Got a late start Saturday and didn't see anything all day.
Sunday we got there before light and had some better luck. Got on 5 bulls within minutes then a small heard about 1/2 hour later. We ranged them at 215 yards, but my heartbeat took away any chance at a shot. Ran back to quad to get the bipod, but could not get the bipod open before they took off. Each of the next three chances were ruined by nerves.
Changed locations to try and get ahead of the direction they headed. Found the heard again about 1/2 hour later at about 1500 yards. Started the sneak on foot and quickley had to go to knees.
The sneak was ~2 miles mostly hands and knees as they fed AWAY from me. They finally bed down and I got to 75, a little closer than I had planned. All I could see were the antlers of the bull which were huge and looked to be 6x7 sticking up above the brush. Something on the other side spooked them and all of a sudden I was 75 yards from about 15 standing elk. One was nice enough to stand broadside on a small mound. Dropped it were it stood with a lung shot.
After many, many years of deer hunting by gun and bow, this is the 1st big game animal I've killed. Took a long time for the adreniline to wear off!
A good friend was with me for moral support and to laugh while I was shoulders deep in it. Oh yeah, and to get it in the back of the truck. The lifting was tough, but not as tough as the many miles he hiked (a good 10 miles!) looking for his quad that he forgot where he parked.
Yort stopped by and congradulated me on what he thought was a pretty big mature cow. I had no time to compare sizes when the opportunity presented itself and wondered how it sized up.
Things learned on the hunt:
- Load gun 1st thing.
-Extend and carry your bipod.
-You can't catch an elk on foot no matter how fast you run.
-Borrow your daughters volleyball knee pads.
-Set your scope tragectory setting from the original 200 yards back down to 75 yards so you don't almost shoot over the elks back. (The lung shot should have been a heart shot~)
-Carry radios so your partner doen't have to walk so far when your truck is only 1/4 mile away.
Sunday we got there before light and had some better luck. Got on 5 bulls within minutes then a small heard about 1/2 hour later. We ranged them at 215 yards, but my heartbeat took away any chance at a shot. Ran back to quad to get the bipod, but could not get the bipod open before they took off. Each of the next three chances were ruined by nerves.
Changed locations to try and get ahead of the direction they headed. Found the heard again about 1/2 hour later at about 1500 yards. Started the sneak on foot and quickley had to go to knees.
The sneak was ~2 miles mostly hands and knees as they fed AWAY from me. They finally bed down and I got to 75, a little closer than I had planned. All I could see were the antlers of the bull which were huge and looked to be 6x7 sticking up above the brush. Something on the other side spooked them and all of a sudden I was 75 yards from about 15 standing elk. One was nice enough to stand broadside on a small mound. Dropped it were it stood with a lung shot.
After many, many years of deer hunting by gun and bow, this is the 1st big game animal I've killed. Took a long time for the adreniline to wear off!
A good friend was with me for moral support and to laugh while I was shoulders deep in it. Oh yeah, and to get it in the back of the truck. The lifting was tough, but not as tough as the many miles he hiked (a good 10 miles!) looking for his quad that he forgot where he parked.
Yort stopped by and congradulated me on what he thought was a pretty big mature cow. I had no time to compare sizes when the opportunity presented itself and wondered how it sized up.
Things learned on the hunt:
- Load gun 1st thing.
-Extend and carry your bipod.
-You can't catch an elk on foot no matter how fast you run.
-Borrow your daughters volleyball knee pads.
-Set your scope tragectory setting from the original 200 yards back down to 75 yards so you don't almost shoot over the elks back. (The lung shot should have been a heart shot~)
-Carry radios so your partner doen't have to walk so far when your truck is only 1/4 mile away.
