My son's first big game animal
delkmon
10/9/07 9:43am
10/5/07
Our Idaho cow elk hunt started bright and early on Friday Oct. 5th. We were up at 5:00 am and hiking to our spot by 6.00. We were hunting closed roads in an area where we had seen elk before. Here are some pics of the country.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e100/idabigbuck/Ryanselkhunt004.jpg " alt="" />
About 8:00 we spotted our first elk, a cow with a calf and a spike. I judged the distance to be about 200 yards. Just as my 15-year-old son settled in for the shot, they began to move and crossed over the hill they were on and out of sight. This gave us the chance to move quickly on the road we were on around the hill to get a better shot. As we came around the hill, the ridge above us was alive with elk. There were at least 40 elk with several bulls just bugling up a storm. It was awesome. Every 10 to 15 seconds a bull would cut loose with another bugle and series of grunts. We named this place “Bugle Ridge.”
They were still too far for a shot, but close enough to bust us if we made a wrong move. So we waited for them to move off a little ways before moving closer to find one to shoot. Finally able to move forward, we stayed close to the hillside for cover. We found one to take a shot at. My son used his pack for a rest and squeezed of a shot. It was a steep up hill shot and much further than it looked. At the shot the cow just stood there. I was watching with my bino’s and saw no evidence of a hit. Just as he was about to take another shot she moved out of sight. I was sure it was a clean miss, but we had to make sure. So we climbed up the hill to the spot where the elk was. We searched all around, no blood, hair or anything except tracks and dukey.
The bulls were still screaming their heads off up the ridge so we decided to follow them and see if we could get another shot. After about ¼ mile we got to a place to set up and wait for a shot to present itself. The elk were not alarmed and were ambling towards a bedding area a little further up the ridge. Finally a cow stepped into a small clearing and stood there broadside. Using a downed tree as a rest my son took careful aim and fired. The crease in the trees at the top of the ridge in the center of the picture is where the cow was.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e100/idabigbuck/Ryanselkhunt007.jpg " alt="" />
The cow whirled and ran out of sight. I told him I thought she was hit. We decided to wait at least ½ hour before going up the hill to where we thought the tracking would begin. After 20 minutes I scanned the clearing where the cow was and saw what looked like a large tan colored rock. Naw, she couldn’t have dropped right there. But the more I looked, the more it looked like an elk lying there. We decided to check it out and began counting the paces to the spot. After 220 paces we still hadn’t reached the spot, but it was clear that my son had just harvested his first big game animal!!! The hugging and high fiveing began. Followed by the pictures and the work.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e100/idabigbuck/Ryanselkhunt012.jpg " alt="" />
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e100/idabigbuck/Ryanselkhunt013.jpg " alt="" />
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e100/idabigbuck/Ryanselkhunt015.jpg " alt="" />
He made a perfect heart shot. She died within 15 feet of where she was hit. The Nosler Partition in 30.06 performed flawlessly.
He shot her about 12:30 and we didn’t get back to the truck until 7:00 pm., exhausted and satisfied. I couldn’t be more proud of my son!
Our Idaho cow elk hunt started bright and early on Friday Oct. 5th. We were up at 5:00 am and hiking to our spot by 6.00. We were hunting closed roads in an area where we had seen elk before. Here are some pics of the country.
About 8:00 we spotted our first elk, a cow with a calf and a spike. I judged the distance to be about 200 yards. Just as my 15-year-old son settled in for the shot, they began to move and crossed over the hill they were on and out of sight. This gave us the chance to move quickly on the road we were on around the hill to get a better shot. As we came around the hill, the ridge above us was alive with elk. There were at least 40 elk with several bulls just bugling up a storm. It was awesome. Every 10 to 15 seconds a bull would cut loose with another bugle and series of grunts. We named this place “Bugle Ridge.”
They were still too far for a shot, but close enough to bust us if we made a wrong move. So we waited for them to move off a little ways before moving closer to find one to shoot. Finally able to move forward, we stayed close to the hillside for cover. We found one to take a shot at. My son used his pack for a rest and squeezed of a shot. It was a steep up hill shot and much further than it looked. At the shot the cow just stood there. I was watching with my bino’s and saw no evidence of a hit. Just as he was about to take another shot she moved out of sight. I was sure it was a clean miss, but we had to make sure. So we climbed up the hill to the spot where the elk was. We searched all around, no blood, hair or anything except tracks and dukey.
The bulls were still screaming their heads off up the ridge so we decided to follow them and see if we could get another shot. After about ¼ mile we got to a place to set up and wait for a shot to present itself. The elk were not alarmed and were ambling towards a bedding area a little further up the ridge. Finally a cow stepped into a small clearing and stood there broadside. Using a downed tree as a rest my son took careful aim and fired. The crease in the trees at the top of the ridge in the center of the picture is where the cow was.
The cow whirled and ran out of sight. I told him I thought she was hit. We decided to wait at least ½ hour before going up the hill to where we thought the tracking would begin. After 20 minutes I scanned the clearing where the cow was and saw what looked like a large tan colored rock. Naw, she couldn’t have dropped right there. But the more I looked, the more it looked like an elk lying there. We decided to check it out and began counting the paces to the spot. After 220 paces we still hadn’t reached the spot, but it was clear that my son had just harvested his first big game animal!!! The hugging and high fiveing began. Followed by the pictures and the work.
He made a perfect heart shot. She died within 15 feet of where she was hit. The Nosler Partition in 30.06 performed flawlessly.
He shot her about 12:30 and we didn’t get back to the truck until 7:00 pm., exhausted and satisfied. I couldn’t be more proud of my son!
6,608
I love the pictures, that is some beautiful looking country! Sweet.
You aren't kidding about the work! We had a 5 mile pack out just to get the meat out. I sure wish we had horses! This was also the first time I tried the gutless method of game care, and it workd out pretty good. I also cut all the meat off of the bone and that saved us a lot of weight. Me or my son will never shoot an elk that far away from the road without horses or a lot of help! I'm getting too old for that kind of nonsense.
Our group has 5 in the group out of 9 guys....
I love the rifle more than life itself for hiking, ease of cleaning, accuracy and knock down power!
You say it was too much work now.. give it a few days for the legs to heal and I bet you'd do it all over again! Its that hard work that makes the trip worth while.
Great story and series of pictures thanks for sharing.
The rifle is actually a Savage, and the scope came with it, a Simmons whitetail. Bought at Wally world last year for under $400. Once we figured out that this rifle will not shoot 150 grain bullets. It is a tack driver. It out shoots my Remington mod. 700 in the same caliber, 30.06.
But your right about one thing........I'm ready to go back up there again, and get after them elk! :) :) :)