Fat Lady, Get Off The Stage!

[325]

Everybody has probably heard the saying " It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings". I found out this past weekend just how applicable that saying is to hunting.

I finally had the opportunity to spend some significant time elk hunting over the Thanksgiving weekend. I made camp Friday, and started hunting that evening. I saw a lot of sign, but no elk. I hunted all day Saturday, but again, no luck. One of my hunting partners joined me Saturday evening, with the plan of hunting with me the following couple of days.

Sunday was his day to shoot, and we hunted very hard, and covered lots of country, saw a sow grizzly with three cubs, and a sow black bear, again with a string on three cubs. No elk, no deer, no luck. We retired to camp Sunday evening under the mantle of a cold, starry October sky. It was an absolutely beautiful evening.

[325]

We awoke Monday to a heavy frost. The sky was clear, and it just felt perfect for hunting elk. We rode our ATVs to a higher elevation, then started hiking along the road running through a cutblock. I bugled and cow called, but everything was just quiet, and as per usual, we didn't see or hear any elk. I have heard elk bugle until near the end of October, but I was thinking things were maybe a little too late for calling.

We decided to explore the mountain side north of the cutblock and headed into the timber. It was a thick mix of rhododendron, alder and blowdown. Really difficult travelling, with minimal elk sign. After about an hour of thrashing around we re-emerged into the cutblock, and discussed whether we should head back to camp, or explore the country south of the block. As it was already after 9:00 am, I was viewing exploration as nothing more than reconnaissance for next year. We had earlier said "it ain't over 'till the fat lady sings", and at this point I said, "she's standing on stage at the mike, clearing her throat".

We walked across the block and into the timber on the other side and entered what turned-out to be a much easier slope to navigate than the previous. Most importantly, though, was an abundance of recent elk sign.

[325]

We hiked until the slope started to steepen, at which point, I decided to bugle, expecting nothing to respond, but though I might as well....nothing to lose.

Immediately after the bugle, we heard a deep roar below us. I said "is that a grizzly??" Very strange. I tried another bugle, and this time an elk responded, ahead and down the slope from us. At this point it was about 10:00 AM, and I was really, really surprised. The elk seemed a fair ways away, and we had the discussion as to whether we should attempt to get an elk so far from a road. It took about 1.2 seconds to agree that we should.

It took us about an hour to work our way towards the bull, who would bugle each time I cow called. I was no longer bugling, as I figured he might be with cows, and didn't want to spook him farther away. Finally, we were staring through the trees at the ridge we were sure he was on, only about 100 meters away. Things were getting interesting.

[monasheemountainman]

this should be good!

[adriaticum]

Good luck with the puck!

[Buckmeister]

Sounds good so far!

[325]

Sorry about the waiting. I'm at work...

Anyway, we worked our way into the ravine, and started to head up the other side. We stopped just short of the crest, and I cow called again. Suddenly, we heard branches breaking, and the tell-tale sounds of a large animal coming in fast. My partner, who was holding my dog, and I looked at each other in disbelief. It was actually coming in!!

I refocused towards the sound, and I saw a large bull break through the thick brush about 30 meters away. He was huge! My rifle was already raised, as I looked through the scope to try and determine legality. He turned to his left and I saw the tine I was looking for, but at the same time he took another coulple of steps behind a thick fir tree, and suddenly I was unable to see anything but a part of his rump. At this point he was only 15 meters away. My heart was pounding, and for what seemed like hours, but was probably only 10-15 seconds, he stayed perfectly still. My partner had a great frontal view of the bull who was staring at him, but could not tell if he was legal from his perspective. Besides that, he was holding my dog, and any movement at that point would have blown everything.

The wind was in our favour, but elk are a suspicious animal, and this one decided he didn't like the current situation, and turned on a dime and ran back the way he came in. I quickly did my best cow elk whistle, and he stopped about 25 meters away. His head was behind a tree, but I had a relatively good view of the rest of his body. I swung my crosshairs to his chest and pulled the trigger. My 308 Win barked sending a 150 grain Barnes TSX towards the bull, and I saw him bolt for a moment before he was out of sight. I heard the crashing of brush as he ran, then silence.

[325]

We waited a few minutes and listened, then I hiked up to the spot he was standing when I shot and prepared to tie a ribbon to mark the spot. No need, as my partner went ahead of me and said " I see him, he's dead". I raced up to my partner and looked down. There he was, piled up. I was beyond happy. We performed the customary hand shakes, high-fives, etc, took photos, and then got down to the business of breaking him down. At this point we didn't really know how far we were from the cut block or a road.

Here he is

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/P1010537_zps1ac44d79.jpg (http://s219.photobucket.com/user/goatcamp/media/P1010537_zps1ac44d79.jpg.html)

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/P1010531_zps3c4344c1.jpg (http://s219.photobucket.com/user/goatcamp/media/P1010531_zps3c4344c1.jpg.html)

[325]

Here is is with my partner. I love this image

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/P1010536_zps2a5ff8a9.jpg (http://s219.photobucket.com/user/goatcamp/media/P1010536_zps2a5ff8a9.jpg.html)

[325]

We got him broken down and started the pack out. I tied ribbons as we went so we could find him again on the return trip. I'm glad I did, as it would be really easy to lose a bull in the thick WK bush.

My Mystery Ranch Crew Cab was great as usual, but this trip would pop the cherry of my partners new pack, a Eberlestock Team Elk (appropriate name!). I was really impressed with its functionality.

Here he is with a hind quarter.
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/P1010540_zps6ad22147.jpg (http://s219.photobucket.com/user/goatcamp/media/P1010540_zps6ad22147.jpg.html)

The pack out wasn't nearly as bad as it might have been, and we got everything to the cutblock edge within about three hours. We brought our ATVs in, loaded-up, and headed out.

We sent that fat lady home!!

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/P1010542_zpsc327ba71.jpg (http://s219.photobucket.com/user/goatcamp/media/P1010542_zpsc327ba71.jpg.html)

[monasheemountainman]

awesome! great job!

[Getbent]

stop working and write!!!

[Weatherby Fan]

Awesome story and pictures, thats a dandy Elk.
Ya just never know with hunting !
Thanks for sharing
WF

[Hank Hunter]

Thanks for sharing, great story and awesome bull

[kootenayelkslayer]

Nicely done man! I'm envious! Congrats.

[Sitkaspruce]

Awesome Job boys!!!!!

Congrats on your hunt and thanks for bringing us along!!

Cheers

SS

[Looking_4_Jerky]

Damn fine elk. Top marks for persistence! Congrats.

[markt308]

Wicked stuff. Congrats on the nice bull

[Getbent]

sorry...great post delayed responce as I am working...nice bull man!

[lorneparker1]

Beauty Bull JB!

[Hillbros_96]

Great story and thanks for sharing.

[Rattler]

Nice bull JP! I was waiting to hear about your elk sucess...

[Darksith]

wow beauty congrats

[Ourea]

Cograts on your bull.
It never gets old does it.

[Brambles]

Im washing lures in the lake right now, boring day on the water! Thanks for adding a little excitment!!! nice elk!!

[16ga]

Good story, nice Elk, what made the roar? do you know?

[rocksteady]

Congrats.. Nice bull... Elk hunting with bugling bulls is like being hooked on heroin....no matter how strong you are, the addictions wins!

[d6dan]

Well done!. Very nice bull. :-D

[boxhitch]

Attago
good strategy on the calling , guess its never the wrong time to try.

[Wrayzer]

Great bull and awesome story! The heart must have been racing those last few minutes, love it.

[finaddict]

Great story and pics. Thanks for sharing

[ncurrie]

Awesome story!!! And awesome bull! Thanks for sharing:)

[Cami]

awesome story thx for sharing.
And congrats on the bull
hopefully one day i can share a story like that with everybody as well .... can't wait for that day:-D

[ydouask]

Congratulations, to both of you. There's still hope for those of us with uncut tags, eh !:-D

[ElliotMoose]

Beautiful animal! Great work fellas

[itsy bitsy xj]

Great write up with excellent pics. Thanks for sharing