Posted By: Elkhunter49
Elk Hunting Memories - 08/30/12 08:13 AM
Hey folks here is an old hunting report that I posted on a different board several years ago. I thought I'd share it again. Good Luck to all who drew a tag this fall.
Hey folks how about another elk hunting story. I've not been able to draw a tag the last 2 years so this is as close as I'm getting to a real hunt out west this fall.
It was late September 1988 near Lake City, Colorado. Roger and I had hunted unit 66 the year before so we had a plan about how we wanted to hunt opening morning of muzzleloader season. We hunted hard opening day and probably hiked and climbed over ten miles without seeing a shooter bull. Two groups of cows with young bulls was not enough to keep us in the area for day two.
We had spoken to a game warden by phone months before we arrived and he had mentioned a burn out area that was farther to the west than we were hunting. With a new plan we spent day two moving camp to a drainage that would make it a little easier to climb to a spot we found on our maps were we could glass the burn out area. We decided we would leave camp at 3 AM on day three and be glassing by daylight. Climbing and walking in the dark to a place about 4 miles away is a challange to say the least but we made it about 30 min before daylight. What was only minutes seemed like hours but we could finally make out shapes and some of them were moving. Looking back to the west it was easy to make out a large herd of elk feeding back to the east across the burned out north facing slope of this major creek drainage.
Eighty to a hundred cows and bulls were moving towards us but were on the other side of the drainage. Roger and I decided he would move to a better observation spot at the head of the drainage in case they moved that way and I would bail off the ridge we were on and see if I could get across the creek in time to set up an ambush. The line I chose to get me across the bottom would leave me covered but the bottom of the drainage was a washboard of small humps and draws. I was hearing bulls bugling and cows mewing that seemed much closer than where I thought the heard was so I looked to Roger for some eye in the sky help. Roger was waving at me to keep moving forward but I swear those elk sounded like they were right on top of me. I took about two steps then caught movement to my right. I dropped to a knee and out steps a cow with a calf followed by a small 4x4. I was lucky to be in a good spot with a small spruce tree giving me cover. The next couple of minutes are burned into my brain. I could hear a bull screaming and my heart was about to jump out of my chest. The elk were moving from my right to my left and were passing by me single file about 45 yards in front of me with a slight breeze in my face. It was like a dream come true with cows and small bulls walking by me and none were aware I was even there. A very nice 5x5 walked thru the opening and I nearlly shot him but I kept hearing the bull that was pushing the group. I looked up at Roger and he was going nuts trying to get me to move up and cross the creek. After about two minutes the bull I was hearing stepped into the opening and stopped to check a cow. He was a 6x6 with short thirds but good mass. Hammer Time, I shot and the creek bottom exploded. He ran about 20 yards then went nose first into a juniper bush. I looked up at Roger a he was giving me the what in the hell are you shooting at look of disgust. When I looked back down the remainder of the herd that I thought had already past ran past me was running by and Lord have mercy what a bull bringing up the rear. He was a huge 6x6, the bull I killed scored 306" and he was nowhere near the size of this big boy. Had I just waited he would have been mine.
The bull I killed was my first 6x6 and I am still proud of him but, if I would only have waited.
I would find out later that Roger could not see any of the elk that were passing right in front of me and he was trying to get me to move up to intercept the group on the other side of the creek. It was a brutal pack out that I could never do these days. Roger would kill a nice 5x5 several days later. I was a hell of a hunt.
I'm a refinery worker not a writer (no kidding huh) so sorry for all the mistakes. Thanks for letting me share a great hunting memory. Later Baker
Hey folks how about another elk hunting story. I've not been able to draw a tag the last 2 years so this is as close as I'm getting to a real hunt out west this fall.
It was late September 1988 near Lake City, Colorado. Roger and I had hunted unit 66 the year before so we had a plan about how we wanted to hunt opening morning of muzzleloader season. We hunted hard opening day and probably hiked and climbed over ten miles without seeing a shooter bull. Two groups of cows with young bulls was not enough to keep us in the area for day two.
We had spoken to a game warden by phone months before we arrived and he had mentioned a burn out area that was farther to the west than we were hunting. With a new plan we spent day two moving camp to a drainage that would make it a little easier to climb to a spot we found on our maps were we could glass the burn out area. We decided we would leave camp at 3 AM on day three and be glassing by daylight. Climbing and walking in the dark to a place about 4 miles away is a challange to say the least but we made it about 30 min before daylight. What was only minutes seemed like hours but we could finally make out shapes and some of them were moving. Looking back to the west it was easy to make out a large herd of elk feeding back to the east across the burned out north facing slope of this major creek drainage.
Eighty to a hundred cows and bulls were moving towards us but were on the other side of the drainage. Roger and I decided he would move to a better observation spot at the head of the drainage in case they moved that way and I would bail off the ridge we were on and see if I could get across the creek in time to set up an ambush. The line I chose to get me across the bottom would leave me covered but the bottom of the drainage was a washboard of small humps and draws. I was hearing bulls bugling and cows mewing that seemed much closer than where I thought the heard was so I looked to Roger for some eye in the sky help. Roger was waving at me to keep moving forward but I swear those elk sounded like they were right on top of me. I took about two steps then caught movement to my right. I dropped to a knee and out steps a cow with a calf followed by a small 4x4. I was lucky to be in a good spot with a small spruce tree giving me cover. The next couple of minutes are burned into my brain. I could hear a bull screaming and my heart was about to jump out of my chest. The elk were moving from my right to my left and were passing by me single file about 45 yards in front of me with a slight breeze in my face. It was like a dream come true with cows and small bulls walking by me and none were aware I was even there. A very nice 5x5 walked thru the opening and I nearlly shot him but I kept hearing the bull that was pushing the group. I looked up at Roger and he was going nuts trying to get me to move up and cross the creek. After about two minutes the bull I was hearing stepped into the opening and stopped to check a cow. He was a 6x6 with short thirds but good mass. Hammer Time, I shot and the creek bottom exploded. He ran about 20 yards then went nose first into a juniper bush. I looked up at Roger a he was giving me the what in the hell are you shooting at look of disgust. When I looked back down the remainder of the herd that I thought had already past ran past me was running by and Lord have mercy what a bull bringing up the rear. He was a huge 6x6, the bull I killed scored 306" and he was nowhere near the size of this big boy. Had I just waited he would have been mine.
The bull I killed was my first 6x6 and I am still proud of him but, if I would only have waited.
I would find out later that Roger could not see any of the elk that were passing right in front of me and he was trying to get me to move up to intercept the group on the other side of the creek. It was a brutal pack out that I could never do these days. Roger would kill a nice 5x5 several days later. I was a hell of a hunt.
I'm a refinery worker not a writer (no kidding huh) so sorry for all the mistakes. Thanks for letting me share a great hunting memory. Later Baker
