nazarow
04-27-2016, 05:59 PM
First Elk
I know most people don’t like posting up their hunting stories on here anymore, but this is mostly the only reason I’m on this site and keep checking back in and I figured I would post another one on here…
Well the season started out pretty well for me getting my first 4 point mule deer (2nd big game animal to date) on September 11th so I tried my luck at finding an elk. I had managed to get out for almost a week the previous fall with no luck only finding other hunters bugling back.
I had a week off late this last September and got some good hikes in finding lots of fresh deer and elk sign but didn’t see any live elk other than some on some private land.
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/IMG_0269_zpsm7fxlz6k.jpg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/IMG_0269_zpsm7fxlz6k.jpg.html)
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/IMG_0270_zpsazsnxa24.jpg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/IMG_0270_zpsazsnxa24.jpg.html)
I managed to get some more time off mid October and headed back to the same area I saw the fresh sign and on the 2nd night back I had set up looking down over newer cut. Not 15 minutes in I heard a large branch break (which didn’t phase me too much because the previous times I’ve sat there I’ve heard lots of sounds that I thought were large animals) but I poked my head over the small ridge anyway and looked around and didn’t see anything.
A couple minutes go by and I poke my head over again and I see an elk less than 200 hundred yards away. My heart stops as he sees me and just stands and stares. I flip up my binos and quickly count at least 7 points on one side. I slowly drop to one knee and line him up. I fire a shot feeling confident but he just stands there still looking at me. WTH. So I line up another shot and right after I let it go he drops.
My adrenaline is pumping and I can’t believe what had just happened. I wait about 10 or 15 minutes after he stops moving to make my way down. He was way bigger than I expected, 8x7, and took a few quick photos before caping and quartering him (this is when I realized the first shot went through both lungs and the second was through the lower neck and spine, they are TOUGH). I use my InReach SE to text my buddy, who I know is hunting nearby within a half hour of where I am, and let him know what happened. He asked if I wanted a hand right away and I told him to wait until sundown to better his chances at his tag.
Over the next few hours I cape and quarter the elk (gutless) which was interesting to say the least as they are huge animals compared to deer but manage to get the work done and in game bags. After dark, my good buddy and his dad show up to help me pack the meat up to the truck, which luckily was only about 100m in a cut, and drive it back to camp (after convincing me to hack out the ribs).
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/IMG_9681_zpswpmzdsj3.jpeg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/IMG_9681_zpswpmzdsj3.jpeg.html)
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/PA240667_zpsgpljunj1.jpg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/PA240667_zpsgpljunj1.jpg.html)
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/PA240666_zpsyrt6hpcj.jpg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/PA240666_zpsyrt6hpcj.jpg.html)
I ended up boiling the skull for the euro mount and still haven’t decided on doing any sort of mount with the cape. I am hooked on elk hunting and can’t wait for the 2016 season to come and thought this would be a good time to post while everything is a bit slow.
I know most people don’t like posting up their hunting stories on here anymore, but this is mostly the only reason I’m on this site and keep checking back in and I figured I would post another one on here…
Well the season started out pretty well for me getting my first 4 point mule deer (2nd big game animal to date) on September 11th so I tried my luck at finding an elk. I had managed to get out for almost a week the previous fall with no luck only finding other hunters bugling back.
I had a week off late this last September and got some good hikes in finding lots of fresh deer and elk sign but didn’t see any live elk other than some on some private land.
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/IMG_0269_zpsm7fxlz6k.jpg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/IMG_0269_zpsm7fxlz6k.jpg.html)
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/IMG_0270_zpsazsnxa24.jpg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/IMG_0270_zpsazsnxa24.jpg.html)
I managed to get some more time off mid October and headed back to the same area I saw the fresh sign and on the 2nd night back I had set up looking down over newer cut. Not 15 minutes in I heard a large branch break (which didn’t phase me too much because the previous times I’ve sat there I’ve heard lots of sounds that I thought were large animals) but I poked my head over the small ridge anyway and looked around and didn’t see anything.
A couple minutes go by and I poke my head over again and I see an elk less than 200 hundred yards away. My heart stops as he sees me and just stands and stares. I flip up my binos and quickly count at least 7 points on one side. I slowly drop to one knee and line him up. I fire a shot feeling confident but he just stands there still looking at me. WTH. So I line up another shot and right after I let it go he drops.
My adrenaline is pumping and I can’t believe what had just happened. I wait about 10 or 15 minutes after he stops moving to make my way down. He was way bigger than I expected, 8x7, and took a few quick photos before caping and quartering him (this is when I realized the first shot went through both lungs and the second was through the lower neck and spine, they are TOUGH). I use my InReach SE to text my buddy, who I know is hunting nearby within a half hour of where I am, and let him know what happened. He asked if I wanted a hand right away and I told him to wait until sundown to better his chances at his tag.
Over the next few hours I cape and quarter the elk (gutless) which was interesting to say the least as they are huge animals compared to deer but manage to get the work done and in game bags. After dark, my good buddy and his dad show up to help me pack the meat up to the truck, which luckily was only about 100m in a cut, and drive it back to camp (after convincing me to hack out the ribs).
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/IMG_9681_zpswpmzdsj3.jpeg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/IMG_9681_zpswpmzdsj3.jpeg.html)
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/PA240667_zpsgpljunj1.jpg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/PA240667_zpsgpljunj1.jpg.html)
http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q705/jnazarow/PA240666_zpsyrt6hpcj.jpg (http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/jnazarow/media/PA240666_zpsyrt6hpcj.jpg.html)
I ended up boiling the skull for the euro mount and still haven’t decided on doing any sort of mount with the cape. I am hooked on elk hunting and can’t wait for the 2016 season to come and thought this would be a good time to post while everything is a bit slow.