2019 Montana Elk lessons learned... A first timer's story of extreme weather and things I wish I would've known.

BuckeyeRifleman

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Most of all of us hear about on forums like these are the great successes. The fist timer who came out west and shot a 350in bull that dropped in his tracks the first day. We might occasionally hear about a not so great shot, but it's usually followed up by some miraculous miles long recovery. That said I think for everything we learn in life through success, we learn 100 times more through failure. There was no shortness on learning this trip, and doing a lot of that learning the hard way. I'm not sharing this story because I'm particularly proud of it, but rather so I hope some folks can learn from out mistakes without living through them like we did. This might not be a story of success, but it is one of a few harrowing moments, ones I won't soon forget.

So after a successful Montana Antelope hunt last year as my first western hunt I knew I had to go after elk this year. Not to mention there is a baby on the way and a deployment looming, this year was the year. I was lucky at snagging a leftover Montana elk combo tag (either sex) after not drawing a general combo. Likewise my hunting partner drew a 399-00 B (cow) tag.

After much research we decided to hunt the SW portion of the state. Now I won’t mention the district we were in, but given the experience we had I don’t think we are letting the cat out of the bag, as I’m pretty sure half the state hunts there anyway. I knew there would be pressure as this is a popular district, but I’m from Ohio, no way this could rival public land where I’m from, right?

We pulled up to the trail head to what should’ve been the first clue, probably at least 20 trucks and horse trailers. I was disappointed, but I figured it’s big country, get a few miles in we will be fine. Our plan was to get about 3 miles into this roadless basin, set up a spike camp and hunt from there. We wanted to use the pressure to our advantage. Now both myself and my partner might not have been experienced elk hunters, but we have a pretty good deal of experience in the outdoors, backpacking, and otherwise roughing it in not so kind environments thanks to uncle sam. We have both been through an intensive formal military survival course, and my partner was a former special forces operator. We felt capable of doing this style hunt given our experience, and based on the historical RAWS weather data felt we had the right gear, clothing, and knowledge to do it safely. We expected temps ranging from mid teens to high 40's most of the time. We were prepared for a dip into single digits at night if it came.

We got there Thursday night, hiked in Friday morning and set up camp. Right after setting up camp we heard chainsaws and voices; despite how far we walked an outfitter was set up with a horse camp only a few hundred yards away.:(

Weather was what we expected, low 40's during the day, 20's at night. We were downright comfortable. Almost too warm in fact. During our afternoon scouting we spotted a herd about 1000 ft above us and 1.5 miles away, just below the tree line. We decided they were a little to far/steep to try to hit the next morning, but we kept them in mind. We wanted to hunt the open hillside just above us where we saw lots of tracks, as it was right near our camp and seemed like a good ambush site for elk moving due to pressure.

Opening morning was slightly foggy, and pressure was as expected. Multiple hunters and horses were seen despite our distance from the road. No elk were seen. We decided to go back to camp, get lunch, and head out and try to find the herd we spotted yesterday.

Now, previously we had discussed not shooting elk at dusk, mainly due to grizzly bear concerns... we also decided to leave our sleeping bags and pads at camp, expecting we wouldn’t be that far away. Both of those became huge lessons learned as the evening progressed.

We made it back to our previous glassing location, and though it wasn’t surprising, we were disappointed to not find any sign of the herd we located the night before. We decided to push deeper into the basin and continue glassing. Finally, about 1.5 miles from camp, we located a handful of cows another half mile away and 500 ft above us. It was about 3:30 pm at this point. About 25 degrees or so. We hurried up the mountain to put on a stalk. The wind was good. We had terrain and timber in place to mask our movement. We spotted an open cow; 500 yards. Despite a lot of experience with long range shooting, I passed on the shot. I wasn’t taking a chance on anything that wasn't perfect with a live animal. We descended through a timber stand to cut the final 200 yards, doing our best to stay quiet. Finally we made it to the edge of the timber. I had an open shot on a cow at 285 yards. I offered it to my partner as he was limited to a cow and I had an either sex tag, but he insisted I take it.

I placed my pack on a downed log and rested my rifle across it. I dialed 1.1 mils according to my dope chart. I had a solid rest, I was steady. I placed the crosshairs behind the shoulder of a standing, still, broadside cow in the timber clearing and slowly squeezed the trigger. The suppressed rifle jolted, the cow jumped as if the hit was solid. I followed her through the timber, and despite not the best view I thought it appeared as though she toppled over.

I was elated. I knew I just killed an elk. I was as confident as I have ever been that I made a good shot. I hurried and threw on my pack. It was almost 5 pm. We would be fighting daylight to get this thing cut up and hung. I was also starting to realize I made a big mistake in my rush to stalk an animal; in my haste I failed to remove my warming layers I had on to glass. I felt slightly dehydrated and I was starting to shiver. Oh well, I just killed an elk, I’ll deal, or so I thought.

The 285 yard trip to that hillside was slow going, across a scree field and up an extremely steep embankment. It probably took us close to a half hour. Finally we made it up to the clearing where I had seen the elk. I saw tracks. There was fresh snow. Cool, a little looking around and we will find blood, and then the elk.

My excitement turned to surprise, then worry, then disappointment. What... the... f$ck... where is the blood!? I knew I hit that elk... I was solid. I didn’t flinch. I’ve done enough hunting, and enough shooting that I know when I make good or bad shots. This was a good shot, as good as any I remembered. I laser back to the treeline... 285. Am I in the right spot? I felt certain of it, and nothing left or right of me looked like what I saw through the scope. I circled around the area the best I could. I followed the tracks. Nothing. We searched for at least an hour without a single sign of a hit animal.

As sure as I was after I took the shot, after scouring that hillside I felt almost certain I must've somehow missed. We even found what looked like a bullet impact... Did my rifle get bumped!? Was I seeing things when I saw her jump, run off then fall in the timber? The light was fading fast, and the temperature was plummeting. I went to take a swig of what little water I had... it was frozen. I was starting to really get cold. My mouth my dry. We had 2 miles through rough terrain to get back to our camp, and almost a half mile to any flowing water. I looked at my thermometer on my chest rig... 0 degrees. The wind had picked up. As much as it killed me, we had to get back to camp. Now. This was no longer about finding an elk, this is about not freezing to death at 9000 ft 5 miles from any road. I wasn’t just shivering anymore, I was slurring my words and starting to get a bit confused.

I was pissed. Pissed I couldn’t find the elk. Pissed I hadn’t topped off my water at the last stream crossing and put it in my bag rather than on my pack belt. Pissed I didn’t take the 2 minutes to doff my warming layers when I saw the elk. These are things I know better than to do, but judgement seems to go out the window when all you have thought about for the past year are in your view. The hike back to camp was treacherous, we cut through the thick lower timber with almost two feet of snow. It was slow going via headlamp. I’m fairly certain we saw grizzly tracks. We stopped at a point to start a fire and get warm, maybe melt some snow to drink. It didn’t help much as far as warmth and melting snow was an inefficient way to get any water. We pressed on back to camp.
 
We got the titanium stove going and I crawled in my bag. Coming out I thought I was overkill with a 0 degree top of the line western mountaineering bag. Little did I know we would choose the week with record low temps. I made the mistake of not stripping my wet base layers in my urgency to get warm. The down bag got slightly damp. It was a long cold night.

We woke up and debated heading back to look more. But no blood last night, more fresh snow that morning, a bunch of wet frozen warming layers, temps still in the single digits and expected to drop further, and the thought of hiking two miles further away from safety made the idea untenable. We had come as close as we ever wanted to get to a deadly hypothermic event the night prior, and not getting ourselves back in that same situation was fresh on our minds. Even if we made it back there, the chance of finding anything now was slim to none thanks to more snow, and even if we did find her, she might have a Grizzly feasting on her.

At the time I chalked it up to a miss, as unlikely as it seemed. Looking back now in full hindsight we might have gotten slightly disoriented crossing the scree field and somehow ended up in the wrong clearing, or she just didn't give up any sign. With decades of experience as deer hunters under out belt neither one of us had ever shot a deer that didn't give up ample sign in fresh snow, even with marginal shots. It just didn't seem possible to us it might have still been a fatal hit given what we found based off our previous experience. But talking to experienced elk hunters after the fact, they can soak up a fatal hit and not lose a drop for hundreds of yards. The thought of that makes me feel even worse than a clean miss, but it’s the most logical outcome IMO. Either way, it might have been a blessing, as we probably would’ve been in much worse shape had we been forced to stay on that mountain longer and quarter an elk while we were wet and cold.

We hiked out that night, got a hotel, dried out and regrouped. Our plan was to try to get to the same area we shot that elk via a different road that was only about 2.5 miles away the next day. We hoped we would find her, or if not that, find some more elk. We got there the next afternoon after some two hours of some pretty rough off-roading. We couldn't even make it the last 1/4 mile to the trail head. It was snowing, but according to my In Reach it was supposed to stop early afternoon. An outfitter stopped by about 5pm, all four tires chained, and said it was going to get to -15 that night and the snow wasn't supposed to let up. She was extremely kind and offered us a room at her lodge. After a little debate, we took her offer. If a local is telling us we should get the hell of this mountain, we probably should. Driving off that night we did some of the worst off-roading I’ve ever done through a driving snowstorm, following that outfitters rapidly fading tire tracks. Thank God for chains.

We unfortunately never made it back to that area. It just wasn't safe due to the weather. Between the temps, the terrain, and the lack of elk we were spent by the end of the week. We didn't have temps above the mid 20s until the day we left.

We did manage to fill our region 7 mule B tags on the way home, so at least we’ve got meat in the freezer.

Lessons learned...

Temp management. I knew better after a decade in the military, but start out hiking cold. I don't care how big that monster is that seems so close a half mile up that hill, just stop and take off your damn puffy. Just do it. It's not worth getting yourself into a situation like I did.

I’m taking my bag/pad and tarp everywhere next time, especially if its going to be well below zero. Not just for “putting them to bed”, but for survival.
Had I had that stuff with me when I shot, I’d also likely have elk meat in the freezer. We could've just backed off, set up a impromptu shelter, got a big fire going, and done a much more thorough rested search in the morning. We also would've avoided that dangerous hike through blow down timber at night. Yeah, carrying that 5-6ish lbs of stuff all day would've sucked a bit, but it would've made the whole situation just about a non issue.

A solid partner is worth more than gold. We were both pretty broken by the end of the week, but when things get hairy, there is no better safety than someone with you you can rely on.

Camelbaks suck in the cold. If there is a chance things will get below freezing, leave them at home. Again I knew this, but somehow didn't things were going to get THAT cold. Likewise actively manage your water if it's below freezing. Put it in the bottom of your bag. Put it IN your bag rather than the nifty holder on the outside.

Things get exponentially harder and more dangerous when it gets colder. Water freezes, hands don't work as well, tripods freeze up, canister stoves don't work, clothing doesn't dry out, etc. I will never attempt a backpack style hunt again with sustained below freezing temps, especially with temps getting THAT stupid cold.

Don't fall in love with your plan (again, should know better from Uncle Sam.) When we got to that trailhead with a bunch of horse trailers we should've just left and gone to plan B. Likewise when we looked at the forecast showing single digits a few days later we should've reconsidered the spike camp idea.

I will never hunt with a non bonded bullet again... Yeah I was using the 143gr ELD-X in 6.5 CM. It shot great in my rifle. It did a number on everything I've ever shot with it. Shot placement is all that matters right? I don't want this to divulge into a caliber debate, but I need to emphasize Elk are big, heavy, tough critters. They deserve a bullet that WON'T fail... Copper solids, bonded, or partition bullets of your choice. Did bullet failure lead to what happened? I have no idea, but I know it couldn't have helped. I'll also be swapping to a 300 WSM barrel in my TL3, but I'll admit that has more to do with my head than anything grounded in fact or reality.

Zero your damn rifle when you get to where you are going! In a rush to get hunting we didn't... We just shot the week prior and felt very confident. But 10 minutes into not finding a drop of blood that "my rifle must've gotten bumped" thought became VERY persuasive and that confidence in my rifle was gone. After I checked my zero a few days later I felt really bad about not searching more the next day, even though it probably wasn't a good idea due to safety regardless.

When tracking, walk off to one side. Once you lose tracks, it's really hard to go back and find them again when you already walked all over them.

Carry orange tape to mark where you shot from, and on object directly in line with where you shot. That way you can look back and line things up... OnX is great, but nothing beats 100% visual confirmation you are where you think you should be when you start tracking.

Don't be afraid to not shoot an elk. We got excited. We had worked pretty hard to just FIND elk, so we didn't want to miss the opportunity. But in all reality, being 5 miles away from the truck with temps like that a possibility taking that shot just before dusk probably wasn't smart. Easy to say sitting here, hard to do then. It's also not a terrible idea to have a packers number on standby.

Finally no elk is worth your life. I posted this story elsewhere and got some heat from some keyboard commando's for not going back and looking more. Sure, sitting here now, dry, warm and rested I feel bad about not giving that area another look the next day. But the reality of our situation wasn't great, wet layers and gear, frozen water bottles, and finally single digit temps that were supposed to just get colder as time went on. As disappointed as I am about the whole possibly not recovering my elk thing, I'm pretty pumped about meeting my first child in a few months. Given that, I think we made the right call that morning to just get to the truck. In my profession we often say the most conservative response wins, and that morning in those conditions the most conservative response was the one that gave us the best opportunity to live to hunt another day.

I know this site is a bit more newbie friendly than others and often has first timers looking for advise, so I wanted to share this story and my experiences here as well. I hope some of you found this helpful. If it helps one other guy or gal fill their tag and do it safely, then I'm glad I did.


Finally I can't wait to get out and elk hunt again;-)
 
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Great write up! I also experienced my first elk hunt this year in SW Montana in one of the Region 3 districts. The extreme weather really put a crimp in the plans, making it impossible to freely spike camp, thus I limited myself to what I could get to from base camp. Same as you, the area I hunted was overrun with hunters. However, that was mostly the case on the areas of the unit in which you could use ATV’s. The area I was in was off limits to ATV’s, and anything else other than feet and horses, and as such I had a huge swath of land largely to myself. That said, there were simply no elk in there. The area looked great and had all the hallmarks of sanctuaries, yet the elk preferred to hang by the ATV trails and get clobbered. Go figure.
Same as you, I saved the last couple of days for Region 7 deer hunting and as usual filled my tag there and at least got some good venison to take home.
Can’t wait for next year as well, I am even more determined. Would be good to not have another record breaking cold October though 😉
 
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Elk are tough critters. For what it’s worth there is a huge risk leaving them overnight with the guts in, they spoil. I left one for 8 hours and the whole bull smelled rank, we processed it anyway, I only found a few cuts that were edible the rest fed the dogs and was coyote bait.

I have shot three with a Creedmoor and 140g Accubonds. A Premium bullet won’t make much difference over the eld-x. None of the 3 were a quick deaths and all required a follow up shot to anchor them. That combo looks great on paper but doesn’t carry enough energy for that big of game.

It is a good choice to go to a bigger round. I now shoot a 7mag with a 150g Barnes TTSX. It did a fine job on this years Cow elk. For the first time I had a blood trail, even though it wasn’t needed for the 30 yards before she went down.

Also happy Veterans Day, from one vet to another.
 
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I knew there would be pressure as this is a popular district, but I’m from Ohio, no way this could rival public land where I’m from, right?
Coming from Pennsylvania I have always felt the exact same way. Only to find there always seems to be way more pressure and over crowding than I ever experienced at home. It only taught me better how to get away from other hunters and use the pressure better to my advantage even though it was frustrating. I really enjoyed your write up, good luck with the birth of your child and in your upcoming hunts.
 
The most important part of this story is, you returned home, safe and sound.....And, much wiser!

A very well written story than everyone, especially those that are experienced and complacent, should take to heart.

You experienced conditions that you may never see again. Some because Mother Nature just decided to screw with you. And some, due to your errors. Confronting and admitting your errors is the first major hurdle already crossed!


Already mentioned, and I do not want to be a Monday morning quarterback here......use more than enough cartridge and bullet. When you’ve spent a large sum of money, expended a lot of blood, sweat, and tears on a hunt, took lots of time to make the hunt, and traveled many miles.....more is better. Read my signature line.....this has been my philosophy for over 37 years. There’s no such thing as overkill. Many people hunt and kill with less rifle combo than you used.....however very few are honest enough to admit their failures. Hell, you can kill an elk with a “knitting needle”.....but, conditions must be perfect. As previously stated, a 7 Rem Mag. using good bullets, is a good starting point. My opinion on cartridges, unless you really feel the need to shoot at very long ranges (600+ yards).....get a .338 WM. It may simply be the best “do it all” big game rifle. Lots of factory ammo options available, lightweight enough (depending upon your rifle selection) for backpack hunting, recoil is quite tolerable, and with a good bullet and good placement.....everything in North America (from mice to moose) is on the menu. My wife’s “only” hunting rifle is a .338 WM (no brake). She uses it for “all” of our big game hunting, and has taken many smaller big game (deer/antelope/ small bear) with it as well as elk and moose. She’s never complained about “overkill”!

Unless your hunt area in Ohio is “shotgun only”, the .338 WM will work quite well on Whitetails. If you go this route, you’ll be hunting everyday with the same rifle/cartridge combo you will be using on that very expensive, important out of state, elk, moose, sheep, or bear hunt!

Thank You for your service to our Republic, glad you survived your Montana experience, and may your future hunts be nothing short of spectacular! memtb
 
Thanks for the story. I have made some bad decisions myself when hunting. One or two of which could have put my life in danger. Those decisions were made nearing dark also. If a person is going to hunt hard far from camp or truck late in the day, it takes a whole different level of thought and preparedness.

As far as calibers, you can probably get almost as many separate opinions on this site as there are members. I use a 270 for everything these days. I messed around with other calibers but I am not a big shooter and sticking to one gun really makes me feel better about my abilities. If you have time to be comfortable with a larger caliber, I agree, do it. I know my choice limits me some, but, as stated, I don't shoot a lot so I am more comfortable with the gun I do use. The elk I got this year went about 10 yards and I have never lost an elk. Never had one go more than 50 yards, actually. But I limit myself pretty harshly on what shot I will take.

I hope your next elk hunt is a resounding success!!!
 
Wow man, good write up and thanks for sharing important details and being honest and transparent about how everything played out. In your defense, that weather was absolutely ridiculous for October! But, as you know, it’s always possible in the high country. Still, temps that low were a clear outlier.

Also fellow vet and fellow buckeye here! Thanks for you service and go bucks!
 
Thanks for taking the time to post your hunt story.

I think one of the biggest values of this forum is for beginners, especially for those who don't have a ton of access to mentorship, to learn how to hunt.

Often when you start out, you don't even know what you don't know. Stories like your highlight some of those things a beginner might not even know to worry about. I think by you and others posting your stories you are helping cut the learning curve down for others.

Accounts like yours were the ones I felt were the most valuable with trying to figure out elk hunting.
 
Glad you made it back in one piece . Elk are tough critters. Sounds like you already plan to go bigger. That’s a good idea, a little under gunned for elk imo. Also, one thing with elk is keep shooting until they are on the ground .

On the bright side, you have some experience to build on for next year.
 
I don't know, I have always liked to hunt elk in sub zero weather. Thins the crowd and the elk stay out a lot longer in the day, come out earlier in the evening, and on the south slopes. They often bed in the open too.

What I don't like hunting them in, is that rain/snow mix crap...get soaking wet and they don't act much different, not coming out until dark and back in the trees shortly after daylight. Days like that I stay in the timber and hunt slow.
 
Crazy! A lot of bad luck right there..... don’t want to get into a caliber debate, but 6.5 w a 143 ELD-x is devistating too say the least! Doesn’t matter where you hit the elk, it makes a very large hole. Between my wife and I we have killed five elk I believe With that combo! We are shooting the 6.5x.284 which is a bit faster than a 6.5 creed.
I have not came as close as you too hypothermia but have gotten damp. Thankfully I always pack a 20lb propane tank and heater in the truck for those just in case moments. Great write up, keep at it. I believe you made the right decision with those factors in play. Don’t beat yourself up to bad, it does suck, it happens. Live and learn and plan for next year!
Matt
 
Crazy! A lot of bad luck right there..... don’t want to get into a caliber debate, but 6.5 w a 143 ELD-x is devistating too say the least! Doesn’t matter where you hit the elk, it makes a very large hole. Between my wife and I we have killed five elk I believe With that combo! We are shooting the 6.5x.284 which is a bit faster than a 6.5 creed.
I have not came as close as you too hypothermia but have gotten damp. Thankfully I always pack a 20lb propane tank and heater in the truck for those just in case moments. Great write up, keep at it. I believe you made the right decision with those factors in play. Don’t beat yourself up to bad, it does suck, it happens. Live and learn and plan for next year!
Matt


Duck Slayer, With my “limited” experience with the ELD-X from a Creed (granddaughter’s rifle) at close range.....the performance was abysmal. And, that’s being polite! I’m not suggesting that you’ve been “just lucky” 5 times....but, I’ve read of far too many failures with the ELD-X from the 6.5’s. I really could not justify the risks! But, that is just me! memtb
 
Learning lessons the hard way is never fun, but does (hopefully) leave us better off in the long run. It sounds like you had more than a handful of learning moments on this trip, and I'm happy that your enthusiasm made it out of the ordeal unphased.
 
I have made mistakes out hunting too, and I learned if it looks hit and felt confident of the shot it’s probably hit and you need to search for it. Elk have big body cavities and they don’t bleed a lot.
Secondly, what would be the point of a sleeping bag/tarp? We hunted the opening four days of season in a similar unit over ran with hunters, and temps were 22, 5, -11, and -22. You would die in those conditions exposed overnight.
You were hunting beyond your means to effectively to remove an elk. But at least Gods creatures probably got to appreciate the meat and they need to eat too. Lastly, I use a 7mm Mag, and 30/06 for elk/deer/pronghorn and it minimizes a lot a of tracking. Better luck next time and thanks for your military service. Preston
 
I have made mistakes out hunting too, and I learned if it looks hit and felt confident of the shot it’s probably hit and you need to search for it. Elk have big body cavities and they don’t bleed a lot.
Secondly, what would be the point of a sleeping bag/tarp? We hunted the opening four days of season in a similar unit over ran with hunters, and temps were 22, 5, -11, and -22. You would die in those conditions exposed overnight.
You were hunting beyond your means to effectively to remove an elk. But at least Gods creatures probably got to appreciate the meat and they need to eat too. Lastly, I use a 7mm Mag, and 30/06 for elk/deer/pronghorn and it minimizes a lot a of tracking. Better luck next time and thanks for your military service. Preston

Yup, your first two sentences is probably the biggest reason I want to share this... I had no idea an Elk could soak up a bullet like that and not shed a drop. Had I known that, the outcome might have been different.

Like I said, had we had bags with us, we could've easily spent the night that night where we were and probably been in a good position to finish doing a thorough search in the morning, and if we found the elk quarter her out and take one load of meat.

Instead we had to navigate back to camp in the dark and not be in a great position to safely finish searching in the morning, and if we went back possibly face another night in even colder temps. Like you said, the temps just got stupid from there, and staying out there any longer, bag or no bag just wasn't safe.
 
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