I got back yesterday from my two week hunting trip. It was fantastic! I got a 5x5 bull opening day of elk season! I shot it from 267 yards, and it only ran about 75 feet before it dropped---a huge relief for me since it was evening and starting to rain! I will post the pictures as soon as I get them!
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I thought all writers drank to excess and beat their wives. You know one time I secretly wanted to be a writer.---C.K. Dexter Haven
Welcome back and congratulations on your success! Way to go! Sounds like you " pushed the edge" of the envelope and pulled him in clean! The boards have been a little slim with a lot of the elk hunters apparently out in pursuit of the wily wapiti! Good to have you back. I look forward to any photos of your bull (large, small, or otherwise) and any you might have of camp as well! Any related stories or elk country photos would be a treat! [8D]
Back on one of your earlier posts, I remember you said, " I like a rifle that has some kick to it (30-06)" , I thought to myself, " I' m betting she' s going to get something this fall -- sounds like a real hunter -- plus she' s out there long enough to get the job done!" Again, congratulations!
EKM
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Never Go Undergunned, Always Check The Sight In, Perform At Showtime!
Good judgment comes from bad experience! Learn from the mistakes of others; you' ll never live long enough to make them all yourself!
Congrats hntngirl! Can' t wait to see the pictures! Did you take him with your -06? I got a 5X5 with mine on opening day of second season in Colorado. Easier to say the 18th of October though.
Fill us in with some more of the good stuff! How did it all come together?
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view my hunting and family photos at:
Here' s the story........It was opening day, October 18th. My husband, Tim, is a bowhunter, but was able to come up for my opening weekend, and we' d spent the day checking out the regular spots that we know elk like to hang out, but hadn' t much luck. We' d seen a couple of cows, but that' s it. That afternoon, we decided to head over to the other side of the mountain and hike into an area we felt pretty good about. We had walked just a little bit up a road when we saw two cows and a calf. Tim laid down where we were and I crawled a ways up where I could see around the brush and laid down too. They had just started coming out through an opening in the reprod and pretty soon there were 6 cows and that calf, but no bull. All the cows kept looking over to the trees to my right, though, so it was pretty clear where he was. I was able to catch just a glimpse of him a couple times, and could see he was a bull, but there was no way to take a clear shot. I had signalled to Tim that I had seen the bull, and he asked me if I wanted him to bugle. It has been so warm and dry here for so much longer the past several years, bulls seem to be rutting later and later, so I told him to go ahead and try it. I' ll tell you what---my husband can bugle like nobody' s business! I' ve gotten better over the last couple years, but I' ll never be that good! He threw out a couple bugles, and within a couple minutes had the cows coming to him. This got the bull riled enough to circle around and come out of the trees to get the cows back. Trouble was, he had circled around and come out just around a little hill where I couldn' t see him. But, Boy! We could sure hear him! There is absolutely no cooler sound in this world than a bugling bull elk! I put my rifle (30-06) on my back and belly-crawled about 60 feet to where I could see him. Tim bugled a couple more times and I got to watch the bull throw his head back and answer. I balled my coat up under the barrel of the rifle, and put one shot through his lungs. He made a real jerky turn, ran about 75 feet, and dropped. Unfortunately, I missed seeing that part because the direction he took off in left a little reprod tree right in my way, but Tim said it was the coolest thing he ever saw! The rangefinder put the shot at 267 yards.
Right about that time it started to rain a little, and we made our way across to the elk. By the time we had bled it and gutted it, I had to break out a flashlight. A timber company had thinned that area several years back and there were trees down all over the place. We knew we were going to need help, and would probably break our necks trying to pack it out in the dark. So my husband made me leave my bull there and go back to camp. I' m telling you, that was the hardest thing I' ve ever done. I wanted to just stay with it all night, but he said No. Go figure! LOL! The temperature had dropped, and I knew he would be okay, but I still made Tim drop me off with him at 4:00 in the morning while he drove down and got his buddy, Darrell, to help. Darrell brought his camera, and that' s where the pictures are. I' m going to have to start calling and harrassing him on a daily basis till he gets them developed. I' ll start that tonight! [>:]
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I thought all writers drank to excess and beat their wives. You know one time I secretly wanted to be a writer.---C.K. Dexter Haven
Hey, way to go Huntngrl!
Can' t wait to see the pictures. Sounds like a great hunt. They always end to quick. All that anticipation and then boom it' s done.
Got my Bull!
Any related stories or elk country photos would be a treat! [8D]
