Rocksteady gets his 6 point elk....FINALLY !!!

[rocksteady]

Go to a different area this morning, that I have not hunted for a couple weeks.....Start hiking in the dark, coming across some open grasslands at first light, cow elk sees me and runs South...DAMN.....

I sneek over to where she had been and sit and wait for first light....20 minutes later, still trying to decide which way to go and what to do I hear the distinctive sound of antlers clashing together....SWEET.....

Sneak way around to the Southwest to avoid the wind, stopping every 50 or so more meteres to listen for the clashing....This went on for almost a km.....Suddenly I see an elk out in an open Yellow Pine stand....Throw up the binos...BULL!!!....Belly crawl for 200 metres, lay down the legs on the bipod, put the spotting scope on the barrel, dial her in....5 point !!!

But wait, theres another elk, its another BULL....Dial it in....5 Point !!!

Bull 1 and bull 2 go at it for about 5 minutes, pushing, shoving....I lay and watch the show....All of a sudden another bull comes out and joins in....Dial it in 4 point!!!!

Of all the luck !!!! So I lay there for 45 minutes to an hour watching the bulls take turns smacking each other around (I am about 200 yards downwind)....Bull 1 beats up bull2, so bull 3 takes on bull1, then bull2 takes on bull 3).....

Whenever the bulls started to fight the cows and calves went nuts!!! Squeeling and mewing to beat the band....When the bulls would stop...so woud the cows...

I could tell which way they were planning to head so I made a wide berth, way downwind, put on the old face net and started going NINJA....Did this for about 300 yards or so and all was quiet, no bulls fighting, no cows calling...NADA.....So I sneek up onto this little open ridge, maybe 20 yards of open grass and sit on my arse....After 5 minutes of hearing nothing, I lit a baby cigar....

I am halfway through it, suddenly here comes a bull walking through the grass lands straight at me.....Out goes the smoke, up goes the binos...5 point.....ARGH !!!! He keeps coming, just like he is out for a leisurely stroll....

[rocksteady]

He keeps coming directly at me....Now hes at 60 yards...Keeps coming, now hes 40.....

At 30 yards he stops and looks to his right.....Lucky I kept the binos on him, rather than just giving up.....

Can you say "DOUBLE BROW TINE !!!" That makes 6 !!!!!

Slowly lower the binos, reach for the gun, he sees me move and whirls left and heads straight away.....(Hes about 60 yards when I let the 185 grainer go)

I put the crossharirs on the back of his head and let rip.....He stumbles falls, tries to get up, falls...I sneek within about 50 yards, get a good rest, and finish him off with one to the base of the skull.....

Happy Dance !!! Happy Dance !!!! Happy Dance !!!!!!

Look at my watch...Shes 09:00....Now what ????

Call my wife (woke her up), called a buddy to see if he would help, you betcha (my man Albert) and the wife woke up the 16 year old and his buddy, who had been up til 05:00 playing Rock Guitar.....

I hike back to the truck (1.5 kms, by now), drive to town, pick up the whole shebang and we are back on site within 1 hour.....

Cut a pole about 3" in diameter, 10 feet long, lashed it to the antlers and the 4 guys were a mule team......It was only about 300 or so yards from a main road......I was in a vehicle closure area, so could not use my quad or truck to get any closer......

Got it home, skinned and at the butcher by 2:30 PM....Weighed in at 300 lbs even...No hide, head, legs, etc....

GRAPHIC PICTURE ADVISORY !!!!!! DO not continue if offended by blood....

Here is a picture of the rack, my apologizies for the gore...When I went to town to get helpers, the crows took out the eyes....I do have a bunch of field pictures, but they are on my other camera that I need to go to my office to download, as that camera requires a docking port.....

My shot at the back of his head actually hit him directly on the end of the spine, removing about 12" of vertebrae...No meat damage though.....



Enjoy.....
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c372/rocksteadyrifle/2008%20elk/DSC00604.jpg

[mbhjls79]

Great Job, all your hard work finally paid off. Enjoy the steaks.

[Shooter]

congrats on a nice bull. Should be a real good eater

[Tikka7mm]

Congrats Rocksteady...great story!

[tooley]

Great job, was this guy one of the first two five points that you didn't see the sixth point or a totally different bull?

[hunter1947]

Congratulations Mike ,you finally put your mind to rest ,great going.

Does that right beam carry a one inch sticker at the bottom base ,it sure does look like a small point there???.

Now you can concentrate on a mulie as for a nother whitetail buck .

I am real happy for you Mike ,congrats again from an old salty http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif.

[mark4]

Nice job- way to stick with it and get your bull !!!! you must be happy and releived- there is nothing like busting your ass all season -wondering if your gonna score or get skunked- then finally getting your golden opportunity and making it count- good for you.

[brotherjack]

Right on man!!! Good for you!!!!

[moosinaround]

Way to be rocksteady!! MORE than enough bone there for a six!! Beauty!! I love the way they were sparring with each other. Getting to see that almost makes the trip, with the sixer as icing on the cake!! Moosin

[Buckman]

Great one Mike! Your time finally paid off.

[rocksteady]

Great job, was this guy one of the first two five points that you didn't see the sixth point or a totally different bull?

I honestly could not tell you....The way this 6th hides in behind the main brow, I could not identify it til he was at 30 yards....

I honestly think all 3 of these were competing satellites..I never saw a cow or calf, just heard them...I think there is a much bigger bull in with the ladies, but I was not gonna wait for him...

Wayne - Nope, thats not another point starting its a piece of bark from when we were dragging it out....

Sure is a great feeling to finally get one....

After elk tag soup last year (which is not very tasty or filling), I was getting worried that, with only 9 days left, it would be the same this year...

[rocksteady]

I love the way they were sparring with each other. Getting to see that almost makes the trip,Moosin


The best mental picture of the morning I have is when 2 of the bulls stopped fighting, one bull stepped out in the wide open and raised his head back and coughed....It was -5 here this A.M. so he let go a spectacular frosty breath...and I saw it all right in the spotting scope...:razz:

[Jelvis]

The Rock. Nice bull and good story you did real good.
Jel-rocker

[1899]

Congratulations. It must have been a rush to hear the antlers break the silence!

[plumbob]

great job rock steady it all paid off.

[rocksteady]

Heya guys its mike's wife. Well let me tell ya my side of the story...hehehe. Well yuppers I was trying to sleep in and what do ya know the old man phones in a dither, wakes me up all excited (and it wasnt about me) lol, needless to say I was not as happy as he was (it was freakin cold!!).

So I gather my wits get on the horn and get the kids out of bed also ( any of you who have teens know how much fun this is :smile:). So he and his buddy albert aka elmer fudd ( really you have to see it to get the full haha but he really looks like elmer fudd) show up at the door and mike hollars my name. I walk down the hall and here he is doin the freakin snoopy dance in the mudroom.

Soooo he and "elmer" head out in the truck and I leave in the car to go pick up the 2 growly bears ( aka the kids). We head out and well you know you have to have a timmies with a kill, its like a cigarette after sex lol. We finally get out there and get all geared up and head out to the kill, ok better yet the kids and I attempted to follow these two guys at mach freakin 10 through the bush ( did i mention he woke us all up lol)

We get there within about 10 mins and mike is in seventh heaven dancin (umm I think that is what it was anyway) all over the place with a grin on him like the cat that just swallowed the canary. So I am sure all of you are aware with the practice of "guttin" the animal, well the kids were not. Needless to say they stood there with their eyes huge goin omfg you have you hand up its ass rofl. They got their first look at " elk glossettes" fresh from the factory lol.

This all goes well with out any incidents other than Mike within the first 2 mins cutting himself on his own knife. Now the every thing is out on the ground and we have some majorly huuugggeee eyeballs lookin at it goin omg what is that!!! so they had to have a poke at the lungs and you know all the other stuff that eeewww's are made of. Finally we stick the log that "elmer" packed in behind the antlers, tied it on, put the liver, and heart in a shirt and stuck it in the cavity and ...MUSH I say.

I was pullin up the rear laughin at how comical it looked from behind to see these 4 guys pulling this thing out of the bush, really I dont know why but it looked funnier than hell ( pics to follow). They hump it out of the bush the 300 or so yards without many oopsies ( you will see the set up in the pics) the poor bugger on the inside left kept trippin over the legs and ended up goin for a fart knockin, addin to the haha I was already having to the rear of the excursion.

[rocksteady]

Let's just say none of them in that position lasted the full 8 seconds lol. Finally at the truck now, and well the truck isnt so little, was a real pain in the @#$ to lift that puppy into the back of the truck. We left the pole across the antlers and just stuck it in behind the headache rack however he was too big, couldnt close the tail gate. So here we drive off ( to drive right downtown to get home) with a horror story stickin out the end of the truck. (Sorry to any parents that now have to explain that one to a lil person :wink:)

All in all I am exstatic that he finally dumped something ( not sure how many of you all are married but makes our lives alot easier when you dont come home smelling like elk ummm you know stuff (PEE)) now the stress is off
FINALLY. So hope you all enjoy the pics and good luck to any of ya still on the prowl.

take care
Sandra :cool:

P.S forgot to tell ya the elk got a shot in also, Mike took a pretty good rap in the family jewels on the way out. No worries I told him I am sure it still works hehe :p

[rocksteady]

Sorry all, had a few beers...winding down from the exiting day and let the missuses post the 2 previous posts...

Lesson learned...Have beers, no loggie onto HBC:biggrin::biggrin:

[boyd050]

gotta love a story like that and great addition from Mrs Rocksteady. lots of fun, and congratulations!!!!

[Kody94]

WTG Rocksteady! Congratulations!! It makes me feel good to see a guy rewarded for some serious effort. I hope every bite you take from the steaks, burger, sausage, etc from that animal is just that much more satisfying. :)

Cheers
4ster

[mark]

Congrads Rocky! not easy finding a 6 pointer these days, sounds like an awesome hunt for sure and thats what elk is all about!

[6616]

Knew you would get one Mike, you seem to have the "never give up" attitude and stuck with it until finally,,,, success.

[5 spike]

congrats on a great bull rocksteady.

[rocksteady]

Knew you would get one Mike, you seem to have the "never give up" attitude and stuck with it until finally,,,, success.

Its either a benefit or a side effect of being addicted to elk hunting.....Can't stop til one is either in the freezer or the season closes...

Like others have said...

"elkaholic"
"elk addict"
"elk OCD"

I's all true...but well worth the effort...

[bosch]

Nice bull RS, good eats this winter, way too many 5 points now, it's time they allowed us to clean some out and leave the 6's and above alone.

[In4TheHunt]

Finally, Way to go

Nice rack. Happy Dance!!!!

way to stick it out, Follows the method.

Spot, Count....count.... count.......Bang. ha ha

Cheers

[Blainer]

That is one fine morning of hunting.That is also why I keep checking this site,stories and pictures like that.Look forward to more pictures.

[Poguebilt]

Good job buddy!

so when you takin me to the other "honey hole" before season ends!


talk to ya later!

[6616]

Sorry all, had a few beers...winding down from the exiting day and let the missuses post the 2 previous posts...

Lesson learned...Have beers, no loggie onto HBC:biggrin::biggrin:

Great story Sandra, from a little different prospective. Sounds like a great outing, grest to involve the whole family.

[sawmill]

Pound yourself on the back for me!Way to go!!!

[6616]

Pound yourself on the back for me!Way to go!!!

It's great to see isn't it. Young guys start out hunting by popping a few deer, maybe a goat or moose if they're lucky with LEH, and soon they get to thinking hunting is a cakewalk. Then they come up against the mighty 6pt bull elk, and even in an area like the EK that is crawling with elk, a humbling experience begins to unfold. After several years of dedicated pursuit it all comes together and a veteran elk hunter like Rocksteady emerges.

[Caveman]

Nice Job Rocksteady, It's been a long haul for you, Congrats!!

[bruin]

That's a gooder, congrats

[quadrakid]

congrats rocksteady,good to see you connect.

[rocksteady]

Some nicer pictures, now that I have got to the camera docking port.....

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c372/rocksteadyrifle/2008%20elk/Picture004.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c372/rocksteadyrifle/2008%20elk/Picture007.jpg

The 4 person mule team in action:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c372/rocksteadyrifle/2008%20elk/Picture010.jpg

Also forgot to mention......Whenever I get an animal, and get back in the truck, I take note of what song is playing on the Sirius....That morning I had been listening to 80's hits and when I popped the ignition on to drive home and get the helpers, it was.......

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFarren.......BTW I hated that song when it was popular....

[budismyhorse]

hilarious, thanks for sharing Mike!

great job!

[Kody94]

Nice bull Rocksteady. :)

My Pop saw you hauling it home on Saturday and it got him all fired up to go elk hunting. http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

Cheers,
4Ster

[rocksteady]

Personally I like to get them home in one piece, in order to make them cleaner and more appetizing for the family.....

I had 2 options here:

1) Albert and Myself were gonna buck it in half and load it on my game cart and make a couple of trips....

2) Get the 2 16 year olds out of the fart sack and put them to work....

Was looking like option 1 was going to be mandatory, but ended up tracking down the 2 boys....


It was Alberts call to skid it this way, I had never done it before, but worked surprisingly well....


Glad you all got a snicker out of it....

[newhunterette]

RS - way to go darlin, you have been working so hard for this critter and I am so glad that perserverance worked for you.

Congratulations

love the pic with the HBC hat on him hehehehe

awesome job all around

[BigBanger]

Good job , should be some good eats .