Well, I finally got it done! I've lived in Colorado about 4 years now and hunted CO a couple of times while still living in Oklahoma, but this was the first year I was able to punch my elk tag.

My dad drove up from Oklahoma on Wednesday to hunt with us the last few days of the season. So, we headed back up to camp bright and early Thursday morning. We had decided to head over to a location where I'd seen some elk last year. While driving, I noticed a white pickup stopped at about the location where I wanted to park. When we got closer, a little forky buck ran right between us and the other pickup causing both of us to stomp the brakes to keep from hitting him, he was that close. I bet there wasn't 10 yards between both vehicles and the buck ran between.

As we eased up to each other, the driver of the truck asked if he had any cow tags. I looked over and said, "Yeah, my dad does."

He pointed directly at the location the buck had run and said there was a cow right there in the trees. I looked the direction he was pointing when the cow ran out of the trees and up and over a saddle maybe a 100 yards from us. We said our thanks and quickly scrabbled to get orange on, guns loaded, etc. It was a genuine Chinese fire drill!!!

I knew the lay of the land on the other side, so I told dad we need to go this way to as she was likely to go down a fold, and we’d be above her. We round the hillside and she was nowhere to be seen. We continued around the hillside and I spotted her in the bottom of another creek drain. She ran up and over the open hillside, but every time she stopped to look at us, we were out of position, and every time we were in position, she would be trotting in that long-strided gate elk have. Finally, I said you better shoot, she’s about to go over the top.

Dad let loose a shot and we both thought he had missed. Luckily there was fresh snow on the ground from the night before (the first of the season), and I said we’ll go up and find he tracks and follow them a bit. We got on the tracks and after about 40 yards of following; we found some blood where she had stopped. We continued on following the tracks and she soon jumped up and headed straight away. Dad didn’t have a shot as I was in front of him and he didn’t want to shoot over the top of me. She had bedded in a group of fallen dead timber. She must have had her head down as I had just glassed that area and didn’t see her.

Once I got to the location we jumped her from, I continued on the tracks and dad decided to go a bit higher than I to get a better view. A few yards later, dad whistled and made a hand motion as if he had spotted her lying down. I dropped to my knees and was watching dad sneak around to a rock. I looked back up the trail and saw the elk standing broadside to my dad and looking back at him. I tried getting his attention as he was still trying to get to the rock. I looked back at the elk and she was slowly walking away into some dark timber. By the time dad got to the rock, she had made it around another little fold in the hillside.

We got together again and were following the tracks, when I came around a tree and saw the cow standing about 80 yards in front of us. I stopped, backed up and grabbed dad’s shoulder to pull him around me. The cow was standing facing straight away looking back at us over her right shoulder. I saw dad was having a hard time getting a steady shot, so I stepped up and told him to shoot off of my left shoulder. He fired and I saw hair and snow fly off of her. She never moved. He fired a second shot and again no reaction.

I knew she wasn’t going anywhere and I told him to get on a rock that was about 5 yards in front of us and stick on behind her ear. The final shot did just that, and it was over.

Looking at the shots, dad’s first shot hit the cow a little far back and high, which is why we found very little blood but it was enough to get her slowed down. His second shot had grazed the cow’s right hip and a portion of her rib cage and went thru her esophagus. The third shot was about an inch from the second but higher. The final shot was in the neck breaking it. Luckily the road continued on around the hillside, but about 150-200 yards below us. We went back to the truck and were able to back it up to the hillside and slide the cow directly in the back of the truck.

Sorry, no trophy picks. I guess dad is a little camera shy and I didn’t have my camera any way. I had left it at camp after recharging the batteries at the house the night before.

So, basically, within the first 30 minutes of dad’s hunt it was over. He had his cow and within 2 hours after first light the cow was in the back of the truck headed to the processor.

Little did he know his easy hunt, was about to make a 180 degree turn.

The next morning, we all headed to our normal location to hunt. We went back to the same location and were going to go up and over the top and looking into some hidden saddles. We spotted a single cow before the sun had rose and was trying to get closer to make sure it wasn’t a spike bull as I thought I saw an antler once. Probably me trying to will some antler’s on her head.

On our way back around towards the truck, we noticed Snellstrom and his son glassing intently on a hilltop about a mile and half to two miles away. As we were watching them, I noticed they headed back to where they had parked their truck. I thought it was somewhat strange as I expected them to continue towards us looking into some hidden valleys behind the spine they were on.

Oh well, dad and I continued our way around the hillside and back to the truck. We were getting in the pickup and I was about to climb in when I noticed a note under the windshield wiper. It was from Snellstrom stating they had spotted some elk with at least 1 bull and about 16 others. So, the plan was to meet them at the trailhead and go from there. In the meantime, Snellstrom had went to find his brother as he, too, had a cow tag and he also went back to camp and got our packframes.

While waiting at the trailhead, I told dad, “You know this is about to turn into an all day affair.”

“Yeah, I know. I wish I had a ham sandwich to go with me,” was the response.

“I’ve got some chips. We better eat them.”

I due time, Snellstrom and his son arrived. They pointed out the elk from the parking area and we started formulating a plan of attack.

Here is a picture from the trailhead looking up where the elk were located.



Looking at the picture, they were in the shaded area just above the dark timber in the center of the picture. There is a set of rocks between the shaded area and the dark timber that became denoted as “dome rock”. So, the plan was to go down the trailhead to the bottom of the drainage, then head right up to dome rock and see if a shot would present itself. If that didn’t work, then we would back out, go to the right and behind the hill to the dark timber on the right and attempt to work our way to the steep spine rocks and possibly be above the elk. The bad part about this plan was that other elk had been spotted along and path we were to be taking, so we didn’t want to blow them out while making our stalk.

So, off he headed me, my dad, Snellstrom and his son. We made it to the right of dome rock and located the elk. After looking over the situation, we knew we didn’t have a shot. The elk were still too far away and it was too think where they we located.

Here is a picture from dome rock.



Now, the plan was to back out and head towards our right, hoping to make it over towards the spine rocks on the right. We got on the backside of the hill and made it to the rocks on the far side of the above picture. From there, we couldn’t locate the elk at first. After a few minutes of glassing, I finally saw a cow pick up her head. After that we started picking more elk up as they were all bedded and they appeared to be just rocks while looking thru the thick timber.

We couldn’t go around the backside of this set of rocks, because it was too dangerous. So, we backed out again, went lower thru the dark timber and made our way to a point just below the big rock spine. Snellstrom finally spotted a spike bull. I ranged the bull at 293 yards, but didn’t have a shot I was comfortable with. We sat there deciding was would be best. There was another set of rocks in front of us, but after discussion we decided it wouldn’t give us an advantage because of the thick timber we would be shooting thru. So, Snellstrom volunteered to climb up the steep rock spine and see if there was a better advantage from the top. A few minutes of waiting and we could see an orange stocking hat being waved from the top.

Up the backside of the rocks we went. When we got to the top, Snellstrom said, “You’re gonna love this. Go over to that rock and look underneath it. There is a spike bull centered under the rock.”

Sure enough there was a large rock on the top that had a hole under it and you could see elk. We discussed our options and decided I would shoot first since I had the only bull tag. Then, Snellstrom’s son would shoot second for a cow. After that if there was another chance, Snellstrom himself would try for his own cow.

I decided I didn’t want to shoot thru the hole and I would try to slip around the big rock and get in front of it to a sloping rock. Snellstrom and his son would move to my right to another shooting location and pick out a cow. My dad would stay behind and watch thru the hole.

As we were splitting up to head to our respective shooting spots, I looked thru the whole again and saw more elk coming up the drainage. Before, we could only see 1 spike and about 5 cows. Now, when looking thru the whole I could see an additional 13 cows and then I saw the big bull. He was right in the middle of the cows.

I got Snellstrom’s attention and told him I was going to hold out for the big bull. He said ok and we split moving to out shooting locations.

I slowly crept around the big rock and slipped off my binos. I got my day pack out in front of me to use as a rest. I eased out on flat rock slowly and steady. When I finally got to a position I was comfortable with, I had to wait for the bull to clear himself. At first, he was headed to the right but it was too thick to squeeze a shot thru. Then, some of the cows started heading up out of the drainage to our left. He turned and started to follow but stopped behind some trees. More waiting would be needed. All this time he was lip curling and checking the various cows as the moved past him. Finally, he took about 3 more steps and moved into a shooting lane I had determined would be adequate. At the report, I saw him shudder and lunge forward a few steps. I racked the bolt and sent a second bullet in his direction. He stopped after this shot and looked around. He tried to take another step over a downed timber and lost his balance.

Meanwhile, Snellstrom’s son was putting the finishing touches on his cow. Snellstrom missed his chance, but it was very thick stuff he was trying to shoot thru.

After the shooting was complete, I looked at my watch and it read 1:45pm. We started our stalk from the trailhead around 9:00am. It had taken us almost 5 hours to make our stalk.

We made it down to the elk. Looked for sign of a hit on snellstrom’s cow but determined she escaped unscathed.

Here are a couple pictures of my first elk, much less a nice 6-point.



He had broken this left side at about where the royal point starts. We think we would have been a 6 x 5 had he not broken his antler.

Look at the length of his brow tines!!!



A big bodied old boy.



I couldn’t have been happier to have my dad with me on my first elk kill. He has been with me on several hunts and I know how special and more treasured these hunts become as I get older.



Here is a look back up the rock spine from where the bull fell. You’ll notice the triangle shaped rock with the hole under it, which is what we were looking thru at the elk. I crawled around the rock onto the sloping rock from left to right, which is where I took the shot.



Unzoomed view to the shooting rock. This should give a better perspective of how thick the trees were we were shooting thru.



Snellstrom’s son with his cow.



Looking at the bull, I must have missed on the second shot. However, the first shot was all that was needed. The bullet entered about the last rib on his left side passing thru the lungs, clipping about a quarter inch of his heart taking out all of the plumbing on the top of the heart, passed thru the lower portion of the right lungs and exiting the right shoulder. I don’t think the shot could have been much better. I was shooting my Ruger M77 Mark II in 300 Win Mag. Ammo was some of my reloads of IMR 7828 pushing a 180 grain Barnes TSX bullet. I used this same combination in South Africa in August and am really starting to love the Barnes bullets. So far in this gun, performance had been superb.

Now, the fun part started. We were able to pack out the two hind quarters of my bull and the backstraps, loins and trim meat from both the bull and cow. We made it to the trailhead well after dark and were happy to be back in camp shortly thereafter.

The next morning, we were able to recruit Snellstrom’s brother to help with the packing. Headed back in!!!



It is steeper than it looks from the pictures. This is heading up to dome rock.



Ole dad bringing up the rear!



We were able to get all of the meat out on just one trip in, which included the two front shoulders on my bull, antlers, and all four quarters from the cow.

The happy hunters back at the trailhead after the work was completed with the elk hole, dome rock and the shooting rocks in the background!!!!!

Way to go. Congrats.

Where about were you?

quote:

Originally posted by Outdoor Writer:
Way to go. Congrats.

Where about were you?

Tony,

We were NW of Colorado Springs.

I forgot to post one of my favorite pictures.

The Bounty!!!

Ah, OK. Although I didn't recognize any of the area, I saw the burn and thought perhaps you were down around my ol' stomping grounds near Durango.

quote:

Well, I finally got it done! I've lived in Colorado about 4 years now and hunted CO a couple of times while still living in Oklahoma, but this was the first year I was able to punch my elk tag.

In my case it was 32 years......but I'll start my own thread...

Congratulations of your elk....You got more than that.....you got some fine photos.....I got none....but that's the way stuff happens.

I'll hoist this one to you.....even if it's only iced tea!

Graybird,

You were supposed to call me when you got some elk down! I'd have been up there and helping as well. Would have had to drive the CRV up there losing all my manliness to help but I'd have been there.

Good job, can't wait to hear the story in person.

Thanks Vapo, and my Mountain Dew back at ya!

taylor, we'll get together later this week. I think we all have some of your stuff.

Thanks guys,

I sincerely appreciate the post, pics, and thus, congrats to you!

Broken Antlers are wonderful for wondering how they actually got that way. Nice story, fine Bull and nice flicks!

Thanks Doc and Hot Core!

We think he would have been a 6x5 had he not broken this antler. From the picture showing his great brow tines, you can see that he didn't grow his third point on that side. It appears he broke the antler at the webbing of where the royal point emerges. Regardless, I'm 100% satisfied!

We guessed his live weight at around 550-600 lbs. We based this off of my dad's cow weight at the processor. They had a scale that read 309 lbs on the cow and her head was still slightly on the floor. Therefore, we guessed her field dressed weight around 325 lbs, with a live weight of around 400 lbs. We guesstimated the bull's weight from the size difference and basically a wild-assed guess!!!!

Thanks again!

congratulations for your first elk. A fine game animal to shoot

Congratulations! You earned it!

Thanks Mario and Kudu.

I believe the earning part came after the shot!

Grats and thanks for sharing.

Thanks RMiller!

Good story. Nice elk. What else is there?

Thanks rolltop!

I'm headed to Oklahoma tomorrow to chase whitetails for a couple of days, and then on to Texas the first of next week for a scimitar horned oryx. Quail in Georgia the week after Thanksgiving and pheasants in Oklahoma the first weekend of December. My plate is a bit full the next couple of weeks, but I'll manage!!!

Thanks again,

congrats on a great hunt!

Thanks Tim!

Hey Graybird
Even though I was there I wanted to say congratulations on a fine job of stalking and shooting on your first of many elk.
Way to keep your cool during the long stalk when the wind and vantage points were all wrong and all the places that seemed right were "just 5 more minutes" away or just over that next rock outcropping,
way to keep your head when we were just right on top of the elk but had to wait 20 minutes for the bull to get in the right place to shoot, and when it came for the time to shoot you kept your head together and made a great shot too.
Glad I was there to see the whole thing!
Good luck on your upcoming hunts in the next few weeks.

Excellent report, pics and story telling. Congrats on a successful hunt and for sure the memories will last forever.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks muygrande!

Thanks again Snellstrom!!

I have to give credit where credit is due and we were all followers of Snellstrom on the stalk. But of course, this might be due to the fact he has mountain goat DNA coursing thru his veins!!! We all conversed and made decisions together as a group, then Snellstrom would blaze us a trail. It certainly isn't something I'll soon forget. Last year, it was your buck that had me in the right spot to take my deer and this year it is your generousity that got me my elk. Thanks again buddy!!!

Now, could you go fetch my sunglasses for me? Tell your son I'll go up to $25.00!!!

You sound like me. Mark your successes by leaving something of value behind! BTDT. A good pair of mine resides on a bad mountain top in W. Texas!

Various other sundry items like shooting sticks, treking pole, etc come quickly to mind. Oh, the thrill of victory!