Great story!! Great job!! And best of all---great steak!!

I have been surrounded by bugling bulls before. And until you experience that you can never know how exciting it really is.

Smart thinking about hunting in the middle of the two waterholes. I guess there is a good bit of hunting pressure where you hunt?? I have hunted elk over water before with an MZ. It is a really effective way to score. Tom.

Yeah, great hamburgers (with beef fat mixed in), sausage, steaks. The picture doesn't do it justice - it was much larger in person. Larger than my first cow, which was pretty big. This one must have been 450 lbs or more.

Congratulations on the elk. Nice shot. And a good choice of bullet. Its good to know that the 300 grain Gold Dot has that ability to take large game. A deer don't stand a chance. Excellent story, and great photos as well. I enjoyed reading your post. Thanks..

At least you can hunt does. Our muleys are dwindling, and you have to apply for a lottery to hunt bucks. We don't even bother hunting them - they are so scarce. Elk are also by lottery (cows & bulls). It can be 8 or 10 years to hunt a bull, and one or two years to hunt a cow.

Thanks, Semisane. I've learned a lot about Elk on this and other forums, but some things you learn best by experience. Like how you can get away with standing out in the open very still - as long as they don't smell you. And how easy it is to get very close to bulls during the rut, but how difficult cows can be. Oh yeah, I learned about the Gold Dots right here on HuntingNet - from Sabotloader, etc.

Naw, I'll split this one with him. Season ends tomorrow, and we don't have room in the freezers...or steam in the hooves

Great story .... congrats on the cow elk!

Thank's for the narrative. It is good you nailed the cow; not the bull. Congratulations!

Gold dot/Deep curls, may very well be the best bang for buck bullet money can buy. that .300 gr did a number on that elk.. good job

Excellent! Love your story.