ashersdad
Well-known member
Asher drew a Wyoming tag his first year applying. We tried bow hunting for a few days with no luck.
We were lucky enough to have my Dad join us.
Hunting can be tiring for a 13yr old.
We decided to come back for the rifle hunt. Because of his school commitments we missed the first 4 days of the season. I picked Asher up at lunch time and we hit the road. We drove all night and made it to the trail head at 3:30am the next morning. After catching an hour of sleep, we took off. We got to where we wanted to be at first light and no elk. We glassed for a couple hours with no elk sightings. Well some of us glassed.
So we decided to hike towards the top. We got up to a good glassing point around 1pm and settled down to glass for the afternoon.
We practiced some aiming and dry firing.
With about 30 minutes of light, we decided to start moving down towards the trailhead where we would be meeting Grandpa. When we got down part way, I looked across to the next canyon and saw a small herd of elk. I grabbed Asher and said we gotta move, as we don't have much time. We ran down the canyon and started up the opposite side. It was super steep and we were beat. I hurried to get to the top and could still see the elk but the wind was wrong. I knew if we could get to a knob in front of us, we would be in range but that they would wind us immediately. I told Asher that we would belly crawl over the knob and that I would range them and that he should just get on any elk that was broadside and standing still because they wouldn't stand still for long with the wind. I knew there wasn't any big bulls in the herd and his tag was good for any elk.
We belly crawled to the knob and the lead cow immediately smelled us and started moving off. I quickly told Asher 352 yards and to shoot the last elk that was still broadside and not moving. He shot and I knew it was a hit. The herd took off and his elk slowly walked away from us towards the trees. Asher shot a couple more times but I couldn't tell where he was hitting. Finally about 10 yards from the trees the elk layed down. It was now getting pretty dark and I couldn't tell if the elk was dead or just down. We probably should have backed out but I decided we should hike over there since we were so far from the truck. When we got over to where we thought the elk was it was pretty much dark. I couldn't see the elk and I almost stepped on it and it jumped up and ran into the trees. I knew I had screwed up. I knew how far an elk could go when bumped.
We were both bummed out as we hiked out. Asher was especially upset thinking we had lost a wounded elk. We made it out late that night and met up with my Dad. We decided I would get up early and hike back up to start looking. My Dad who is not in great health would head up slowly with Asher.
It took me 2 hours to hike back up and pick up the tracks from the night before. There was very little blood but as I entered the trees I found the elk only about 40 yards in. I was surprised to see it was a small spike.
I was able to call my Dad and give him the good news. I told him I would break the bull down and bring the quarters down to them so they wouldn't have to hike up the mountain. It took several trips and the rest of the day but we got it all out. It turned into a great day.
We were lucky enough to have my Dad join us.
Hunting can be tiring for a 13yr old.
We decided to come back for the rifle hunt. Because of his school commitments we missed the first 4 days of the season. I picked Asher up at lunch time and we hit the road. We drove all night and made it to the trail head at 3:30am the next morning. After catching an hour of sleep, we took off. We got to where we wanted to be at first light and no elk. We glassed for a couple hours with no elk sightings. Well some of us glassed.
So we decided to hike towards the top. We got up to a good glassing point around 1pm and settled down to glass for the afternoon.
We practiced some aiming and dry firing.
With about 30 minutes of light, we decided to start moving down towards the trailhead where we would be meeting Grandpa. When we got down part way, I looked across to the next canyon and saw a small herd of elk. I grabbed Asher and said we gotta move, as we don't have much time. We ran down the canyon and started up the opposite side. It was super steep and we were beat. I hurried to get to the top and could still see the elk but the wind was wrong. I knew if we could get to a knob in front of us, we would be in range but that they would wind us immediately. I told Asher that we would belly crawl over the knob and that I would range them and that he should just get on any elk that was broadside and standing still because they wouldn't stand still for long with the wind. I knew there wasn't any big bulls in the herd and his tag was good for any elk.
We belly crawled to the knob and the lead cow immediately smelled us and started moving off. I quickly told Asher 352 yards and to shoot the last elk that was still broadside and not moving. He shot and I knew it was a hit. The herd took off and his elk slowly walked away from us towards the trees. Asher shot a couple more times but I couldn't tell where he was hitting. Finally about 10 yards from the trees the elk layed down. It was now getting pretty dark and I couldn't tell if the elk was dead or just down. We probably should have backed out but I decided we should hike over there since we were so far from the truck. When we got over to where we thought the elk was it was pretty much dark. I couldn't see the elk and I almost stepped on it and it jumped up and ran into the trees. I knew I had screwed up. I knew how far an elk could go when bumped.
We were both bummed out as we hiked out. Asher was especially upset thinking we had lost a wounded elk. We made it out late that night and met up with my Dad. We decided I would get up early and hike back up to start looking. My Dad who is not in great health would head up slowly with Asher.
It took me 2 hours to hike back up and pick up the tracks from the night before. There was very little blood but as I entered the trees I found the elk only about 40 yards in. I was surprised to see it was a small spike.
I was able to call my Dad and give him the good news. I told him I would break the bull down and bring the quarters down to them so they wouldn't have to hike up the mountain. It took several trips and the rest of the day but we got it all out. It turned into a great day.
