So… this year we were blessed with permits and elk!

This last weekend after Steve shot his elk last Saturday (12/1/07) and then he got to play guide for me… It was an amazing thing that he was the one that saw all the elk this past weekend… because before now the only elk that he spotted was the one that he shot… (hahaha – gotta get those hurtful words in).

We had all types of weather from monsoon rain to sunshine and then when coming home we had 2 inches of snow in just about an hour and continuing.

Well… Steve spotted an elk in the down pouring rain and I put the sneak on them, it ended up being 4 elk, I sneaked through the rain to within 55 yards and took my time and leaned up against a tree, I take my slowing breaths, slow in, slow out, hold for a second, squeeze the set trigger, then squeeze the hair trigger…. CLICK!!!! And off RUN the elk… in my mind I am screaming NO… wet powder and primer!

Then there was the “Hey there are some more elk…” now I run up a hill (in a squat) to get ahead of the elk as they feed up an Old Growth stand of trees… I make it up the hill losing sight as I am moving squatted down… Oh, now I am way too far ahead of them… so I try and move down on them… well they didn’t like something so they ran away from me… I run after (can’t match their stride).. but I cow chirp as I go… next thing I know I am looking at 3 elk about 25 yards away… and off they go again… we play cat and mouse for about an hour… and then finally I can’t see them anymore… and start walking back towards the truck… well.. there they are again, about 40 yards... I put the smokepole (gun) and squeeze… Flash BANG… and off they run… (you can’t see through the smoke cloud)… so I reload… then start looking for blood sign… and call Steve on the radio… and we spend the rest of the day… tracking with no blood sign… and no sign of elk… this is about from 10:30am until dark (4:40pm). Missed!!!!

Now, another day… out of the many spent (11 days total)…

Well “The Guide” Steve is grumbling about being hungry… and he hasn’t spotted any elk on Saturday… I think that and no food was making him grumpy… and he was cold (boohoo)… so I told him that we could drive up way high, in the sun and look over some clear cuts while making and eating some sandwiches… we get up there 12:51pm… I am telling him that we should be seeing elk in those clearings since the sun should have unfrozen the “green browse” but we don’t see anything… then I finish making my sandwich… and look again… I think hmmm… put down my sandwich and look through my binoculars… and I say “Hey, I got elk… !”, Steve starts whining about “…don’t even get a break to eat or get a drink… blah blah blah…” I tell him “Drive me down to the gate, and I will start the run/hike in and put the sneak on them, and you can drive back up and watch it with the spotting scope and eat you lunch.” So off we drive…

I get to the gate grab the smokepole and head out… well I start hauling ass up hill… on the gravel road… then Steve test the radio… and tells me that I should drop down hill and cut into the trees… I figured that was my plan… and then come out at the elk from the Old Growth and darkness… I am sneaking and trying to sound like an elk, and the wind is working out coming from the clear-cut to the dark trees… I can’t see the elk and only hear some sticks and branches breaking… so I see an old “squid road” and start sneaking out… hoping that I am close to the elk… I look and look… see nothing then see an elk trial coming down to me… that go next to a large “ancient” stump... I sneak up to it and look some more… Nothing… so I call “The Guide” (who is an air traffic controller – which helped)… I ask if he still sees them… and yup… but he can’t see me… I take off my hat since Steve says that my bald head really stands out… and he sees me and says they are grazing towards where I am standing behind the stump…. Now comes the waiting game and planning when and what to do next… PATIENTS and CALM… well the elk are moving back and forth from the clearing to the tree line moving around downed trees… so I start looking for shooting lanes… and measured some distances… Then I decide that whatever the first “antlerless elk” (our permits) is that walks past my marked tree (40 yards) I am shooting… now CALM YOUR BREATHING DOWN… and I line up on the spot… and watch… an elk walks between me and the mark and takes a quartering away step… and I squeeze the set trigger and then the breath in and out, hold and squeeze the hair trigger BANG… and then all hell breaks loose with elk running back into the clear-cut… I am franticly reloading… and then I can’t see the elk anymore… but over the radio Steve is YELLING “It’s Down, It’s Down!” “Alright!”… then the work begin to get my elk out in the dark with just head lights (flashlights)…

We were BLESSED…!

So… we have a cow (Steve’s) and my calf at the butcher…!








CHEERS....

(flame on if you must)

Meat down!

saaweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

You have some good eats there, congrats.

Nice job, With all the new guns out there I am glad to see that there is still someone out there doing it old school. you can't beat the original muzzleloaders for there killing power.

kenzmad

Sounds like a good hunt to me... Good on ya for getting your animal.

I willbe back at it friday and sat.

Nice, meats meat, let's eat. I need to learn to shoot my muzzleloader and get out there.

Congrats! Was that a SW Washington or Oregon ELK?

BBD,
Looks like Mt. Rainier in the background. That ought to get you close.