My First Elk Story to my Next Elk Story (Fly In?)

[Hammsolo]

Great thread, awesome stories here.

First tag, first elk in 2025 at age 51
South Dakota

I scouted all summer via satellite images and also went out a day early to scout in person. I did not see any elk while scouting, but did find tracks and scat. On opening morning, I left the truck just after legal shooting light. It was a foggy morning, and I would have sufficient cover in the fog to maneuver to a pre-determined glassing point. I planned to use a long cedar belt to get in position to glass for awhile after the fog lifted. With a very slight breeze in my face, i walked to the cedar belt which were mature, ~20 yards wide and 1/4 mile long. Let out a couple cow calls as I entered the trees, all was silent after that. I had walked maybe 20 yards into the trees and heard thundering of hooves not far ahead. I didn't know at the time if it was elk or deer. I threw out a couple calf distress calls anyway, and the whatever was running stopped. I kept slowly still hunting into the breeze, and maybe 50 yards later bumped a bull elk about 10 yards to my left. He abruptly whirled and disappeared into the cedars. I quickly threw out a couple calls, and figured I had just blown my chance in the first 20 minutes. I had no intention of walking directly at the elk from my truck! I worked to get the edge of the cedars quietly in the event he had stopped, all the while thinking he had run to the next county. I still hunted another 30 yards and found a shooting lane that I could use to get to the edge of the cedars. I suddenly saw antler tines peaking up over a cedar, a bull was about 20 yards away at the edge of the field, facing directly towards me and slightly to my left, but I could not see the whole rack nor any of his body. I slowly went to one knee and readied the rile. I threw out a couple calls, and to my surprise a large bull (2nd bull) came from my right at about 45 yards, in the field, and stopped in the shooting lane. I got on him, tried to calm myself, & fired. He did not flinch and disappeared to my left. I walked towards the field edge quickly and knelt again, he had made a u-turn and was now running left to right and about to enter another cedar grove. I let out a excited calf call, and he stopped. I shot again at about 75 yards distance. Again, no flinching and he ran into cedars and the second bull followed him. I waited several minutes, picked up my shell casings and started looking for blood. I could find none! I've hunted for many years, did not believe I could miss with a rifle at an animal of that size at those distances. I ended up tracking them from hoofprints in the moist ground through the cedars, and was relieved when the bull was piled up about 75 yards from location of the second hit. He did not bleed externally until about the last 5 yards. During filed dressing, determined both shots were good. 12 year wait for a tag, 340” gross bull on the ground. I wish I would’ve started hunting elk in my 20s, I’m hooked.

Great story! Any pics? I have none of my first sadly… the era of film rolls. I hope to post a pic of two racks together post season!

 

[SD_redbear]

Great story! Any pics? I have none of my first sadly… the era of film rolls. I hope to post a pic of two racks together post season!

Yes sir. Later lab aged at 9.5

 

[Hammsolo]

Yes sir. Later lab aged at 9.5

Great bull! Congrats and I my goal is a mature bull. (Freaking typos)

 

[Hammsolo]

I picked up a pound of Retumbo today. Waiting on Peterson Brass, Redding dies and the new Berger reloading manual. I will pick out rings when the rifle arrives. I’ll go for Seekins or the Vortex that is made by Seekins. Whatever gives me that just right clearance.

 

[Hammsolo]

The rifle has arrived, and welcome to effing Washington! Washington can’t even count to ten. I ordered the rifle online from Sportsman’s Warehouse on May 4th. I went and “picked it up” on May 12th. Now, I’ve been told my “10 day waiting period ends on the 27th and I can pick it up on the 28th.” WTF

 

[thomas89]

So close! Stoked for you!

 

[shrapnel]

I’d love to hear others first elk stories

It was 1978, my brother just got back to America from his duty in Germany and he, my father and I set up a camp in the mountains above Ennis, Montana.

My father guided elk hunters in the Gallatin in the 1940’s before and after WWII. He always wanted to take us elk hunting and it had not worked out well, he had been severely injured in a train wreck while working for the Milwaukee Railroad in 1957.

This was the year, and at 24 years old, I was never in better shape. We set up our camp with a cheap tent and my Jeep Wagoneer and decided to give it a try.

My brother and I hiked out of camp early in the morning of the opening day of hunting season and had high hopes of finding elk. We were several miles back in and the sun was just coming up over the top of the mountain, I sat down to warm up in the early sunshine when I heard hooves breaking through the frozen puddles below.

We had seen horse back hunters several times this morning and I looked to see which set of hunters was now below us crunching through the ice water. The biggest elk I had ever seen had just walked into an opening about 150 yards below me and stopped for a few seconds and I realized this was my chance!

I shot, and he walked another 20 yards into a more open spot and stopped. How could I miss something that big?

I had one of those cheap Bushnell scopes with a dial on it and it had gotten turned way up and I had shot over the elk. I quickly dialed it back down and shot again.

The elk had disappeared from sight, so I decided to go and investigate, every step, hoping he was laying below the ridge where he had stood.

Sure enough, when I got down to see where he had been standing, was the biggest bull elk I had ever seen. I started yelling in excitement, and my brother told me to be quiet in case there were other elk around. I didn’t care, this was a trophy of a lifetime.

We started gutting it with a Schrade Walden pocket knife and 2 other hunters came walking up with an elk head and a couple quarters on their back packs and helped us finish gutting my bull.

I walked out to camp and my dad took us back down to Jeffers where an old cowboy friend of his lived and he brought a couple horses up to camp and then he and I rode back to the elk where my brother stayed and waited for us to get there. He was Cap Overstreet, a well known local cowboy and we followed his lead on how to break down the elk for pack out.

We split the elk behind the first rib and then broke the back and loaded it inside out over the saddle and cut a hole on the hide to put over the saddle horn and then tied the front legs underneath the horse to keep it on the horses back.

The hind quarters we split inside out and did the same by cutting a hole in the hide to go over the saddle horn and tied the legs underneath the horse.

I asked about bringing the head out and he told me the best thing to do would be to take my rifle and put the muzzle at the base of each horn and blow the horns off the head and then carry the horns in my hands.

I told him we would leave the head intact and come back for it!

When we go out and took the horses back to his ranch, Smitty, his wife, couldn’t believe that Cap had walked all the way out leading a horse.

It is almost 50 years later, both Cap and my dad are long gone. It is still a rock solid memory of two young and determined hunters with the help of 2 seasoned old cowboys and how different their idea of elk hunting was from what I envisioned.

Anyone that has ever walked up on a 380 bull, understands just how impressive an elk can be laying on it’s side, and marveling at the elegance of such a magnificent animal!

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

NM has a seven day wait on FFL transfer that’s waived for resident ccw holders.