Steelhead
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2009
- Messages
- 701
Yessir I just pulled the "first elk" card. However I have been hunting for about 10 years. I started in western Oregon...the brushiest of brushy, screwed up several opportunities on bulls because I was inexperianced. Moved to WA for work and managed to miss cleanly on two cows last year. Drew a big bull tag this year and trained hard. I work in Idaho in the summer and I ran a couple miles at 6000+ feet every other day this summer and shot more than I ever have. Set up 5 trailcameras and checked them as often as I could... I hunted next to team Mossback and the Governors tag holder for the first few days of the season, interpret that however you want.
On the morning of 09/11 I woke up and headed to where I'd gotten word that there were 4 bulls, one 340ish and no cows. Like the genius I am I heard elk bugling in one canyon on my way in but decided to hunt the adjacent canyon, the one where the bulls were supposed to be. Needless to say I didn't find any elk in that canyon. I went back to the bugling canyon and the elk were gone, saw a bear I figured that the elk I'd heard in the morning had jumped that canyon and had a feeling I knew where they would bed.
I went back to the cabing where Chadwick had fashioned an American flag in remberance of what those sonsofbitches did to us 10 years ago. We donned our elk/terrorist hunting apparel and took some photos in front of the flag then went off after our respective targets (Big Bull, Big Bull, Cow).
I hiked into the canyon that I thought the elk had moved into at about 5 o'clock. I sat quietly for about an hour. During that time I heard some crashing and thought that it may have been an elk but I was pretty sure that I hadn't done anything to spook it. At about 630 I couldn't take it anymore... I let out three cow calls. It was less than a second and I had a cow call back to me from directly across the canyon. I called back with a single meew and this time got a short bugle in response. I could hear the bull (or at least an elk) moving towards me. I waited a few minutes and cow called once more. He, yes he continued coming... it wasn't more than 5 minutes after my initial cow call that I could see him. I saw a big frame and tried to stay calm and not do anything stupid!! I saw him turn broadside @60 yds and I could see 4 on top. I knew he was pretty much a shooter anyway but that sealed the deal. He moved his head behind a tree at 50 yds and I made a mouth call and drew. I sighted him in and to my amazement there was a leaning tree covering the middle of his body, remember that his head was already behind a tree. This left me with a tiny triangle to shoot through. I was frustrated but then realized that I still had a clear shot to the vitals...just about a one foot window to put it through. I put it where it needed to be and squeezed. He took off like being shot out of a cannon and 10 seconds later he was on the other side of the canyon and I couldn't hear anything. I gave it a very short while and whent to look for my arrow. As I reached the place where I'd shot him I noticed something across the canyon, what looked like a spike or something. It was him, face down in 5 ft tall grass with his antler pointed right at me, that's why it looked small. I figured better safe than sorry so I backed out, even though I watched him with my binos for about a minute and saw no signs of life.
I hiked up the hill and rounded up the cavalry (pictured below), bucklucky and bride even made their way down there eventually to cape him out. I figured since the guy was in the area and he's my taxidermist... why not make sure that he gets exactly what he wants, and the more the marrier!!
The shot: We used the gutless method so I don't have exact details but I have reason to suspect that it was a heart shot because he died in about 10 seconds and the hole was about right. There was no exit would as the arrow was stopped by the skin on his opposite side. I guess it coulda been a lung shot with the blades just cutting away as he ran but do they die that quickly with a double lung? Doesn't matter much to me anyway.
Without further adue here's the pics.
Big Thanks to: CHADWICK, BIG MIKE, JESSE, JIMMY, and CHARLIE and BRIDE
On the morning of 09/11 I woke up and headed to where I'd gotten word that there were 4 bulls, one 340ish and no cows. Like the genius I am I heard elk bugling in one canyon on my way in but decided to hunt the adjacent canyon, the one where the bulls were supposed to be. Needless to say I didn't find any elk in that canyon. I went back to the bugling canyon and the elk were gone, saw a bear I figured that the elk I'd heard in the morning had jumped that canyon and had a feeling I knew where they would bed.
I went back to the cabing where Chadwick had fashioned an American flag in remberance of what those sonsofbitches did to us 10 years ago. We donned our elk/terrorist hunting apparel and took some photos in front of the flag then went off after our respective targets (Big Bull, Big Bull, Cow).
I hiked into the canyon that I thought the elk had moved into at about 5 o'clock. I sat quietly for about an hour. During that time I heard some crashing and thought that it may have been an elk but I was pretty sure that I hadn't done anything to spook it. At about 630 I couldn't take it anymore... I let out three cow calls. It was less than a second and I had a cow call back to me from directly across the canyon. I called back with a single meew and this time got a short bugle in response. I could hear the bull (or at least an elk) moving towards me. I waited a few minutes and cow called once more. He, yes he continued coming... it wasn't more than 5 minutes after my initial cow call that I could see him. I saw a big frame and tried to stay calm and not do anything stupid!! I saw him turn broadside @60 yds and I could see 4 on top. I knew he was pretty much a shooter anyway but that sealed the deal. He moved his head behind a tree at 50 yds and I made a mouth call and drew. I sighted him in and to my amazement there was a leaning tree covering the middle of his body, remember that his head was already behind a tree. This left me with a tiny triangle to shoot through. I was frustrated but then realized that I still had a clear shot to the vitals...just about a one foot window to put it through. I put it where it needed to be and squeezed. He took off like being shot out of a cannon and 10 seconds later he was on the other side of the canyon and I couldn't hear anything. I gave it a very short while and whent to look for my arrow. As I reached the place where I'd shot him I noticed something across the canyon, what looked like a spike or something. It was him, face down in 5 ft tall grass with his antler pointed right at me, that's why it looked small. I figured better safe than sorry so I backed out, even though I watched him with my binos for about a minute and saw no signs of life.
I hiked up the hill and rounded up the cavalry (pictured below), bucklucky and bride even made their way down there eventually to cape him out. I figured since the guy was in the area and he's my taxidermist... why not make sure that he gets exactly what he wants, and the more the marrier!!
The shot: We used the gutless method so I don't have exact details but I have reason to suspect that it was a heart shot because he died in about 10 seconds and the hole was about right. There was no exit would as the arrow was stopped by the skin on his opposite side. I guess it coulda been a lung shot with the blades just cutting away as he ran but do they die that quickly with a double lung? Doesn't matter much to me anyway.
Without further adue here's the pics.
Big Thanks to: CHADWICK, BIG MIKE, JESSE, JIMMY, and CHARLIE and BRIDE
