TheHuntHC
New member
I first want to state that he did not harvest an elk. His requirements were a little high but he had a wonderful time. Here is the story:
Let me give my a little background:
I archery hunt and convinced him to muzzle load for elk. I have taken him out for the last three years deer hunting. Every year that I took him my dad always impressed upon me that it was his hunt not mine. His first hunt was a total length of 20 minutes of glassing and the rest of the weekends riding quads. The rest of the weekends I asked him if we need to bring a rifle and his answer was no… He was 11 years old… The next year he hunted for deer a total of four days and the rest we were riding quads… Last year he double lung shot (Remington 270) a forked horn at the edge of the timber and it ran out into a clear cut were two other hunters shot the heck out of the buck. My son was up set and one of the other hunters was being a jerk so we left. I told my son that a deer is not worth either of our lives…
The night before we were to hunt, we went to the farm to get the hunting truck and unload the bed that was full of fresh cow fertilizer. After we unloaded the fertilizer we filled the truck up with gas and loaded it up with our gear. We got up very early did the bugle run and got on a good bull at day light.
I have explained to him that I call the cows typically come first then the bull. Do not move and wait for the bull. I set him up about 40 yards in front of me directly up wind. I started to cow call and the herd was coming. The cows hung up about 60 yards out and my son runs back to me saying that there are cows all around. I told him that is ok and get back to were I told you to stay. At about the time he turned to go back I caught movement to my left and a cow and a bull was hooking us. I grabbed him and showed him the bull through the brush.
At this point, I asked him it that bull was big enough to shoot. He looked at me and said yes, yes, yes… The bull that was coming in was a little 6X6 about a 280 inch bull. The bull had to come up a little hill and we lost track of it. He said it took off, I relied relax and take the safety off. When I looked over he was shaking so bad I wanted to laugh. I tried to reassure him to relax. At that point in time he looked at the hill and he could see the rack of he bull coming up the hill. He really started to shake now. It had been raining all morning and the cap was wet. My fault, I should have replaced it before I started calling. The bull is broad side about 20 yards away. Junior is laying down between two fir trees and bull is looking over us and he is shaking like a leaf in a strong breeze. He pulled the trigger and the gun goes thunk. The bull runs about 30 yards and stops with a cow call. I pull my knife and flip the wet cap with a fresh one. The bull is now about 60 yards away. I start calling and the cows behind us start answering. The bull turns and he shoots and misses. There is a small stampede of elk fleeing the area. After the smoked cleared he turned and said that was cool. He talked about his heart was in his throat. He was still shaking after it was over… That was priceless…
The next morning I called got one going from a distance, by the time we starting getting within 500 yards the bull shut up. I climbed half way up a hill and called he went off we closed the gap, calling all the way, and someone else heard the calls and shot the bull before we could set up.
Even though he came up unsuccessfully in harvesting an elk it was a very enjoyable experience and he and I will remember it for the rest of our lives.
Let me give my a little background:
I archery hunt and convinced him to muzzle load for elk. I have taken him out for the last three years deer hunting. Every year that I took him my dad always impressed upon me that it was his hunt not mine. His first hunt was a total length of 20 minutes of glassing and the rest of the weekends riding quads. The rest of the weekends I asked him if we need to bring a rifle and his answer was no… He was 11 years old… The next year he hunted for deer a total of four days and the rest we were riding quads… Last year he double lung shot (Remington 270) a forked horn at the edge of the timber and it ran out into a clear cut were two other hunters shot the heck out of the buck. My son was up set and one of the other hunters was being a jerk so we left. I told my son that a deer is not worth either of our lives…
The night before we were to hunt, we went to the farm to get the hunting truck and unload the bed that was full of fresh cow fertilizer. After we unloaded the fertilizer we filled the truck up with gas and loaded it up with our gear. We got up very early did the bugle run and got on a good bull at day light.
I have explained to him that I call the cows typically come first then the bull. Do not move and wait for the bull. I set him up about 40 yards in front of me directly up wind. I started to cow call and the herd was coming. The cows hung up about 60 yards out and my son runs back to me saying that there are cows all around. I told him that is ok and get back to were I told you to stay. At about the time he turned to go back I caught movement to my left and a cow and a bull was hooking us. I grabbed him and showed him the bull through the brush.
At this point, I asked him it that bull was big enough to shoot. He looked at me and said yes, yes, yes… The bull that was coming in was a little 6X6 about a 280 inch bull. The bull had to come up a little hill and we lost track of it. He said it took off, I relied relax and take the safety off. When I looked over he was shaking so bad I wanted to laugh. I tried to reassure him to relax. At that point in time he looked at the hill and he could see the rack of he bull coming up the hill. He really started to shake now. It had been raining all morning and the cap was wet. My fault, I should have replaced it before I started calling. The bull is broad side about 20 yards away. Junior is laying down between two fir trees and bull is looking over us and he is shaking like a leaf in a strong breeze. He pulled the trigger and the gun goes thunk. The bull runs about 30 yards and stops with a cow call. I pull my knife and flip the wet cap with a fresh one. The bull is now about 60 yards away. I start calling and the cows behind us start answering. The bull turns and he shoots and misses. There is a small stampede of elk fleeing the area. After the smoked cleared he turned and said that was cool. He talked about his heart was in his throat. He was still shaking after it was over… That was priceless…
The next morning I called got one going from a distance, by the time we starting getting within 500 yards the bull shut up. I climbed half way up a hill and called he went off we closed the gap, calling all the way, and someone else heard the calls and shot the bull before we could set up.
Even though he came up unsuccessfully in harvesting an elk it was a very enjoyable experience and he and I will remember it for the rest of our lives.
