I could not hunt my usual elk area. The access road is still closed to the forest fire that happened in 2002. My hunting buddy got permission to hunt on some private land just outside of town. We were planning on mule deer but when we visited the rancher on Thursday before the season opened & he told us that the Texans who hunted the 1st season had gotten 3 elk. So, I told Larry that I was going to get an elk tag also. I bought it on Friday afternoon---Saturday was the 1st day of the season. Colorado is the only state I know where you can do that. Anyway, I took a stand near a patch of scrub oak that was bordered by an irrigated hay pasture on the bordering ranch. Sunrise was at 7:20 AM--legal shooting would be at 6:50. I saw this bull about 7:05. He was not in 4th gear but definitely 3rd. He was late getting out of the pasture & he knew it. He past my stand & was going almost directly away from me. I tried to angle the bullet along his side & into the front shoulder. It was about 125 yards & I had a rest against a large ponderosa pine. I shot 3 times before he made it into the scrub oaks. A few minutes after he got into the oaks--I thought I saw movement where the scrub oaks necked down. But I could not see anything when I got the binco's on it. I waited on the stand for about 20 minutes---then I went out to where I had shot. I could not find any sign of at hit. No blood, no tracks---nothing. It has been dry & the ground was hard. I went to where he entered the scrub oaks & looked hard for sign--Nothing. I then went back to my stand & stayed there until about 9:00 AM. It was opening morning. I replayed the shot-- over & over-- in my mind. It looked good when I pulled the trigger, I could not see or remember the bull reacting to the bullet. Usually they don't--they are big. Anyway, I could not stand it any longer & went back to where the bull entered the scrub oaks. There was a good game trail & I followed it. About 150 yards in, I found 2 oak leaves on the ground that had specks of blood. I mean specks----about the size of the head of a pin. Now, I really went slow--Really Looking. This trail went towards the little neck that I thought I had seen movement from my stand. When I got to the neck, my buddy, Larry was at my stand. I motioned to him to come up. We talked about it & decided to follow the game trail. I put him on the trail & I would take the next game trail about 20 yards away. We would go slow--Looking. No sooner than we started in about 15 steps--- the bull gets up out of it's bed in front of Larry. He puts one in it's neck at about 10 yards. My shot had clipped the elk on the outside edge of the rump. If you know elk anatomy--that dark band around the yellow rump patch. It went in & hit the hip. He went about 500-600 yards from where I had hit him . This is IMO a little bit better than average bull for Colorado. There were 288 lbs of meat that Larry & I split. If interested--Rifle is a Model 700 Remington 30/06 topped with a 2.5 X 8 Vari-XIII Leupold. Bullets were 180 grain "Hornady" spire point. The bull was my 16 th elk. IMO the bulls are getting better in Colorado because of point restrictions. They are protecting the spike bull giving them another year.



[ 11-09-2003, 15:32: Message edited by: Colorado Bob ]

Great story Bob. Congrats on the elk!

[ 11-09-2003, 16:21: Message edited by: Iron Buck ]

Your story is honest and probably depicts many shots taken at game animals by a lot of hunters who should have passed on making such a bad shot. Shooting at the hind end of a running bull Elk just should not have been done. The only reason you recovered your wounded Elk was blind luck. I can't give you a way to go men under those circumstances. You would think with that many Elk to your credit you would not try such a shot. Gotta fill that tag no matter how many I wound in the proccess.

The best part of this hunting tale is the Elk shot in the tail was recovered and not left to feed the coyotes.

Reloader,

Shooting at the hind end of a running elk..... The man said almost straight away and 3rd gear, not 4th, which depending on who you talk to might mean quartering away at an "alarmed" walk which is not a bad shot @ 125yrds. You can hit the animal in the butt or destroy the onside lung and heart. This may not be a questionable shot at all.

Finding the elk was blind luck..... Sounds like Co Bob and his buddy were diligent and had a good plan to recover the animal which they were successful in doing.

Do you need to go back to bed and get up on the other side?

I like it when a man presents the truth and explains the kill however imperfect it may have been.

Any elk is a good elk.

Deke.

Congrats on the bull. I live in Montezuma county Bob.

Nothing wrong with shooting up the hind end of a bull elk if the cartridge and bullet are up to the task and the range is short. A Partition, X, Trophy Bonded, A Frame, Woodleigh, and a few others would work fine. Congradulations!

MtnHtr

Reloader66-

Bob was presented with a dificult shot. With confidence in his ability and equipment, he MADE the shot and with perseverence recovered his bull. We weren't there to make the call, but Bob was and did, and made things work.

Also, may I ask what caliber you feel is 'ethical' for elk? I know that you like to make it known that anything under .30 cal is unethical for deer, what is the reccommended load for elk? 416cal and bigger?

Regards - Gib

congrats Bob

[ 11-14-2003, 06:50: Message edited by: Gib ]