Hey All! I know for most elk season is a ways off, how about a little tease?.....

Shot this one last night about 8:15 in unit 8 of Idaho early cow only. The shot in the head (as seen in photo) was the dispatch, the kill shot was high on the shoulder. .338 RUM with 225 TSX at 500+ yards, we are going back out with a rangefinder to verify exact distance. Holdover was about 40". Bullet went through the spine and exited, Dropped immediately. Love those X bullets!

Not the best photo but who eats photos???

Now I have to get the blood out of the back of the wifes Blazer before she gets back from Texas...can anyone in the Lonestar State run interference for me???.......

Cooldeal IV-perhaps the fresh chops will get you out of dutch with your wife about the blood...

My wife has a cow tag that starts here Sept 3 and goes till Feb if you can believe that.

I can't wait for the fresh chops.

MD

There will be some good eating. In August and on the gain! They don't get much better. Antelope is the same.

Wow, that puts the two catfish I caught today to shame! Lotta good eating there for sure.

IdahoVandal, congratulations! Good meat in the freezer!

I'm kinda confused, never having hunted up there.

In the I.F. & G. regs, on that Palouse Zone "A" Tag, it says "ANTERLESS HUNTS: These hunts open only outside National Forest boundary within one mile of private lands on which cultivated crops are currently growing."

So... if you can't hunt Nat'l. Forest, and you can't hunt private lands, where do you hunt????

Just wondering. No, not looking for your hunting spot. I'm not coming up there as I have other elk hunting plans nearer home, this Fall.

Thanks. L.W.

LW: It does read somewhat confusing, but private lands are open and other state lands are open, just cannot be within the National forest and wherever you are at must be within a mile of wheatfield, hayfield etc.

We obtained permission on private land just above some wheatfields. ABout a half hour outside of Moscow, ID.

IV

Those depredation hunts are really a neat deal. Helps keep wildlife off row-crops at very little to no cost to the State, and gives hunters an opportunity to hunt elk without mounting a back-country expedition.

One of my farmer friends tracked a herd that likes his alfalfa field. They "roost" more than 10 miles up hill on the Forest Service, and then come out to graze on his fields at night. A 20 mile commute per day! The biggest problem with this herd is that they usually are off the alfalfa by legal shooting time (but, not always...). FWIW, Dutch.

Dutch,

The farmers here are allowed to shoot at night with spot lights for crop depredation. Last August when I was setting up tree stands for the fall deer hunt I had several fawns following me around in the woods that had no mothers.

They were still there in October, no fear of humans because they did not know what we were. The other deer did not "take them in" to raise them either.

Thanks, IdahoVandal, that clears it up.

BTW, the last time I hunted in an early season, "Coastal Deer," early August, Southern Calif., I killed a nice buck.Unfortunately, while cleaning it, the yellowjackets took home more meat than I did. Vowed then to not hunt "hot weather" again.

Did you have any problems in this hot weather with the flying "critters" making off with your elk meat?? (I hate yellowjackets and meat bees!)

L.W.

LW: Killed it some time between 8:00 and 8:30 PM, luckily it was only about 75 degrees and by 9:15 when it was gutted it had cooled to about 60, we had it hung, skinned, quartered and in the walk in by 12:30. Luckily, no bees, wasps, hornets other blasted insects... Heat is definetly a consideration which is why we only hunted from about 7:30 PM on and did not ever do the morning hunt. Went by the butcher today and he mentioned how someone lost one because they killed it around noon last Thursday and "lolly gagged around" getting it skinned and cooled off. I remember last Thursday it was nearly 100 degrees out, seems kind of foolish to hunt during the day like that...

This one came in at 300 lbs hanging and has very little fat as would be expected in August.

....I'm in like flynn now, 'cause all the blood came out of the wifes Blazer! Thank goodness for cold water pressure washers......

IV

Great picture. Congratulations.

Really gets you pumped up. I'll be flying out on the 19th for our antelope hunt (archery).

Idaho Vandal: You are the MAN! You are THE Huntin'est Intellectual I know!
Good for you and enjoy all that fine table fare!
Great photo by the way!
Many happy returns!
At least that beautiful Big Game creature won't go up in Wolf gas!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy