What started as an Archery Season update I now get to follow up with a most rewarding Rifle Season update as well.
Friday evening James took his wife out on her first hunt. He was armed with his b-tag for cow elk, and Elle purchased an A-tag for bulls, just in case. Around 6:45 I got a call from James and sure as s*** Elle's first hunt was the kind that many dream of and may never see. While she did not fill her tag, James narrated his moves to her ("this way, because of the wind" or pointing out tree rubs, fresh poo and tracking) and she was able to watch her man get it done from start to finish. She didn't get her hands dirty, but she was totally involved and I got to really watch her dig in to an appreciation for the full circle of the process.
Feeling optimistic, James pushed me to head out the next morning with my B-tag. Being recently single I've been thoroughly enjoying not having any reason to turn down another hunt, so with elk sausage breakfast burritos in hand we tore out the next morning just after sunrise. While still driving into our revered spot, where I got my cow last year, we noticed a truly sizable mule deer buck on a sage hill that we typically never see any elk on. No tags for the Muley, but we stopped and enjoyed him with our binos for a minute anyway. Just for fun I glassed the rest of the hillside to look for his does when I noticed two significantly darker ears just over the crest (muleys are practically gray) and I knew I was looking at a cow. This wasn't our point of entry so we played it cool and drove on, watching what then turned out to be two cows running up the hillside- directly to where we would meet then shortly thereafter. We parked and made our hike up in no time. We were just a few hundred yards from where I was when I shot last years cow at this point and I then saw the two cows trot around the opposite side of a timber stand in the exact direction I'd anticipated. We need to reset ourselves about 300 yards further down the hillside as I knew they were headed to a break in the fence that we'd put in early spring, so elk wouldn't keep tearing the damn thing down and sure enough the funnel worked like a charm. Just like a few weeks ago, James was right behind me with his range finder, and when the first one stepped out he told me to hold off. "Next one is bigger, 225 yards".
I was set up on my bipod and had absolute control of my heart rate. I was sitting behind the scope and the crosshairs sat exactly where I held- I had 110% confidence. Number two stepped out, I set the crosshair behind her shoulder BOOM!..... but no POW...... I shot again. BOOM!..... no pow. NOW my heart is racing because I can't figure out what's gone wrong between here and my last round at the range two weeks ago. I give the scope a wiggle and she's solid (and miraculously the cows are still there) so I set my sights again and let it rip. The comfort in that fatal thump is a strange thing, but I watched her fall and was pleased that she went down quick as I was not sure if I'd wounded her or not. Sometimes, things don't go exactly the way they should, but sometimes there is a reason for that...
After an hour and a half of cutting her up and packing out, we cruised over to the neighboring ranch to share our success with the gentleman who gives us access. We roll in to bay doors open wide and four elk all hanging in the barn, freshly skinned and all. As it turns out, they had all been working in a near pasture when they heard my shots ringing. The ranchers always keep their tags and guns on them in season and sure enough I ran a herd of about 200 straight to them. I have to say that it was twenty four hours of elk I'll never forget. Even after packing out James' on Friday I had dreams of elk that whole night, only to wake up to mine the next day.
Happy hunting my friends!!!! Get out there, don't be afraid to make a mistake, take it all in and get it done!!!
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