Dissapointments all around...

[204rug.ftw]

Well... I got back from my hunting trip down to the east koots and sunday. Was there for about 8 days hunting elk. First couple days we stayed in the cranbrook area, hunting out of a friends place on the outskirts of cranbrook. We were there for bout 4 days and didnt see a SINGLE elk. I did hear a bull bugling one morning but didnt see anything. And this wasnt because a lack of hunting. I was up day break everymorning and out hikibg around at first light, came back for lunch, and headed back out for another few hours until dawn. By this point we were kind of dissapointed in not seeing any elk, and no bucks, just a few does every once in a while. I cannot believe why the ministry would open a GOS for cow calf elk, right before the limited entry hunters, that payed extra money for the tags, and went through all the draw bullshit, that they would do that right before our season and let everyone go out and shoot all the elk in the basin, or atleast for the ones who did survive they went runnin for the hills. Before that season opened, the friend whos house we stayed at said that when he was riding his bike out the back of his yard, he saw a heard of elk, and stopped counting after 30 calves. And when the GOS season started for cow calf, he said it sounded like popcorn everyday from all the gunfire. Anyways... We left there in hopes of better luck down south more. We set up on lake koocanusa down by wardner for a few nights, and only saw 2 cows... This being better than cranbrook but still. 2 frickin elk! I thought there was supposed to be tons of them down there, but anyway, we stayed there for a few nights only seeing 2 elk. And it wasnt getting anybetter. So, we decided to leave there and start heading home. But we still had 2 left on our LEH draws so we figured wed stop somewhere on the way back and spend a night there. So we set up at tamarack lake for a night and to my amazement, we were seeing lots of elk. Within the first 2 hours we had a stalk going on through the bush but it was just too thick, only catching a glimps of it at about 100 yards. We later ran into 3 cows that were down a small bank and they started running along the bank and through the bush, i had my rifle loaded and safety off as i heard them coming up through the bush and onto the road, just as i had predicted, they did come up onthe road and crossed, the last one that came on the road i had my finger on the trigger and was on her shoulder at around 150 yards. She was running so i decided to let her go. After this i was pretty excited to actually see some elk and see em through my scope. Later that night, it was just sunset as we saw another small herd, with 2 cows and a small bull. Thats all i counted anyway. So we hopped out and the one cow was staribg straight at me at about 40 yards. She turned at dropped back another ten yards behind some brush, and she was perfectly broadside. So i took the shot at about 50 yards on a goodsized cow. After the shot, i went down to where she was standing and she was nowhere in sight. It was getting to be pretty dark by then so we decided to leave her for the night and find her in the morning. I didnt get any sleep that night, because i was thinking about that elk. And morning couldnt have come any sooner. We were in the truck and heading to where i shot her by sunrise. When we got there, we searched for about 5 minutes before we spotted some blood. We followed the blood trail for about 5 minutes and noticed she was running straight downhill , she dropped over a bank that was about 20 metres down, then it leveled out, and then we noticed she wasnt stopping... As soon as we came up on the second bank we realized we had a pile of work on our hands, we started down the band following the trail for about 50 yards and then we spotted something in the distant brush. My brother actually spotted it and thought it was a rock, but when i looked through the binos, i noticed it was infact my elk. We hiked down to her and found that we were nit packing it out by hand. She was down a 100 metre embankment with thick bush, and fallen trees all over the place. So we hiked back up to the truck and went back to camp to grab the quad, and a bunch of rope. We gutted it, and halfed it where it was laying And then winched it up and after 5 hours of grunting and heaving, we had her in the back of the truck. We went back to camp and skinned and quartered it. Once that was done we hung the quarters in the tree overnight. Unfortunetely, it was unusually warmthat night, being 13 degrees out overnight. First thing in tue morning we hauled the qaurters into the truck, wrapped em in a tarp, and packed up to leave that morning. When we got to skookumchuck we stopped at the store and got a bunch of ice to try and cool the meat down. After that we were homeward bound. The 3 and a half hour drive back to revelstoke didnt help much with the meat either. We got home around 3 and figured wed leave the meat in the truck overnight and in the morning we would go to a butcher and get ut hung. So we found this guy just outside of salmon arm to hang it and by them the meat was starting to go green on the outside layers. We figured wed loose a bit of meat to spoiledge. He did say that we could get some meat out of it and were thankful if atleast getting some meat out of it. But today we got a call that the green on the outside had spread, and there was not enough good left to try and salvage. So i lost all my elk unfortunetely. But with the doe season just opened, i think im going to try and get a deer for yhe freezer. Ugh... Im just really sad that i lost all my elk.. All to unusually warm weather... Oh well, goodluck out there and be safe everybody

[shawnwells]

brutal buddy

[LYKTOHUNT]

Oh Oh this is going to get ugly

[f350ps]

WOW!!!!! Some things should be left unspoken is all I'll say to this one.:confused: K

[sawmill]

So you left it in the bush overnight,then you hung it in a tree the next night,then you wrapped it in a tarp and after a long drive you left it in the truck for another night.
It went bad?Go figure.Learn anything?

[sawmill]

By the way,this is me being kind.

[Matty_ola]

I think I'll grab a coffee and refresh this thread for awhile.... should get interesting...

[204rug.ftw]

Well what else were we supposed to do? We were debating puting it in the lake overnight, but the cows were shitting in there so that wasnt happening, and it was thanksgiving sunday at about 4 o'clock so we couldnt take it anywhere

[Matty_ola]

Personally before I leave the house to go on a hunting trip I have some kind of plan on how to cool my meat if I'm fortunate enough to harvest something. It's the first priority on my list before leaving for a hunt.

[Steeleco]

I think I'll grab a coffee and refresh this thread for awhile.... should get interesting...


Something tells me that if it's doesn't stay civil, there won't be anything to read :wink::wink:

[sawmill]

Well what else were we supposed to do? We were debating puting it in the lake overnight, but the cows were shitting in there so that wasnt happening, and it was thanksgiving sunday at about 4 o'clock so we couldnt take it anywhere
Pay attention to your signature line.

[Joel]

As long as he doesn't do it again, lesson learned. Hopefully chaulked up to inexperience?

[curt]

well that sucks but i'll give you a friendly peice of advice for next time. #1 i know you cant always but do everything in your power to retreive your game that night even if its just to get the guts out and prop your game open to cool. If you hunt the last few hrs of daylight bring good flashlights and be prepared to search for game in the dark!!#2 never wrap your game in any type of plastic tarps in above freezing temps that is very likley the final straw that spoiled your meat, game bags, breathable cloth or leave them open the the air. #3 After sitting out not cooling for that long, you need to get that meat in a cooler as fast as humanly possible even if it means paying someone abit extra to come open up shop late. Well hopefully you have better luck on your next adventure but you did atleast find some area and get some action good for you!!

[mcrae]

Bone out the meat it would have helped cool it down. Leaving it over night with the innards in was the mistake IMO. Like Curt pointed out do everything possible to find that animal and get it gutted and quartered to cool. Even if you had to leave the quarters in the bush until the AM you at least had a fighting chance at getting that meat home...

[ydouask]

Did anyone see , or smell an ELEPHANT in this room ? And, how often don't we even hear of it ? If you are not familiar with Bone Sour, Google it !

[Jagermeister]

That is a total sacrilege to the elk you shot. Your rendition of the events suggest a FUBAR right from the getgo. I suspect a poorly placed shot, likely lethal gut shot based on the fact that the animal travelled so far.
And then wrapping the meat in a tarp. I can only shake my head. That keeps the heat in. You want air to circulate around the meat to dissapate the heat.

[204rug.ftw]

Yes, it was a gut shot. And we had ice in the tarp to cool it but i guess that wasnt enough

[lightmag]

#1, if you choose to pull the trigger you have choosen to spend as much time as it takes to either determine you missed or if you see any sign of a hit, look for it,track it for as long as possible.

#2 GUT ASAP
#3 cool meat asap, skin and hang ASAP
#4 don't wrap in plastic
#5 don't leave in lying in the back of a truck?? hang it up for air flow.

as long as you learned a good lesson from this then there is at least a positive.

[sawmill]

It`s vitaly important to recover the animal ASAP. The wife and I were out till 10 at night in the pissing rain and dark recovering my elk.Sometimes you have to go back the next morning but if you do then it`s doubly important to deal with it and get it cooled.Leaving it an extra night in the truck was probably the last straw for yours.I`m sure you will know better in the future.

[burger]

Prepare,prepare,prepare.

We always bring extra coolers filled with block ice. Just in case.


Now 204rug.ftw a gut shot at 50m on as you put it a perfectly broadside cow. Huh?? sounds like you had time and all. I personally think you were rushing just to say you shot something as it was getting late in the trip. This reeks of poor skills and a severe lack of care and judgement and I dont really care if I piss anyone off by saying it.Did you even look for the animal at last light? Have you never been taught or done any proper game handling techniques before??

Screwups like this should never happen. Would you leave a steak in the back of your truck for upward of 72 hours and expect it to be edible.

[The Dawg]

Popcorn, get your popcorn!

:D

[Blainer]

Bone Sour starts from the inside and works it's way out.
If you see green on the outside,you'r DONE!

[sawmill]

I think he gets the point now guys.

[f350ps]

Anybody else smellin a troll here? K

[burger]

Anybody else smellin a troll here? K


Thought about it but went for it possibly hook line and ....

[204rug.ftw]

Prepare,prepare,prepare.

We always bring extra coolers filled with block ice. Just in case.


Now 204rug.ftw a gut shot at 50m on as you put it a perfectly broadside cow. Huh?? sounds like you had time and all. I personally think you were rushing just to say you shot something as it was getting late in the trip. This reeks of poor skills and a severe lack of care and judgement and I dont really care if I piss anyone off by saying it.Did you even look for the animal at last light? Have you never been taught or done any proper game handling techniques before??

Screwups like this should never happen. Would you leave a steak in the back of your truck for upward of 72 hours and expect it to be edible.

actually, i wasnt rushed at all, and i didnt just shoot it to say i shot something. i was really happy with my shot placement when i pulled the trigger, and was surprised that it was right about 4 inches. at the start of my trip we went shooting before we did any hunting to make sure our guns were sighted in, and from when i sighted it in a couple days prior to shooting it then, it was on target. and then when we went shooting it was shooting to the right, about 3 or 4 inches. we did correct it and get it shooting on target again, but i have a feeling it wasnt me that had the poor shot placement. and to answer your other question, yes. we did look for it until about half an hour after the shot, and didnt find anything so we went back to camp. and just to make sure that i missed, we went back the next morning to check again with good light. and we found a small bit of blood that was hard to spot.

[born2hunt]

Anybody else smellin a troll here? K

my thoughts exactly and if not the whole senario is totally f****d up!!!

[rocksteady]

I am hoping it was a troll, cause if the events are true it shows a very poor representation of the "average hunter"....:twisted:

What caliber were you shooting? Not that it matters, just wonderin...

[204rug.ftw]

I am hoping it was a troll, cause if the events are true it shows a very poor representation of the "average hunter"....:twisted:

What caliber were you shooting? Not that it matters, just wonderin...
was shooting a .303 180 grain bullet

[The Dawg]

, but i have a feeling it wasnt me that had the poor shot placement.



Umm...then who was it?

[325]

Next time when you knock an elk down in a tough spot, use the gutless method and debone all the meat on the spot. You can put the meat in game bags, or zippered pillow cases (my preference). It will cool wonderfully, and is easier to pack-out that way.

Better luck next time

[slowkey]

well 204 your taking a bit of a beating for telling your story! so good on ya for have the balls to post it. I'm sure there are some rookies learning from this post as well.

Remember it is easy for all of us to armchair this. So good luck on the next animal you shoot and I hope it works out better for you

[Gateholio]

Bone Sour starts from the inside and works it's way out.
If you see green on the outside,you'r DONE!

In this case, probably correct. Teh internal meat temp liely never cooled down.

However, if the met is cooled and just hung for too long a time (or weather warms up faster than you expect) you sometimes will get some green or even mold on the exterior. In this case you can cut off the outside and have good meat on the inside. Probably real tender, too.:-D

[swampthing]

Too bad you lost it. Buy a headlamp and get at it the next time. Guttin in the dark is exhillerating in grizz country. If you got a buddy its not quite so exciting. Doing it alone is. Take care.

[pnbrock]

if i cant say anything nice.....................

[#1fishslayer]

Ummm, this is not good. You need to admit you screwed up, and make ajustments from there.

[204rug.ftw]

In this case, probably correct. Teh internal meat temp liely never cooled down.

However, if the met is cooled and just hung for too long a time (or weather warms up faster than you expect) you sometimes will get some green or even mold on the exterior. In this case you can cut off the outside and have good meat on the inside. Probably real tender, too.:-D

actually, it was only the outside layer that had the green on it, but i guess it was just too late and it spread throughout the meat

[204rug.ftw]

Ummm, this is not good. You need to admit you screwed up, and make ajustments from there.

yeah... i did screw up, in a couple places.. but ive learned from my mistakes and it wont happen again..

[Jelvis]

Ship happens, we learn from our experiences, next time you will do it different and all will be happy.
Jel ( Ship Happenz ) Not over til the paper work is done!

[GoatGuy]

Lots of learning to do here.

Try to help for the 'warm' temps problem.


If you shot late get the headlamps out and start searching, hopefully you'll find good blood and an animal within a hundred yards. Be prepared to be up all night until the next morning dealing with it if you find it.
If you don't find it that night, be there at very first sign of light the next morning.
If it's gonna take you 5 hours to haul it out in half then quarter it and take it out in 1 hour.
Get the hide off asap and get it boned out and bagged.
Get it cool if it's warm that means hanging it in the shade, with a breeze, in water, a cooler, deep freeze, or a trip into the nearest town to get ice if you have to
Failing that pack up camp and drive someplace you can get it cool even if it has to go into your deep freeze at home to cool it downWe all have to deal with these issues on occasion. Had to cut a trip short just a couple weeks ago for the same reason. Deer went down, quartered, camp was packed up and the deer was in the nearest deep freeze by nightfall. All started around 15 kms from the truck - long trip but the meat was fine.

Firing it into the deep freeze at home might have saved the meat if it wasn't already bad. Don't forget to turn it or put something between the quarters to make sure the meat isn't touching.

We work hard all year to get our animals from the woods to the table. In the big scheme of things getting the dead animal out of the bush is about 1% of the work when you consider all the $, time and energy you spend getting to and hiking through the hills.

Good luck on the rest of the season.

[JCVD]

In this case, probably correct. Teh internal meat temp liely never cooled down.

However, if the met is cooled and just hung for too long a time (or weather warms up faster than you expect) you sometimes will get some green or even mold on the exterior. In this case you can cut off the outside and have good meat on the inside. Probably real tender, too.:-D

Yup had this happen on a deer I hung 2 years ago...turned into a really warm night/morning. Trimmed it off, cut it up and it was great.

[chinook]

OK, you've been beat up enough here but I have to ask...What were you thinking? There are a number of places in your story where very basic common sense should have prevailed and told you that you were travelling down a very obviously bad road. So, again, I ask what were you thinking and why didnt you and your crew do anything to prevent it from happening. Sorry but that was just a terrible terrible judgement and a major lack of common sense. Next time PYHOOYA and think it through.

[coach]

204rug.ftw (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/member.php?u=18040) http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: revelstoke british columbia
Posts: 91


Re: SO>>was it a mistake?
personally i think that the GOS for cow/calf in the west koots was a mistake. before they opened the general public to taking cow/calf there were tons of them around, when i was recently hunting down in the cranbrook area for my LEH that i paid extra money for, and there were no elk around. they either got shot, and desimated the herds, or they ran up the god dam mountain so that they cant be shot. i find it pretty un-professional to open that to everyone so that the people that went through the draw, and payed extra money would get the shitty end of the stick, i wouldnt mind if they opened after the leh draw for cow/calf would have ended and givenm those people a better chance of getting an animal. for 7 days, we only saw 2 cows... didnt see any in the cranbrook area, and had to go completely out of the way to even find elk. atleast let the people who payed more money and went through the draw get first chance at them.


:???: Sorry guys, I gotta call troll on this one.. :???: And 204, it sure looks like you got a lot of guys going here! :icon_frow

[curt]

Beat up is an under statement Chinook 4 pages worth i'm sure he learned a lesson and hopefully took some advice from some of us for next time. Most of the heavy critics are the ones who will never post their fu** ups but we know they happen!!;)

[chinook]

Most of the heavy critics are the ones who will never post their fu** ups but we know they happen!!;)

Your certainly right about that and atleast he owned up to it. Just a bad lesson learned the hard way. I bet he knows better now than to let it happen again.

[budismyhorse]

Not a troll guys, just an inexperienced hunter.......hopefully some lessons learned and maybe draw on some more info next time.

IMO, if you deboned that elk the second you laid your hands on it.......you "may" have been fine.

As soon as you can, get that heat out of the meat.....when temps are not in your favour, debone it! Don't waste precious time getting the dang quad or truck to it so you can drag it around.......pack it out (the excuse about the steep bank doesn't cut it, make multiple trips).

[burger]

204rug.ftw (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/member.php?u=18040) http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: revelstoke british columbia
Posts: 91


Re: SO>>was it a mistake?
personally i think that the GOS for cow/calf in the west koots was a mistake. before they opened the general public to taking cow/calf there were tons of them around, when i was recently hunting down in the cranbrook area for my LEH that i paid extra money for, and there were no elk around. they either got shot, and desimated the herds, or they ran up the god dam mountain so that they cant be shot. i find it pretty un-professional to open that to everyone so that the people that went through the draw, and payed extra money would get the shitty end of the stick, i wouldnt mind if they opened after the leh draw for cow/calf would have ended and givenm those people a better chance of getting an animal. for 7 days, we only saw 2 cows... didnt see any in the cranbrook area, and had to go completely out of the way to even find elk. atleast let the people who payed more money and went through the draw get first chance at them.


:???: Sorry guys, I gotta call troll on this one.. :???: And 204, it sure looks like you got a lot of guys going here! :icon_frow

This statement here is why I stated that I felt he rushed. Had a shitty time not seeing any animals and was determined to get one.. Just my .02

[Buckmeister]

I cannot believe why the ministry would open a GOS for cow calf elk, right before the limited entry hunters, that payed extra money for the tags, and went through all the draw bullshit, that they would do that right before our season and let everyone go out and shoot all the elk in the basin, or atleast for the ones who did survive they went runnin for the hills. Before that season opened, the friend whos house we stayed at said that when he was riding his bike out the back of his yard, he saw a heard of elk, and stopped counting after 30 calves. And when the GOS season started for cow calf, he said it sounded like popcorn everyday from all the gunfire.

Just because you were successful in getting drawn for an LEH hunt doesn't mean you payed anymore money then the next guy who didn't get the draw and then opted to hunt in the GOS. I payed my money for LEH but turned up NIL. When we found out there was a GOS, we planned a trip. You had the option of hunting the GOS as well, you didn't have to stick to your LEH days for a cow. We went knowing that it would be more difficult to find Elk that early in the season. Main reason being that the elk being hunted were resident basin elk and the migratory elk hadn't moved in yet, thus less elk to hunt. The reason for the GOS is to knock down the numbers in the local population and make the ranchers happy. I tend to believe some of the LEH caters towards that as well, like the zone X LEH. I would guess that your draw was for Oct 1st to the 10th. That is still not so great a time from what I hear cause the migratory elk might still be tardy in showing up. We saw very little elk this year in the GOS as opposed to the LEH from a few years back during early Oct in the zone x LEH.
What was your style of hunting? Were you road hunting in a vehicle? If so, not the greatest choice for finding elk. We found that the elk were not far from the beaten path but were just down in a gully with good cover but still accessable and easily found on foot. Resident elk KNOW their area, and know where to go when the pressure is on so you have to learn their area in order to hunt them and find their hiding spots, just like any other game. We discovered the elk hadn't vacated the area but rather went into stealth mode.

[Kody94]

Just because you were successful in getting drawn for an LEH hunt doesn't mean you payed anymore money then the next guy who didn't get the draw and then opted to hunt in the GOS. I payed my money for LEH but turned up NIL.

Buckmeister makes a critical point there, 204dude. As an LEH holder, you didn't pay anything that a lot of other guys didn't pay.

Also, keep in mind that there is usually a reason behind every season. The LEH hunt is an opportunity to cow elk in early October, with a lot less hunters around. It was considered too risky to bring the GOS into October because the intent of the GOS was to target "homesteader" elk (the ones that don't leave the winter range all season), and if there was an early snowfall and backcountry elk migrated to the winter range, there was the potential to kill a bunch of them instead of the target.

All the LEH gave you was the opportunity to hunt the cows in October. Presumably, there was a lot less pressure on the cows at that time too. There were still lots around, but they were undoubtedly tougher to find that in previous years (nocturnal, hiding in thick stuff, etc).

As far as the meat loss goes, well, you've been beat up already but I have to say that you really can't blame the weather. Leaving it over-night was the biggest mistake...and things didn't improve much afterward from what I read.

Not to try and look the hero, but one time I shot a bull elk 32kms from my truck. It took 5 days to get it out (on foot, and with a cart), during 20+ degree weather. My partner and I never lost an ounce of meat. If you are careful about getting the meat cool, and keeping it that way, there is little excuse for losing a whole animal. That's a helluva waste.

[TPB]

Beat up is an under statement Chinook 4 pages worth i'm sure he learned a lesson and hopefully took some advice from some of us for next time. Most of the heavy critics are the ones who will never post their fu** ups but we know they happen!!;)


No doubt i agree with you, i respect him for posting his mistake troll or not. A lot of guys would just tell their buddies this never happened. I can kind of relate but i wasn't the shooter http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=56427

[islandboy]

well 204 your taking a bit of a beating for telling your story! so good on ya for have the balls to post it. I'm sure there are some rookies learning from this post as well.

Remember it is easy for all of us to armchair this. So good luck on the next animal you shoot and I hope it works out better for you

I am with slowkey on this. The best lessons are the tough ones. Good on you for telling it like it was. We all can use a reminder now and again.

[willyqbc]

actually, it was only the outside layer that had the green on it, but i guess it was just too late and it spread throughout the meat

I have home hung and butchered probably 100 animals in the last 5 years and have seen a lot of different scenarios as far as spoiled/not spoiled etc. Something smells funny about what your butcher told you on this one. My guess is that you had a little surface mold and maybe some of the surface meat even went a bit funky but hard trimming should have fixed that with lots of good meat to salvage. If indeed the elk had gone "green" throughout you would not even have been able to handle it to get it hung at the butchers. I had a couple fellows from the island hang a moose in my shop one night while I was on night shift, not knowing any better they failed to quarter it and left the whole neck intact. When I went out in the morning to check it out the smell punched me in the face as soon as I opened the door I hacked probably 40# of meat off both front quarters and was able to save the rest. When an animal goes "green" (bone sour) as stated earlier, it starts from the inside (next to the bone) and works its way out, if your elk had indeed gone green from bone to surface you would have been puking within 10 feet of it and the butcher never would have taken it in. I suspect he didn't want to deal with the yuck on the surface but there was good meat under there.

As others have said, I'm sure you learned some valuable lessons here and thats what lifes all about. Sorry things turned out so poor for you.

Chris

[muledeercrazy]

it takes a bit of planning to be ready to deal with that much meat. Next year you will hopefully be ready, and losing the meat this year will mean you do a great job of looking after it next year. Being ready to work all night, and having a couple options for a meat locker or butcher are just the start. The work really does start when you pull the trigger! There is some good advice on this thread, but also alot of information you need to learn is not here. My advice would be to not feel to bad, as long as you really do take this opportunity to improve your skills.

[pete_k]

Give back more than you take is my advise.

Maybe jump on your ATV and go pick garbage out of the bush for a day. Leave the gun at home. You probably owe at least that much to the ELK.
Then the kill won't be completely for nothing.

[Jelvis]

If you screw up bad on an animal and feel like you blew it then next year go hunting but go for a trophy size and pass on an easy one, make it a game.
Let one go for the one you wasted the year before, it's karma.
Jel ( It's your decision )

[204rug.ftw]

thanks for the positive advise guys, deffinetely realized how much work is involved in that... there have been lessons learned here, and im tryin to make the best of all your advise, thank you again

[sawmill]

Aw,you`ll be fine next time.I know it.

[aggiehunter]

I lost my first whitetail buck that I shot on my birthday in 1978...we even tried getting into the high country in the Bull River but it was too late...I think you learnt..