You shot one where?

[Murphdog]

We all do things that when we look back on the event we question "what was I thinking" Beings there seems to be a bad outbreak of elk fever I thought that maybe a little reflection might help with the symptoms. Here is the question- What was the most difficult place you have ever shot a critter to get them back to your vehicle.

Those of us who make a habbit of casing elk understand just how tough it can be to get them out. The old joke is that if you shoot and elk in XYZ canyon you had best take a frying pan with you cause you going to have to eat them right there. There are places where there is a lot of truth in that bit of humor. Here is my YOU DIDN'T SHOOT ONE THERE story. Back when I was thirty-something A group of us embarked on an elk hunt in SW Montana. Five of us in total including two twenty something studs who told me that they didn't care how much work it was to get an elk out just find them an elk. I have a bit of a twisted sence of humor so I said ok. We found elk 6.5 miles from the trail head, 10,000 feet in elevation (saw a group of mountain goats below us) going over a pass. I had a cow tag and one of my 20 something partners had a cow tag. No bulls in the group so we shot two very large dry cows at about 1 in the afternoon. Could not even get horses to where these elk were at least it was down hill. Took two days to get them out thought my dad who was in his early seventies at the time was going to shoot us. Have to admit those two kids were tough. The cullinary quality of those dry cows was hard to beat, so in the end I was forgiven.

 

[FOTIS]

My first big game animal actually. October 10 1995 8:10 AM. Just got back to the USA from Europe. Lived there 10 years while in the military.

Shot him at Battle mountain, Wyoming. 5 miles from the truck! Heck, what did I know right?
When I shot him he was three draws away 778 yards. 378 WBY with 270 Hornady SP at 3185 fps. Load was 118 gr of Norma MRP (same as factory loads BTW) One shot and down.

What a humping job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never want to do it again!
that morning daybreak

My elk

 

[Elkman]

POP

Nice bull and nice pictures, great light, great time, congratulations. You will never forget your first one!!!!!!!

I have several rules that I follow when Elk hunting. "Bills first rule is shoot it first then worry about getting it out". My first pack out this year was at 8100 feet, 600 yards to the road and took 30 min in and 35 out for two of us. Easy as pie. The right backpack and equipment make it a good part of the hunt. I found out long ago that it takes me much more time to kill one than it does to pack it out. My most recent nasty pack was in 07 in Idaho the 5 point bull was at 8800 feet 3 1/2 miles in from the trail head. The trail head was at 7800 it took me three full days to get him out by my self. In 2001 I herinated myself packing out a 6 point in three trips. Easiest pack was in 09, I was able to get my 4 wheeler 345 feet away from him on almost level ground. Packed a big cow out 1/2 mile at 11,000 feet in Wyoming back around 2000 or so, there is no air at that elevation especially going slightly uphill. AGain set up for it, get good frames get in shape and its not a bad task at all. :grin: :grin: :grin:

 

[SJB358]

Man, that is awesome. I shot a mule deer way down the side of a MTN. It was one of those pack outs where you took 10 steps and rested, 10 steps and rested, then once I got to the top, it was still three miles back to camp (GPS logged). It was great. Hiking it out is part of the hunt. I like easy ones too, but packing your game on your back really brings out the M A N - in most of us! I did that hunt right after spending three weeks in Bridgeport, California hiking all over MWTC. I was still getting my butt kicked, but man, did I ever fell good. Bill is right, to a Marine, there is nothing better than a great pack. Still hard to beat an ALICE framed large mtn ruck for carrying heavy weight all over the mtns. Heck, at least we don't have to tote extra ammo and radio batteries when we hunt! Scotty

 

[6mm Remington]

Just as all of us have before, I've had some real whopper of a pack job. One day my buddy and I had cow tags and we snuck to within about 250 yards of a group laying in an old burn. We had started walking an hour before it got light to make it back to this spot. We made sure we were not set up on the same cow and he shot first. I shot right after him. Two shots and we had two cows that never left their beds. That was at first light and the last quarter to the truck was at midnight! Lots of details, pain, and funny stuff let out in this short rendition, but I love it and will do it all over again!

My toughest ELK to get ever was this guy shown below. This is a photo I took of a photo because this was taken with a film camera so it's not that great. Besides his weird rack 4x2, his left ear I believe is only half there. It looks like it froze off as the break was clean. His right ear was missing a couple inches as well. Yes, when he came to a stop and was dead, he was right in the middle of this mountain road where he sits. I had just finished dressing him out and we were loading him onto a truck. That I why he has a small rope around his horns. Thought it might make it easier to get him into the truck. Just something more to hold on to.

I shot him sitting with my .280 at about 250 yards and hit him right behind the shoulder but just a bit too high. I'm not sure if it even caught the very top of the lungs and was right below his spine. It shocked him and dropped him at the shot and as I was reloading he was getting back on his feet and I took a shot as he was running through some trees. I got over there and found only a small couple drops of blood. Every 40 feet or so I would find a fingernail size drop. This went on until he laid down on a north slope about 3/4 of mile from where this started. I didn't see him but I jumped him from his bed. His bed was full of blood, yet when he got up and ran the blood stopped. He never bled for about another mile after I chased him through heck. Long story short here. I shot him at 7:00 AM and started tracking right away. Figure he was done! Ha. Around the mountain we went through the nastiest stuff he could find. I jumped him twice after bumping him out of his bed. Got one quick shot and missed him. I finally took off running after him setting a pace until I hard parts to see his track and did this for the last mile of the chase until I caught up to him on a steep hill about 120 yards above the road in the bottom. I shot him at about 20 feet and he dropped out of sight, litereally. I heard crash , bang, boom, crash, for several seconds and then one very loud THUD! as he lit right in this 4x4 trail. Two guys ahd stopped to put chains on their rig and the truck was about 30 feet away from where the bull lit, and the guys buddy was standing only about 15 feet away from where this 375 pound animal crashed onto the road. I heard the truck and then didn't hear it and I thought they had continued up the road. I had no idea they were right below me. All I heard was wholly crap did you see that. I started down the hill and then thought I better say something so they knew it wasn't another elk on the hill or something.

I first shot him at 7:00 AM and I figure I honestly tracked him for 6-7 miles around and up and down this mountain until 2:00 PM when I finally finshed what I started. This bull was lathered up like a horse is after you ride them hard with a saddle on , and so was I. I was exhausted. He really smelled strong but I believe it's because he was sweated up so bad. These very kind guys helped me load him in the back of their truck and game me ride clear around the mountain to where my picup was parked on the other side up on top which was 3000 feet higher than where it ended! I was not sure how he was going to eat after all of this, but he was outstanding and mild. I honestly was a little surprised. Weird rack that I don't know if it was genetic as it did not appear to be injured from in velvet. All the details of this chase are just too long for here and I apologize for being a little long winded as it is. Thanks. David

This is how you haul elk. Two cows whole with nothing but game trails at best to the truck. Only 10 minutes longer than walking in with an empty cart to get the second one. My dad's CRITTER CARTS HE MAKES.

On easy terrain, a deer or antelope is a piece of cake for one guy. It is really designed for two people though. The brake sure comes in handy too. The quality of these photo's aren't very good as I took them of pictures in my album. Sorry.

 

[DrMike]

Neat story. Those elk can certainly make you work for them.

 

[SJB358]

I think everyone has an elk hunt like that, or will get one eventually if you hunt elk long enough. Well, mine is kinda like this. My hunting partner and I got to our glassing spot well before light, we hiked about 1-1.5 hours to get there. Well, at first light we heard one bugle, way down the drainage. We set out to get near the herd and start calling, well, we ran into the morning fog down low and began calling. Bulls bugled all around us. It was awesome! Well, we were after a bull we had nicknamed the Carrot bull. As we would move closer, he would move further. In one spot, I had a smallish 5x5 come right up to about 30 yards, but I let him walk, then another spike came in. We had cows all around us. As they moved off, we continued moving through that god awful downed timber and a skiff of snow, making everything slippery. Well, another cow call, and a bull screamed back. We quickly set up and sat tight, well, all the sudden a big bull poked his head and neck out of the Timber about 40-50 yards away. I was shooting my 270WSM with 140gr Accubonds, I "thought" I put the crosshairs directly under his chin, intending to break his neck at the shot. Well, at the shot, I heard stuff breaking and got up to find the bull and he was gone. This was at about 0800 or so.

We found some blood and starting tracking, UP the mountain, about every few feet, there was a drop or two of blood. At this point, I was disgusted with myself for taking a neck shot. I knew better, too much adrenaline in me and too hard to guarantee a perfect shot. Well, we continued to track up the mountain, finding blood every few feet and luckily there was enough snow to make it "kinda" easy. We were hoofing it though, trying to catch up with that bull. The bull when right up and over the top of the mountain and turned left into what we know now is a box canyon. We figured he would have to be in there somewhere. The beargrass with snow on it was HORRIBLE to walk on. With my nose on the track, my buddy was glassing ahead. Well as we got closer to the back side of the box canyon, my buddy whispered, there he is. I automatically took a knee and planted an AccuBond on his shoulder, that darn bull jumped up and tried to move off again! I was blown away, I took another shot, put it on his shoulder, that knocked him down. We then went up to him and put another one in him from about 20 yards. He was a big 5x6, and BIG. It was just starting to get dark when we finally started caping and quartering him. We were worn out. The good thing was, was the trail was only about 500 yards, straight UP out of that box canyon. We took the hide, horns and some meat with us on the way out. The next day, we came back and made another two trips. It was actually lucky he ended up dieing where he did, it made for an easier pack job than where I initially shot him, but it was still tough. From that point on, to no fault of the 270's, I decided I would carry something bigger for elk. Granted, I made a HORRIBLE first shot, but seeing how that elk absorbed the other shots and just kept on trucking, I was blown away. I would still take my 270 and hunt deer, and if an elk crossed my path, I would take him, but for pure elk hunting, 300 mag with 180gr Noslers are my minimum and the 338's or larger are alot more my choice. My first shot, blew his jaw all to heck and I felt horrible for him suffering as much as he did, but we did diligently track him down and finish him as fast as was possible. Either way, that elk wore me down. We hunted for muleys the next few days and packing a deer is like carrying a pillow compared to a big bull elk quarter! Scotty

Here is a picture of him, just after I took the last shot on him. It was just starting to snow again. Great day and made me appreciate that elk. Also, the meat was excellent, which blew me away, it was as good as any cow I have ever ate. Weird, he ran for miles and was still great STEAKS!

 

[elkeater2]

I know from past experience that 1/2 of an average cow or spike elk tied onto an old camptrails freighter frame weighs 150 lbs. with the bones and hide still attached. Fortunately, those were short trips on decent terrain, or I would've gone back to the house and jumped ol' Roany and Blue into a horse trailer and made them go to work!! Sometimes the choices used to work like this : If the horses are in a pasture, you have to work the next day, and it'll take 3 hours to hike out, drive home, get them gathered, loaded and back to the carcass, plus another hour and a half to load and lead them out... OR else when you get back to the truck you can put the danged packframe back on and make two or three trips, especially if you've got a buddy along. And that takes maybe two hours. When you get the pieces back to the truck, you know you deserve to be feared and admired, but the squirrels and camprobbers don't seem to care much. Those were the days!!

The toughest pack for me though was a little different. Shirley Basin, Wyoming buck antelope, after a couple days of rain followed by a freeze. Bailed off a rim afoot, after seeing a dandy goat maybe a mile and a half away through the spotting scope. Footing wasn't too bad, and rolling terrain made the stalk possible. Dumped him, cleaned it while the sun is getting higher and hotter. All thoughts of getting the pickup off that rim and back out were gone as the once-frozen ground turned into gumbo Wyoming style. Considering myself nearly invincible, I got that goat up and across my shoulders, and started the hike up and out. There was maybe only 800 ft. elevation gain in that mile +, but the gumbo built up on my boots where I couldn't walk until I stopped and whittled it off and started over. On the steeper stretches I had to switchback a lot or slide backwards. Stomping through the prickly pear helped some. I think it took almost 3 hours, and I was totally exhausted. Also about 22 years old. Great memory, thanks for the chance to tell it!!

 

[6mm Remington]

beretz,
Great story and yes those elk are tough! Animals period are tough. We have all seen deer, antelope, elk, and others do some amazing things. I think that the best part of all is that not one of these stories leaves our memories and are tucked back in that special spot that we can pull them up and recall them in an instant, just like they happened yesterday. That's what this whole outdoors, hunting, fishing, and RADD addiction is all about. 8)

 

[SJB358]

Great story ElkEater! I know doing down man drills wears me out. I couldn't imagine carrying an antelope in that kind of elevation, on my shoulders. Scotty

 

[SJB358]

beretz,
Great story and yes those elk are tough! Animals period are tough. We have all seen deer, antelope, elk, and others do some amazing things. I think that the best part of all is that not one of these stories leaves our memories and are tucked back in that special spot that we can pull them up and recall them in an instant, just like they happened yesterday. That's what this whole outdoors, hunting, fishing, and RADD addiction is all about. 8)

Yes sir. Totally agree, I still beat myself up after putting such a bad shot on him, but me and my best buddy still talk about that hunt. We did it the best we could and capitalized on it. I love to hunt, shoot rifles and be outdoors. I can't imagine doing much else. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Man, can I relate to the build-up of gumbo. I ache just thinking of you toting that goat and trying to walk to the truck. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Murphdog]

6mm

Great story!!! It would have been very easy to have given up, well done. I hope you kept the rack kind of neat.

A lot of the stuff we hunt in has deep snow. Had very good luck with one of those heavy duty sleds designed to pull behide snow machines. Need to strap the elk down so they don't fall out. Also I modified the sled so that I could hook a rope to the back of the sled for going down hill. Really important to control the down hill speed so they don't end up in some creek bottom. One person, assuming good snow, can move a full sized elk without much effort.

Some how I don't think I helped with the elk fever, might have made it worse. Leading contendar for the son-in-law position wants to go out tomarrow after an elk. Twist my arm!! Fawn Peak is calling.

PS He is young and tuff with the we can do this attitude. HEE HEE

 

[Murphdog]

Berettz,

Great story, great set of ethics in this group. Don't beat yourself up, we all want to make those shots where they drop in their tracks but it doen't always work that way. The important thing was that you stayed on the elk until you got it. Seen lots of wound elk from guys using cannons, and know guys who routinely kill elk with a 243 win. Horsepower doesn't do much good if you don't find the vitals. All about that bullet finding a part that the elk can not live long without. My hat is off to your effort.

 

[SJB358]

Thanks Murph, I appreciate it. Just know I should have waited or passed on that bull until I had a better shot. When he screamed a bugle at me from 50 yards, it almost made me come unglued. When I looked at his bulging eyes and face through the scope, it didn't help with the buck fever at ALL. It is one of the biggest rushes I have ever felt. Your right though, bigger guns don't make up for bad shooting. I just realized how tough elk are and figured some extra bullet weight might slow them up faster! Scotty

 

[DrMike]

it didn't help with the buck fever at ALL.

Buck fever! I can't believe the shakes I got on a doe last week! She finally got tired of watching me shake and walked off. What is worse, I let her go! I had no idea that whitetail could laugh.

 

[SJB358]

Yeah, when I just got back this year, I got into a tree a few days after being home and had three bucks walk to within 15 yards, directly behind me. My feet were shaking so bad, I had to mentally tell myself to stop shaking. Didn't help, but the deer didn't see me shaking I guess. The bigger one never came to present a good shot, bit man, did I come unglued. Need to practice breathing! Nothing like deer to make me shake. It is the best part of hunting. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Deer had never caused me to hyperventilate before. Bear? Now, that is a different story.

 

[jmad_81]

Well it was 2004 and it was my first out of state hunt. Me and a few buddies went to Idaho to find some elk. We had spotted a larger herd across a massive draw. The next day we drove around and packed in a mile or so and watched them from camp. The next morning (opening morning) we were all set up for our ambush and the elk never showed. I left my pack sitting at my post, and we peaked over the edge of the ridge. It was really a cool deal. We couldn't hear eny elk from where we were but the minute we crested the ridge they where just on the other side bugeling like crazy! My buddy shot a 310 six point bull, and the heard scattered. I gave him my knife and took off after the heard. Never caught up to them, but did find a nice 6x6 bugling his head off across the way. I found a good snag, and let a 225 AB fly. Much to my suprise I hit just over his back where I was aiming. One more shot with the same result. He was busy walking and bugleing so I just aimed right for him and hit him a bit far back. I for got to lead him, and one step with a big bull will put a bullet to far back pretty quick. Two more 225 ABs into his rib cage and he was down! I was so excited I took off after him and forgot to get my pack or my knife from my buddy. Finally got down my side and up his side and found that I didn't have a knife. So, I grabbed a piece of shale and chipped it sharp, and cleaned him with that (not any fun at all!). It took me the rest of the day to try to drag him down to some shade, and started to hike back out. by the time I got back to my pack, food, and water it was almost dark. I was so weak that I couldn't hardly walk 50 yards without having to stop and rest. Never again will I leave my pack, knife, food, and water sitting anywear! We spent the night on the ridge then headed out to the trucks in the morning. We drove around to the bottom of the trail and hiked in and packed him out. He was shot at about 8:30 AM and we didn't get him all the way out till 2:00 the next afternoon.

It was the hardest hunt I have been on, but I will never forget it, or the lessons learned from it.

 

[6mm Remington]

6mm

Great story!!! It would have been very easy to have given up, well done. I hope you kept the rack kind of neat.

Yes I did keep the rack. It's too neat to not have kept it. It's hanging in my son's room on a plaque. I hope you could see in the picture of the picture, but his left ear was 1/2 gone, as I said it looked to have frozen off. The right ear had a couple inches missing off of it. He might have been blind in one eye and ridden the short bus as well! :grin: At least that's what my buddies were giving me grief about. I know one think is that I was so thankful I did not have to climb the 3000 foot in elevation to get back to my truck and those guys drover me the 12 miles around the mountain and backed up to my pickup and we slid him in! Yes someone seeing where he was taken care of right on the road was probably calling whoever got that elk all kinds of names and wishing it would have been them. They had no idea the misery I went through that day and the thick, nasty, steep, and rocky stuff he took me through. :evil: I was by myself hunting that day as well, and of course thoughts of leaving this bull laying right there on the trail while I hike for at least 2-3 hours back to my truck left me feeling quite ill. I could see some #@$%^&, because it WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SPORTSMAN loading him up and throwing my tag away and me getting back to where my elk had been and there now was nothing. I probably would not have been too happy! :twisted: I don't carry a lot of cash on my usually when I'm hunting and all I had was a $20.00 bill. They never asked and I don't think would have, but I handed them the $20.00 and told them to buy a cold beer or something, or just to put a few bucks in gas in their truck. Nice folks they were for sure. Saved me that day!! I wish I had the time and ability to really put this in words how it went DOWN (pun intended) for those guys sitting on this trail putting chains on. One guy here's the shale rock and see's a flash of an elk and antler and is getting his rifle while his buddy is putting chains on. The guy who saw the bull and is trying to tell his partner who is busy with the chains that there is a bull up the mountain and he's trying to pick a spot out through the Juinpers where he can get a shot while MR. Chain as we shall call him is calling bull-pucky on this and thinks his partner is playing a joke. That's until he hears a loud boom and then quite a few seconds of crash, bang, boom, crash, smash, and then THUD! and the elk almost took out the one fellow standing on the road trying to get a shot at the bull. They thought it made quite tall tale to talk about later, and after realizing how I had just spent the day chasing him since 7:00 AM that morning, and when they finally saw where I was parked, and that it alone was still another 3/4 of a mile from that location to where I first shot him, they thought I was certifiable, yet they did pay me a good compliment just like you guys have and said what a great job I did so this elk didn't go to waste and wasn't left to suffer. As some have said, we all try out best to make it as quick as possible, but we fall short sometimes. That's part of it I guess. None of us is perfect. Thanks for letting me share! David