My young friend and neighbor, Caleb T., and I both drew 2024 combination elk and deer tags for Montana. This was to be his first time west of the Mississippi, maybe even Ohio. We two years to prepare for the trip, making lists of things to take, acquiring hunting rifles, developing elk loads, and learning to shoot up to 400 yards.
Our excitement was running high by the time we were to leave for the trip.
Here we are ready to "hit the road". We had a big send off from my wife, Tina, and Caleb's family.
We planned to take our time and do some sightseeing and visit some friends along the way. We hit every gun store that we knew of and drove by.
Our first stop was at JD338's. It was a great visit. Caleb got to shoot Jim's 338 RUM and was spinning steel plates with every shot. He came away from the shooting experience with a smile on his face and a desire for the cartridge.
Jim's daughter had shot a whitetail buck the evening before. So, we got to help skin and debone the deer. It was a fun time with a lot of comraderies and joking. Somehow, we managed not to cut each other's fingers off.
We also got to meet Ernie, XPHunter. He is a great guy and very knowledgeable. He showed us a couple of his amazing pistols.
It was great to see SlimFinn, Patrick, again. We had a great conversation until he had to go to go home for the evening.
Caleb and I had different guides due to the outfitter's (well founded) concerns that I wouldn't be able to keep up with Caleb and his guide. As it turned out, that was the correct call. I couldn't have kept up with them in the places that they went.
My guide, Cory, spotted elk on the first morning. However, they were where we couldn't hunt. They were just across the fence line from where we could hunt. Cory was amazing at spotting game - sometimes from miles away. These first elk were so far away that I would lose them every time I took my glasses off from them. We ended up stalking this herd of elk for two days. We also had two nice mule deer bucks located on the first day. Cory got me to 417 yards from them very late in the afternoon. The light was starting to fade, and I had a slight cross wind which I didn't know how to correct for. I passed on the shot at 417 yards and tried to close to 400 yards. But the bucks spooked and quickly wandered away.
Here we are glassing the valley below, where Cory had spotted the elk.
Here is a photo I took of the herd at one point during the day. This is maximum digital magnification on my camera.
At some point in the two days of stalking this herd, Cory was able to use his spotting scope, a camera adapter, and his phone to take this photo of a bull.
It seemed like God's country to me.
Caleb was the first to score. He shot this mule deer buck on the second morning at a distance of 317 yards.
Cory and I stalked this herd of elk for two days. On the second day after we climbed the mountain looking for mule deer we spotted the elk in the valley again. We tried to get nearer by UTV and accidentally drove right to the herd and bumped them. Fortunately, Cory knew the area and the elk so well, he had a pretty good idea of where to look for them. By some turn of good fortune and Cory's experience we were able to locate the herd again. We were able to stalk to 400 yards from them as they lay bedded down. However, the animals are bunched up into a tight group and there was no way to take a clean shot. We hung back out of sight and planned where I would crawl to in order to take a shot, when the time came.
So, we waited and ate a lunch. Every once in a while, Cory would stick his head up and check on the elk. All at once he said, "The elk are up. Something has them on alert. Crawl up into position and get ready to shoot when they start to move." I crawled into position and lay my rifle over my backpack. It was sloping off to my right and it was hard to get the rifle steady on the sloping backpack. Then some bovine cows walked right between us and the elk. It was the bovines that had the elk on alert. But the elk never bolted, and the bovines passed by.
The bulls were located smack dab in the center of the group. There was no way to make a clean shot. I kept my eyes on the right side of the herd which is where I had the best position for a shot. After a while a mature cow wandered clear of the bunch and presented a broadside shot facing to the right. I held for 400 yards and squeezed off a shot. All heck broke lose as the herd took off in a mad dash straight away from us.
It was evident that I hit the cow hard. Her left front leg was dragging. After the herd left her behind, she was about 500 yards away. I started shooting again, and after a few shots she finally went down. She was a tough animal. It took about three hits to put her down. We moved up and it took three more direct hits on her left shoulder before her head went down.
I back tracked her to where she was hit by the first bullet. The first bullet went in her right side and through the ball of the shoulder on the left side and was found under the hide on the left side. She was spraying blood (I assume from her mouth) the entire distance that she ran after the first shot. During butchering we found another bullet in the front shoulders. I will post photos of the bullets in another post.
We took the third day off to debone our animals and went out again on the fourth day. I decided I was happy with my elk and didn't need to try to fill my deer tag. So, Cory and I went out looking for elk for Caleb.
Mid-morning Cory received a message on his GPS unit that Caleb had an elk down and we went to see if we could help with the pack out. It was a long drive to where we had to leave the UTV and continue on foot. It was a mile and a half hike up the mountain to where we found Caleb and his guide. They had skinned and quartered the elk by the time we got there.
Cory was amazing on the pack out. He carried both a back quarter and a front quarter, as well as his pack. Caleb's guide carried a back quarter, and Caleb carried a front quarter. All I carried was the backstraps and tenderloins and that nearly killed me.
Here we are after the pack out to where the vehicles were.
Caleb and me.
Cory and me.
All-in-all, it was an amazing trip.
Our excitement was running high by the time we were to leave for the trip.
Here we are ready to "hit the road". We had a big send off from my wife, Tina, and Caleb's family.
We planned to take our time and do some sightseeing and visit some friends along the way. We hit every gun store that we knew of and drove by.
Our first stop was at JD338's. It was a great visit. Caleb got to shoot Jim's 338 RUM and was spinning steel plates with every shot. He came away from the shooting experience with a smile on his face and a desire for the cartridge.
Jim's daughter had shot a whitetail buck the evening before. So, we got to help skin and debone the deer. It was a fun time with a lot of comraderies and joking. Somehow, we managed not to cut each other's fingers off.
We also got to meet Ernie, XPHunter. He is a great guy and very knowledgeable. He showed us a couple of his amazing pistols.
It was great to see SlimFinn, Patrick, again. We had a great conversation until he had to go to go home for the evening.
Caleb and I had different guides due to the outfitter's (well founded) concerns that I wouldn't be able to keep up with Caleb and his guide. As it turned out, that was the correct call. I couldn't have kept up with them in the places that they went.
My guide, Cory, spotted elk on the first morning. However, they were where we couldn't hunt. They were just across the fence line from where we could hunt. Cory was amazing at spotting game - sometimes from miles away. These first elk were so far away that I would lose them every time I took my glasses off from them. We ended up stalking this herd of elk for two days. We also had two nice mule deer bucks located on the first day. Cory got me to 417 yards from them very late in the afternoon. The light was starting to fade, and I had a slight cross wind which I didn't know how to correct for. I passed on the shot at 417 yards and tried to close to 400 yards. But the bucks spooked and quickly wandered away.
Here we are glassing the valley below, where Cory had spotted the elk.
Here is a photo I took of the herd at one point during the day. This is maximum digital magnification on my camera.
At some point in the two days of stalking this herd, Cory was able to use his spotting scope, a camera adapter, and his phone to take this photo of a bull.
It seemed like God's country to me.
Caleb was the first to score. He shot this mule deer buck on the second morning at a distance of 317 yards.
Cory and I stalked this herd of elk for two days. On the second day after we climbed the mountain looking for mule deer we spotted the elk in the valley again. We tried to get nearer by UTV and accidentally drove right to the herd and bumped them. Fortunately, Cory knew the area and the elk so well, he had a pretty good idea of where to look for them. By some turn of good fortune and Cory's experience we were able to locate the herd again. We were able to stalk to 400 yards from them as they lay bedded down. However, the animals are bunched up into a tight group and there was no way to take a clean shot. We hung back out of sight and planned where I would crawl to in order to take a shot, when the time came.
So, we waited and ate a lunch. Every once in a while, Cory would stick his head up and check on the elk. All at once he said, "The elk are up. Something has them on alert. Crawl up into position and get ready to shoot when they start to move." I crawled into position and lay my rifle over my backpack. It was sloping off to my right and it was hard to get the rifle steady on the sloping backpack. Then some bovine cows walked right between us and the elk. It was the bovines that had the elk on alert. But the elk never bolted, and the bovines passed by.
The bulls were located smack dab in the center of the group. There was no way to make a clean shot. I kept my eyes on the right side of the herd which is where I had the best position for a shot. After a while a mature cow wandered clear of the bunch and presented a broadside shot facing to the right. I held for 400 yards and squeezed off a shot. All heck broke lose as the herd took off in a mad dash straight away from us.
It was evident that I hit the cow hard. Her left front leg was dragging. After the herd left her behind, she was about 500 yards away. I started shooting again, and after a few shots she finally went down. She was a tough animal. It took about three hits to put her down. We moved up and it took three more direct hits on her left shoulder before her head went down.
I back tracked her to where she was hit by the first bullet. The first bullet went in her right side and through the ball of the shoulder on the left side and was found under the hide on the left side. She was spraying blood (I assume from her mouth) the entire distance that she ran after the first shot. During butchering we found another bullet in the front shoulders. I will post photos of the bullets in another post.
We took the third day off to debone our animals and went out again on the fourth day. I decided I was happy with my elk and didn't need to try to fill my deer tag. So, Cory and I went out looking for elk for Caleb.
Mid-morning Cory received a message on his GPS unit that Caleb had an elk down and we went to see if we could help with the pack out. It was a long drive to where we had to leave the UTV and continue on foot. It was a mile and a half hike up the mountain to where we found Caleb and his guide. They had skinned and quartered the elk by the time we got there.
Cory was amazing on the pack out. He carried both a back quarter and a front quarter, as well as his pack. Caleb's guide carried a back quarter, and Caleb carried a front quarter. All I carried was the backstraps and tenderloins and that nearly killed me.
Here we are after the pack out to where the vehicles were.
Caleb and me.
Cory and me.
All-in-all, it was an amazing trip.
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