Time to talk elk hunting!!! Let's hear your stories. Bulls that got away and bulls that hit the ground. Memories that are etched in your mind forever, be it trips with family and friends or a trip that went to hell in a handcart. I want to hear them. What stories hold special meaning to you? Don't be shy, let's hear them.
Let's Hear Some Elk Stories!!!
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vinihunt
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Rio Chama/Humphries (unit 4) Near Chama, NM
Welp!! here is the story about my elk hunting...Friday, the day before the second season elk hunt starts here in NM, my 3 cousins, my brother louis and i rode all day on horseback to get to know the area better!! We saw probably around 20 bulls and a lots of cows! Nothing big than 6x6's but we saw 2 big 5x5's probably even a 6x6. We decided to leave the area and come back the next day to see if they were still there...
Went back to the corral and loaded the horses and headed back to our cabin, about a 15-20 min drive with the horse trailer, usually 10-15 min drive but...the another hunter stopped by to greeting us...his brother have a tag also, said that was last weekend hunt, 4 hunters out of 10 hunters bagged an elk...the area where i hunt only issued 10 tags. both hunters that we met lives only 14 miles from the area where we hunt, we felt good cause we had seen some good bulls then saturday morning we got up at 3am, saddled up the horses. I felt that my hunt will be good. We started to ride out to the Humphries at 3:45 am, rode for 2 hours in the dark with full of moon...we rode to the same area where we saw the bulls the day before. We got to the area around 6 am and then decided to walk to get away from the horses, cause of noise, smell. My brother and cousin chuck sat on top of the hill, my other cousin rick, mario and i went a little way down from them, probably 150 yards.
I tapped my cousin rick because i saw some elk moving and they said, where...I pointed them to the direction where they were at. THen i set up with my backpack on the ground for a good rest for rifle, i shoot with .300 weatherby with 180 federal premium bullet. The elk were just about to go into the heavy timbers and my cousins started calling, Chuck did the bull bugle, 2 cousin did the cows.One bull were very aggressive, I saw 3 good bulls, 2 of them were smart, they didn't come or answer to our calls. the bull that was aggressive became very angry, bugled, stomped on ground, trashed the tree, I told rick, " I think i'm gonna take that bull" then finally that bull decided to check us out. From 1 mile we could see the bull bounce, jump and hear him bugle. It came closer, closer around 215 yards then all of a sudden the bulls knew something was wrong, he stopped fast, sniffed and then turned broadside. I clicked off the safety and pulled the trigger, The bull just stood, then looked back real slow, I put another bullet in the chamber for another shot and shot again just in case I missed, then the bull only stepped 2 steps, and went down fast! Rick jumped on me, said awesome, awesome and baddest thing we've done! i got up and said "damn" It's great to see that reaction! I didn't even look at the antlers, only the chest when bull came and turned broadside for me to shoot, We walked up to the elk and we exchanged high 5's and hugged, something like that! of course we took several Pictures (probably many) I shot at 7:10 am, the rest of it, you know, quareting into 5 piece and stuff, we finished around 9 am and headed back to the truck..good thing it's still cold up there and back to the truck at 11 am..we put all the meat in the cooler and headed to the bacin for the skinning part..
called my wife and my son to tell them that I'm coming home. They were very excited to have me back home! we stayed at the cabin till Monday just to kick back and ate some of the fresh back staps! what a great hunting experience!! my wife was home waiting for me with my 15 month old son dressed in camo ready to take pictures with me !!
so so so sorry the story is too long! Thanks for reading..
VINIHUNT
Welp!! here is the story about my elk hunting...Friday, the day before the second season elk hunt starts here in NM, my 3 cousins, my brother louis and i rode all day on horseback to get to know the area better!! We saw probably around 20 bulls and a lots of cows! Nothing big than 6x6's but we saw 2 big 5x5's probably even a 6x6. We decided to leave the area and come back the next day to see if they were still there...
Went back to the corral and loaded the horses and headed back to our cabin, about a 15-20 min drive with the horse trailer, usually 10-15 min drive but...the another hunter stopped by to greeting us...his brother have a tag also, said that was last weekend hunt, 4 hunters out of 10 hunters bagged an elk...the area where i hunt only issued 10 tags. both hunters that we met lives only 14 miles from the area where we hunt, we felt good cause we had seen some good bulls then saturday morning we got up at 3am, saddled up the horses. I felt that my hunt will be good. We started to ride out to the Humphries at 3:45 am, rode for 2 hours in the dark with full of moon...we rode to the same area where we saw the bulls the day before. We got to the area around 6 am and then decided to walk to get away from the horses, cause of noise, smell. My brother and cousin chuck sat on top of the hill, my other cousin rick, mario and i went a little way down from them, probably 150 yards.
I tapped my cousin rick because i saw some elk moving and they said, where...I pointed them to the direction where they were at. THen i set up with my backpack on the ground for a good rest for rifle, i shoot with .300 weatherby with 180 federal premium bullet. The elk were just about to go into the heavy timbers and my cousins started calling, Chuck did the bull bugle, 2 cousin did the cows.One bull were very aggressive, I saw 3 good bulls, 2 of them were smart, they didn't come or answer to our calls. the bull that was aggressive became very angry, bugled, stomped on ground, trashed the tree, I told rick, " I think i'm gonna take that bull" then finally that bull decided to check us out. From 1 mile we could see the bull bounce, jump and hear him bugle. It came closer, closer around 215 yards then all of a sudden the bulls knew something was wrong, he stopped fast, sniffed and then turned broadside. I clicked off the safety and pulled the trigger, The bull just stood, then looked back real slow, I put another bullet in the chamber for another shot and shot again just in case I missed, then the bull only stepped 2 steps, and went down fast! Rick jumped on me, said awesome, awesome and baddest thing we've done! i got up and said "damn" It's great to see that reaction! I didn't even look at the antlers, only the chest when bull came and turned broadside for me to shoot, We walked up to the elk and we exchanged high 5's and hugged, something like that! of course we took several Pictures (probably many) I shot at 7:10 am, the rest of it, you know, quareting into 5 piece and stuff, we finished around 9 am and headed back to the truck..good thing it's still cold up there and back to the truck at 11 am..we put all the meat in the cooler and headed to the bacin for the skinning part..
called my wife and my son to tell them that I'm coming home. They were very excited to have me back home! we stayed at the cabin till Monday just to kick back and ate some of the fresh back staps! what a great hunting experience!! my wife was home waiting for me with my 15 month old son dressed in camo ready to take pictures with me !!
so so so sorry the story is too long! Thanks for reading..
VINIHUNT
Phantom Hunter
Very Active Member
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- 2,089
Elk Hunt/"Blizzard" 1994 South San Juan Wilderness, Co
Thursday morning, Three of us started up the trail leading rented saddle/pack horses. After about two-three hours on the trail we approached the area we had intended to camp (we thought). Having never been in the unit before everything was new. Up at timberline the country was fairly flat with no real landmarks. We had topo maps but were having trouble picking out landmarks. Found a good campsited at the head of a draw with a creek nearby. Set up camp and packed water. Set up picket line. Scouted around on horseback for a while. Met an older gentlemen with grown kids/nephews with him. He told us there was 18" of snow on the way. Had forgotten several small items. Allen and I decided to ride back down to truck at trailhead to retrieve them. We had only gone about a mile when the snow started-decided to go back to camp and forget about missing items. The snow was really coming down and piling up-it looked really neat to three Texas boys. Put the horses on the picket line and fixed MRE's for supper. Sometime during the night we heard a commotion near the horses. Rick got up to look, he was gone quite a while. Upon his return he said we would have a dead horse in the morning. Said the horse had tangled herself in the picket rope and had to be cut loose, said she wouldn't stand up. Morning came, snow still falling, horse standing. By now all the water we had treated was gone. Time to go for more-only problem was finding the creek-now under 2 feet or more of snow. Gathered squaw wood to build fire and melt snow. Sat. All Day gathered squaw wood to build fire to melt snow. Snow kept falling. Horse standing but hurting. Rick is now sick with stomach bug. Allan and I are bucking 4 feet of snow to gather squaw wood to build fire to melt snow. Snow keeps falling. Sometime Sat. night tent poles collapse under the weight of the snow. Sunday Morning--Snow has stopped. We dedide to try to get out with the crippled horse and sick Rick. Just as we start back down the trail here comes the older gentleman we met earlier with his family members. We fall in behind and let them break trail. Hours later when we reach the truck the snow is still up to the horses belly. I start down the gravel road with all three horses-the crippled one still plodding on. Rick and Allan start digging out the 4x4 truck. They pass me halfway down the mountain. They will contact the wrangler to meet me with the horse trailer. We never got a shot at an elk and spent most of our time in survival mode. But with the good Lord's help we made it. We also learned a lot about wilderness survival and what we should have done, brought etc to help us cope with deep snow.
Thursday morning, Three of us started up the trail leading rented saddle/pack horses. After about two-three hours on the trail we approached the area we had intended to camp (we thought). Having never been in the unit before everything was new. Up at timberline the country was fairly flat with no real landmarks. We had topo maps but were having trouble picking out landmarks. Found a good campsited at the head of a draw with a creek nearby. Set up camp and packed water. Set up picket line. Scouted around on horseback for a while. Met an older gentlemen with grown kids/nephews with him. He told us there was 18" of snow on the way. Had forgotten several small items. Allen and I decided to ride back down to truck at trailhead to retrieve them. We had only gone about a mile when the snow started-decided to go back to camp and forget about missing items. The snow was really coming down and piling up-it looked really neat to three Texas boys. Put the horses on the picket line and fixed MRE's for supper. Sometime during the night we heard a commotion near the horses. Rick got up to look, he was gone quite a while. Upon his return he said we would have a dead horse in the morning. Said the horse had tangled herself in the picket rope and had to be cut loose, said she wouldn't stand up. Morning came, snow still falling, horse standing. By now all the water we had treated was gone. Time to go for more-only problem was finding the creek-now under 2 feet or more of snow. Gathered squaw wood to build fire and melt snow. Sat. All Day gathered squaw wood to build fire to melt snow. Snow kept falling. Horse standing but hurting. Rick is now sick with stomach bug. Allan and I are bucking 4 feet of snow to gather squaw wood to build fire to melt snow. Snow keeps falling. Sometime Sat. night tent poles collapse under the weight of the snow. Sunday Morning--Snow has stopped. We dedide to try to get out with the crippled horse and sick Rick. Just as we start back down the trail here comes the older gentleman we met earlier with his family members. We fall in behind and let them break trail. Hours later when we reach the truck the snow is still up to the horses belly. I start down the gravel road with all three horses-the crippled one still plodding on. Rick and Allan start digging out the 4x4 truck. They pass me halfway down the mountain. They will contact the wrangler to meet me with the horse trailer. We never got a shot at an elk and spent most of our time in survival mode. But with the good Lord's help we made it. We also learned a lot about wilderness survival and what we should have done, brought etc to help us cope with deep snow.
BLACK_PREDATOR
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http://cwms4u.com/movies/wmbull.wmv
This was our third year to film this bull, genetically he had always had weaker thirds, but in 2003 he had one of the best back ends we had ever seen on a bull, 18 inch G-5's.
Opening night we couldn't quit get into ML range, and he broke off some of his G-4 fighting another bull. The next morning as the video shows we were plenty close for a ML shot. I let the hunter make the choice if he wanted to take him or one without a broken tine, as you can see from the video he couldn't pass. The bull dropped just out of camera view.
Not bad for a 65+ year old man.
Travis
This was our third year to film this bull, genetically he had always had weaker thirds, but in 2003 he had one of the best back ends we had ever seen on a bull, 18 inch G-5's.
Opening night we couldn't quit get into ML range, and he broke off some of his G-4 fighting another bull. The next morning as the video shows we were plenty close for a ML shot. I let the hunter make the choice if he wanted to take him or one without a broken tine, as you can see from the video he couldn't pass. The bull dropped just out of camera view.
Not bad for a 65+ year old man.
Travis
BLACK_PREDATOR
Active Member
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- 227
www.cwms4u.com
check out 2003 pictures and movies clips.
check out 2003 pictures and movies clips.
C
chambero
Guest
My first trip to Colorado with horses in 1989 near the same area you refer to resulted in us fighting the snow a lot more than hunting. We didn't pack in with them, but it was still pretty educational for us Texans.
W
windsurferlawman
Guest
LAST EDITED ON Mar-10-04 AT 04:27PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Mar-10-04 AT 04:26?PM (MST)
LAST EDITED ON Mar-10-04 AT 04:21?PM (MST)
I have hunted the same general area in an OTC unit in Colorado for the past four years. In that time I have taken a few different people out there, and everyone seen a mountain lion except for me.
This past September we were once again hunting the same mountain and the Elk were really into the rut. We had gotten a nice 5 x 4 on September 10th and spent most that day packing it back to camp and taking care of the meat.
We woke up to more rain on the 11th and I walked down the mountain and made about a 4 mile loop back to camp, only seeing a couple Deer. That afternoon I once again headed out to the same general area where we had seen a huge heard of Elk the previous day. I heard some bugling across the valley at about 4pm and I headed after them. By the time I closed the distance to about 1/4 mile it was obvious that this was a huge heard of Elk. It sounded like there were at least 10 different bulls screaming back and forth.
I got right up to the heard and found a nice area to set up and start calling. Nothing. They just kept moving down the mountain. I closed the gap and set up again and again got the same reaction. Finally, on the 5th try and after covering about 3/4 of a mile I heard the bugles of one bull getting louder and louder. I got ready and when I spotted him I could see it was a small 4 pointer. I have only Elk hunted for 4 years, but had taken a nice Elk each time and was hoping for something a little better this time. I quit calling to him and he finally lost interest and headed back to the rest of the heard.
By this time it was only about thirty minutes to dark and I was over 3 miles from camp so I decided to take one more stab before I headed back to camp. Once again I got to within a hundred and fifty yards or so of the heard and set up to try to call one in.
This time I got much different results. This time it sounded like several bulls were coming in to my love sick rendition of a cute Cow Elk. I quickly moved foreword to a different spot which looked like it had better visibility of a small clearing right in front of me. I backed into some knee-high brush and started calling again.
The Elk kept coming and just as I thought they were going to come into view I heard a twig snap behind me. Thinking one had slipped in behind me to try to catch my scent I turned around only to see something large and brown already in the air and about to pounce on me! I only had time to thrust my bow up at it and before I knew it I was being mauled by a Mountain Lion. She hit me right in the chest and knocked me over and in a split second there was a second one on me.
They had me pinned down and the little one was going after the back of my neck while the big one was clawing at my left arm. I got my right arm out from under me and I hit the big one in the face as she tried to bite me. I managed to roll over so I could use my hands and arms to protect my head and neck but things were happening so fast that I really couldn't do anything. I screamed something at them and just like that they were off of me and running in the direction they came from.
I grabbed my bow and ran as fast as I could the more than 3 miles back to camp where the rest of my friends and family were waiting with dinner ready. I was pretty calm about the whole thing till I saw the light from the Colman Lantern. As soon as I got into the camp I just collapsed. Partially from exhaustion, partially from shock. I think it hit me right then that this was very serious and it was not over yet.
As I lay on the ground gasping for air my dad, brother, cousin, and friend ran over to see what was wrong. After a couple minutes I was able to get it out that I had been attacked. They got a light over there and saw all the blood on my arms and face and quickly got my clothes off to see what kind of injuries I had.
My cousin cleaned my injuries with our handy first aid kit and my dad called 911 on the cell phone. I can laugh about it now, but who the hell calls 911 when you are camped on the top of a mountain and 4 hours from the road? I didn't have any life-threatening injuries so we refused the helicopter transport and they said they would send someone up at first light.
Sure enough not long after daylight a Conservation Officer arrived. She took a bunch of pictures on my injuries and got a statement from me. We ascertained that it was a mother and cub mountain Lion. From the size of the tracks the mother was estimated to be about 100 pounds and the cub about 50 pounds.
She (the conservation officer) figured that the pair was following the heard hoping to catch a calf or straggler away from the heard. I had some blood on my pants from butchering the bull that we got the day before and that and my calling must have convinced the Mountain Lions that I was an Elk. At least I can fool them, right? It was the first known attack on a person in Colorado in five years according to the conservation officer.
We hunted one more day but I was a little gun shy so we decided to call it a hunt and chock it off as a very good learning experience. We went back to Minnesota, where by the time we got back I was already a bit of a celebrity. We tried to keep it quiet but once the word got out everyone was calling. I had a couple reporters from Colorado call me and they each wrote a story on it for their respective news papers, the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Rockey Mountain News.
To top this all off, after about a weeks rest in MN I talked my dad into going back out there and I killed a fat cow and a nice bull. (the area we hunt has extra cow tags available)The whole ordeal is easy to joke about now, but I did have more than one night's sleep ruined from the sight of that thing flying through the air in my head!
Sorry for the long story-
Michael
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=7e8d16ab-8048-2832-4323-616a4a306160&size=
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=9a0933fb-7dac-4be2-2a83-131a57904101&size=
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=79826309-20ab-4da6-7763-430235416fac&size=
LAST EDITED ON Mar-10-04 AT 04:21?PM (MST)
I have hunted the same general area in an OTC unit in Colorado for the past four years. In that time I have taken a few different people out there, and everyone seen a mountain lion except for me.
This past September we were once again hunting the same mountain and the Elk were really into the rut. We had gotten a nice 5 x 4 on September 10th and spent most that day packing it back to camp and taking care of the meat.
We woke up to more rain on the 11th and I walked down the mountain and made about a 4 mile loop back to camp, only seeing a couple Deer. That afternoon I once again headed out to the same general area where we had seen a huge heard of Elk the previous day. I heard some bugling across the valley at about 4pm and I headed after them. By the time I closed the distance to about 1/4 mile it was obvious that this was a huge heard of Elk. It sounded like there were at least 10 different bulls screaming back and forth.
I got right up to the heard and found a nice area to set up and start calling. Nothing. They just kept moving down the mountain. I closed the gap and set up again and again got the same reaction. Finally, on the 5th try and after covering about 3/4 of a mile I heard the bugles of one bull getting louder and louder. I got ready and when I spotted him I could see it was a small 4 pointer. I have only Elk hunted for 4 years, but had taken a nice Elk each time and was hoping for something a little better this time. I quit calling to him and he finally lost interest and headed back to the rest of the heard.
By this time it was only about thirty minutes to dark and I was over 3 miles from camp so I decided to take one more stab before I headed back to camp. Once again I got to within a hundred and fifty yards or so of the heard and set up to try to call one in.
This time I got much different results. This time it sounded like several bulls were coming in to my love sick rendition of a cute Cow Elk. I quickly moved foreword to a different spot which looked like it had better visibility of a small clearing right in front of me. I backed into some knee-high brush and started calling again.
The Elk kept coming and just as I thought they were going to come into view I heard a twig snap behind me. Thinking one had slipped in behind me to try to catch my scent I turned around only to see something large and brown already in the air and about to pounce on me! I only had time to thrust my bow up at it and before I knew it I was being mauled by a Mountain Lion. She hit me right in the chest and knocked me over and in a split second there was a second one on me.
They had me pinned down and the little one was going after the back of my neck while the big one was clawing at my left arm. I got my right arm out from under me and I hit the big one in the face as she tried to bite me. I managed to roll over so I could use my hands and arms to protect my head and neck but things were happening so fast that I really couldn't do anything. I screamed something at them and just like that they were off of me and running in the direction they came from.
I grabbed my bow and ran as fast as I could the more than 3 miles back to camp where the rest of my friends and family were waiting with dinner ready. I was pretty calm about the whole thing till I saw the light from the Colman Lantern. As soon as I got into the camp I just collapsed. Partially from exhaustion, partially from shock. I think it hit me right then that this was very serious and it was not over yet.
As I lay on the ground gasping for air my dad, brother, cousin, and friend ran over to see what was wrong. After a couple minutes I was able to get it out that I had been attacked. They got a light over there and saw all the blood on my arms and face and quickly got my clothes off to see what kind of injuries I had.
My cousin cleaned my injuries with our handy first aid kit and my dad called 911 on the cell phone. I can laugh about it now, but who the hell calls 911 when you are camped on the top of a mountain and 4 hours from the road? I didn't have any life-threatening injuries so we refused the helicopter transport and they said they would send someone up at first light.
Sure enough not long after daylight a Conservation Officer arrived. She took a bunch of pictures on my injuries and got a statement from me. We ascertained that it was a mother and cub mountain Lion. From the size of the tracks the mother was estimated to be about 100 pounds and the cub about 50 pounds.
She (the conservation officer) figured that the pair was following the heard hoping to catch a calf or straggler away from the heard. I had some blood on my pants from butchering the bull that we got the day before and that and my calling must have convinced the Mountain Lions that I was an Elk. At least I can fool them, right? It was the first known attack on a person in Colorado in five years according to the conservation officer.
We hunted one more day but I was a little gun shy so we decided to call it a hunt and chock it off as a very good learning experience. We went back to Minnesota, where by the time we got back I was already a bit of a celebrity. We tried to keep it quiet but once the word got out everyone was calling. I had a couple reporters from Colorado call me and they each wrote a story on it for their respective news papers, the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Rockey Mountain News.
To top this all off, after about a weeks rest in MN I talked my dad into going back out there and I killed a fat cow and a nice bull. (the area we hunt has extra cow tags available)The whole ordeal is easy to joke about now, but I did have more than one night's sleep ruined from the sight of that thing flying through the air in my head!
Sorry for the long story-
Michael
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=7e8d16ab-8048-2832-4323-616a4a306160&size=
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=9a0933fb-7dac-4be2-2a83-131a57904101&size=
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=79826309-20ab-4da6-7763-430235416fac&size=
D
dakotakid
Guest
Michael,
Way cool story.
ps. click link for help on posting pics
http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/picposting.html
Mike
Way cool story.
ps. click link for help on posting pics
http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/picposting.html
Mike
E
elkslayer54
Guest
I was on early Oct Bull Elk hunt in NM, and I stepped out of the truck about 30 min before daylight, me my brother and my sister. I let things calm a little and I bugled, wham right back at me, The bull was off in a pretty big canyon, so we made a plan that we would have to circle around infront of the heard. My sister came with me, I was using my 300 RUM (Remington Ultra Mag) with 180gr partition golds, (handloads) so we hauled butt and the bull was fired up he was bugling about every 1-2 minutes, I totaly stopped calling all togeather.It took about 30 min to get around on him, so now the heard was comming to us. so my brother and I split up on the ridge top we were on and he went on the right and me and my sis took the left side. we were slipping through the pines and I looked up and saw a cow comming right at us, so I motioned to my sis to sit down and be quiet, she did. and I slipped up about 10 yards to get a better vantage point. I could see the cow then another and another prettty soon there was app 10 cows and a spike comming right at us. The big bull was going crazy bugling constantly. Now the herd is between me and the bull, then all of the sudden there he is, So I tried to slip around to get off to the left of the herd to get a better angle on the bull and as I was slipping my brother had got into the same herd but a little lower on the ridge and he was set-up in a great spot. Little did I know. But I was still slipping around trying to flank the herd. When all of this sudden BOOM my brother shoots and misses the elk are all running back the way they had just come from I jumped up and ran after them, and I bugled and started barking one of the cows and the spike stopped and looked at me but the rest of the herd kept running. I whistled to my sis comeon, and I took off with her and the bull starts bugling again and never stops. I get on the trail and keep following them my bro is flanking me app 100 yds to the right. and about 3/4 of a mile later I see a cow and another about 350 yds away. So my sis and I slip in a little closer and got a glimpse of the bull ut he was in some pretty thick jack pines. He was bugling his ass off and I could barely make out his outline and he starts ripping a tree to pieces. So we ease on a little closer and we now are app 250 yds from the heard and they are just milling, feeding not really heading out. So we keep slipping throught the thicket of jack pines and close the distance to about 125 yds. The elk are in and out of view due to the thick pines but we were close, I did not now weather to call or not, just being shot at it might spook the cows the bull did not care what happened he was focused on the cows. So I stayed quiet and just kept sneaking along, We were gaining on them I figured it would just be a matter of time before he made a mistake and let us get a clear view of him. As we crept along I was looking for the bull and my sis about jummped right out of her socks scared the Chit out of me. I almost stepped on a rattlesnake, not a big one but big enough. I think I got lucky because it was so cold that morning, but none the less we got away from the snake, and now I am looking for snakes and elk, Kind of freaked me out I hate snakes espiecally ones like that. But the pines were starting to thin a little and the area was opening up, and there were the cows app 100 yds in front of us, so we stopped and watched them, they kept looking behind them so I figured the bull was right there somewhere. So my sis tries to ease over a little to get a better look and SNAP steps on a stick now the cows are looking at us or at least in our direction. So the lead cow starts to head out and the rest are right behind her, the you know what happened don't ya. Here comes ole dad right behind them. he was quartering away and I mewed at him and he stopped and looked back and I shot him just infront of the last rib and and it broke his off shoulder he made it aboud 40 yds and piled up. What a hunt my bro shoots and missed, I almost steppen on a snake, My sis steps on a stick at excially the wrong time. But we got him. Must just have been my day.
W
windsurferlawman
Guest
Hey there Slayer,
nice Elk and great story! I too hate snakes, but spiders are really freaky! So does your sister hunt too? That is great that you are all doing it together, as a family. I have a sister who is 5 years older than me who is 35 and just getting into hunting. She recently was divorced and has met some new guy who loves to hunt as much as I do. I tried for years to get her to go hunting, she meets some new guy and goes out right away?? What can you do? lol At least she is out tehre doing it!
In NM don't you have to wear orange while rifle hunting?
Michael
nice Elk and great story! I too hate snakes, but spiders are really freaky! So does your sister hunt too? That is great that you are all doing it together, as a family. I have a sister who is 5 years older than me who is 35 and just getting into hunting. She recently was divorced and has met some new guy who loves to hunt as much as I do. I tried for years to get her to go hunting, she meets some new guy and goes out right away?? What can you do? lol At least she is out tehre doing it!
In NM don't you have to wear orange while rifle hunting?
Michael
E
elkslayer54
Guest
Yeah she is a hunter, but there is no orange required in NM recomended but not required,
kewl I have been there 4 1/2 feet in montana 20 miles back in. I made it out after 2 days of hell. And I headed for a hunt in Utah. Well the same storm was in utah. I arrived in SLC to be informed that 3 of my buddies were snowed in up on top of the Manti. And u couldn't get to them. No hunting. Search and Rescue were trying to get to them. They had left camp early in the morning and crippled an elk in a snow storm. They tried to keep up with the elk but couldn't and by the time they got back to the truck it was snowed in so bad they were stuck there. They just went out for an morn hunt. Well they were wet and didn't have but a little food and light jackets for they was just on a morning hunt. After 4-5 days they decided they would try to hike out. Search and Rescue still couldn't get to them and everyone knew where they were. 4 feet of new snow on top. Well just to let u know somebody was watching out for u. One of my buddies never made it out. Found in a snow cave 5 days later next to the truck. The other 2 made it out frost bit to hell. There is always a lot of what if's These guys were vet hunters. He is still up there somewhere hunting. Be thankful my friend
W
windsurferlawman
Guest
Elkslayer-
Now that is what we need, more women hunters. I have been looking for one for a while, but no luck. Too many city girls around here who won't leave home without their finger nail repair kits!
Anyway, I was talking to my dad today about this forum and trying to get him to use his computer more and he reminded me of an Elk hunt I should tell you guys about. It was one of my first Elk hunts and one that I learned a great deal about myself on.
It was the Fall of 1999 and me and two friends were hunting Roosevelt Elk on Strawberry Island just off Kodiak Island in Alaska. One of my friends got a really nice 5x6 and we just had time to gut it before it got dark. This area is infested with the big Brown Bears, so I like to be able to see where I am going when I am in the woods.
We returned at first light and glassed the area from a distance to make sure we were Grizz-free. Everything seemed fine so we moved in and proceeded to butcher the Elk. While we were quartering the Elk we all got that feeling that something was not right. We didn't see anything, but we knew the dooky was about to hit the fan! I stood guard with a rifle while my two friends finished the butchering chores.
We were just about done when all of the sudden I heard some noise and the bushes started to move about 40 yards from me. Bang! This huge sow and two cubs popped out and started walking right for us and I almost crapped myself right there! I have hunted around Grizzlies all my life so I am used to seeing them, but in situations like this they are very unpredictable to say the least.
I hollered at them and started waving my arms to get their attention and they just casually strolled back into the brush. I yelled to my friends who were about 20 yards away that we had company and to hurry it along. The bears were moving in a direction that would bring them directly down wind of us and we knew they were here to stay. I joined back up with my friends and tried to get as much meat loaded onto our packs as we could carry. This was mistake #1. We should have just left the area with whatever meat we had. It just isn't worth it.
While we were loading our packs my friend Robb said "oh God, look at that." I turned around and sticking out of the brush at about 20 yards was the sows head! We had two packs loaded with a hind quarter each and one front quarter and the back straps were in a game bag. All we had left was the other front quarter and the antlers. I screamed at the bear and she disappeared into the brush again.
We decided to leave the antlers and come back in a couple days for them, but we wanted to get the other front leg because it was obvious the Bears were not leaving. This was where we really messed up. While rushing and moving too fast Robb got careless with the knife and stuck himself in his forearm, cutting the main artery that runs through your arm.
Now I have done some crazy things in my life and have came very close to buying the farm a few times, but we were really screwed here! Here we sit about two miles from camp. We have three very hungry, very aggressive Brown Bears who have made it certain that they were moving in on us at any second. Robb is freaking out because he figures no matter what happens he is a goner because our plane is not supposed to be here for 5 more days. And I am not really saying anyting to reassure him that he is going to be ok. Thank God our other friend is a firefighter-paramedic and he took over instantly.
He grabbed Robb's arm and said "You are going to be fine." Blood is flying every where and I am seriously doubting that he is anything even remotely close to fine. Leave it up to a fireman to have an awesome first aid kit. After he bandaged it up enough to slow the bleeding to an acceptable level we took off for camp. We left everything except for our guns and the first aid kit.
We got back to camp before noon and as luck would have it we spotted a fishing boat out in the ocean. We shot a few flares out over the water and they saw them immediately and came right in. They radioed back to town and Robb was on a plane headed for Kodiak less than 5 hours after the accident. We told the pilot to get a hold of our pilot and have him pick us up the next day.
At about 10 am the next morning John and I headed back to the Elk to see if we could salvage any meat and get our packs. The Bears drug off pretty much everything and the antlers and skull were gone. One pack was still there but the other two had meat tied on them and had been drug off. It was quickly decided that we were not going to go looking for any packs or antlers and that we should just consider ourselves lucky that we were still alive.
As we waited in camp for our plane a lot was going through our minds. We didn't know how Robb was and John was worried because of the amount of blood he lost. When we put him on the plane he was going onto shock.
Our pilot arrived and told us that Robb was going to be fine and was waiting for us in Kodiak. Once we were back on Kodiak we realized how lucky we were just to be alive. Yeah, we killed an Elk and left it on the mountain, but there was nothing we could do about it. Do I feel bad about it, hell yeah, but there was nothing we could do. Sure, I could have shot the Bears but not only is that illegal, but unethical and immoral.
I learned so much about myself on that trip that I wouldn't change it for the world. Now I know that if I am prepared and remain calm I can get through just about anything. We do realize that we were very lucky that there were fishermen in front of camp and that they were close enough to see our flares. As soon as we got back we bought an ELT and that baby goes with us all the time now, a long with a good first aid kit!
Good hunting-
Michael
Now that is what we need, more women hunters. I have been looking for one for a while, but no luck. Too many city girls around here who won't leave home without their finger nail repair kits!
Anyway, I was talking to my dad today about this forum and trying to get him to use his computer more and he reminded me of an Elk hunt I should tell you guys about. It was one of my first Elk hunts and one that I learned a great deal about myself on.
It was the Fall of 1999 and me and two friends were hunting Roosevelt Elk on Strawberry Island just off Kodiak Island in Alaska. One of my friends got a really nice 5x6 and we just had time to gut it before it got dark. This area is infested with the big Brown Bears, so I like to be able to see where I am going when I am in the woods.
We returned at first light and glassed the area from a distance to make sure we were Grizz-free. Everything seemed fine so we moved in and proceeded to butcher the Elk. While we were quartering the Elk we all got that feeling that something was not right. We didn't see anything, but we knew the dooky was about to hit the fan! I stood guard with a rifle while my two friends finished the butchering chores.
We were just about done when all of the sudden I heard some noise and the bushes started to move about 40 yards from me. Bang! This huge sow and two cubs popped out and started walking right for us and I almost crapped myself right there! I have hunted around Grizzlies all my life so I am used to seeing them, but in situations like this they are very unpredictable to say the least.
I hollered at them and started waving my arms to get their attention and they just casually strolled back into the brush. I yelled to my friends who were about 20 yards away that we had company and to hurry it along. The bears were moving in a direction that would bring them directly down wind of us and we knew they were here to stay. I joined back up with my friends and tried to get as much meat loaded onto our packs as we could carry. This was mistake #1. We should have just left the area with whatever meat we had. It just isn't worth it.
While we were loading our packs my friend Robb said "oh God, look at that." I turned around and sticking out of the brush at about 20 yards was the sows head! We had two packs loaded with a hind quarter each and one front quarter and the back straps were in a game bag. All we had left was the other front quarter and the antlers. I screamed at the bear and she disappeared into the brush again.
We decided to leave the antlers and come back in a couple days for them, but we wanted to get the other front leg because it was obvious the Bears were not leaving. This was where we really messed up. While rushing and moving too fast Robb got careless with the knife and stuck himself in his forearm, cutting the main artery that runs through your arm.
Now I have done some crazy things in my life and have came very close to buying the farm a few times, but we were really screwed here! Here we sit about two miles from camp. We have three very hungry, very aggressive Brown Bears who have made it certain that they were moving in on us at any second. Robb is freaking out because he figures no matter what happens he is a goner because our plane is not supposed to be here for 5 more days. And I am not really saying anyting to reassure him that he is going to be ok. Thank God our other friend is a firefighter-paramedic and he took over instantly.
He grabbed Robb's arm and said "You are going to be fine." Blood is flying every where and I am seriously doubting that he is anything even remotely close to fine. Leave it up to a fireman to have an awesome first aid kit. After he bandaged it up enough to slow the bleeding to an acceptable level we took off for camp. We left everything except for our guns and the first aid kit.
We got back to camp before noon and as luck would have it we spotted a fishing boat out in the ocean. We shot a few flares out over the water and they saw them immediately and came right in. They radioed back to town and Robb was on a plane headed for Kodiak less than 5 hours after the accident. We told the pilot to get a hold of our pilot and have him pick us up the next day.
At about 10 am the next morning John and I headed back to the Elk to see if we could salvage any meat and get our packs. The Bears drug off pretty much everything and the antlers and skull were gone. One pack was still there but the other two had meat tied on them and had been drug off. It was quickly decided that we were not going to go looking for any packs or antlers and that we should just consider ourselves lucky that we were still alive.
As we waited in camp for our plane a lot was going through our minds. We didn't know how Robb was and John was worried because of the amount of blood he lost. When we put him on the plane he was going onto shock.
Our pilot arrived and told us that Robb was going to be fine and was waiting for us in Kodiak. Once we were back on Kodiak we realized how lucky we were just to be alive. Yeah, we killed an Elk and left it on the mountain, but there was nothing we could do about it. Do I feel bad about it, hell yeah, but there was nothing we could do. Sure, I could have shot the Bears but not only is that illegal, but unethical and immoral.
I learned so much about myself on that trip that I wouldn't change it for the world. Now I know that if I am prepared and remain calm I can get through just about anything. We do realize that we were very lucky that there were fishermen in front of camp and that they were close enough to see our flares. As soon as we got back we bought an ELT and that baby goes with us all the time now, a long with a good first aid kit!
Good hunting-
Michael
W
windsurferlawman
Guest
What's up? Doesn't anyone have any stories to tell? I am about out of stories and lives as far as that goes. Only one other "really" interesting hunt to talk about and I'm not telling till we hear from some other folks! lol
Let's hear 'em!
Michael
Let's hear 'em!
Michael
E
elkslayer54
Guest
Man the bears would have freaked me out, But never being around big bears before (espiecally a sow with cubs), you are a better man than me, I don't know if I could let a threat like that, that close to me, tag or not, survival of the fittest and all. I hope I am never faced with that decision.
FEAR NOT FOR I AM WITH YOU! Walk soft and carry a 300 RUM,
FEAR NOT FOR I AM WITH YOU! Walk soft and carry a 300 RUM,
W
windsurferlawman
Guest
ES-
Believe it or not, I'd rather have a big Brown Bear within 20 yards than a Black Bear any day. When a Black Bear attacks it is because he is going to eat you! That is not good. The only spooky thing about Brown Bears is that their cubs could even kill you!
Walk soft and carry a 300 RUM? lol Now I am usually carrying a bow, but that is funny!
Michael
Believe it or not, I'd rather have a big Brown Bear within 20 yards than a Black Bear any day. When a Black Bear attacks it is because he is going to eat you! That is not good. The only spooky thing about Brown Bears is that their cubs could even kill you!
Walk soft and carry a 300 RUM? lol Now I am usually carrying a bow, but that is funny!
Michael
My hunt began as many do with a letter from the DWR stating that I was successful in the drawing. I had been applying for 16 years and finally drew a Utah Limited Entry bull elk tag.
My scouting trips began in June, primarily to become familiar with the unit. I covered a lot of ground and talked to many people about the various areas. I finally settled on a particular portion of the unit. This area held some tremendous bulls. The closer to the hunt it came the more bulls I began to see. During my scouting trips I glassed numerous bulls ranging from rage horns to a 390 class bull. My brothers and I had found a canyon that held a number of nice bulls. One particular group of three we had watched every weekend for several weeks prior to the hunt. All three of the bulls were tremendous trophies.
I had purchased an auxiliary permit which would allow me to hunt during the general archery season as well as my anyweapon hunt. Opening morning of the archery hunt found us watching the group of three bulls. They were deep in the canyon with the only realistic approach to be from above. We watch the bulls for about 3 hours waiting until the thermals changed allowing us to approach from above. Finally the bulls moved into their bedding area and we made our move. It was about a 30 minute ride to get around to the top of the ridge above where the bulls were at. We made our way down the ridge and set up about 100 yards from where we thought the bulls were. My brother was about 70 yards behind me. We began cow calling hopping to draw one of the big boys over to us but the breeze began swirling around and rather than risking the bulls scenting us we backed out and moved over to the other side of the ridge, hoping the thermals were more consistent on that side. As it turns out the breeze was steadily moving up the ridge in our faces. I picked a clearing in the thick brush and set up in what appeared to be a good spot about 30 yards from the clearing. I gave the signal and my brother let out a few cow calls. Almost immediately below us I could here something moving our direction through the brush. Suddenly I could see the top of a bulls rack maneuvering around has be quickly approached what he thought to be a small group of cows. In a matter of probably 60 seconds from the time my brother gave the cow call I was standing there at full draw with a very large bull standing broadside at only 30 yards. As he walked through the clearing I stopped him with a cow call from my Primos diaphragm call but he stop where there was a branch from the brush in front of me blocking his vitals. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, which in reality was probably around 10 seconds, after which he decided he was in serious trouble. He whirled and took off, so I quickly cow called which stopped him again at about 40 yards this time. He was slightly quartering away presenting me with a good shot. I settled the 40 yard pin behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger on my release. The arrow made a loud crack as it glanced off a small branch, and appeared to fly under the bull?s chest. With the rush of adrenaline, I at first was unsure if I had hit him or not. My brother all the while was about 60 yards behind and above me with a birds eye view as the whole event took place. He watched the bull disappear over a ridge line about 250 yards below me. We checked around for blood following his tracks to where my brother had last seen him disappear but no signs of any blood.
Over the course of the next three weeks, I had several more close encounters, however, that was the only shot opportunity I had with my bow.
Opening morning of the rifle hunt arrived and I knew exactly where I need to be. The bulls at that point were very vocal. I had found an area that the bulls seemed to be congregated in, I called the area ?Bull Valley?. Most of the bigger bulls had cows with them by this time. The evening before I was sitting along the rim of the canyon listening to a dozen or so different bulls bouncing calls around the valley below. It was an incredible experience just to sit and listen to them.
As my friend and brothers and I approached the ridge line above Bull Valley the elk where unusually quiet. Upon reaching the top, we immediately spotted a small 6x6 about 200 yards from us. Not the size of bull I was after so we moved on about 500 yards further out on the ridge glassing for one of the big bulls known to be in the area. My friend suddenly spotted a herd of elk back where we were standing not 10 minutes before. In the middle of the herd appeared a very nice bull. He was a large 6x6 with good beam and tine length. The elk were about 500 yards from us slowly moving away. As the herd disappeared into the trees we quickly moved towards their last known location. As we approach where the herd had been, we gave a few cow calls trying to pinpoint exactly where they had disappeared to. With no response and unsure which direction they had gone my hopes for that morning began to faded. Suddenly we heard a bugle further up the ridge, it sound to be about 400 yards away. We thought it must be the herd. As we stood planning our strategy, several cow elk began filing out of the trees about 300 yards away from us. They were slowly moving away up the face of the ridge above us. As the elk continued to file out and with faith quickly restored, I took my pack off and lay down to get a good rest. Suddenly the bull appeared walked up the ridge to a clearing. I followed him in my scope waiting for him to turn broadside. He walked up about 10 yards and turned perfectly. I settled the crosshairs behind his shoulder and the 300 Ultra Mag. roared out. The bull took a few steps and collapsed. We jumped up hooting while giving high fives.
My bothers and I had hunted long and hard for 3 weeks not to mention the many scouting trips prior to the hunt. My wife was growing very anxious for me to be through and made it known to me every day I was home but still was very supportive. I had been laid off work 6 months prior to the hunt, so I had the added pressure of finding a job soon.
As it turned out, all the patients and hard work finally paid off and a dream was fulfilled. The memories of the hunt will last a lifetime.
P.S. I found a job one week after the hunt was over.
My scouting trips began in June, primarily to become familiar with the unit. I covered a lot of ground and talked to many people about the various areas. I finally settled on a particular portion of the unit. This area held some tremendous bulls. The closer to the hunt it came the more bulls I began to see. During my scouting trips I glassed numerous bulls ranging from rage horns to a 390 class bull. My brothers and I had found a canyon that held a number of nice bulls. One particular group of three we had watched every weekend for several weeks prior to the hunt. All three of the bulls were tremendous trophies.
I had purchased an auxiliary permit which would allow me to hunt during the general archery season as well as my anyweapon hunt. Opening morning of the archery hunt found us watching the group of three bulls. They were deep in the canyon with the only realistic approach to be from above. We watch the bulls for about 3 hours waiting until the thermals changed allowing us to approach from above. Finally the bulls moved into their bedding area and we made our move. It was about a 30 minute ride to get around to the top of the ridge above where the bulls were at. We made our way down the ridge and set up about 100 yards from where we thought the bulls were. My brother was about 70 yards behind me. We began cow calling hopping to draw one of the big boys over to us but the breeze began swirling around and rather than risking the bulls scenting us we backed out and moved over to the other side of the ridge, hoping the thermals were more consistent on that side. As it turns out the breeze was steadily moving up the ridge in our faces. I picked a clearing in the thick brush and set up in what appeared to be a good spot about 30 yards from the clearing. I gave the signal and my brother let out a few cow calls. Almost immediately below us I could here something moving our direction through the brush. Suddenly I could see the top of a bulls rack maneuvering around has be quickly approached what he thought to be a small group of cows. In a matter of probably 60 seconds from the time my brother gave the cow call I was standing there at full draw with a very large bull standing broadside at only 30 yards. As he walked through the clearing I stopped him with a cow call from my Primos diaphragm call but he stop where there was a branch from the brush in front of me blocking his vitals. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, which in reality was probably around 10 seconds, after which he decided he was in serious trouble. He whirled and took off, so I quickly cow called which stopped him again at about 40 yards this time. He was slightly quartering away presenting me with a good shot. I settled the 40 yard pin behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger on my release. The arrow made a loud crack as it glanced off a small branch, and appeared to fly under the bull?s chest. With the rush of adrenaline, I at first was unsure if I had hit him or not. My brother all the while was about 60 yards behind and above me with a birds eye view as the whole event took place. He watched the bull disappear over a ridge line about 250 yards below me. We checked around for blood following his tracks to where my brother had last seen him disappear but no signs of any blood.
Over the course of the next three weeks, I had several more close encounters, however, that was the only shot opportunity I had with my bow.
Opening morning of the rifle hunt arrived and I knew exactly where I need to be. The bulls at that point were very vocal. I had found an area that the bulls seemed to be congregated in, I called the area ?Bull Valley?. Most of the bigger bulls had cows with them by this time. The evening before I was sitting along the rim of the canyon listening to a dozen or so different bulls bouncing calls around the valley below. It was an incredible experience just to sit and listen to them.
As my friend and brothers and I approached the ridge line above Bull Valley the elk where unusually quiet. Upon reaching the top, we immediately spotted a small 6x6 about 200 yards from us. Not the size of bull I was after so we moved on about 500 yards further out on the ridge glassing for one of the big bulls known to be in the area. My friend suddenly spotted a herd of elk back where we were standing not 10 minutes before. In the middle of the herd appeared a very nice bull. He was a large 6x6 with good beam and tine length. The elk were about 500 yards from us slowly moving away. As the herd disappeared into the trees we quickly moved towards their last known location. As we approach where the herd had been, we gave a few cow calls trying to pinpoint exactly where they had disappeared to. With no response and unsure which direction they had gone my hopes for that morning began to faded. Suddenly we heard a bugle further up the ridge, it sound to be about 400 yards away. We thought it must be the herd. As we stood planning our strategy, several cow elk began filing out of the trees about 300 yards away from us. They were slowly moving away up the face of the ridge above us. As the elk continued to file out and with faith quickly restored, I took my pack off and lay down to get a good rest. Suddenly the bull appeared walked up the ridge to a clearing. I followed him in my scope waiting for him to turn broadside. He walked up about 10 yards and turned perfectly. I settled the crosshairs behind his shoulder and the 300 Ultra Mag. roared out. The bull took a few steps and collapsed. We jumped up hooting while giving high fives.
My bothers and I had hunted long and hard for 3 weeks not to mention the many scouting trips prior to the hunt. My wife was growing very anxious for me to be through and made it known to me every day I was home but still was very supportive. I had been laid off work 6 months prior to the hunt, so I had the added pressure of finding a job soon.
As it turned out, all the patients and hard work finally paid off and a dream was fulfilled. The memories of the hunt will last a lifetime.
P.S. I found a job one week after the hunt was over.
W
windsurferlawman
Guest
Nice story Wapiti!
Unfortunately, very few of my hunts ever start out with a letter saying I was successfull in any applications! I am the most unlucky hunt drawer in the world. I have drawn a total of one (1) limited entry hunts in my entire life! And I have been applying for 15 years! I have checked, rechecked, then had my partners check, they are getting filled out properly. I even had one partner quit applying with me and he started getting drawn again!I am changing my name next year!
Michael
Unfortunately, very few of my hunts ever start out with a letter saying I was successfull in any applications! I am the most unlucky hunt drawer in the world. I have drawn a total of one (1) limited entry hunts in my entire life! And I have been applying for 15 years! I have checked, rechecked, then had my partners check, they are getting filled out properly. I even had one partner quit applying with me and he started getting drawn again!I am changing my name next year!
Michael
