2 hour's in the wood's, 2 shot's , 2 elk, it doesn't get any better than that
Opening morning we were supposed to get up to 20 inches of snow, all we got was rain and wind so when the other hunters went into the woods before light I decieded to wait out the rain, I can't take a chance on catching cold, saw a break in the weather so I went in about 8:00 am, got situated in my popup blind and began the wait
Soon deer started to filter into the meadow and along with them came a nice 5x5 with cheater's that proceeded to graze 40 yd's from me for about 30 minute's, of course I had decided NOT to get a deer tag so at least it kept me occupied for a while
I heard a short bugle from about 500 yds away and I noticed the deer stareing in that direction, soon another short tending grunt then a third, I thought it was unusual this late in the season but we had seen a bull trying to mount a cow the day before in another area.
I srarted cow calling figuring what the heck it's worth a try, Then I saw the elk herd, they were in the wood's about 500 yd's away working their way around the meadow but staying concealed by the tree's.
I figured there was no way they would ever make it up to where I was but maybe the 2 other hunter's on the ranch might get a shot, they worked their way completly around the meadow checking everything out, luckily for me we had a north wind and they could'nt wind me, I hate blind's preferring to spot and stalk or tree stand hunt but because of the rain I had no other choice.
suddenly I notice the deer leaving the meadow but because of the small window's I couldn't see the rest of the meadow, I moved to the right and looked out and saw elk coming into the meadow about 250 yds away, I positioned myself to shoot and waited, ther were 7 bull's in the herd, I had about 10 minutes as they came into the meadow to pick out the bull I wanted to shoot but they were coming towards me and the wind was right so I decided to see how close the would get, I chose a nice 5x5 and was going to take him when the time was right, they came another 50yds closer and there was at least 40 animals in the herd,
I kepy my eye on the lead cow in case she got nervous and then I would have to shoot quickly,the lead cow suddenly turned around and bolted back the way she came and the rest of the herd followed, I aimed at the bull I wanted who was at about 200 yds easy shot but then they started milling around together not letting me get a clear shot, then I lost sight of my targeted 5x5, when you're looking through bino's ot's easy to get a general view but through the scope the field of vision is very small.
I just couldn't get a clear shot lined up and they were heading out of dodge, I mentally kicked my azz for not taking the clear shot I had at 250 yds,a bul stepped away from the group for a second, it wasn't the 5x5 I wanted but he was legal so I cranked off a round, I heard the twack of the 225 gr barnes and it sounded like a solid hit ,
the rest of the herd was moving quickly into the wood's , I reloaded and got back on target to finish off my bull, he was standing broadside with his head drooping so I figured he was hit hard, this is where GREED step's in , my cardinal rule and I've used it on all of the 13 elk I've killed is, don't stop shooting until he's on the ground. I swung around to see where the elk went, they were about 300 yds away but moving slower so I decided to fill my cow tag , a monster cow almost as big as the bull made the mistake of stopping to look back, I touched off a round and again heard the loud TWACK of the bullet so I knew it was a solid hit, I patted myself on the back and swung around to finish of my bull if he needed it,
guess what ? no bull in the meadow, how could this be? I checked out the cow and she was not there either !!!
I instantly got sick to my stomach, I had broken my own rule and it looked like it was going to cost me big time. I proceeded to mentally beat the crap out of myself, George Foreman could not have done a better job,
I headed down into the meadow to look for the bull, no blood and he was nowhere in sight, I decided to try and find the cow and headed into the wood's,I heard a shot from the direction the herd had gone and thought" well there goe's my bull ".
I heard talking up on the hill and called out, the other hunter said I killed a bull wait there we'll come to you,
as they were coming thru the wood's they yelled out " did you shoot a cow ? " I said yes and he replied "she's up here ", so I thought the day's not a total loss,I met them at my cow and he told me he had shot a wounded bull, my heart sank, he said "if you hit him first he's your's" I said no way , my stupidity cost me that bull and I still have 8 day's left, they said lets go down and make sure its the same bull so we went into the meadow, we were looking for blood when one of the guys that was in a thick brushed depression yelled out, look what I found, it was my bull !! I thanked GOD and everybody else I could think of and we proceeded to dress them out,, short but wonderfull season, Bill
Opening morning we were supposed to get up to 20 inches of snow, all we got was rain and wind so when the other hunters went into the woods before light I decieded to wait out the rain, I can't take a chance on catching cold, saw a break in the weather so I went in about 8:00 am, got situated in my popup blind and began the wait
Soon deer started to filter into the meadow and along with them came a nice 5x5 with cheater's that proceeded to graze 40 yd's from me for about 30 minute's, of course I had decided NOT to get a deer tag so at least it kept me occupied for a while
I heard a short bugle from about 500 yds away and I noticed the deer stareing in that direction, soon another short tending grunt then a third, I thought it was unusual this late in the season but we had seen a bull trying to mount a cow the day before in another area.
I srarted cow calling figuring what the heck it's worth a try, Then I saw the elk herd, they were in the wood's about 500 yd's away working their way around the meadow but staying concealed by the tree's.
I figured there was no way they would ever make it up to where I was but maybe the 2 other hunter's on the ranch might get a shot, they worked their way completly around the meadow checking everything out, luckily for me we had a north wind and they could'nt wind me, I hate blind's preferring to spot and stalk or tree stand hunt but because of the rain I had no other choice.
suddenly I notice the deer leaving the meadow but because of the small window's I couldn't see the rest of the meadow, I moved to the right and looked out and saw elk coming into the meadow about 250 yds away, I positioned myself to shoot and waited, ther were 7 bull's in the herd, I had about 10 minutes as they came into the meadow to pick out the bull I wanted to shoot but they were coming towards me and the wind was right so I decided to see how close the would get, I chose a nice 5x5 and was going to take him when the time was right, they came another 50yds closer and there was at least 40 animals in the herd,
I kepy my eye on the lead cow in case she got nervous and then I would have to shoot quickly,the lead cow suddenly turned around and bolted back the way she came and the rest of the herd followed, I aimed at the bull I wanted who was at about 200 yds easy shot but then they started milling around together not letting me get a clear shot, then I lost sight of my targeted 5x5, when you're looking through bino's ot's easy to get a general view but through the scope the field of vision is very small.
I just couldn't get a clear shot lined up and they were heading out of dodge, I mentally kicked my azz for not taking the clear shot I had at 250 yds,a bul stepped away from the group for a second, it wasn't the 5x5 I wanted but he was legal so I cranked off a round, I heard the twack of the 225 gr barnes and it sounded like a solid hit ,
the rest of the herd was moving quickly into the wood's , I reloaded and got back on target to finish off my bull, he was standing broadside with his head drooping so I figured he was hit hard, this is where GREED step's in , my cardinal rule and I've used it on all of the 13 elk I've killed is, don't stop shooting until he's on the ground. I swung around to see where the elk went, they were about 300 yds away but moving slower so I decided to fill my cow tag , a monster cow almost as big as the bull made the mistake of stopping to look back, I touched off a round and again heard the loud TWACK of the bullet so I knew it was a solid hit, I patted myself on the back and swung around to finish of my bull if he needed it,
guess what ? no bull in the meadow, how could this be? I checked out the cow and she was not there either !!!
I instantly got sick to my stomach, I had broken my own rule and it looked like it was going to cost me big time. I proceeded to mentally beat the crap out of myself, George Foreman could not have done a better job,
I headed down into the meadow to look for the bull, no blood and he was nowhere in sight, I decided to try and find the cow and headed into the wood's,I heard a shot from the direction the herd had gone and thought" well there goe's my bull ".
I heard talking up on the hill and called out, the other hunter said I killed a bull wait there we'll come to you,
as they were coming thru the wood's they yelled out " did you shoot a cow ? " I said yes and he replied "she's up here ", so I thought the day's not a total loss,I met them at my cow and he told me he had shot a wounded bull, my heart sank, he said "if you hit him first he's your's" I said no way , my stupidity cost me that bull and I still have 8 day's left, they said lets go down and make sure its the same bull so we went into the meadow, we were looking for blood when one of the guys that was in a thick brushed depression yelled out, look what I found, it was my bull !! I thanked GOD and everybody else I could think of and we proceeded to dress them out,, short but wonderfull season, Bill
