nakneker
Gold $$ Contributor
It’s a tradition is our family to have thanksgiving and then help those fortunate enough to draw a late elk tag with their hunt. This year the only one that had the luck was my oldest daughter who never really started hunting until after her PHD was complete. This is only her second hunt, her first was a unsuccessful couses deer hunt but that was enough for her to make up her mind she liked hunting.
So Friday after thanksgiving me and her headed out to some canyon country we know well. The unit gets a lot of pressure and we have more success in the rough stuff. We started hiking to a favorite glassing point of mine a hour before light. As dawn broke and you could start to see I was expecting to see a bull at any moment. Didn’t happen. We sat there for a full hour glassing big country and couldn’t make it happen. We moved.
Spot #2 was much the same. Lots of great country, lots of sign and no elk. Her attitude was great though. We made a small hike and still hunted the north side of a ridge in the shadows where I knew elk traditionally bed for the day, we found lots of beds and sign but no elk.
We went back to the razor and enjoyed some left over turkey sandwhichs and then took a short nap. By 2 we were checking out more canyon country where we could glass the north side of 4 canyons that run parallel to the main canyon. No elk, glassed up one small four point muley. The road we took to get there was sandy and on the drive to the next spot I noticed a couple bull tracks that has crossed over our razor tracks since we were there. I told her our chances were low that we would find them but we could take a walk and still hunt the canyon they were headed to. It’s thick in there with jack pines and cedars, the odds were low things would work out but she wanted to try it.
So we parked and headed out for a short walk. By now evening was approaching and the shadows were getting long. Temps were dropping and we hoped the elk would start moving. We hunted slow, one step three looks kind of slow, as we went she grabbed my arm and said she had a good feeling. Made me smile. We continued along the ridge at a snails pace and then things happened. I looked ahead about 75 yards and could see the back of an elk that was feeding and coming out of the canyon. When I looked through the binos I could make out horns behind a cluster of small pines, he was broad side and had no clue we were there. You don’t get picky on the late hunt, at least we don’t, any bull is game. I put here in front of me and told her to take her time. She did, she center punched him with my 6.5x47. At first I thought she missed because I saw dirt kick up behind him but that wasn’t the case, she had hit both lungs and I think that was a fragment of the bullet that I saw. He ran 20 yards and out of sight in the thick trees. We just waited and about 1-2 minutes later you could hear him taking his last breathes and horns crashing on the rocks. We waited a few more minutes and then made a circle were could see up where he went. We found him and she had her first bull, a small 6 point.
We went home for the night and brought some help the next morning. We took care of the elk and then cut a couple loads of juniper wood we had found during our hiking. She was all smiles and jumped in helping with the elk and the wood. My wife and sons and a friend came to help. It was a good day for the family. Memories were made.
Last note. The bullet used was a Berger 140 VLD hunter, not ideal for what happened, most the shots over there are long range, rarely under a 100. I had told her earlier to make sure and stay off the shoulder if we got a chance at the elk. She hit him 5-6 inches behind the crease of the shoulder and a bit high into the lungs. It’s a lethal shot and the bullet pretty much had a come apart past the ribs. In one pic you can see lung in the entry hole.
So Friday after thanksgiving me and her headed out to some canyon country we know well. The unit gets a lot of pressure and we have more success in the rough stuff. We started hiking to a favorite glassing point of mine a hour before light. As dawn broke and you could start to see I was expecting to see a bull at any moment. Didn’t happen. We sat there for a full hour glassing big country and couldn’t make it happen. We moved.
Spot #2 was much the same. Lots of great country, lots of sign and no elk. Her attitude was great though. We made a small hike and still hunted the north side of a ridge in the shadows where I knew elk traditionally bed for the day, we found lots of beds and sign but no elk.
We went back to the razor and enjoyed some left over turkey sandwhichs and then took a short nap. By 2 we were checking out more canyon country where we could glass the north side of 4 canyons that run parallel to the main canyon. No elk, glassed up one small four point muley. The road we took to get there was sandy and on the drive to the next spot I noticed a couple bull tracks that has crossed over our razor tracks since we were there. I told her our chances were low that we would find them but we could take a walk and still hunt the canyon they were headed to. It’s thick in there with jack pines and cedars, the odds were low things would work out but she wanted to try it.
So we parked and headed out for a short walk. By now evening was approaching and the shadows were getting long. Temps were dropping and we hoped the elk would start moving. We hunted slow, one step three looks kind of slow, as we went she grabbed my arm and said she had a good feeling. Made me smile. We continued along the ridge at a snails pace and then things happened. I looked ahead about 75 yards and could see the back of an elk that was feeding and coming out of the canyon. When I looked through the binos I could make out horns behind a cluster of small pines, he was broad side and had no clue we were there. You don’t get picky on the late hunt, at least we don’t, any bull is game. I put here in front of me and told her to take her time. She did, she center punched him with my 6.5x47. At first I thought she missed because I saw dirt kick up behind him but that wasn’t the case, she had hit both lungs and I think that was a fragment of the bullet that I saw. He ran 20 yards and out of sight in the thick trees. We just waited and about 1-2 minutes later you could hear him taking his last breathes and horns crashing on the rocks. We waited a few more minutes and then made a circle were could see up where he went. We found him and she had her first bull, a small 6 point.
We went home for the night and brought some help the next morning. We took care of the elk and then cut a couple loads of juniper wood we had found during our hiking. She was all smiles and jumped in helping with the elk and the wood. My wife and sons and a friend came to help. It was a good day for the family. Memories were made.
Last note. The bullet used was a Berger 140 VLD hunter, not ideal for what happened, most the shots over there are long range, rarely under a 100. I had told her earlier to make sure and stay off the shoulder if we got a chance at the elk. She hit him 5-6 inches behind the crease of the shoulder and a bit high into the lungs. It’s a lethal shot and the bullet pretty much had a come apart past the ribs. In one pic you can see lung in the entry hole.
