BareBack Jack

It started early this week,I was talking to a old timer who used to hunt the Belt mountains.He asked me if I ever hunted this place(wich I'm not gonna say the name).I told him no I have never herd of it,so with a crude drawn map,I take Tuesday and Wensday off from work,load up the pick-up and head out.I leave the house at 5am tuesday morrning with a fresh dusting of snow in the yard.Hopes are high as I drive to the Belts.I find this old road and start in,as I'm driving in I'm looking at the terain in wanning morrning light,(i'm starting to heed the old mans warrnig don't go in befor light and be out by dark,cause it's steep and lots of cliffs but there is elk there)it looks pretyt much straight up not quite 90 degrees but like 80.I reach the end of the road and there is a old horse trail heading into the timmber.I put my pack on and load my gun and take off in the morrning light.I walk in for about a hour and turn up hill,and man is it steep,I was crawling up hill more than walking,and if you stopped to rest you had to lay down cause if stood up you would tumble backwards down hill.I finaly reach the top of a ridge and it faily flat,I hunt all morrnig and into the after noon with out cutting a track in the fresh snow,about 1o pm I reach the back of the canyon and it's a huge open hill side,and Sit there and glass,eat a sandwich and have bottle of water and decide to head back as it getts dark about 5 pm.I hike back and reach the pick-up about 4 and I'm digusted cause out of all that climbing and walking never saw a elk track,not even a deer track fresh in the snow.I start driving out and as I round a sharp corner I see somthing up in the timber a head of me,all of sudden my mind goes what is that....then BAM!!! Thats elk,I jump out of the pick-up grab my gun and I'm off running,I reach the trees and I see about 6 cows running side hill in the timber,I say to my self find a bull,the right the like god had planned it there he was standing looking at me about 70 yards,I plaster the crosshairs of my 300 win mag on his shoulder and BOOOOOOM!!!! the gun echo's in the canyon,and I see him flinch and take off up hill,I'm hot on his trail.I come down in this littlecut and he's standing there starting to tip over and I give him another right in the neck,and crash he fall's rolling down hill till he piles up into a old blow down.I check to make sure he dead and walk back to the pick up and retrive my pack,rope and come-a-long.I get him streched out and legs tied so i can get him gutted.I get him gutted and pull his head over the log and he tumble all the way to the bottom(almost)he hangs up on a tree and I pull his horns and he rolls about 20 yds from the truck.I hike back up the mountain retrive my gear.I dropp the tail gate and hook up a rope and tie it around his horns and pull him to the road with pick-up,put the come along around his neck and pull him in the truck.I was one happy hunter,and I thanked god all the way home for this winters supply of meat and when I got home I called the old-timmer and thanked him about the tip.So that the end of my elk-season and what a good one it was.Till next year,I will be wating.
BBJ

Oh yeah he's a 5-point(if you count both sides)3 on one side and 2 on the other.He weighed 382 lbs at the meat shop,and was 2 1/2 years old.
I will post picks when I use up the rest of the roll on the camera.

shed33

Congrats BearbackJack, nothing like having a freezer full of elk!

Colorado Bob

Conglads on the bull. Them old timers are the ones to get to know to find out honey holes. I had a old cigar smoking buddy tell me about his bighorn sheep honey hole-----I shoot a nice ram there in 98. I stayed in his old camp site. I found trees with AHB 1960 carved into the bark. Pretty cool--I thought.

ironranger

BBJ, that is a sweet deal. How often can a guy winch one into his truck and drive off?? You were rewarded for all of that climbing you did. The elk gods were smilin' on you that day. Elk backstraps are pretty hard to beat. Congrats...

gotlost

SWEET, But I was waiting to read the part when you woke up at the end when he rolled to the truck, The elk gods truely were smileling on you.

nutz4bucks

Congrats!!!

Hemi

Doesnt get much sweeter than that!Congrats on a successfull hunt!

121553

That makes me mad as hell. Do you have any ideal how much sweat I have used. Good job.

Bobby

BareBack Jack

Thanks guys,almost have the roll used up,one more critter to get and I'm done.Trophy white-tail doe hunting over Thanksgiving.

Hey Bobby don't think I didn't bust my butt for this one.To tell you the truth I have no problem shooting them in the back of the truck if they would let me.
Take'em as you find'em I geuss.
BBJ