Bwana
Well-known member
Best of luck to you smalls and be sure to keep us posted on how the hunt goes.
ND Badlands Elk Hunt
- Thread starter smalls
- Start date
fishfrey
New member
Good luck on the elk. You got the luck to draw the tag now find a bull.
Have you been seeing any mulies?
Have you been seeing any mulies?
smalls
Well-known member
Muley populations seem down... way down in this area. In fact I think I only saw one mule deer with horns in 5 days in this area. My brother in law saw a couple of nice ones down in the lower, rolling country but still not near the amount of deer we saw when my sister had this same tag in 2001.
smalls
Well-known member
There are some good bulls there but they are few and far between and a majority seem to get shot on the private farm lands (in my anecdotal observations). I'm not holding out for a huge bull, but I would like to shoot a good branch antlered specimen.
My season goes until the end of September then I can come back late in the year (Nov/Dec) but that season is an even bigger crapshoot than the early season.
Randy, there's lots of wind towers out my way now in Nodak... cough cough.
smalls
Well-known member
Who in their right mind would move from Western Montana to North Dakota
Nobody in their "right" mind... I assure you that.
Smalls,
I'm not the sharpest tack in the box, but you're making me feel like more of an idiot than usual!
That job is usually reserved for Dink, Upper Deck, or Grizzly.smalls
Well-known member
smalls
Well-known member
More tonight. Success is mine.
MuddyBull
New member
Good luck Smalls!
smalls
Well-known member
Not trying to be a tease guys. Haven't had time to sit down at a computer and get photos until now.
So I came home from the badlands on Labor day empty handed, although not for lack of opportunities. I had set my sights on a branch antlered bull on this hunt and so far the only opportunities I had come across were for cows and spike bulls.
After a long week at work I left the office late Thursday afternoon and headed west. I picked up my father-in-law in Bismarck as he was going to be my company for a couple of days. After picking up a few last minute groceries and topping off the gas tank in Belfield we were soon off the interstate and pulling into the campground around 11:30 pm. We quickly emptied the bed of the pickup and settled down under the topper for a few short hours of rest before we had to be up and on the trail.
When the alarm sounded at 4 am I was terrified that I had overslept. I could see across the campground and the surrounding hillsides as if the sun were just about to peak over the horizon. A quick check of my watch confirmed the time and the fact that the full moon, even hidden by the full cloud cover, was providing more than enough light to navigate without headlamps.
I knew that there would be one other hunter in our area as the sun came up, and I was hopeful that would be the only other blaze orange we saw. But 20 minutes before shooting light the footsteps of other hunters stomped up the trail behind us. After a quick conversation we agreed that they would watch to the west and I would cover the east.At first I thought they got the better end of that deal as they would be looking over a ravine that the elk commonly use to pass in and out of Teddy Roosevelt National Park and most mornings I had seen elk within 600 yards of that spot inside the park fence.
The wind was brutal as it is most days in that part of the world and after glassing for the first 40 minutes of light I decided it was time to start moving. I had found that it was important to move around to get different angles to look into the deep ravines as the small fingers could hide alot of game. We hadn't hiked 600 yards before looking into a draw directly below where we'd started the morning. The elks blonde body was unmistakeably belonging to a bull. I dropped to my knees and confirmed that it was indeed a branch antlered bull. I looked at my father-in-law and suggested that this be the morning that we kill an elk.
The bull was across a canyon with a short razor back ridge running down the middle. We ranged him at 287 yards but I felt uncomfortable with the shot as the wind was now blowing hard and at a good angle to the shot. We backed out and moved back the way we came to put a small butte in between the elk and us. If I could get down and back up to the razor back ridge, I knew he'd be within easy range.
I have to admit that adrenaline effects my memory and I probably wasn't very composed at this point, but I do not remember the descent down being as steep as it was and I don't think I've ever climbed a hill as quickly as I did to get up to the saddle in the razor back that should put directly downwind and level with the bull. As we crested I couldn't find the elk immediately, until my father in law whispered to me "There he is, he's got me pegged."
Indeed, the bull was in a small opening of the juniper brush and staring a hole right through my partner. I dropped my pack and tried to get a rest on it but the grass was too tall to get sight of the elk. I was left with a 140 yard offhand shot at a quartering to animal. My f-i-l did his best imitation of a statue as I tried my best to settle down for the shot, but again the effects of just running up hill, the adrenaline, and perhaps a bit of the fever made it very difficult to get settled for the shot. My cross hairs were bouncing all over the hillside like a ping pong ball in a bingo machine. I kept trying to take deep breaths and exhale slowly but I just couldn't hold still. Finally, I pulled down, wrapped the sling around my wrist and shouldered the rifle again. This time I felt comfortable and let the first round fly.
"Nope, you missed" were my f-i-l's words. Crap, no reaction at all from the bull. He took a few steps forward and climbed up the hill on the trail before stopping. This time he was high enough to where I could get down on my pack and shoot prone. I felt rock solid this time and sent the second one down the tube. "Missed again!".... WHAT? At this point I was getting very nervous. I'd shot alot all summer and was comfortable in calm conditions out to 350 yards, if I just missed this bull twice at 140 something must be wrong. After the second shot the bull took a few more steps and stopped behind a bush, offering no shot.
He didn't move for what seemed like an eternity, probably 20-30 seconds. I was worried when he took his next step he'd be at a full run and once he got over the top of the ridge I'd never see him again. To my delight he took a couple of slow steps once again stoppnig broadside. The third shot rang out and he folded and started to tumble down hill. Luckily a juniper bush caught him before he ended up on the very bottom in a nasty washout.
After many, many hours of elk hunting in my 5 years in Montana (which was not very fruitful for me), I'd finally done it.
Here's a view from the saddle where I'd shot from looking to the hillside my elk expired on.
After we got the elk quartered and boned we looked a little closer at the carcass. It turns out my first two shots went right through the boiler room. The first entered a few inches behind the should and exited a few inches ahead of the rear quarter. The second entered within 2" of the first hold and exited the other side. The third and final shot clipped the very bottom of the spine, which I believe is why he went down as hard as he did on that shot. He was a dead bull walking after the first shot, but he never showed any reaction or sign of injury.
I was very thankful to have my f-i-l with and I was a bit worried he may disown me after that packout, which was as challenging as any I've been a part of. I've not packed many elk and while the adrenaline was still flowing after getting animal quartered and boned we split the entire animal between the two of us... not smart.
Here I am with a rear quarter, front quarter, backstraps and tenderloins in my pack while carrying the head. This was before the worst part of the pack that saw a very steep climb to get out of the hole the elk died in. About halfway up (and several breaks) My legs literally started to give out on me. I was using the head as a hiking stick to help take each step up, which was essentially like doing a squat with every step.
Here we are once we made it to the top of the canyon. At this point I decided we were simply going to hurt ourselves if we tried to get everything out on one trip so we tied about half the meat up in a shady patch of trees and continued to make two trips back to the truck.
We had planned on staying out until Sunday afternoon but as luck would have it I was pulling into my driveway on the opposite side of the state by 10 pm.
Unfortunately this hunt will likely degrade in quality as they shoot more and more elk inside the park. This year they will thin more elk until they reach their population goal of 100-200 animals, or about 25% of what the population was at it's peak. In addition I think the impact of oil/gas development in this area will have an impact on all species. The amount of activity far far away from civilation was tremendous. I am thankful I got to experience it while I did because I don't think it will ever be the same.
So I came home from the badlands on Labor day empty handed, although not for lack of opportunities. I had set my sights on a branch antlered bull on this hunt and so far the only opportunities I had come across were for cows and spike bulls.
After a long week at work I left the office late Thursday afternoon and headed west. I picked up my father-in-law in Bismarck as he was going to be my company for a couple of days. After picking up a few last minute groceries and topping off the gas tank in Belfield we were soon off the interstate and pulling into the campground around 11:30 pm. We quickly emptied the bed of the pickup and settled down under the topper for a few short hours of rest before we had to be up and on the trail.
When the alarm sounded at 4 am I was terrified that I had overslept. I could see across the campground and the surrounding hillsides as if the sun were just about to peak over the horizon. A quick check of my watch confirmed the time and the fact that the full moon, even hidden by the full cloud cover, was providing more than enough light to navigate without headlamps.
I knew that there would be one other hunter in our area as the sun came up, and I was hopeful that would be the only other blaze orange we saw. But 20 minutes before shooting light the footsteps of other hunters stomped up the trail behind us. After a quick conversation we agreed that they would watch to the west and I would cover the east.At first I thought they got the better end of that deal as they would be looking over a ravine that the elk commonly use to pass in and out of Teddy Roosevelt National Park and most mornings I had seen elk within 600 yards of that spot inside the park fence.
The wind was brutal as it is most days in that part of the world and after glassing for the first 40 minutes of light I decided it was time to start moving. I had found that it was important to move around to get different angles to look into the deep ravines as the small fingers could hide alot of game. We hadn't hiked 600 yards before looking into a draw directly below where we'd started the morning. The elks blonde body was unmistakeably belonging to a bull. I dropped to my knees and confirmed that it was indeed a branch antlered bull. I looked at my father-in-law and suggested that this be the morning that we kill an elk.
The bull was across a canyon with a short razor back ridge running down the middle. We ranged him at 287 yards but I felt uncomfortable with the shot as the wind was now blowing hard and at a good angle to the shot. We backed out and moved back the way we came to put a small butte in between the elk and us. If I could get down and back up to the razor back ridge, I knew he'd be within easy range.
I have to admit that adrenaline effects my memory and I probably wasn't very composed at this point, but I do not remember the descent down being as steep as it was and I don't think I've ever climbed a hill as quickly as I did to get up to the saddle in the razor back that should put directly downwind and level with the bull. As we crested I couldn't find the elk immediately, until my father in law whispered to me "There he is, he's got me pegged."
Indeed, the bull was in a small opening of the juniper brush and staring a hole right through my partner. I dropped my pack and tried to get a rest on it but the grass was too tall to get sight of the elk. I was left with a 140 yard offhand shot at a quartering to animal. My f-i-l did his best imitation of a statue as I tried my best to settle down for the shot, but again the effects of just running up hill, the adrenaline, and perhaps a bit of the fever made it very difficult to get settled for the shot. My cross hairs were bouncing all over the hillside like a ping pong ball in a bingo machine. I kept trying to take deep breaths and exhale slowly but I just couldn't hold still. Finally, I pulled down, wrapped the sling around my wrist and shouldered the rifle again. This time I felt comfortable and let the first round fly.
"Nope, you missed" were my f-i-l's words. Crap, no reaction at all from the bull. He took a few steps forward and climbed up the hill on the trail before stopping. This time he was high enough to where I could get down on my pack and shoot prone. I felt rock solid this time and sent the second one down the tube. "Missed again!".... WHAT? At this point I was getting very nervous. I'd shot alot all summer and was comfortable in calm conditions out to 350 yards, if I just missed this bull twice at 140 something must be wrong. After the second shot the bull took a few more steps and stopped behind a bush, offering no shot.
He didn't move for what seemed like an eternity, probably 20-30 seconds. I was worried when he took his next step he'd be at a full run and once he got over the top of the ridge I'd never see him again. To my delight he took a couple of slow steps once again stoppnig broadside. The third shot rang out and he folded and started to tumble down hill. Luckily a juniper bush caught him before he ended up on the very bottom in a nasty washout.
After many, many hours of elk hunting in my 5 years in Montana (which was not very fruitful for me), I'd finally done it.
Here's a view from the saddle where I'd shot from looking to the hillside my elk expired on.
After we got the elk quartered and boned we looked a little closer at the carcass. It turns out my first two shots went right through the boiler room. The first entered a few inches behind the should and exited a few inches ahead of the rear quarter. The second entered within 2" of the first hold and exited the other side. The third and final shot clipped the very bottom of the spine, which I believe is why he went down as hard as he did on that shot. He was a dead bull walking after the first shot, but he never showed any reaction or sign of injury.
I was very thankful to have my f-i-l with and I was a bit worried he may disown me after that packout, which was as challenging as any I've been a part of. I've not packed many elk and while the adrenaline was still flowing after getting animal quartered and boned we split the entire animal between the two of us... not smart.
Here I am with a rear quarter, front quarter, backstraps and tenderloins in my pack while carrying the head. This was before the worst part of the pack that saw a very steep climb to get out of the hole the elk died in. About halfway up (and several breaks) My legs literally started to give out on me. I was using the head as a hiking stick to help take each step up, which was essentially like doing a squat with every step.
Here we are once we made it to the top of the canyon. At this point I decided we were simply going to hurt ourselves if we tried to get everything out on one trip so we tied about half the meat up in a shady patch of trees and continued to make two trips back to the truck.
We had planned on staying out until Sunday afternoon but as luck would have it I was pulling into my driveway on the opposite side of the state by 10 pm.
Unfortunately this hunt will likely degrade in quality as they shoot more and more elk inside the park. This year they will thin more elk until they reach their population goal of 100-200 animals, or about 25% of what the population was at it's peak. In addition I think the impact of oil/gas development in this area will have an impact on all species. The amount of activity far far away from civilation was tremendous. I am thankful I got to experience it while I did because I don't think it will ever be the same.
BiggWimm
New member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2009
- Messages
- 635
AWESOME!! Worth the wait smalls! Good job on the bull.
Carrion Carrier
Member
Lol! Half an elk apiece? Carrying the head? Sounds intense. Congratulations
