Just thought I would post a couple pics of my elk for the guys. Got back in town on the 24th after a few weeks hunting for elk and deer. We started out in a new area this year. My partner flew in on the 11th, and as luck would have it he was sicker than a dog when he arrived. We spent the next two days waiting for him to get well enough to tackle the grueling task of hunting the great Wapiti.
As I said, we decided we were going to hunt a new area this year because another buddy told me he had seen a couple toads in the area while scouting this summer. We finally hooked up with Nygel and proceeded to get a grasp on the lay of the topography in which we were to hunt. Once we studied the humps and bumps, crooks and crannys, we decided on a starting point in our quest to bag this big boy that he had seen earlier in the year. The first thing I did was hit the ridges to see which ones he was using to feed and bed. A couple hours into it and we found the ridge he traveled to and from for bedding and feeding. He had it well established as his own personal domain. There were twenty or so trees that had been used while in the velvet and probably twice that many for the rut. I knew this to be one of the bulls we were after as he had two trees thrashed 7 to 8 feet from the base to its top mark. These trees could not have been bowed over as they were too big. This was what we were looking for! Now we just had to find his hideout. We spent the next two days pounding for fresh sign with little luck. Finally, later one evening we got our break! We were out of the timber walking the ridge and he cracked a bugle. I looked at Curt and he looked at me and at the same time we cracked a smile. We hiked back to our camp and slept well that night. The next morning we hiked in and started working Mr. Tee. He was tight jawed for the most part, but when he decided to cut loose there was no mistake that he owned the real estate he was inhabiting. We worked for a good three hours just trying to get a hold of the swirling winds we were up against. We finally came in from the left and underneath to about sixty yards. He had not given us any help as to his pinpoint whereabouts for quite some time. The one thing we knew that he didn�t, was his track was leading us to his leir. I figured we were getting close but really had no way of knowing how close. All of a sudden I felt a draft come up the ridge angling right to him. BUSTED! He took off at about forty yards. It was so brushy we could not even get a view. BUMMER! We tried to get a handle on his next move but it was tough to get a grasp on his where abouts. We decided it best not to pressure and backed out for the day. The next morning we were up two hours before daylight hiking in to sit and listen. We did a whole lot of listening but our ears were empty. We hunted all fricking day with lots of bad luck. He had us on the downhill slope when he decided to give us a second chance. It was only an hour before dark and he cracked a bugle down in the draw. We literelly ran all the way down to the corner of the clearcut. He was just inside the timber and 60 yards to the side when he sounded off again. We tucked ourselves in and chirped on the cow call. He came right back with a bone tingling call of his own. There he was! He had walked right out in the corner of the clearing. I did not make another peep. He stood for about two minutes and soon started to walk toward me looking for those cows. He came to within 40 or so yards and stopped it was tough to get a draw as he was looking toward the patch of trees I was in. I decided to take the chance as it was getting late and me have been my best chance. As I drew he caught the movement and started to roll away. I quickly chirped on the call and he paused. I finished the draw and let it drive. The arrow drove deep and forward. He started to run and quickly resumed to a walk. I knew then that it was a solid hit. He went to 80 yards and stopped. He stood for about 3 or 4 minutes like he was looking for the best escape rout. He then looked like he was bedding down. It didn�t take long from there. He was a toad. What a hunt. We got him quartered and started walking out. Luckily my buddy that had showed us the area was still back at the ranch. We loaded up and drove down knowing it would be great to have an extra hand in the pack out. The next morning we went in and boned it out and had it to the truck by 12:00 that day. We ended up with 240 pounds of boned out meat. Not the biggest, but one of the sweetest!

Good job Ray-- well thought out, and well earned.

Great story, great trophy! Weidmannsheil! - mike

Ray,

Great story, great adventure and even better pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Don

Great story, great trophy

Great Story! Especially enjoyed the thumbs up shot at the bottom.

FN in MT