Hummer
Well-known member
I'm one lucky son of a gun. This year construction projects at home conspired to delay my hunt and I lost the first six days of the nine-day 2nd rifle season. I finally got to my campsite in the Flat Tops region and was out before dawn on Friday. I climbed the mountain, over the top and into some aspen parks, then slowly ventured down into the dark spruce-fir timber. Before long I spotted a brown patch and brought up the binoculars. Sure enough, it was a bull elk laying in his bed looking in my direction, and I could count four points on his left side. In a second or two he would surely bust out and be gone so I took the quick offhand shot. The 180 gr. Nosler New Partition cleaved his heart, went through the lungs and exited the right shoulder. Still, the bull stood, walked 27 yards and collapsed down an embankment. What an amazing animal!
I made the shot from 47 yards. Remarkably, where I shot him in his bed was only 24 yards from where my 2016 cow elk was downed. Last year I shot the cow at 27 yards on the first day of season. Both times, had I not been using binoculars while moving through the woods, those elk would have been gone before I could get a shot, or even a view. Binoculars allow me to see 2-3 times farther into the forest than my naked eye. The Vortex Razor 10x42 are outstanding.
Over the years I've taken 5 elk within 200 yards of this location. It was my 29th elk in 31 years of hunting the area. I love still hunting the dark timber because it's so elky and pungent. Maneuvering over and around the downed trees, padding quietly on the soft damp duff, the scent of elk hanging in the air, it's just magical. The forest is so thick it's not easy to get close enough for a shot but when you do, it sure is gratifying.
I camp near an outfitter and usually hire them to pack out my elk. I'm a frequent flyer and they kindly have me on the friends and family plan. Packing out with animals is much easier on me and the meat, and far better than letting a bear chew on it first, as has happened on 1/3 of my elk kills. Saturday morning, Cole had horses and mules ready to go and we had the animal back in camp just after noon. I drove home and got the meat in the refrigerator before dark. Now the butchering begins....
I made the shot from 47 yards. Remarkably, where I shot him in his bed was only 24 yards from where my 2016 cow elk was downed. Last year I shot the cow at 27 yards on the first day of season. Both times, had I not been using binoculars while moving through the woods, those elk would have been gone before I could get a shot, or even a view. Binoculars allow me to see 2-3 times farther into the forest than my naked eye. The Vortex Razor 10x42 are outstanding.
Over the years I've taken 5 elk within 200 yards of this location. It was my 29th elk in 31 years of hunting the area. I love still hunting the dark timber because it's so elky and pungent. Maneuvering over and around the downed trees, padding quietly on the soft damp duff, the scent of elk hanging in the air, it's just magical. The forest is so thick it's not easy to get close enough for a shot but when you do, it sure is gratifying.
I camp near an outfitter and usually hire them to pack out my elk. I'm a frequent flyer and they kindly have me on the friends and family plan. Packing out with animals is much easier on me and the meat, and far better than letting a bear chew on it first, as has happened on 1/3 of my elk kills. Saturday morning, Cole had horses and mules ready to go and we had the animal back in camp just after noon. I drove home and got the meat in the refrigerator before dark. Now the butchering begins....
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