elkduds
Well-known member
I'm getting a good feeling about this one...
Leaving in the morning for Wyoming.
- Thread starter OleRedbeard
- Start date
midwesthunter
Well-known member
We made it home safe, woke up Sunday morning to try and get one last hunt in before hitting the road. 80 was closed and so was the whole west side of Nebraska. So we loaded the truck and drove around the area, found some elk but a long way off, my son elected to just head home. We made it to Rawlings had lunch thankfully the roads were opening up. I thought I was going to have to keep driving south into CO then east into Kansas.
OleRedbeard
Well-known member
Some of the drifts in the area I was in yesterday were several feet deep. It really stopped you from driving up into alot of areas.
OleRedbeard
Well-known member
That's what I was thinking only in reverse the other day. Main roads are good to go now here.
OleRedbeard
Well-known member
Well after getting setup the best I could I began to think they had given me the slip again. Below me around 200 yards they were filtering through a small opening unto the prairie and bedding down here and there. There was nowhere else to try to get on them from that from where they were at and I think they knew it too.
I turned my head slowly to the left after catching some movement and saw several headed down the hill towards where the others had went right at between 80 and 120 yards.
I had taken my bino harness off so I could crawl to where I was and had it laying in front of me on the little outcropping for a rest. I picked out the second to last cow in the group of about 20 heading down and hollered out "hey elk!" (works for deer so I hoped it did for elk too)
Sure enough most sort of stopped and started looking my way.
I squeezed the trigger and when the smoke cleared they took off down the hill. Except for the cow I had drawn a bead on. She was just standing there looking down the hill. I got up and started to reload hoping she would stand there long enough for another shot when she fell over. I finished reloading and started to put my bino harness back on when she got back up. Stood there and started walking back up the hill to my amazement. I quickly stepped over the ridge and got another shot at her about 40 yards. She soaked it up like it was a BB gun. I had intentionally shot behind the shoulder on both shots trying to not waste much if any meat. She continued to slowly walk around the side of the hill and I lost sight of her while reloading. Once I got reloaded I grabbed my pack trying to give her time to expire. About ten minutes later I made my way around the hill and there she lay.
I learned a valuable lesson. That elk are tougher than you think. I've killed dozens of deer and at least 4 bear with a muzzleloader. All were done after one shot. Usually boom flop. I've never in all my years saw a critters hold a total of 580 grains of copper bullet and stay mobile with lungs that were jelly.
I turned my head slowly to the left after catching some movement and saw several headed down the hill towards where the others had went right at between 80 and 120 yards.
I had taken my bino harness off so I could crawl to where I was and had it laying in front of me on the little outcropping for a rest. I picked out the second to last cow in the group of about 20 heading down and hollered out "hey elk!" (works for deer so I hoped it did for elk too)
Sure enough most sort of stopped and started looking my way.
I squeezed the trigger and when the smoke cleared they took off down the hill. Except for the cow I had drawn a bead on. She was just standing there looking down the hill. I got up and started to reload hoping she would stand there long enough for another shot when she fell over. I finished reloading and started to put my bino harness back on when she got back up. Stood there and started walking back up the hill to my amazement. I quickly stepped over the ridge and got another shot at her about 40 yards. She soaked it up like it was a BB gun. I had intentionally shot behind the shoulder on both shots trying to not waste much if any meat. She continued to slowly walk around the side of the hill and I lost sight of her while reloading. Once I got reloaded I grabbed my pack trying to give her time to expire. About ten minutes later I made my way around the hill and there she lay.
I learned a valuable lesson. That elk are tougher than you think. I've killed dozens of deer and at least 4 bear with a muzzleloader. All were done after one shot. Usually boom flop. I've never in all my years saw a critters hold a total of 580 grains of copper bullet and stay mobile with lungs that were jelly.
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elkantlers
Well-known member
Good work. Thanks for taking us along.
teej89
Well-known member
Congrats!
Am I missing something, was this a ML hunt?
Am I missing something, was this a ML hunt?
OleRedbeard
Well-known member
It took most of the rest of the day to bone her out and get everything packed up and hauled out. I got the first load back pretty good. It was only around 1.6 miles back to the truck. I couldn't get any closer due to the drifts so it was about half way through the second load I began facing the reality that I'm not in my 20s anymore and I misplaced all the piss and vinegar I thought I was full of.
Also.. that whole "what's another half a mile" thing kept popping up in my head.
I got everything out right before dark.
Packing out in that type of snow which was spotty made it rough. You would go several hundred yards on clear ground then have to ford a drift or ankle deep snow for awhile. It has a way of wearing on you.
That's the story I'm going with anyway because I'm not ready to say that I got my butt whipped on it.
I had a sled in the truck but with it being mostly clear I think it would have been hard to use on much of it.
I've spent the day cutting up meat and getting it all trimmed. I was really blessed to have missed the bad weather and to fill my tag.
I've spent my whole life looking forward to what happened yesterday. I used to get in trouble as a kid for sitting up and reading books on elk and the west when I was supposed to be studying or sleeping. From O'Connor, Leupold and others. Every hand me down outdoor life or other hunting mag I could beg borrow or steal I would read till they were dogeared. To say it was a infatuation would be an understatement.
Like most of us though life has a way of passing by before you really know it. After graduation I went into the military. Got married. Had a family. Worked my farm and a full time job watching the years tick by thinking one day soon when this or that is done. Till one day you realize your almost too old to pursue the things you've dreamed of. My dad passing put life into perspective for me. He always talked about hunting out west when he was young from Oregon to Wyoming and everywhere in between.
Might just be a simple meat hunt. Nothing special to many. But to me it's a lifetime of waiting and dreaming of that old line.. " one of these days" becoming yesterday.
Also.. that whole "what's another half a mile" thing kept popping up in my head.
I got everything out right before dark.
Packing out in that type of snow which was spotty made it rough. You would go several hundred yards on clear ground then have to ford a drift or ankle deep snow for awhile. It has a way of wearing on you.
That's the story I'm going with anyway because I'm not ready to say that I got my butt whipped on it.
I had a sled in the truck but with it being mostly clear I think it would have been hard to use on much of it.
I've spent the day cutting up meat and getting it all trimmed. I was really blessed to have missed the bad weather and to fill my tag.
I've spent my whole life looking forward to what happened yesterday. I used to get in trouble as a kid for sitting up and reading books on elk and the west when I was supposed to be studying or sleeping. From O'Connor, Leupold and others. Every hand me down outdoor life or other hunting mag I could beg borrow or steal I would read till they were dogeared. To say it was a infatuation would be an understatement.
Like most of us though life has a way of passing by before you really know it. After graduation I went into the military. Got married. Had a family. Worked my farm and a full time job watching the years tick by thinking one day soon when this or that is done. Till one day you realize your almost too old to pursue the things you've dreamed of. My dad passing put life into perspective for me. He always talked about hunting out west when he was young from Oregon to Wyoming and everywhere in between.
Might just be a simple meat hunt. Nothing special to many. But to me it's a lifetime of waiting and dreaming of that old line.. " one of these days" becoming yesterday.
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OleRedbeard
Well-known member
Yes I had my rifle with me in the truck but always wanted to do it with my muzzleloader.
midwesthunter
Well-known member
Congrats
On this frozen ground the sled would have pulled like a dream.
The snow can really take it out of you, and the relentless wind. Post-holing through snow is no fun, you'll be sore from that.
Great job and you'll enjoy that meat!
Many a tag doesn't get filled in that area some years, glad the elk cooperated this year.
Safe travels home.
The snow can really take it out of you, and the relentless wind. Post-holing through snow is no fun, you'll be sore from that.
Great job and you'll enjoy that meat!
Many a tag doesn't get filled in that area some years, glad the elk cooperated this year.
Safe travels home.
Yettislayer
New member
- Joined
- May 24, 2017
- Messages
- 26
That was a sweet write-up. Congrats!
cahunter805
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- Joined
- May 27, 2014
- Messages
- 2,464
Huge congrats on the elk and for sticking with it and fulfilling a life long dream. Elk is delicious table fare also!
What’s the next western hunt?
What’s the next western hunt?
OleRedbeard
Well-known member
Thank you! Looking back on it I should have taken that sled! And yes your right. I'm feeling it today!
OleRedbeard
Well-known member
I'm sitting on a few points for elk mule deer and antelope for Wyoming. I thinking I'm going to head to Arizona next winter for a Coues deer hunt.Huge congrats on the elk and for sticking with it and fulfilling a life long dream. Elk is delicious table fare also!
What’s the next western hunt?
ashersdad
Well-known member
Very inspirational story. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your success.
Some wise words right there! Glad to see your success in the face of adversity of the storm, good for you.
