Well, our Oregon hunt started on the 31st, when I took off from Northern VA... I finally got to Portland in the early afternoon and was greeted by Bill's Wife Katie. WE had a great trip back to their place in Washington, and took in a little of sceneray. Bill was already at their house and we checked the rifles and crossloaded my gear into his rig for the trip to Eastern Oregon.
We got up to our hunting camp around 1900 or so. Hard to remember the exact times we did everything, but everything runs sorta together in the mountains. After a little BS'ing, we racked out and got some sleep.
Next morning we got up and sorted out some gear and went out and scouted some of our area's, we have seen elk in the past. Later in the afternoon, we found some of the elk, we knew were around...
![null_zps23e54e1e.jpg.html]](http://url=http://s723.photobucket.com/user/beretzs/media/Oregon%202013%20Elk%20Hunt/null_zps23e54e1e.jpg.html])
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Couple of good bulls in this small band of elk, along with a spike or two..
After seeing them, we figured we might better hunt that ridge the next morning, for the opener. WE also meandered around the country, looking for some other spots to find elk. Just awesome country.
Opening morning found us high, up on a ridge, waiting for the elk to show. With the rain and all the wind, the elk seemed to not be as visible, but we gave it a good whack, and decided to head to camp to dry out. That afternoon, we hunted the same ridge, with Bill hunting low and me hunting high. Spotted another big bull and spike across the drainage. While, they were too far to make a move that evening, we were in the elk..
Next day, we hunted around the area, and then scouted some more places that probably held elk. We were able to observe some more elk, and make a move on them in the timber.
Plus, we got some snow.. About 4-5"
Once we found a spike in this group, we made a good stalk on them, once they were in timber, but we watched all the cows and calves move thru, no spike. Fun stalk though. Had them all about 100 yards away, thru the timber, but such as hunting usually goes, the elk win that one.
We had a little drama back at camp, since our propane selector switch gave up the ghost, but a neighborly hunter helped us out with another propane tank to diagnose the problem. We sorted that out and had some heat in the camp that night! HA!
Next day, we went to town, got some supplies and refilled a tank. After we got back to the mountain, we were talking to some other bull hunters and they'd asked us if we had seen any big bulls.. Well, we traded some intel, they told us of a good herd with a bunch of spikes and we provided some intel on where the big 7x7 was hanging out.. Like a shot, Bill and I headed out to see if we could locate some elk..
We hiked about 1.5 miles in on a nice trail, then up about 500 ft in elevation. Just cresting the top, I spotted some elk feeding over the ridge above us. They were about 750-800 yards out and straight up the mt, but we saw some spikes.. We backed out and made movement back to camp to devise a plan for the next day.
The next morning, we had did a little map work, found a good trail to get above the elk, and started UP! Well, we slowly hunted our way to the top. Took about 4-5 hours, and we crested the high ridge, far above the elk we had seen the previous evening. Well, by that point, we had the wind HOWLING and the snow flying again. About the time we were catching our breath, we had spotted some elk on the ridge a little above us, and went into the mode. We dressed a little warmer, from our uphill hiking cloths and started the stalk.
We got about to where the elk should be and spotted a cow... Well she turned out to be a he, a spike, at about 75 yards as Bill and I were trying to wipe our lenses down for the 100th time. With the body heat and snow, it was a neverending chore. Once the cow (really a spike) whirled, we saw the horn. Well, we ran to the edge, saw about 40-50 elk feeding up out of the timber. Dropping our packs and getting into firing position, Bill said pick one out and let him know when I was set. Well, since we were low, we had to wait for them to feed up out of the draw a little, but once I saw two spikes, I said I was set. The closer bull was 325 or so, with the further being 375-400.. I pressed a sht, heard a smack, and the elk started moving around, with the wind blowing so fierce, they stayed relatively in place. Bill put a shot on his elk, with another hit coming back. I was scurrying to find my elk, then, I saw him, still standing, put another shot onto him. He rolled down the mountain. Bill's bull was floundering a little so he gave him another.
At that point, we were jumping up and down. WE had finally taken two elk at the same time.
Here is a picture looking back towards our firing position. It is a little below where I shot the elk, since he rolled into the alders, but a decent picture.
We both then moved to find our elk. Bill's had rolled down into the timber, and mine was downslope about 75-100 yards from the impact sight. What neither of us had doped right was the wind. While we thought it was blowing more in our face, it was actually probably much closer to 90* to us. At those ranges, it went from a good shot, to a not so great shot on them. Both rifles did keep the elk right in place though, and we finished em off as quick as we could.
I walked over, followed a rolling bloodtrail and found this guy jammed in the alders..
The 338 Win Mag with it's first elk!
Bill found his elk down in the timber.
At that point, we started cleaning them out and getting them ready for packing..
We got down off the mountain about 2100 and back to camp around 2300. Long day.
WE wanted to get our camp moved down near the elk, and Bill's truck wouldn't go into 4wd, so Bill enlisted some help of an old elk hunting partner.
Once we got everything moved, we called that a day.
Next day, we scouted for an easier route to pack out the elk, rather than having to move uphill the entire time. Didn't work out, so we decided to just gut it out and get them off the hill..
Well, the next day, Bill and I headed up, he found a great alternate route into the elk, and we commenced to packing.. It was 2200Ft up in elevation from the truck and about 3-4 miles back in..
Some shots from the ground
Well, we took three loads the 1st day and 2 the 2nd..
Once we got done packing on the 9th, we packed up camp, and moved back to Bill's Firebase in Washington. Had some great food prepped by his beautiful wife and a shower.. I am pretty sure Bill and I would have scared Bigfoot off the mountain we stunk so bad!
Anyhow, here is a shot of the caliber of bulls coming off the unit, for the lucky branched antler tag holders.
That bull green scored about 336". Beauty of a 7x7. Alot of great bulls out there.
Anyhow, Bill will pick up any details I missed out on, but it was an awesome hunt. Thank you Bill and Katie for the trip.
Sorry for the text formatting. I typed this out this morning, on the site, and it lost it, so I retyped it all into notepad, so it isn't perfect, but hopefully it is decent. Scotty
We got up to our hunting camp around 1900 or so. Hard to remember the exact times we did everything, but everything runs sorta together in the mountains. After a little BS'ing, we racked out and got some sleep.
Next morning we got up and sorted out some gear and went out and scouted some of our area's, we have seen elk in the past. Later in the afternoon, we found some of the elk, we knew were around...
Couple of good bulls in this small band of elk, along with a spike or two..
After seeing them, we figured we might better hunt that ridge the next morning, for the opener. WE also meandered around the country, looking for some other spots to find elk. Just awesome country.
Opening morning found us high, up on a ridge, waiting for the elk to show. With the rain and all the wind, the elk seemed to not be as visible, but we gave it a good whack, and decided to head to camp to dry out. That afternoon, we hunted the same ridge, with Bill hunting low and me hunting high. Spotted another big bull and spike across the drainage. While, they were too far to make a move that evening, we were in the elk..
Next day, we hunted around the area, and then scouted some more places that probably held elk. We were able to observe some more elk, and make a move on them in the timber.
Plus, we got some snow.. About 4-5"
Once we found a spike in this group, we made a good stalk on them, once they were in timber, but we watched all the cows and calves move thru, no spike. Fun stalk though. Had them all about 100 yards away, thru the timber, but such as hunting usually goes, the elk win that one.
We had a little drama back at camp, since our propane selector switch gave up the ghost, but a neighborly hunter helped us out with another propane tank to diagnose the problem. We sorted that out and had some heat in the camp that night! HA!
Next day, we went to town, got some supplies and refilled a tank. After we got back to the mountain, we were talking to some other bull hunters and they'd asked us if we had seen any big bulls.. Well, we traded some intel, they told us of a good herd with a bunch of spikes and we provided some intel on where the big 7x7 was hanging out.. Like a shot, Bill and I headed out to see if we could locate some elk..
We hiked about 1.5 miles in on a nice trail, then up about 500 ft in elevation. Just cresting the top, I spotted some elk feeding over the ridge above us. They were about 750-800 yards out and straight up the mt, but we saw some spikes.. We backed out and made movement back to camp to devise a plan for the next day.
The next morning, we had did a little map work, found a good trail to get above the elk, and started UP! Well, we slowly hunted our way to the top. Took about 4-5 hours, and we crested the high ridge, far above the elk we had seen the previous evening. Well, by that point, we had the wind HOWLING and the snow flying again. About the time we were catching our breath, we had spotted some elk on the ridge a little above us, and went into the mode. We dressed a little warmer, from our uphill hiking cloths and started the stalk.
We got about to where the elk should be and spotted a cow... Well she turned out to be a he, a spike, at about 75 yards as Bill and I were trying to wipe our lenses down for the 100th time. With the body heat and snow, it was a neverending chore. Once the cow (really a spike) whirled, we saw the horn. Well, we ran to the edge, saw about 40-50 elk feeding up out of the timber. Dropping our packs and getting into firing position, Bill said pick one out and let him know when I was set. Well, since we were low, we had to wait for them to feed up out of the draw a little, but once I saw two spikes, I said I was set. The closer bull was 325 or so, with the further being 375-400.. I pressed a sht, heard a smack, and the elk started moving around, with the wind blowing so fierce, they stayed relatively in place. Bill put a shot on his elk, with another hit coming back. I was scurrying to find my elk, then, I saw him, still standing, put another shot onto him. He rolled down the mountain. Bill's bull was floundering a little so he gave him another.
At that point, we were jumping up and down. WE had finally taken two elk at the same time.
Here is a picture looking back towards our firing position. It is a little below where I shot the elk, since he rolled into the alders, but a decent picture.
We both then moved to find our elk. Bill's had rolled down into the timber, and mine was downslope about 75-100 yards from the impact sight. What neither of us had doped right was the wind. While we thought it was blowing more in our face, it was actually probably much closer to 90* to us. At those ranges, it went from a good shot, to a not so great shot on them. Both rifles did keep the elk right in place though, and we finished em off as quick as we could.
I walked over, followed a rolling bloodtrail and found this guy jammed in the alders..
The 338 Win Mag with it's first elk!
Bill found his elk down in the timber.
At that point, we started cleaning them out and getting them ready for packing..
We got down off the mountain about 2100 and back to camp around 2300. Long day.
WE wanted to get our camp moved down near the elk, and Bill's truck wouldn't go into 4wd, so Bill enlisted some help of an old elk hunting partner.
Once we got everything moved, we called that a day.
Next day, we scouted for an easier route to pack out the elk, rather than having to move uphill the entire time. Didn't work out, so we decided to just gut it out and get them off the hill..
Well, the next day, Bill and I headed up, he found a great alternate route into the elk, and we commenced to packing.. It was 2200Ft up in elevation from the truck and about 3-4 miles back in..
Some shots from the ground
Well, we took three loads the 1st day and 2 the 2nd..
Once we got done packing on the 9th, we packed up camp, and moved back to Bill's Firebase in Washington. Had some great food prepped by his beautiful wife and a shower.. I am pretty sure Bill and I would have scared Bigfoot off the mountain we stunk so bad!
Anyhow, here is a shot of the caliber of bulls coming off the unit, for the lucky branched antler tag holders.
That bull green scored about 336". Beauty of a 7x7. Alot of great bulls out there.
Anyhow, Bill will pick up any details I missed out on, but it was an awesome hunt. Thank you Bill and Katie for the trip.
Sorry for the text formatting. I typed this out this morning, on the site, and it lost it, so I retyped it all into notepad, so it isn't perfect, but hopefully it is decent. Scotty
