superduty
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2004
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Well, we hunted a total of five days. The first three were on opener and man was it cold. The wind didn't stop blowing and it snowed with zero visibility on and off the whole time. I drug the weekend worrior in on 4x4 roads untill we couldn't go any further and made camp. We hunted hard only to see some beautiful sunrises, pleanty of yotes, and one statellite bull. Due to basketball we couldn't get back out untill this last weekend. Once again it was cold. The fog monster attacked Saturday. We hit some of the most nasty snowy roads in 4wheel and spent the whole day looking untill just before dark but too late for shooting when I spotted elk. They were like ants rolling over this rocky mountain terrain into the lower bowls to feed on the tall grass sticking out from the snow. There were hundreds! We marked the spot on the GPS and headed home 81 miles with 30 being in 4wheel drive pushing snow. Sunday we leave the house around 3:15 A.M. and make our numbers by first light. I took a road up the mountain praying it might lead us towards the top where the elk had been feeding.
When I get there I glass a two herds of elk several miles away and already moving away from us. We unload and head out trying to catch them before cresting the ridgeline. When we get there we try a set up and it's long, a good 450 yd shot but I tell him to pick out a nice one and give it a go. He unloads his newly gifted 300 weatherby with no results. I can't even tell where he is shooting with the snow and all. From there we head out and find another herd of 300 and they too take off before we can get within a couple of miles from them. I suppose they have been getting presure all season and these late hunts are hard. They bed on the top of snowy ridges right out in the open and with all those eyes looking in different directions they can pin you from miles away. We try anyways to cut them off but he only has time to make one shot and a miss. I tell him to jump off the side and hike down to the area and make sure he missed and I would double around and maybe kick up some straglers. When I make it around to the other side some 45 minutes later I did spot another smaller herd of 40 or 50 running right at me. They turn and start back towards my son Lane and I here him start shooting. Another empty gun and no elk down yet. I pick him up in the Arctic Cat and wouldn't you know it we are side hilling when we hit a large rock under the snow and it rolls us. After picking up the pieces, cleaning the guns and taking a couple of shots to make sure there still on we take off again.
This time I tell him shooting practice is over and it's time to get serious. We go high and we glass up another herd bedded down some 6 miles down in another valley once again ontop of a bare snowy ridge. We roll within 2 miles of them in a steep ravine and stop. The spotting scope got set up and me and my 13 year old son Lane take off from there. We figure it is the safest way. The stalk take nearly two hours going down the valley and up the largest, steepest, snowiest mountain to only find two more on the other side we needed to get over. I tell him that this is going to either be awesome or a train wreck being the terrain forced us to make the stalk to the last hill and bringing us within 53 yards off all the elk. It worked and we peek over the hill to see all of them bedded. I tell my son to take his time. I pick out a nice cow and tell him where to aim. Boom he misses again. They all get up but nobody runs. There all looking at each other trying to see if anyone knows what just happend. I tell him to rack another and take the same one. Boom, this time he says he hit her. I'm looking right at her and nothing, I tell him to shoot again but he says she's going down. I tell him he missed and shoot again and he says she's down. Apparently he was shooting at a totally different elk then the one I thought he was so I look down some ways and sure enough he had his first elk down. We high five and I tell him to reload while we head down.
It turns out she is larger then my elk this year and boy did he let me know about it. I'm very proud of him. Now we just have to work on his pre trigger jitters. I suppose when those are gone ther is no reason to keep hunting, hell I even was shaking while looking through my binos. Here are some picks. Some are taken from several miles away through the spotting scope of elk and our stalk. Enjoy!!
When I get there I glass a two herds of elk several miles away and already moving away from us. We unload and head out trying to catch them before cresting the ridgeline. When we get there we try a set up and it's long, a good 450 yd shot but I tell him to pick out a nice one and give it a go. He unloads his newly gifted 300 weatherby with no results. I can't even tell where he is shooting with the snow and all. From there we head out and find another herd of 300 and they too take off before we can get within a couple of miles from them. I suppose they have been getting presure all season and these late hunts are hard. They bed on the top of snowy ridges right out in the open and with all those eyes looking in different directions they can pin you from miles away. We try anyways to cut them off but he only has time to make one shot and a miss. I tell him to jump off the side and hike down to the area and make sure he missed and I would double around and maybe kick up some straglers. When I make it around to the other side some 45 minutes later I did spot another smaller herd of 40 or 50 running right at me. They turn and start back towards my son Lane and I here him start shooting. Another empty gun and no elk down yet. I pick him up in the Arctic Cat and wouldn't you know it we are side hilling when we hit a large rock under the snow and it rolls us. After picking up the pieces, cleaning the guns and taking a couple of shots to make sure there still on we take off again.
This time I tell him shooting practice is over and it's time to get serious. We go high and we glass up another herd bedded down some 6 miles down in another valley once again ontop of a bare snowy ridge. We roll within 2 miles of them in a steep ravine and stop. The spotting scope got set up and me and my 13 year old son Lane take off from there. We figure it is the safest way. The stalk take nearly two hours going down the valley and up the largest, steepest, snowiest mountain to only find two more on the other side we needed to get over. I tell him that this is going to either be awesome or a train wreck being the terrain forced us to make the stalk to the last hill and bringing us within 53 yards off all the elk. It worked and we peek over the hill to see all of them bedded. I tell my son to take his time. I pick out a nice cow and tell him where to aim. Boom he misses again. They all get up but nobody runs. There all looking at each other trying to see if anyone knows what just happend. I tell him to rack another and take the same one. Boom, this time he says he hit her. I'm looking right at her and nothing, I tell him to shoot again but he says she's going down. I tell him he missed and shoot again and he says she's down. Apparently he was shooting at a totally different elk then the one I thought he was so I look down some ways and sure enough he had his first elk down. We high five and I tell him to reload while we head down.
It turns out she is larger then my elk this year and boy did he let me know about it. I'm very proud of him. Now we just have to work on his pre trigger jitters. I suppose when those are gone ther is no reason to keep hunting, hell I even was shaking while looking through my binos. Here are some picks. Some are taken from several miles away through the spotting scope of elk and our stalk. Enjoy!!
atiotic-wavin-flag
