"Its just a cow elk", I remember saying to myself. "How hard can it be to find"? It proved to be much more of a challenge than I thought. Opening morning for the 2nd Black Hills Elk season I was out. Fresh snow had fallen so it was easy to see fresh tracks. Only problem was I wasnt finding any. I went all over the place looking. My buddy, SDHunter and I had been out earlier in the week scouting and had found tracks and seen elk. My opening day hunt total was two bulls. On the way home I spotted a nice size herd but they were in the wrong unit.

I went back into the hills Friday morning. The snow had melted so tracks were more difficult to find and I still wasnt seeing many animals. I had 3 cows run across an old two track in front of me right at first light. They never even stopped to look back. I spent the rest of Friday driving old roads then hiking up the ridges and looking for sign. I kept thinking "where are the 6000 elk"? Saturday I hooked up with SDHunter and with his expertise I figured we would find the elk that afternoon or evening. We saw nothing. It started snowing that afternoon and with fresh snow we had high hopes for Sunday.

Sunday was spent checking for tracks in the snow again and we just were not seeing anything. We saw everything else, mule deer, white tail, antelope, turkeys, mountain lion, coyotes but NO ELK. Then all of sudden there they were. Moving at a pretty good clip up a ridge. SDHunter and I high tailed up a draw in hopes of getting in front of them. Elk move pretty fast and they had already gone past us. We tracked them for a quite a while and finally came upon one animal at about 30 yards. I had about 2 seconds to shoot. The timber was so thick that all I could see was the body. I couldnt see the head so I hesitated and it bolted. Im pretty sure it was a bull and the size of the tracks led SDHunter to the same conclusion.

We took a break and SDHunter decided it was time to try a completely new area. We were headed down and old log road when he spotted the elk in a clear cut. He stopped the truck and shut it off. We started glassing and then the cussing like sailors. Bulls. 3 of them. Then a cow appeared. We slipped out of the truck and moved to a good position where I had a good rest and waited. There were 3 cows and 3 calves. They were still unaware of our presence and grazing towards us. I had broad side shots but nothing clear because the calves were either in front of the cow or behind it. So I waited and tried to relax (yeah right). SDHunter was doing his best to keep me calm by telling me to wait, they dont know we are here, we have all time we need. Finally, they strung out in a line broad side. SDHunter said, "Shoot the 3rd animal from the left, she is the biggest". I put the crosshairs of the .35 Whelen behind her shoulder and squeezed. She jumped at the shot, and spun around, took about 5 steps and collapsed.

Gutting was interesting and Im glad I had the extra hands. It wasnt difficult just a lot of it and manuvering the body would have been damn near impossible by myself. The bullet went clean though and took out the upper lungs. The meat damage was minimal. Exit hole about 1 1/2 inches. The trophy bonded bear claw performed flawlessly. It took us a few minutes to get her loaded into the truck but in the end we managed. Now that you have sat through this long post..here is the picture.

Oh, the rifle is a pre-war model 70. I was shooting 225 grain Federal ammunition. Many thanks to SDHunter...I couldnt have done it without him.

Damn good job! That's some fine eating and a great hunt.
Better than Wade's first doe of the bow season here, it weighted about 40 pounds.
Might make a good sandwich.

Again, Bill, Congratulations!
Walt

Great Job! love the .35 Whelen great rifle for elk. They sure do get big when you have one on the ground and you are by yourself.

Very nice. "It's just a cow" - that's what I tell myself every time I apply for a cow hunt here in NM. I actually prefer to hunt them over the bulls...

excellent!

Good job Bill, she will be some fine eating.

Congrats on the elk! And I LOVE your choice in calibers. The 35 Whelen is my favorite hunting round. I own 2, a custom mauser & a Remmy 7600 pump action

Good job!! What a big Cow!


Sounds like it was a tough hunt!

Good job Bill, nice rifle too. Glad you connected and sounds like a good clean shot. I think you picked an excellent cartridge too. Now lets hope I can get one down this year with my CDL in 35 whelen. Glad you had a good hunt.

Bill,

Nice elk. Cow elk is my favorite form venis0n.

Congratulations! What a special experience, and done with class.

Congrats on the hunt. Now how about a close up of the rifle?

Its a beater! for now. Going to get a new stock some day but I experimented a lot on that stock...and it looks like it.

Hey Bill,

I forgot to add...nice healthy looking cow and...what are you now sponsored by Carhart...

Mike!

I wish.....but no. Just happen to like Carhart clothing. Good stuff and can take a serious beating.

Bill,

Good job!!!
The 35 Whelen did the job.
Good narrative too.
Thanks for the post.

Don

EMMMMMM - good...

Congrats!

Bill:

Outstanding! Thanks for the recap as I live my hunting dream through guys like you because I live in an urban jungle!

Now get your ass back in the shop and work on my boy's rifle stock! (Just kidding - enjoy the outdoors as much as you can - I wish I could more.)

I hope all is well.

Paul

Congratulations!

X

Bill,

You ever put in for anything in Custer State Park? I hear they just stand by the road and wait for you to shoot them

Congratulations, as the old saw goes, you can't eat antlers.

Nice Elk!! And Custer State Park is anything but easy to get an elk...

Bill,

Take a look at my antelope thread and look at the jacket.

Bill,
OUTSTANDING!!!!

if it makes you feel any better my toughest elk hunt was in 200 in a "spike only" hunt. I have never hunted for an elk so hard in my life - nor seen so many big bulls that I had to just let walk by - some at less than 30 yards.

Congradulations on the full freezer!!!!!

Had some Elk Top Sirloin steaks last night. I honestly could not tell the difference between those elks steaks and beef. Im spoiled rotten now.

bill - i just noticed your location. when we lived in spearfish in the 90s, my wife and i would often drive up to newell and fruitdale just to make a day of it and see what was going on! we'd picnic along the belle fourche river on the way home, or maybe stick around and fish the channel for cats into the evening.

good times, beautiful country....

As much as I like the small town of Newell, there isnt much too see IMHO. I prefer Spearfish the Cheyenne Crossing area. But its spendy to live there so its a someday move.

i think i liked it up in fruitdale/newell because it reminded me of home and even in a spot as beautiful as spearfish and working at the spearfish canyon lodge, i got homesick for some prairie now and then. of course, now that we've moved back home, we keep talking about how nice it would be to go back to the black hills. we decided that if the house ever burns down or when the kids leave home (whichever comes first), we'll move back to spearfish!