nakneker
Gold $$ Contributor
The elk hunt was tough. To my daughter’s credit she hunted every day of the hunt, all 7 days. Logged over 53 miles of hiking with some serious elevation involved . Left the house at 4am everyday and got home an hour or two after dark. We saw elk everyday but not bulls some days and some days there were no bulls. She had a couple opportunities that didn’t work out, one small six point at 654 yards that fed into the cedars before she could get a solid rest, a couple other quick shot opportunities that didn’t come together either, no shots fired. She never lost her positive attitude and at 3:20 in the afternoon on the last day of the hunt she connected on a small busted up six point at 27 yards. We were ghosting the north side of a ridge deep in the bottom were the bulls were hiding out in the shadows, she was getting good at being very quiet, one step two looks kind of hunting. She was creeping when she stopped and raised the rifle, all she could see were the horns and the forehead. We had talked about this scenario beforehand and she took the shot. Another step and he would have busted us, she dead centered him in the forehead and that was that. I gave her a hug and a high five or two. We quartered him, got the qurters hung and came back with help to get him out the next morning to get him out. Bear season and lion season are still open and we crept up on the gut pile yesterday but nothing had touched it over night.
We processed the bull last night, he’s in the freezer now. Fried some floured back straps last night and had elk biscuits and gravy this morning. I usually try and age the meat but I have to fly to Hawaii for work on Monday so we just got it done last night, made for a long but fulfilling day. The bull was surprisingly tender, no gamey flavor either.
We’re hunting a unit that has a success rate of less than 20%. This makes 12 tags in row that we’ve filled in that unit. My wife had the neighboring unit and had three days to unit, I’d alternate helping them both but my wife was out of the game on day four due to year end book work for the business. She also had a couple chances but things happened too quick. She was disappointed she couldn't hunt the whole hunt, I was too.
All in all it was a good hunt, challenging but good. I’m 56 and my cardio and leg strength was much better than last year. I know Father Time isn't gonna stop the sands in my hour glass and every hunt is another opportunity to enjoy hunting, friends and family. If we wouldn’t have filled the tag I would still cherish every minute spent with my daughter and wife out hunting and enjoying this beautiful world we all get to experience.
We processed the bull last night, he’s in the freezer now. Fried some floured back straps last night and had elk biscuits and gravy this morning. I usually try and age the meat but I have to fly to Hawaii for work on Monday so we just got it done last night, made for a long but fulfilling day. The bull was surprisingly tender, no gamey flavor either.
We’re hunting a unit that has a success rate of less than 20%. This makes 12 tags in row that we’ve filled in that unit. My wife had the neighboring unit and had three days to unit, I’d alternate helping them both but my wife was out of the game on day four due to year end book work for the business. She also had a couple chances but things happened too quick. She was disappointed she couldn't hunt the whole hunt, I was too.
All in all it was a good hunt, challenging but good. I’m 56 and my cardio and leg strength was much better than last year. I know Father Time isn't gonna stop the sands in my hour glass and every hunt is another opportunity to enjoy hunting, friends and family. If we wouldn’t have filled the tag I would still cherish every minute spent with my daughter and wife out hunting and enjoying this beautiful world we all get to experience.
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