Back From my Elk pilgrimage!

[wyemjohnson]

nice looking bull 2rocky!

What area of WY were you in?

What about the bear?

 

[2rocky]

Now that we had the bull down it's pretty straight forward right?

Elk are tough critters. This bull even with a 180-grain nosler partition through the shoulder, still had a heart beat!

I finished him with a shot in the back of the neck. It turns out the bullet had penetrated the shoulder and ribcage, but we could not find any trace of the bullet entering the lungs or heart when we evicerated him.

I sent the guide back to get pack horses, and to tell my dad and brother in law I had one down. They finally came up to my location after I walked down to the creek a 1/2 down canyon and waved to show them the way. We got out my Wyoming saw and started quartering the bull, in anticipation of pack horses arriving soon.

We finished the quartering job, and cut the antlers off and sat down for lunch with our eyes on the treeline 100 yards away. I had told them both about our bear run in and so we didn't want to stick around a kill site very long. I stated as we worked on our roast beef sandwich that If the pack horses weren't here by the time I finished my lunch that I was going to load the quarters on my saddle horse and walk out. Mike, my brother in law volunteered his horse also. We didn't want to meet the local "Golden Bear".

We loaded the front quarters on my horse with a basket hitch and crows foot, using 50 foot of 3/8 kernmantle climbing rope that I always carry in my pack (I was going to get rid of it but not now!) I half hitched it arounnd the horn and looped it around the cantle of the saddle. The hind quarters I used a barrel hitch with 100 feet of Parachute cord, that I won at our annual 3-d archery shoot raffle! I put the liver in a garbage sack in my Badlands 2200, and put the rack in the meat packing pullout and we started down off the mountain on our 6 mile hike back to camp.

When we hit camp at about 1:30 or 2 pm., folks started boiling out of tents as we walked in. The guide started apologizing profusely for leaving us alone up there but when he got back to camp, the other guide had taken the pack horses to pack out a bull my uncle had killed (remember the shots we heard?) They weren't even back yet.

The guides were amazed that a CALIFORNIAN could pack out an elk much less quarter one...I just grinned and told 'em they just needed a copy of Joe Back's book, Horses Hitches and Rocky trails! Besides, even a Cali country boy can survive!

By the end of 5 days we were 4 for 5 on bulls. My brother in law killed a nice 6 point 3 days later at 80 yards, Jerome killed a heavy 4x4 bull 1 day later, and my uncles bull from that day was a 3x4. We had a good time in the evenings!

the only pic I have of Mike's bull. (Pretty good for a first elk huh?)

The rest of the group.

 

[2rocky]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wyemjohnson @ Oct 4 2007, 08:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

nice looking bull 2rocky!

What area of WY were you in?

What about the bear?

[/b]

Lets just say I took my elk to Cowboy Natural Meats on Gregory Lane! I was in your neck of the woods!

The bear left us alone and we returned the favor!

Saw plenty of bear trees and tracks. Never caught sight of a live grizzly though.

 

[Speckmisser]

Pretty work, fellas!

Glad to see/read the CA boys representing! We're not all citified, L.A. Sissies.

Although I must admit, I need to learn those packing knots.

 

[Arrowslinger]

Right on!!! Big congrats on the bull.

 

[Kentuck]

Congrats on the elk and thanks for sharing.

 

[wyemjohnson]

sounds like the outfitter should have been paying you to train his staff! Good job! Yep, I've been in the processing plant many times this fall.

 

[One Track]

John:

Congrats on you bull! Nice trip. Sure it pretty up there in those hills. You guys look like a bunch of camo'd out cowboys

 

['Ike']

Very nice, great hunt!

 

[photohunter]

Great story and pics. You got a nice bull there. Congrats!