BioHazrdMan
Active Member
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My hunting season started in December... after months of waiting I am hunting offrange oryx and just got back from my ML cow elk hunt. No luck yet on the oryx...
Elk hunting... with some snow we didn't hunt where I had previously scouted. To high with too much snow. So new to the area...
Day #1 Got on some elk first thing in the morning at 500yds. Trees to bushy/think to get too close easily and they gave us the slip. jumped a couple of cows and 5 bulls later on, no shot. Nothing in the afternoon...
Day #2 Found us in another new area 2 miles from day #1. Nothing till about 10:00 when we snuck over a ridge to find 8 cows, 7 which were bedded down. Trying to get my buddy (who had never hunted before) a shot we were in the process of setting up my shooting tripod when a shot rang out across the way. Not a shot at the group we were on but close enough to spook em a little. Buddy got set up, told him 250yds and he missed. They were gone and we spent the day out there but nothing else...
Day #3 Starts to snow which makes our footsteps much more quiet. Another new area and we find some nice, more open areas to hunt. 9:30 or so I spot a cow with her head down eating at 258yds. make a plan to get ahead of her, set up my shooting tripod and take off. Get to where we think we should be and can't see her anymore. I knew she was still there... walked back closer to where I first saw her and she changed direction and was eating the other way. This time go strait toward her behind tree cover. Range her at 156yds. Comfortable with that shot but decide to get closer. Nice bushy tree to sneak to 135yds and set up tripod. Double check yardage. She is still head down eating. Get set to shoot and calm myself and then shot. She didn't know what hit her, stood there for 30sec kinda swaying then dropped! 1 down, 1 to go! 1/2mile pack out to road, then a mile walk to truck. Decided to take the afternoon off and hunt again in morning... Sorry for the bad pics, crappy phone is all we had.
My elk
Day #4 Wake up to 5-6in of snow. Head to same area as day #3 and see a herd of about 25 going up a hill before legal shooting light. Watch them for a while till they go over a ridge then go after them. got into thick stuff but kept seeing elk across the canyon moving. Didn't really like the thick stuff so headed closer to where I killed my elk. It opened up where we could see more and started glassing. There, thru the snow and fog found 10 elk on a bare slope 1/2mile away with 3 hills between us. Couldn't see them well but with the snow they kinda stuck out. Made a plan and got to 250yds before running out of cover. By now all the elk were bedded down. Backtrack and try another way. Get to 225yds and cover is getting thin. Dump our packs and I'm looking for my camera to try to video the shot. CRAP, I had pulled out my camera from pack and put in jacket pocket a while ago and it's not there!!! Keep going... crawling and sliding between and under trees we finally get to 200yds (where my buddy knew he could make the shot) He's sitting, gets set up on tripod, calms down, and takes a shot at bedded cow! Hit! She gets up walks 2 steps and stands there for a minutes favoring her front leg. Walks a few more steps behind a tree and we don't see her. All the other elk walk off after a few minutes. At this point I didn't know how good she was hit so I told my buddy to stay there for at least 20min in case she came out. I went back looking for my camera. After 10min of looking for camera I looked back at the slope where elk were and see the cow walking very slowly from behind the tree! Watch and hear another shot... hit again but she walks 10 more feet and beds down under a tree. Ok, back to looking for camera, never did find it. Go back to buddy and cow still has her head up. Finally she gets up again, 1 more shot and it's over. All that time waiting and we saw what looked like a road under the snow! 50yds down hill from elk WAS a road! 1.5mile walk back to truck and I was able to drive to the elk. Again, sorry for the bad pics.
Buddys elk
Elk hunting... with some snow we didn't hunt where I had previously scouted. To high with too much snow. So new to the area...
Day #1 Got on some elk first thing in the morning at 500yds. Trees to bushy/think to get too close easily and they gave us the slip. jumped a couple of cows and 5 bulls later on, no shot. Nothing in the afternoon...
Day #2 Found us in another new area 2 miles from day #1. Nothing till about 10:00 when we snuck over a ridge to find 8 cows, 7 which were bedded down. Trying to get my buddy (who had never hunted before) a shot we were in the process of setting up my shooting tripod when a shot rang out across the way. Not a shot at the group we were on but close enough to spook em a little. Buddy got set up, told him 250yds and he missed. They were gone and we spent the day out there but nothing else...
Day #3 Starts to snow which makes our footsteps much more quiet. Another new area and we find some nice, more open areas to hunt. 9:30 or so I spot a cow with her head down eating at 258yds. make a plan to get ahead of her, set up my shooting tripod and take off. Get to where we think we should be and can't see her anymore. I knew she was still there... walked back closer to where I first saw her and she changed direction and was eating the other way. This time go strait toward her behind tree cover. Range her at 156yds. Comfortable with that shot but decide to get closer. Nice bushy tree to sneak to 135yds and set up tripod. Double check yardage. She is still head down eating. Get set to shoot and calm myself and then shot. She didn't know what hit her, stood there for 30sec kinda swaying then dropped! 1 down, 1 to go! 1/2mile pack out to road, then a mile walk to truck. Decided to take the afternoon off and hunt again in morning... Sorry for the bad pics, crappy phone is all we had.
My elk
Day #4 Wake up to 5-6in of snow. Head to same area as day #3 and see a herd of about 25 going up a hill before legal shooting light. Watch them for a while till they go over a ridge then go after them. got into thick stuff but kept seeing elk across the canyon moving. Didn't really like the thick stuff so headed closer to where I killed my elk. It opened up where we could see more and started glassing. There, thru the snow and fog found 10 elk on a bare slope 1/2mile away with 3 hills between us. Couldn't see them well but with the snow they kinda stuck out. Made a plan and got to 250yds before running out of cover. By now all the elk were bedded down. Backtrack and try another way. Get to 225yds and cover is getting thin. Dump our packs and I'm looking for my camera to try to video the shot. CRAP, I had pulled out my camera from pack and put in jacket pocket a while ago and it's not there!!! Keep going... crawling and sliding between and under trees we finally get to 200yds (where my buddy knew he could make the shot) He's sitting, gets set up on tripod, calms down, and takes a shot at bedded cow! Hit! She gets up walks 2 steps and stands there for a minutes favoring her front leg. Walks a few more steps behind a tree and we don't see her. All the other elk walk off after a few minutes. At this point I didn't know how good she was hit so I told my buddy to stay there for at least 20min in case she came out. I went back looking for my camera. After 10min of looking for camera I looked back at the slope where elk were and see the cow walking very slowly from behind the tree! Watch and hear another shot... hit again but she walks 10 more feet and beds down under a tree. Ok, back to looking for camera, never did find it. Go back to buddy and cow still has her head up. Finally she gets up again, 1 more shot and it's over. All that time waiting and we saw what looked like a road under the snow! 50yds down hill from elk WAS a road! 1.5mile walk back to truck and I was able to drive to the elk. Again, sorry for the bad pics.
Buddys elk
