el unit
Well-known member
After a smoke-filled beginning to September, the moisture finally came to SW Montana! All the hiking probably wasn’t the best idea for my lungs, but it’s September and it’s hard to stay outta the woods because of little, or lot, of smoke. Racked up about 35-40 miles of hiking since September 2nd. My focus is always non-motorized use trailheads and this year, they have been the elk hot spots!. Thankfully, where we live, there are USFS trailheads around every bend in the road and in every drainage. Some trails are atv friendly, some are not.
One of my favorite trail heads for archery season I discovered last year. It’s a big, south facing sage hillside that goes up to a point and is surrounded by a sea of timber. It’s about a 5 mile drive from our house to the trailhead, and then another 1.5 miles hike to the top of the sage hillside where I like to start my hunting.
On Friday evening, I parked the truck at the trailhead and started hiking at about 5:45 pm. It was snowing hard and the wind was out of the north which is one of the reasons I chose this area. After running into a dozen, noisy Hereford cattle, two bucks and a few does popped out at about 125 yards. The deer made their way around the lower sage hillside and I contemplated trying to pursue the wide 2 point buck. The other was a forkie also, but much smaller. I continued up the timber and sage edge towards my destination. Just as I come over a small rise, I see a handful of cow elk and calves feeding on the timber’s edge about 90 yards in ahead of me. The big lead cow has me pegged almost immediately. She and I had a stand-still staring competition that went on for 5-7 minutes! I won because she eventually went back to feeding. But not without looking up at me after every three or four bites. As the cows and calves started feeding out a little closer, I heard the bugle I was waiting for. He sounded a couple hundred yards into the timber to the West of me. I just sat quietly and waited. A few minutes later, I heard another bugle. This one sounded lower and much more raspy. And it sounded really close but to the East of me now. As the 2 calves were chasing each other in circles and playing. a big set of antlers came out of nowhere from behind a dead tree right next to me. He was at about 30 yards moving uphill but no shot. I immediately ranged the sage in front of where I thought he was going that would be my only open shot. 67 yards. He popped out into the clearing closer this time, but not much. 62 yards. He was standing almost perfectly broadside with a slight quartering uphill stance when he chose to stop. I felt calm and collected, the snow was softly falling and the wind was still. At full draw, I pushed the left arm forward and pulled back the right arm a little more before I squeezed the release at 6:27 pm.
He jumped and instantly I heard the tell-tale THUMP of the arrow impact. After about three leaps and bounds he gave a two-legged buck, just like a bucking horse, before he disappeared behind two trees on the sage hillside. My quick cow elk calls seemed to sooth the initial scare as the cows and calves ran up to the timber edge after the shot. They kept looking in the direction the bull ran and after a couple minutes, they went back to feeding, and looking to where the bull went. After about 10 minutes, the cows and calves vanished slowly into the timber and it was time for me to go to where he was standing when I shot.
I followed his tracks from below me to where they stopped- this must have been where he was standing when the arrow hit him. As I looked around for where he landed on the next step, I see a giant antler skylined in the sagebrush about 50 yards away! Laying there on it’s side, not moving. I find the tracks and even though everything is getting covered in snow, the blood spray was everywhere and easy to see.
Upon arrival, I knock another arrow just in case, but his eyes are open and there is no movement. The next thing I notice is the arrow, blood, and bloody foam. Stuck directly behind his lower left shoulder, right in the heart area of the chest cavity. Best shot I’ve ever made with my bow and the quickest recovery too.
After punching my tag and getting the best solo pictures I can, I head off the mountain to go get big packs and my wife. My wife packed the back straps, t loins, neck roasts and extras while I packed one of the front quarters. I left the other quarters and head separated from the carcass and meat-down on the snowy hillside. We were back home with that load at 2 am. Although I was rearing to go at 7 am after a few hours sleep, the wife was not as “excited" as I was and It was 9am before she was outta bed. At 10:30 am, I left my truck with an empty backpack and a really tired dog. I got to the stash of meat and antlers at about 11 am to find it undisturbed by bears or coyotes, but the carcass was picked on by crows and magpies. By about noon, I had all three quarters and the head over to the other trail and a few whistles later, I heard and saw my wife riding up the trail with horses. Her newly adopted 2 year old Mustang packed the hind quarters like a pro! And those hind quarters were the biggest we’ve ever put on horses.
The head didn’t last too long on the other horse and thankfully when those turned sideways, we didn’t have a rodeo or a horse with antler puncture wounds.
So, the head came out on my back with the Torpedo sled carrying the other front quarter for the 1.5 miles back to the wife’s truck and trailer.
We were all finished and back to the ranch yesterday at 3 pm. All the quarters are hung, skinned, and cool (28 degrees last night). The back strap steaks were incredible! Processing will start today at our house. And a trip over to Elkhorn Hot Springs today!
Biggest elk I’ve ever harvested. This was the same bull I had at 75 yards quartering to me about a week ago in a different area 4 miles away. I couldn’t be more happy with this elk hunt!
One of my favorite trail heads for archery season I discovered last year. It’s a big, south facing sage hillside that goes up to a point and is surrounded by a sea of timber. It’s about a 5 mile drive from our house to the trailhead, and then another 1.5 miles hike to the top of the sage hillside where I like to start my hunting.
On Friday evening, I parked the truck at the trailhead and started hiking at about 5:45 pm. It was snowing hard and the wind was out of the north which is one of the reasons I chose this area. After running into a dozen, noisy Hereford cattle, two bucks and a few does popped out at about 125 yards. The deer made their way around the lower sage hillside and I contemplated trying to pursue the wide 2 point buck. The other was a forkie also, but much smaller. I continued up the timber and sage edge towards my destination. Just as I come over a small rise, I see a handful of cow elk and calves feeding on the timber’s edge about 90 yards in ahead of me. The big lead cow has me pegged almost immediately. She and I had a stand-still staring competition that went on for 5-7 minutes! I won because she eventually went back to feeding. But not without looking up at me after every three or four bites. As the cows and calves started feeding out a little closer, I heard the bugle I was waiting for. He sounded a couple hundred yards into the timber to the West of me. I just sat quietly and waited. A few minutes later, I heard another bugle. This one sounded lower and much more raspy. And it sounded really close but to the East of me now. As the 2 calves were chasing each other in circles and playing. a big set of antlers came out of nowhere from behind a dead tree right next to me. He was at about 30 yards moving uphill but no shot. I immediately ranged the sage in front of where I thought he was going that would be my only open shot. 67 yards. He popped out into the clearing closer this time, but not much. 62 yards. He was standing almost perfectly broadside with a slight quartering uphill stance when he chose to stop. I felt calm and collected, the snow was softly falling and the wind was still. At full draw, I pushed the left arm forward and pulled back the right arm a little more before I squeezed the release at 6:27 pm.
He jumped and instantly I heard the tell-tale THUMP of the arrow impact. After about three leaps and bounds he gave a two-legged buck, just like a bucking horse, before he disappeared behind two trees on the sage hillside. My quick cow elk calls seemed to sooth the initial scare as the cows and calves ran up to the timber edge after the shot. They kept looking in the direction the bull ran and after a couple minutes, they went back to feeding, and looking to where the bull went. After about 10 minutes, the cows and calves vanished slowly into the timber and it was time for me to go to where he was standing when I shot.
I followed his tracks from below me to where they stopped- this must have been where he was standing when the arrow hit him. As I looked around for where he landed on the next step, I see a giant antler skylined in the sagebrush about 50 yards away! Laying there on it’s side, not moving. I find the tracks and even though everything is getting covered in snow, the blood spray was everywhere and easy to see.
Upon arrival, I knock another arrow just in case, but his eyes are open and there is no movement. The next thing I notice is the arrow, blood, and bloody foam. Stuck directly behind his lower left shoulder, right in the heart area of the chest cavity. Best shot I’ve ever made with my bow and the quickest recovery too.
After punching my tag and getting the best solo pictures I can, I head off the mountain to go get big packs and my wife. My wife packed the back straps, t loins, neck roasts and extras while I packed one of the front quarters. I left the other quarters and head separated from the carcass and meat-down on the snowy hillside. We were back home with that load at 2 am. Although I was rearing to go at 7 am after a few hours sleep, the wife was not as “excited" as I was and It was 9am before she was outta bed. At 10:30 am, I left my truck with an empty backpack and a really tired dog. I got to the stash of meat and antlers at about 11 am to find it undisturbed by bears or coyotes, but the carcass was picked on by crows and magpies. By about noon, I had all three quarters and the head over to the other trail and a few whistles later, I heard and saw my wife riding up the trail with horses. Her newly adopted 2 year old Mustang packed the hind quarters like a pro! And those hind quarters were the biggest we’ve ever put on horses.
The head didn’t last too long on the other horse and thankfully when those turned sideways, we didn’t have a rodeo or a horse with antler puncture wounds.
So, the head came out on my back with the Torpedo sled carrying the other front quarter for the 1.5 miles back to the wife’s truck and trailer.
We were all finished and back to the ranch yesterday at 3 pm. All the quarters are hung, skinned, and cool (28 degrees last night). The back strap steaks were incredible! Processing will start today at our house. And a trip over to Elkhorn Hot Springs today!
Biggest elk I’ve ever harvested. This was the same bull I had at 75 yards quartering to me about a week ago in a different area 4 miles away. I couldn’t be more happy with this elk hunt!
