My Best Elk hunt yet. pics and Novel!
09-15-2006, 10:05 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Pirate on the river Saskatchewan
Posts: 2,167
My Best Elk hunt yet. pics and Novel!
The story I am about to tell is in fact my most fun, memorable hunt to date not only due to our success but also the friendship, laughs, and experiences my hunting partners and I shared. My hunting partner Rob and his son Mitch arrived at my farm Saturday afternoon. The boys setup their camper by the barn and went out to scout and hang a few stands. After discovering some awesome sign the boys went to work. Mitch would be positioned in a tree line between a wheat and canola field, Rob further down the canola field where he could keep a close eye on his 12 year old son during his first elk hunt. Rob set up shop in one of my permanent stands that we refer to as the penthouse. I had decided to move more to the east onto the neighbor’s wheat because my previous weeks of scouting revealed to me that the elk were far more active on the wheat and I just had to play the odds. I put up a hanger in a point extending from the bush that I had seen elk every evening utilize.
Not only were we workin’ like dogs putting up stands and gearing up for Monday but we had a ¼ of second cut alfalfa knocked down that was ready to square bale. The boys were back at camp flingin arrows and relaxing while I was stooking square bales behind my papi who was baling in road gear I swear. 1500 bales and jello for arms thank Christ that was done. Now we had to get the bales into the barn and to the outfitter I had sold most of them too before they got rained on. So I wrangled up the troops Sunday to help me haul some bales and within a few days we had all of them hauled. Thanks a great deal to the boys for the help. I would still be out there if I had to do it myself.
Now back to the elk. We for the most part do not hunt the mornings because we cannot get to our stands without spooking the elk and have far better luck in the evening. It is possible to hunt morning but none of us had ever been successful. 4pm rolled around, I unloaded my last load of bales and got showered up for opening night. We rolled out into the field said our goodbyes and good lucks and headed our separate ways to our stands. Around 6:30 or so I thought I heard what sounded like a shot but was not quite sure (don’t laugh we are so close we can hear the arrow crack home). Aprrox 7pm I saw hazel brush shaking in the distance and heard the constant snapping of twigs. My heart races as I know it has to be elk making that much noise. I see 6 cows and calves coming down a game trail which will pass my stand at 20 yards. I start licking my lips cause I had a bet with my co-worker 24 beer to who gets the first elk. The elk follow the trail just like they should however I failed to chop out a clump of willows hiding them from any possible shot. So I sat there useless as tits on a tomcat letting them all pass me and out into the field where all I could see of them there was the lower halves of their legs. At the end of the night I climbed down and headed back towards Mitch’s stand where he had a smile on that lit up the night. He had cracked a cow at 30 yards and she was down in the field. A spiker had come by him but not within range however he wasted no time when this finger lickin’ good critter came walking by. It was Mitch’s first elk on his first day ever elk hunting. I witnessed one happy boy and a damn proud father. We dragged the cow to the truck and loaded it up on my ramp system and dressed it on the loader as usual.
Rob and his son Mitch's first elk.
The next day I hauled more bales grrrrrr, showered up and headed out. Approx 8pm again I see hazel brush shaking in the distance and the tips of antlers. I say to myself “Come to papa ya sweet thing.” I had the clump of willows cut out so nothing was holding me back now but fear and common sense. The bull walked down a game trail south of me but heading toward me and hung up at 25 yards. I had no shot there because he was looking head on toward me. I though well I’ll just out wait this guy. Well time went on and on but no movement so I started to cow call behind me with my hoochie mama, no dice. I started using my hoochie and mouth at the same time, no dice. I just needed him to turn to the right for one second, well he did turn but to the left and back behind a tree. He circled around me through the heavy hazel brush and hung up again 30 yards to the southwest of me. He stood there all evening and I ran out of daylight. Even when I climbed down out of my stand to leave he did not spook. He was a pretty nice bull for my area, no monster but too smart for my liking. Rob had some opportunities also that night but no damage done.
The next evening was pretty uneventful for myself until I was about to climb down from my stand and a cow and 2 calves came by at 8 yards. It was 2 late to even think about a shot so I watched them mill around and sniff out my elkfire scent. Rob had also seen elk that night but again no blood. I was starting to sweat a bit because I had been so close so many times yet not even drawn. We decide in the morning that Rob and I will go for a walk on my wheat field straight south of the farm that we had not yet hunted at all.
We were gearing up outside the truck at 4:30am at the edge of the wheat field and began to walk down the tree line to the south 3/4mile and then we jog east and follow the boundary line between the field and the park. We snuck along slowly only moving when we were sure we could not see anything in the field around us as morning broke pushing further down the field. We rounded a slough and came up on a knoll in the field and I suddenly spotted elk straight North of us in the field on their way back to the park. I dropped to my stomach and motioned for Rob to come up behind me. We slowly poked our heads up over the wheat and saw 3 cows North East of us 100 yards and a bull straight North of us 150 yards or so. I put the hoochie mama in my hand and let the girl do some talking. My eyes were fixed on that spike bull as he put his head down and trotted over to my sweat soothing voice. Suddenly Rob says “Hey Dan the cows are right beside us hey”. I look over the wheat and the cows are heading straight for us and are going to cut the bull off. They turn into a full out run towards us and as the distance closes Rob whispers to me “Dan you better blast the bitch”. It was either shoot or be trampled. I burst out laughing and draw as the lead cow is running full speed so I will not be detected however she stops facing us. I cannot let off nor can I shoot. Rob cow calls and the cow turns at which time I let the Mathews bark. The cow bolts off and Rob cow calls again, she stops and by that time I have another arrow knocked. Rob says to me “Okay lets get greedy” as he starts to draw on the bull who has circled to the east of us and is watching this circus. I say “I’m going to put another one in that cow but you go ahead”. Rob decides not to take the spike but rather witness me arrow the cow again at 50 yards. The cow struggled to get off the field and made it to the bush dodging another 2 of my arrows. Was not my most intelligent move to shoot so many times but I shoot unless the animal is on the ground or totally out of range. The first shot was a good one but another arrow gives you that much more blood and slows em down that much more. We went back to the house for a coffee and then headed out to track the cow who we were sure was not far in the bush. Within 70 yards the cow had toppled. Upon viewing the cow I said to myself, “We’re going to need a bigger boat”. She was Big Bertha indeed and made my new Kodiak work dragging her out. She dressed 308lbs which was the biggest elk our hunting party had ever taken. I took quite a bit of teasing over the elk telling me I can knock arrows faster than most people can work a bolt action rifle and of course that I had shot a cripple. The cow had in previous years broken one of her front legs, now fused solid and unable to bend at the knee.
Me on the right, Mitch on the Left with my cow.
The next evening Rob went out on his lonesome while I was busy doing chores and welcoming the last member of our hunting party Les who had just arrived that evening with his camper. The next few days produced no elk however the end of the week had come and it was time for Mitch to head back home to attend school the following Monday. You could see the disappointment in the boy’s eyes when he had to leave but I am sure everyone in his school got his story at least 3 times. Best he left the farm before we worked him to death, we now had his Dad hauling wheat for me while I was combining and Les was welding farm equipment. Ahhh I love slave labor.
Monday morning Les and I went out on the wheat I had taken my cow off of where we found 2 spikers feeding in a similar situation. I set up behind Les and began to cow call. The bulls would seem interested and move closer and then away then close again but would never come closer than 70yards. I believe that one of the spikers had seen that movie last Thursday and never liked the ending.
Monday evening I went on a bit of a scouting expedition for the boys while they were in their stands. The elk had seemed to change their patterns a bit, most likely to all the disturbance we had been causing, so I moved over one field to the east that was more secluded. That evening I witnessed plenty of cows some good bulls and a pile of bucks in these uncharted waters. The next evening I planned to come back there with either Rob or Les to hunt it from the ground hiding behind alfalfa bales.
Les and I setup on the hay land the next evening about 80 yards apart with Les southwest of me (closer to the bush). A bull let one rip around 7pm from back in the park but sounding very close so I replied without hesitation and then began to cow call a bit. Within an hour I saw a real nice bull and a spiker appear from the edge and start making their way toward Les and I. Due to the angle of the round bales Les did not see the elk until they were right on top of him. They walked past him and he rounded the bale for a shot. The elk seemed to spook a bit out to 40 yards and stop. The bigger bull was not presenting a shot at that time and Les did not want to risk them getting any further out of range so he arrowed the spike bull. I immediately cow called to try and stop the bulls but the spike ran full out to the bush while the big guy hung around in the field for a few minutes. We waited a bit to calm our nerves and then got on the blood trail and found the bull within 100 yards.
To take a break from the elk hunting I convinced the boys to go out goose hunting Friday with me. Les had never been goose hunting and Rob not that frequent. I had a good flock scouted out for Friday morning and had the boys out there at 3am digging pits. I was a little bit disappointed with how the geese decoyed but we did pretty dang good still. Ducks oh Lordy were there ducks, I was only hitting about 1 in every 5 I shot at but still it was a lot of fun and blackened the shoulder nicely. We ended up with 21 ducks and 19 geese. Not bad for a bunch of elk hunters eh.
I spent the majority of the rest of the day cleaning up the breasts and thighs for pepperoni sticks while Rob headed out for his 6pm date with the elk. I had a staff party to attend that evening at the local bar when I heard my name being called to the phone. I smiled because I already knew that it was the call to start the tractor for skinning. I planned to meet him with Les at the edge of the field with my truck and game ramp. He had arrowed a spiker out of the very same stand that his boy had taken his first elk from the previous Monday. The bull had barely made the bush and was quickly hauled out by Les’s 650 Cat. By this time we were starting to get pretty good at this skinning elk thing so Rob clocked us at 18 minutes for his elk. That’s hide off, head off, legs off, guts out and split in half. That brought a tear to my mama’s eye I think.
So there is our Cinderella story. Friday of the last week and we were officially tagged out. We had gathered up 981 lbs of hanging elk and 35lbs of boneless lean goose/duck meat. It was such an awesome hunt because we did so many different things together besides hunting elk that made it so special. Next year we think we could work in some coyote hunting off the elk gut piles to satisfy our hunting hunger that much more. I know the one thing that we will not be doing next year at that’s square baling.
The Green Army!
Not only were we workin’ like dogs putting up stands and gearing up for Monday but we had a ¼ of second cut alfalfa knocked down that was ready to square bale. The boys were back at camp flingin arrows and relaxing while I was stooking square bales behind my papi who was baling in road gear I swear. 1500 bales and jello for arms thank Christ that was done. Now we had to get the bales into the barn and to the outfitter I had sold most of them too before they got rained on. So I wrangled up the troops Sunday to help me haul some bales and within a few days we had all of them hauled. Thanks a great deal to the boys for the help. I would still be out there if I had to do it myself.
Now back to the elk. We for the most part do not hunt the mornings because we cannot get to our stands without spooking the elk and have far better luck in the evening. It is possible to hunt morning but none of us had ever been successful. 4pm rolled around, I unloaded my last load of bales and got showered up for opening night. We rolled out into the field said our goodbyes and good lucks and headed our separate ways to our stands. Around 6:30 or so I thought I heard what sounded like a shot but was not quite sure (don’t laugh we are so close we can hear the arrow crack home). Aprrox 7pm I saw hazel brush shaking in the distance and heard the constant snapping of twigs. My heart races as I know it has to be elk making that much noise. I see 6 cows and calves coming down a game trail which will pass my stand at 20 yards. I start licking my lips cause I had a bet with my co-worker 24 beer to who gets the first elk. The elk follow the trail just like they should however I failed to chop out a clump of willows hiding them from any possible shot. So I sat there useless as tits on a tomcat letting them all pass me and out into the field where all I could see of them there was the lower halves of their legs. At the end of the night I climbed down and headed back towards Mitch’s stand where he had a smile on that lit up the night. He had cracked a cow at 30 yards and she was down in the field. A spiker had come by him but not within range however he wasted no time when this finger lickin’ good critter came walking by. It was Mitch’s first elk on his first day ever elk hunting. I witnessed one happy boy and a damn proud father. We dragged the cow to the truck and loaded it up on my ramp system and dressed it on the loader as usual.
Rob and his son Mitch's first elk.
The next day I hauled more bales grrrrrr, showered up and headed out. Approx 8pm again I see hazel brush shaking in the distance and the tips of antlers. I say to myself “Come to papa ya sweet thing.” I had the clump of willows cut out so nothing was holding me back now but fear and common sense. The bull walked down a game trail south of me but heading toward me and hung up at 25 yards. I had no shot there because he was looking head on toward me. I though well I’ll just out wait this guy. Well time went on and on but no movement so I started to cow call behind me with my hoochie mama, no dice. I started using my hoochie and mouth at the same time, no dice. I just needed him to turn to the right for one second, well he did turn but to the left and back behind a tree. He circled around me through the heavy hazel brush and hung up again 30 yards to the southwest of me. He stood there all evening and I ran out of daylight. Even when I climbed down out of my stand to leave he did not spook. He was a pretty nice bull for my area, no monster but too smart for my liking. Rob had some opportunities also that night but no damage done.
The next evening was pretty uneventful for myself until I was about to climb down from my stand and a cow and 2 calves came by at 8 yards. It was 2 late to even think about a shot so I watched them mill around and sniff out my elkfire scent. Rob had also seen elk that night but again no blood. I was starting to sweat a bit because I had been so close so many times yet not even drawn. We decide in the morning that Rob and I will go for a walk on my wheat field straight south of the farm that we had not yet hunted at all.
We were gearing up outside the truck at 4:30am at the edge of the wheat field and began to walk down the tree line to the south 3/4mile and then we jog east and follow the boundary line between the field and the park. We snuck along slowly only moving when we were sure we could not see anything in the field around us as morning broke pushing further down the field. We rounded a slough and came up on a knoll in the field and I suddenly spotted elk straight North of us in the field on their way back to the park. I dropped to my stomach and motioned for Rob to come up behind me. We slowly poked our heads up over the wheat and saw 3 cows North East of us 100 yards and a bull straight North of us 150 yards or so. I put the hoochie mama in my hand and let the girl do some talking. My eyes were fixed on that spike bull as he put his head down and trotted over to my sweat soothing voice. Suddenly Rob says “Hey Dan the cows are right beside us hey”. I look over the wheat and the cows are heading straight for us and are going to cut the bull off. They turn into a full out run towards us and as the distance closes Rob whispers to me “Dan you better blast the bitch”. It was either shoot or be trampled. I burst out laughing and draw as the lead cow is running full speed so I will not be detected however she stops facing us. I cannot let off nor can I shoot. Rob cow calls and the cow turns at which time I let the Mathews bark. The cow bolts off and Rob cow calls again, she stops and by that time I have another arrow knocked. Rob says to me “Okay lets get greedy” as he starts to draw on the bull who has circled to the east of us and is watching this circus. I say “I’m going to put another one in that cow but you go ahead”. Rob decides not to take the spike but rather witness me arrow the cow again at 50 yards. The cow struggled to get off the field and made it to the bush dodging another 2 of my arrows. Was not my most intelligent move to shoot so many times but I shoot unless the animal is on the ground or totally out of range. The first shot was a good one but another arrow gives you that much more blood and slows em down that much more. We went back to the house for a coffee and then headed out to track the cow who we were sure was not far in the bush. Within 70 yards the cow had toppled. Upon viewing the cow I said to myself, “We’re going to need a bigger boat”. She was Big Bertha indeed and made my new Kodiak work dragging her out. She dressed 308lbs which was the biggest elk our hunting party had ever taken. I took quite a bit of teasing over the elk telling me I can knock arrows faster than most people can work a bolt action rifle and of course that I had shot a cripple. The cow had in previous years broken one of her front legs, now fused solid and unable to bend at the knee.
Me on the right, Mitch on the Left with my cow.
The next evening Rob went out on his lonesome while I was busy doing chores and welcoming the last member of our hunting party Les who had just arrived that evening with his camper. The next few days produced no elk however the end of the week had come and it was time for Mitch to head back home to attend school the following Monday. You could see the disappointment in the boy’s eyes when he had to leave but I am sure everyone in his school got his story at least 3 times. Best he left the farm before we worked him to death, we now had his Dad hauling wheat for me while I was combining and Les was welding farm equipment. Ahhh I love slave labor.
Monday morning Les and I went out on the wheat I had taken my cow off of where we found 2 spikers feeding in a similar situation. I set up behind Les and began to cow call. The bulls would seem interested and move closer and then away then close again but would never come closer than 70yards. I believe that one of the spikers had seen that movie last Thursday and never liked the ending.
Monday evening I went on a bit of a scouting expedition for the boys while they were in their stands. The elk had seemed to change their patterns a bit, most likely to all the disturbance we had been causing, so I moved over one field to the east that was more secluded. That evening I witnessed plenty of cows some good bulls and a pile of bucks in these uncharted waters. The next evening I planned to come back there with either Rob or Les to hunt it from the ground hiding behind alfalfa bales.
Les and I setup on the hay land the next evening about 80 yards apart with Les southwest of me (closer to the bush). A bull let one rip around 7pm from back in the park but sounding very close so I replied without hesitation and then began to cow call a bit. Within an hour I saw a real nice bull and a spiker appear from the edge and start making their way toward Les and I. Due to the angle of the round bales Les did not see the elk until they were right on top of him. They walked past him and he rounded the bale for a shot. The elk seemed to spook a bit out to 40 yards and stop. The bigger bull was not presenting a shot at that time and Les did not want to risk them getting any further out of range so he arrowed the spike bull. I immediately cow called to try and stop the bulls but the spike ran full out to the bush while the big guy hung around in the field for a few minutes. We waited a bit to calm our nerves and then got on the blood trail and found the bull within 100 yards.
To take a break from the elk hunting I convinced the boys to go out goose hunting Friday with me. Les had never been goose hunting and Rob not that frequent. I had a good flock scouted out for Friday morning and had the boys out there at 3am digging pits. I was a little bit disappointed with how the geese decoyed but we did pretty dang good still. Ducks oh Lordy were there ducks, I was only hitting about 1 in every 5 I shot at but still it was a lot of fun and blackened the shoulder nicely. We ended up with 21 ducks and 19 geese. Not bad for a bunch of elk hunters eh.
I spent the majority of the rest of the day cleaning up the breasts and thighs for pepperoni sticks while Rob headed out for his 6pm date with the elk. I had a staff party to attend that evening at the local bar when I heard my name being called to the phone. I smiled because I already knew that it was the call to start the tractor for skinning. I planned to meet him with Les at the edge of the field with my truck and game ramp. He had arrowed a spiker out of the very same stand that his boy had taken his first elk from the previous Monday. The bull had barely made the bush and was quickly hauled out by Les’s 650 Cat. By this time we were starting to get pretty good at this skinning elk thing so Rob clocked us at 18 minutes for his elk. That’s hide off, head off, legs off, guts out and split in half. That brought a tear to my mama’s eye I think.
So there is our Cinderella story. Friday of the last week and we were officially tagged out. We had gathered up 981 lbs of hanging elk and 35lbs of boneless lean goose/duck meat. It was such an awesome hunt because we did so many different things together besides hunting elk that made it so special. Next year we think we could work in some coyote hunting off the elk gut piles to satisfy our hunting hunger that much more. I know the one thing that we will not be doing next year at that’s square baling.
The Green Army!
09-15-2006, 10:12 AM
#2
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Pirate on the river Saskatchewan
Posts: 2,167
RE: My Best Elk hunt yet. pics and Novel!
I have a few more pics of the guy's bulls but I am having difficulty loading them onto photobucket. Rob took the pics of their bulls with a digital cam and emailed them to me however when i try and load them onto photobucket the top half of the pics are cut off. Is this because the files he emailed me are too big? If so how do i change the size of the pics to load on photobucket or would i be able to email the pics to someone to help me out. Thanxs folks.
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