies about this region of the United States like the show Justified or the movies Fire Down Below and Next of Kin.. or that one with the rapist hillbillies I don't remember what it was called... but the list goes on.. we don't all sit around and drink moonshine play banjo and shoot at the revenuer man.. At least not during the work week usually unless it's fall or maybe a federal holiday.
 
Mtnhunter1 said:
Jimru and seeth07, Congrats on drawing an eastern elk tag...Wishing you both luck with your hunts.

OleRedbeard, you sir have gone above and beyond with returning the faith in what this forum is all about....Thank You Sir!
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I was driving into a snowstorm in December heading to Wyoming last year and had fellas on here help me out more than they knew. Ended up being a successful hunt. Mostly because of them.
 
F250 said:
Congratulations Jimru on the tag !! Very refreshing to tag along with Jimru and Redbeard during their conversation exchanges. I believe this is really what the Hunttalk forum is all about !!
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Thank you. This site is awesome! I feel very fortunate to have come across such a helpful guy.
 
OleRedBeard i am extremely grateful. After the advice i received yesterday I got back on google earth/OnX with a much more in depth strategy. What i learned really helped me focus in and look for those benches on the mountainsides. I had some areas i had wanted to check out. But with what i learned yeterday i now have specific spots that i want to go to it really helped me focus in. Because of the help I ended up with more potential places to scout and hunt and i have alot more confidence. I am going to keep the escouting up, and thank you to all that took the time to read, respond and offer help.
 
Jimru said:
I also can use a freezer that is used to sell ice cream in convenience stores. My uncle uses it when he drives to colorado and he said it works pretty well.
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If you’re interesting in learning about coolers that have been used, there’s a really great thread on this forum about coolers. I’ve had luck with Ozark (the lower end of the price spectrum) but really check out the great recommendations from members about other coolers.
And if you’re thinking of gearing up in the next few years, there’s nothing like this once in a lifetime hunt as an excuse (odds wise it’s more like once in a millennia you lucky so and so).
Congrats once again. Maybe it’s the social distancing talking but I am just so darn excited for you and this hunt!!
 
TriStar Hunt said:
If you’re interesting in learning about coolers that have been used, there’s a really great thread on this forum about coolers. I’ve had luck with Ozark (the lower end of the price spectrum) but really check out the great recommendations from members about other coolers.
And if you’re thinking of gearing up in the next few years, there’s nothing like this once in a lifetime hunt as an excuse (odds wise it’s more like once in a millennia you lucky so and so).
Congrats once again. Maybe it’s the social distancing talking but I am just so darn excited for you and this hunt!!
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Oh cool! Thank you, I will definitely check those out. I made a trip to the field and stream store today to pick up scent killer and laundry detergent. While i was there i checked out some of the yeti's and man they are expensive. It has been great i have been starting to gear up with a whole different type of gear and i love it. I just got the ok from my wife to buy a new rifle for the hunt too. I am still a little in shock this is like all my prayers in the last 10 years are bein answered at once.
 
Hey, i have made it to ky and first day of scouting is in the books. We came across a fair amount of sign but in one area we found all fresh sign rubs, wallow and dropping. We even saw a 4x4 bull bedded on a ridge. I have 2 more days to scout b4 the opener but i think i have a solid plan A and plan B with 2 spots of alot of fresh sign but still alot of scouting to do but so thankful and blessed to be elk hunting. Thanks following and hope ya all have a good one.
 
I dont know where or how to begin this other than we have just returned home from the most awesome adventure in Kentucky. It has been an awesomely wild ride from the time i was drawn back in May. Right after the draw i had numerous locals reach out and offer help one way or another some had monetary motives but most just wanted to help. OleRedBeard thank you for your help it was huge(i only wish i would have hunted to the east of the lake where u were shed hunting;) ). The professionals from ky f&g where nothing but that and one man in particular helped me more than he probably knows. His information put me in the area of elk, he always would answer any question i had very thoroughly, i felt like he went above and beyond what is required of him and went out of his way to help me. I truly thank you.

I really wasnt sure what to expect when we arrived in ky for our hunt. They had a lower than usual kill last year, there was alot of negative from locals who felt that the resource is being mismanaged ie. traded, relocated etc and after talking to a warden who said he would shoot any antlered bull he saw if he was hunting in that area i wasnt sure. But like anything I tried to go into it with an open mind and make the best of it reguardless.

During our scouting we laid eyes on a 4x4 (what we thought was a 4x4), 4x3 (bull i ended up shooting) and some cows. The elk sign was not everywhere but they are there and from my limited opinion there are more elk there than some of the locals believe.

We covered as much ground as we possibly could have in those 3 days of scouting and after learning how many hunters and guides were going to be in the area where we saw 4x4 ( we thought he was 4x4 but turned out to be a really cool 4x6 shot by another hunter) with cows we decided to hunt up the road where our other sighting was.

Opening morning we made our way to the top of the mountain and after getting the stink eye and cold shoulder from a local guide lol we made our way to our lookout spot for first light. The morning was peaceful, cool and quiet with no sightings. So we pushed around to other side of mtn near a big rub and we smelled elk. Knowing what i know now we should have pushed into woods and investigated but we continued along woods edge eventually seeing a bear but finishing morning at the top of the mtn for lunch.

We decided to still hunt the afternoon and just slowly made our way around and checked the grown over reclaim and wooded ridges for bedded bulls. After about 2.5 hours of walking we were ready for a break. We were in the area where we saw the 3x4 scouting and there was a strip of reclaim that sat higher than surrounding ground so we decided to head up there to eat some peanut butter crackers. Dont know if i mentioned it but my 9 year old daughter was with me on this hunt. She was with me every step and idk how but never complained that she was tired. She is tough. She was sitting on a rock and i said im gonna just peak over this side. I got about 25 yards from her and there he was about 220 yards away that 3x4 we saw scouting. Now, im just gonna be honest. Bein my first elk hunt I went into this hunt with the intention of shooting the first branch antlered bull i saw. But it was only the first day, i had barely experienced elk hunting and i had hoped it would be a lil bigger than that he is probably smallest branch antler ever lol. I whispered to my daughter i see the bull we saw during scouting and she immediately gives me the shoot him sign. I was hesitant and the bull left! I immediately i had this feeling of dread wash over me that i may have let my only chance walk away. My daughter immediately starts cow calling and eventually the bulls head pops out looking at just over 300 yards. There is an opening directly in front of him i am trying to steady on. I decided to travel light in the afternoon and stashed my shooting sticks and pack. The field i was in had nothing but grass so i was sitting and i had my left leg bent crossed over my extended flat right leg and was using my left knee as a rest for the bottom of rifle. The bull started walking thru the opening and i squeezed the 300 win mag round off. At the shot the bull bucked and ran like he was bit by a snake and during that i shot again. The bull disappeared into the timber and all was quiet except the ringing in our ears from the shots. I looked to my daughter for maybe some insight and she was smiling ear to ear and immediately tells me she heard the first shot hit him.

We decide to slowly head that way and when i get to where i think he was and the smell of elk is very strong when all of a sudden the bull appears and heads further into timber. Knowing the way he is headed we circle as fast as we can in hopes to cut him off. When we get around to the other side of wood block i slowly started to push in, i got smacked in the face again by the smell of elk and noticed some blood on the ground. Knowing i hit him and not wanting to push him again i find a rest on a tree and i start scanning with my eyes. All of a sudden i see him in the very bottom of a dry creek bed facing me. I confirm it is the same bull then finish him with a frontal shot into chest cavity.

I made my way over to my smiling daughter to tell her we got him! I dont think she could have been more excited it was a moment with her that i will cherish and never forget. After some hugs, high fives and some pictures. She helped me quarter and pack out my first bull elk!!

Now i am just gonna be totally honest i had some ups and downsabout tagging that bull so early. I just got a taste of elk hunting and it was over. But thankfully for the next day i was able to join up with a buddy and his dad to show them where some elk where at. On our walk in past the eastside of that lake OleRedBeard i let out some cow calls and we had cows then a bull answer close. We set up i called he bugeled but eventually they were heading away we tried to catch them only to catch a glimpse of a really big herd bull with cows slide into a thicket. I came to the conclusion right then and there that i gotta figure a way to elk hunt next year lol. Ultimately my friends dad was successful near by on a beautiful bull but it was not that herd bull.

I cannot say enough about what a great job i think ky f&g are doing and have done. The old mine sites are crawling with a wide variety of wildlife bears, coyote, deer, turtles, snakes, quail, grouse, birds of prey and the elk. We saw all of these species in multiple numbers. My opinion comes from limited experience but my family and i will return to enjoy the beauty of eastern kentuck again. I could not imagine never going back there.

Hats off to ky f&g and to one man in particular you know who u are thank you!!!
 

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