Elk trip 2011 - bulls, bucks and bears!!

[willyqbc]

Well we are back from our annual elk hunt and once again I am buried in butchering chores....nice problem to have! As usual it was myself, and my son "the beast", along with Tank and his Dad.

Day 1 found us back in our usual valley putting on lots of miles on the boots checking some draws that have produced for us in the past. With 2 groups scouring the countryside no bugles were to be heard.....starnge. The Beast and i were just coming out of the bush from our evening hunt for a pick-up at the farm in the valley bottom when we spot some elk out in a field across the valley about 1.5 km away. with light fading fast we start given er to get to these elk while we have a chance at them. As we approach the field, which was our designated pick-up spot we see the pick-up truck with both doors open and see tank and his dad taking a rest across some hay bales so we settle in to watch the show. One of the elk was indeed a bull and the boys seductive cow calls brought him right across the field to about 200 yards where he ran into a couple barnes and dropped in the middle of the field. YAHOO!!!! This was our 9th bull in this area over the last 4 years and finally we had one we could back the truck up to!!!! For any of you who have done elk retrievals from way back in the bush you will understand what a luxury this is!!!
So here is the first bull of the trip, continuing our tradition of taking a bull on the first day of the hunt....4 years in a row now!

3660

Day 2 - once again , many hours of hiking resulted in only one responsive bull between the 2 groups.....a beauty bull that busted the beast and I, offering only a fleeting glimpse and no shot opportunities.

Day 3 - The morning hunt was once again completely silent for our 2 groups.....concern starts to settle over the group as we try and figure out how to get our bulls if they are not making any noise. At about 11 AM we are back in camp and I am at the camp stove making luch for everyone when I hear some casual talk about a deer coming from outside the tarp....followed by the beasts litlle legs zipping past then back past again followed by the telltale sound of a round being chambered and a bolt dropping.....What the heck???? I slip out from under the tarp to see a little whitey trotting past the camp and Tank making deer noise trying to stop him. Nothing was working so at about 140 yards I just yelled HEY!!!! The young buck froze and offered the beast a nice broadside shot. At the shot he did the usual whitetail bucking bronco routine and we knew he was hit hard....we found him 30 yards from the point he was hit with a perfect double lung shot through him. This is the beast's first whitetail, and interestingly he got his first whitetail before i did (had a bit of a whitey curse hanging over me for a long time now!!)

[willyqbc]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/michael_whitey_2011_sml.JPG

Well now things are starting to look up, we have 2 animals in the cooler and still have 4 days to hunt! So after taking care of Michael's whitey and having some lunch we are back to the bush for the evening hunt. 4 hours of hiking through the still silent timber Michael and I are starting to get really concerned about the lack of elk activity when we emerge from the timber at our pick up spot.....(same field the bull just got shot in) and I spot a decent little whitey in full velvet with something funky going on with his antler on one side. Now given my past history with whiteys this was definately a shooter for me, so one shot and a 70 yrd run later my first whitey was piled up in the scrub!!! VERY NICE to get that monkey off my back!!! Also pretty cool that Michael and I both got our 1st whiteys on the same day!!

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/chris_whitey_2011_sml.JPG

[Bowzone_Mikey]

sweet!
I will call ya later

[pescado]

Nice Bull.

[yota]

The title says bull(S) buck(S) and bear(S) wheres the rest it started out so good i cant wait to hear about more and hopefully see some pics. congrats though so far on a beauty bull so far.

[willyqbc]

The title says bull(S) buck(S) and bear(S) wheres the rest it started out so good i cant wait to hear about more and hopefully see some pics. congrats though so far on a beauty bull so far.



Patience my friend.....more to come. to see the whitey pics click on the links in my 2nd post, having trouble getting the pics to come up on the post so links for now!!

okay....continuing on

DAY 4 - the morning hunt again produces no bugling activity although Michael and I did bust an elk of some description in the thick bush and Tank and his dad saw the group of cows that had been with the bull they shot the first day....no new bull had claimed them yet which was a further cause of concern for us. The evening hunt found the beast and I in a familiar area that had produced for us in the past but we had yet to hunt this year. Its the end of a 4 hour hike and we are approaching the edge of a clearcut that was done a few years ago when I catch sight of an elk about 100 yards ahead in the timber.....cow and calf. We freeze and begin scanning for more elk, sure enough other tan bodies start to materialize in the bush....more cows and then i see a small bull, maybe legal, maybe not. As we are looking this little bull over trying to make out 3 points on him I hear a twig snap behind me and slowly swivel to see 2 more cows behind us .....somehow we have walked right into the middle of this herd without being busted!! As I swivel around to pick up the small bull again I see what I now realize is a different bull and while not big he is definately legal. The shot is going to be around 120 yrds through the bush and freehand, not a comfortable shot for michael so i decide I will take him. As my crosshairs settle behind the shoulder he turns his head in to scratch himself so I patiently wait until his vitals are clear and take the shot. With all the elk thundering away through the bush there is no chance for a follow up shot without risk of hitting one of the cows so we just let them leave and follow up as quick as we can. before they get out of sight we can see the bull is lagging behind and I am confident he won't go far. After giving him a few minutes a short search finds him piled up in a spruce thicket. Despite the lack of bugling action things are looking up!!!
With very little time before dark we clean and open up the bull to cool out overnight for a morning retrieval.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/chris_elk_2011_sml.JPG

not a big bull but pretty happy to have more meat for the freezer!

[Wild Images]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/chris_elk_2011_sml.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/michael_whitey_2011_sml.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/chris_whitey_2011_sml.JPG

[willyqbc]

DAY 5 - with a retrieval of the bull first up on the days agenda it is decided that Michael, Al and I will load up the quad and other retrieval gear, while Tank goes for a quick hike around the same area and meets us back at the bull so we can get him out. Well we pull up to where we are going to dump off the quad and as soon as we get out of the truck we hear two quick gunshots coming from the general direction of the downed bull and are now hopeful that maybe tank has taken a bull close to where I got mine! In the back of my mind I also start thinking that maybe he had to shoot something nasty off the carcass of our elk....time will tell. we make our way in to the bull and find Tank there with a story to tell. Apperantly he found the spruce thickett no problem and being aware of the possibility of something being on the carcass he made a full circuit of the thickett looking for any sign of bears or wolves.....all loks good so in he goes and finds the bull. It is untouched as is the guts that I drug away from the elk. GREAT!! all is well so he begins working on the elk while he waits foir us to get there. Suddenly he hears a SNAP in the bushes behind him.....knowing there was another small bull in the area he gets one in the tube and turns to face the sound. Instead of the elk he was hoping to see a good size black bear materializes on the game trail about 10 yards away. Not really wanting to shoot a bear on our elk hunt he begins to holler at it thinking it will spook and run. Unfortunately just the opposite happens and the bear starts to growl and snap its teeth while it continues to adavnce on tank. Apperantly Tanks comfort zone for an aggressive bear in his personal space is about 6 yards as that is how far from the elk the bear met his demise. Nice mature boar that was just a little too self confident for his own good!! A "pee-in-the-pants" moment for tank I'm sure!!

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/jms_bear_2011_sml.JPG

As for the last couple critters i will let Tank tell that story when he has a chance!!

[steepNdeep]

Wow, sounds like an awsome hunt! Good eats all around...

[yota]

awesome ending congrats

[Phil A. Bowl]

wow great story

[adamgarbett]

Wow i say that was a productive hunt so far. Congratulations boys, can't wait to hear the rest

[orangestepside]

now thats a hunting weekend some nice bulls down a couple of firsts and a decent pair of undies left under a tree im sure :D

[Tank]

The last morning of the hunt had us wake up to rain and wind. Even though the hunting had been a bit thin and everyone was getting a bit worn down we decided we would tough it out anyway and give it one more go. With all of our rain gear on my dad and I started working our way through the bush at first light lightly cow calling....hoping that the rain would give us enough cover to bump into a cow (which were now open). A lucky bump into a whietail which didn't hear us coming until it was too late got us in the game with a buck down by 7am.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/jms_whitey_2011_sml.JPG
Being early we marked the buck with GPS and flagging tape and decided to give the elk hunting a couple more hours. About an hour later we picked up a bugle! We tried to work the bull in with cow calls but he wouldnt budge. Finally he started moving off. We gave chase and thought we had lost him for about 30 minutes or so when a bugle in the distance gave us some hope. As we closed in we could hear all sorts of noise....weezy bugles, snorting, sticks breaking. At about a hundred yards some tan bodies finally slipped into view. We could tell from the glimpses we were getting and the rodeo sounds that there were two bulls and they were having a pretty good scrap. We kept closing the gap...trying to get a shooting lane, but the fight kept moving out of view. Finally at about 30 yards they moved right into the open and two quick shots later a bull was down!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/jms_elk_2011_sml.JPG

We were about 5 km's back from the road so the quad and the crew had our work cut out for us. by 6pm we were back to the truck. Great finish to the trip!

As usual the company was the best part of the trip. A very easy going group of guys and some great country makes for a good week in the bush.

[rocksteady]

You guys suck!!! You make it sound so easy....

Just kidding....Congrats on the success....Just wish I was in the same boat...

[nano]

Well done, congrats

[J_T]

Great hunt. Nice to see the generation combo. Good retention and good recruitment.

[toyordie]

man thats a hunt dreams are made of thanks for sharing

[ELK Seeker]

Where did you guys purchase your horse shoes, and how are they positioned? :mrgreen: lol congrats on a awesome hunt.

[cainer]

I was going to say it was successful before the other half of your posts showed up. Way to go fellas!

[moose2]

Great stories and pictures guys. Its nice to see you had such a successful hunt. Congratulations on a great combo hunt.
Mike

[adamgarbett]

Way to finish the story off Tank. Congratulations to you all on a great and successful week

[willyqbc]

You make it sound so easy....


Easy it was not......rough calculations off the GPS showed us hiking 160+ km in seven days and I would dare say that tank and his dad did a bit more than that.....long brutal days!! Gotta hand it to our group though, no whiners or shirkers in the bunch. Specially proud of my son....not many 11 year olds I know of could handle that kind of abuse without a single complaint....even after the blisters started showing up!!! As tough a hunt as it is though, it will continue to be the mainstay of our hunting season that everything else gets planned around!

[Tikka270wsm]

Fantastic story and great pics of the animals you guys got. Any other animals you get now will just be a bonus to an already successfull season. Congrats!

[Looking_4_Jerky]

Umm, I think you gus are going to have to rent a moving truck next year!

Congrats on a trip that is going to be a hard act to follow! And addicting your son to hunting!

[The Silent Stalker]

Can I come with you guys next year? Great story and pics, thanks for sharing.

[BlackwaterMerc]

Take me with you!!!

[Call of the Wild]

Quite a different average elk hunt. Congrats for the success even without elk interaction.

[markt308]

unbelievable success. way to go