psycho
Well-known member
Read part 1 here to understand. sheep hunt https://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?286340-A-tough-hunter-for-a-tough-hunt&p=2771136#post2771136
After my dads successful sheep hunt he had two weeks to rest his injured ankle for the bull elk hunt at stag mountain. I have hunted this area for 3 years in a row and saw bulls almost every day during cow season a month ago. I was confident we could get something near a road as I just didn’t think he could hike much on this trip. First morning we saw a heard of cows with a few little spikes then no elk sightings for several days. We were getting pretty discouraged at this point. Since my dad didn’t fill his cow tag we were getting to the point we were even willing to go after a spike as we are just not much for trophy hunting. We will certainly take the biggest, oldest critter we can find but not going to pass up easy meat for the freezer.
With no sightings and no fresh sign we had enough and went to a new area where I got my bull in 2016. I found a little fresh sign as I did fast hikes far away from the vehicle while my dad was doing short hikes. I told him not to venture too far from the jeep as we have to be mobile when we see something. If he gets an hour from the jeep it could take 2 hours to get him loaded up again and that’s too much time if we see some headed over the ridge. We check a few places and don’t see anything. I decide to go way up on the hill to see far out in the valley. I see some and glass for 30 minutes to figure a plan of attack so I can get back to tell dad the good and bad news.
Good news is we found elk and there is a bull which is at least a 5x5 but likely a 6x6. Bad news is they are 2 miles out in the valley with no road around that I know of. We would have to drop off a very steep rocky section in full view of them and work our way to them. We decide to go for it as its early and we figure it will be easier hiking as its rolling hills and not as many rocks as sheep country. When we are dropping off in full view of them we just stick together and go slow in hopes they don’t see us. We loop about a mile to get out of their view and move toward them from the side. As we get close we realize we are about to be stuck as we cant come in from behind as they have the wind. We cant come in from the front as they are on the side of a hill with a lot of eyes watching. We decide to crawl on hands and knees from the side and hope to go slow and get to 400 yards to shoot across a little wash bringing us face to face with them in the open. Its slow going from all the rocks. At 630 my dad says its just not going to happen as its too painful on his old knees. Its not as close as I want to be but Im confident in the gun I built for him. Nosler 30 with a 50 mm vortex scope. His eyes aren’t what they used to be so I built the best setup I could find for him and practiced to 500. Tested the turret and calculations and they were all within an inch or so out to 500 so this should be the same dialing up to 630. Should be an easy shot for the gun but there is nothing easy about 600 yard shot with 10 mph cross wind. We got solid base and all setup. About 20 minutes later the bull cleared the cows and first shot was inches over the back but far back. I told him to keep elevation but lead the wind another 2 feet as wind was really whipping now. 2nd shot was perfect elevation but wind took just behind animal. At this point the critters were getting real antsy and I was just going to let them go over the hill in hopes we could get a better setup with a closer shot. Since my dad is more familiar with get a critter on the ground at any cost rather than waiting for perfect shots he let another fly. Again, perfect elevation but wind took behind animal again. At this last one they all took off running and were over the ridge in seconds. We had no time. I sent him towards them as I hiked back for backpack and extra gear we dropped.
I met up with him two ridges past and we both got a look at where they went. He was doing his best to follow but since I stayed higher up I knew exactly the ravine they went into and did not see them go out. Another mile in we prepared ourselves as it was going to be close this time. As we came around the final ridge they were all under 200 yards in a little bowl. My dad raised the gun but I told him to wait. It seemed like it took 5 minutes for the bull to clear the cows as they milled about but when I gave the ok the shot slammed into the front shoulder. Now they all started to run straight up with the bull. I could see he was hurt but very mobile so I had him shoot again. Second shot put him down. We didn’t say much as we hiked over to the critter trying to process that we actually ran down a herd and got one on the ground. A nice 6x6.
A few phots and I leave my dad with food, water and my havalon knife. GPS said we had hiked 3 miles but I could cut a little off by going straight over to the jeep. I had to race over there and drive about 20 miles around the big drainage system and hope to find a place to cross to get within a mile. I was getting nervous now as I realized I will likely get back at dark. I gave my dad some lights and my coat and tell him to just stay with the animal and don’t do anything but skin the back of it. Don’t overwork yourself type of thing. We didn’t have any form of communication as I didn’t plan on 3 miles. Later we shared our fears of the other on their own. He feared I would step in a hole and break my leg and I would be out in the middle and not be able to get to the jeep. I feared he would cut himself as he has done in the past and bleed out before I get there. Neither happened however he did break the blade within 30 minutes. He then got out his little pocketknife and was able to mostly cape it and dismantle two quarters with sharpening his knife on a rock over and over. I guess I didn’t leave him all the tools needed.
We got lucky and I found a two track that hadn’t been used in years. It came to within 250 yards of the critter. I got there just in time as he was pretty cold. I sent him down to the jeep to warm up as I continued cutting. It was dark shortly after he got to the jeep. It took a lot longer than it should as he was struggling to warm up and I was trying to finish the big critter on my own. We didn’t get back to the trailer until around 1:00am. Lot of work but we both had a great time. He is now full time in that boot trying to get healed for next season.
After my dads successful sheep hunt he had two weeks to rest his injured ankle for the bull elk hunt at stag mountain. I have hunted this area for 3 years in a row and saw bulls almost every day during cow season a month ago. I was confident we could get something near a road as I just didn’t think he could hike much on this trip. First morning we saw a heard of cows with a few little spikes then no elk sightings for several days. We were getting pretty discouraged at this point. Since my dad didn’t fill his cow tag we were getting to the point we were even willing to go after a spike as we are just not much for trophy hunting. We will certainly take the biggest, oldest critter we can find but not going to pass up easy meat for the freezer.
With no sightings and no fresh sign we had enough and went to a new area where I got my bull in 2016. I found a little fresh sign as I did fast hikes far away from the vehicle while my dad was doing short hikes. I told him not to venture too far from the jeep as we have to be mobile when we see something. If he gets an hour from the jeep it could take 2 hours to get him loaded up again and that’s too much time if we see some headed over the ridge. We check a few places and don’t see anything. I decide to go way up on the hill to see far out in the valley. I see some and glass for 30 minutes to figure a plan of attack so I can get back to tell dad the good and bad news.
Good news is we found elk and there is a bull which is at least a 5x5 but likely a 6x6. Bad news is they are 2 miles out in the valley with no road around that I know of. We would have to drop off a very steep rocky section in full view of them and work our way to them. We decide to go for it as its early and we figure it will be easier hiking as its rolling hills and not as many rocks as sheep country. When we are dropping off in full view of them we just stick together and go slow in hopes they don’t see us. We loop about a mile to get out of their view and move toward them from the side. As we get close we realize we are about to be stuck as we cant come in from behind as they have the wind. We cant come in from the front as they are on the side of a hill with a lot of eyes watching. We decide to crawl on hands and knees from the side and hope to go slow and get to 400 yards to shoot across a little wash bringing us face to face with them in the open. Its slow going from all the rocks. At 630 my dad says its just not going to happen as its too painful on his old knees. Its not as close as I want to be but Im confident in the gun I built for him. Nosler 30 with a 50 mm vortex scope. His eyes aren’t what they used to be so I built the best setup I could find for him and practiced to 500. Tested the turret and calculations and they were all within an inch or so out to 500 so this should be the same dialing up to 630. Should be an easy shot for the gun but there is nothing easy about 600 yard shot with 10 mph cross wind. We got solid base and all setup. About 20 minutes later the bull cleared the cows and first shot was inches over the back but far back. I told him to keep elevation but lead the wind another 2 feet as wind was really whipping now. 2nd shot was perfect elevation but wind took just behind animal. At this point the critters were getting real antsy and I was just going to let them go over the hill in hopes we could get a better setup with a closer shot. Since my dad is more familiar with get a critter on the ground at any cost rather than waiting for perfect shots he let another fly. Again, perfect elevation but wind took behind animal again. At this last one they all took off running and were over the ridge in seconds. We had no time. I sent him towards them as I hiked back for backpack and extra gear we dropped.
I met up with him two ridges past and we both got a look at where they went. He was doing his best to follow but since I stayed higher up I knew exactly the ravine they went into and did not see them go out. Another mile in we prepared ourselves as it was going to be close this time. As we came around the final ridge they were all under 200 yards in a little bowl. My dad raised the gun but I told him to wait. It seemed like it took 5 minutes for the bull to clear the cows as they milled about but when I gave the ok the shot slammed into the front shoulder. Now they all started to run straight up with the bull. I could see he was hurt but very mobile so I had him shoot again. Second shot put him down. We didn’t say much as we hiked over to the critter trying to process that we actually ran down a herd and got one on the ground. A nice 6x6.
A few phots and I leave my dad with food, water and my havalon knife. GPS said we had hiked 3 miles but I could cut a little off by going straight over to the jeep. I had to race over there and drive about 20 miles around the big drainage system and hope to find a place to cross to get within a mile. I was getting nervous now as I realized I will likely get back at dark. I gave my dad some lights and my coat and tell him to just stay with the animal and don’t do anything but skin the back of it. Don’t overwork yourself type of thing. We didn’t have any form of communication as I didn’t plan on 3 miles. Later we shared our fears of the other on their own. He feared I would step in a hole and break my leg and I would be out in the middle and not be able to get to the jeep. I feared he would cut himself as he has done in the past and bleed out before I get there. Neither happened however he did break the blade within 30 minutes. He then got out his little pocketknife and was able to mostly cape it and dismantle two quarters with sharpening his knife on a rock over and over. I guess I didn’t leave him all the tools needed.
We got lucky and I found a two track that hadn’t been used in years. It came to within 250 yards of the critter. I got there just in time as he was pretty cold. I sent him down to the jeep to warm up as I continued cutting. It was dark shortly after he got to the jeep. It took a lot longer than it should as he was struggling to warm up and I was trying to finish the big critter on my own. We didn’t get back to the trailer until around 1:00am. Lot of work but we both had a great time. He is now full time in that boot trying to get healed for next season.
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