Orygun
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My dad drew the period 3 West Tinemaha cow tag this year. I drove down to help out on the hunt. Opening morning found us and the 7 of the 8 other tag holders watching the hay fields west of 395 bythe hatchery. About half of the elk in the “unit” were in the field. The grower got up at daybreak, got on his quad and tried pushing the elk out of his fields. Just about everyone was parked about 300 yds off the road further west. Not much of a hunt when the elk are sent to you like that. But, never fear, a couple tag holders did their best to make it a real hunt for everyone else. <o
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We saw a white 4 door pickup parked at side of the fields. The elk went toward the and then turned away from them and went south. Undaunted, the intrepid hunters furiously and with great stealth powered their truck down the county road to get in front of the herd. Which then saw them and turned back north. And not to be outmaneuvered the truck sprint northward to get in front of the elk. This happened a couple times. Another tag holder also decides to play going up and down the road. <o></o>
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The masters of the hunt then managed to get ahead of them as the elk reached a chokepoint in the road. They then ran westward into the actual hunt zone. These hunter’s hunters were waiting for them and let loose several rounds felling one elk. You wait 8 plus years to get a tag and you want to end that hunt by Spot and Sprint car stalking?
Your call man, not my up of Joe.<o></o>
The elk continue westward and upward to Crater Mountain, a large volcanic cone that one can see from the highway. We follow foot as do about half the tag holders as we watch the elk climb the mountain. We talk with them and decide that since there are several dozen cows and a few of us that we all try and co-operate on the herd. This seems very reasonable. <o></o>
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Guess what also opened that Saturday? Quail and chukar. As we watch the elk climb the mountain a pair of hunters and their dog are working chukar between the elk and us. Each volley of shot sends the herd up just a bit farther. <o></o>
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The tag holders all go their separate ways. I glassed the herd till it disappears over the mountain. The next morning finds us back at the field with no elk in sight. I have a hunch they are somewhere on the mountain. Dad reluctantly agrees that we should go find them. We park on a power line road and as we are getting the packs on I glass the mountain. I find some cows. <o></o>
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We then set off after them and eventually find the herd. We sit on them for a couple hours hoping the feed toward us. They decide to sleep. Dad puts a nice stalk on them getting 120 yds in with the .308. Two shots in the vitals does it. Opening day was 84 degrees. It’s only 71 degrees up on the mtn. <o></o>
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An hour of photos, skinning, quartering and boning out of meat and we are hauling it out. If you have ever chased upland game through lava fields you know how hard it is to walk on the basketball sized boulders. Even more fun when it is steep terrain with 80 pounds of meat on your back. Only took three trips and 4 hours but we got the meat and head out to the truck 1.5 miles out and 1500 feet below us. He nice thunderstorm helps cool us and the meat down.<o></o>
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Definitely a much harder hunt hen we thought we would have.
Picked up some ice in Big Pine and almost got sideswiped by a GMC motor-home driven by a 80+ yrd old Canadian who could not hear me laying on the horn of my Ram as he pulled into the curb. Elk is hanging at the Meat House in Bishop for future hamburger and roastification. Nice guys there. <o></o>
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The rest of the week was spent fishing, chasing upland game, and checking out the aspen up in the canyons. It rained most every day and there was a lot of snow up around the 12,000 foot level.
There were there other tag holders at the campground and all did eventually get their cow as the herd did go back into the fields. I imagine the going would have been easier for us if we had waited, but that's how it goes.
<o></o>All in all a great week.
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></o><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o
></o>We saw a white 4 door pickup parked at side of the fields. The elk went toward the and then turned away from them and went south. Undaunted, the intrepid hunters furiously and with great stealth powered their truck down the county road to get in front of the herd. Which then saw them and turned back north. And not to be outmaneuvered the truck sprint northward to get in front of the elk. This happened a couple times. Another tag holder also decides to play going up and down the road. <o
></o><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o
></o>The masters of the hunt then managed to get ahead of them as the elk reached a chokepoint in the road. They then ran westward into the actual hunt zone. These hunter’s hunters were waiting for them and let loose several rounds felling one elk. You wait 8 plus years to get a tag and you want to end that hunt by Spot and Sprint car stalking?
Your call man, not my up of Joe.<o
></o> The elk continue westward and upward to Crater Mountain, a large volcanic cone that one can see from the highway. We follow foot as do about half the tag holders as we watch the elk climb the mountain. We talk with them and decide that since there are several dozen cows and a few of us that we all try and co-operate on the herd. This seems very reasonable. <o
></o><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o
></o>Guess what also opened that Saturday? Quail and chukar. As we watch the elk climb the mountain a pair of hunters and their dog are working chukar between the elk and us. Each volley of shot sends the herd up just a bit farther. <o
></o><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o
></o>The tag holders all go their separate ways. I glassed the herd till it disappears over the mountain. The next morning finds us back at the field with no elk in sight. I have a hunch they are somewhere on the mountain. Dad reluctantly agrees that we should go find them. We park on a power line road and as we are getting the packs on I glass the mountain. I find some cows. <o
></o><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o
></o>We then set off after them and eventually find the herd. We sit on them for a couple hours hoping the feed toward us. They decide to sleep. Dad puts a nice stalk on them getting 120 yds in with the .308. Two shots in the vitals does it. Opening day was 84 degrees. It’s only 71 degrees up on the mtn. <o
></o><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o
></o>An hour of photos, skinning, quartering and boning out of meat and we are hauling it out. If you have ever chased upland game through lava fields you know how hard it is to walk on the basketball sized boulders. Even more fun when it is steep terrain with 80 pounds of meat on your back. Only took three trips and 4 hours but we got the meat and head out to the truck 1.5 miles out and 1500 feet below us. He nice thunderstorm helps cool us and the meat down.<o
></o><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o
></o>Definitely a much harder hunt hen we thought we would have.
Picked up some ice in Big Pine and almost got sideswiped by a GMC motor-home driven by a 80+ yrd old Canadian who could not hear me laying on the horn of my Ram as he pulled into the curb. Elk is hanging at the Meat House in Bishop for future hamburger and roastification. Nice guys there. <o
></o><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o
></o>The rest of the week was spent fishing, chasing upland game, and checking out the aspen up in the canyons. It rained most every day and there was a lot of snow up around the 12,000 foot level.
There were there other tag holders at the campground and all did eventually get their cow as the herd did go back into the fields. I imagine the going would have been easier for us if we had waited, but that's how it goes.
<o
></o>All in all a great week.<!--EndFragment-->
