My daughter Becca shot her first elk this weekend, an 8x8 Tule Elk, and it is a dandy. Becca should play the lottery, because she was not only drawn for the only Junior Tule Elk tag for the area we hunted, but she won a second drawing as well. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) had a second drawing among all of the Tule Elk hunters for one hunter to get access to an otherwise closed approximately 5,000 acre ranch that the DFG purchased as reserved and protected Tule Elk habitat.

The Carrizo Plains area where she hunted is rolling grasslands, and actually looks similar eastern Colorado or Wyoming in terms of vegetation mix and topography, but with a bit more topographic relief. Hunting Tule Elk in the area is more like hunting Pronghorn than like hunting Rocky Mountain Elk.

The season opened on Saturday, and we first spotted three elk as we were driving onto the ranch at about sunrise, as they happened to be near the entrance gate. We parked just inside the gate and started to walk/stalk to get a look at the elk. The three were a pair of smallish 6x6's and a larger 7x with one antler broken off. We stalked about 800 yards behind the three, and they joined the tail end of a larger herd of bulls. We also spotted a lone larger 6x6 sleeping about 1/2 mile away, but decided to try and get a better look at the bulls in the heard. We managed to stalk to within about 350 yards of the herd, and were able to look them over. There were about 20 bulls ranging from spikes on up. There were two really nice bulls in the herd, the one Becca eventually shot, and another that had a slightly smaller rack, but looked to have more crown points. Becca decided that she liked the bigger wider one better, but he was feeding away from us, and did not present a shot that she was comfortable with. They fed through a little valley, so we decided to try and get ahead of them by circling around a hill.

Needless to say, she was extremely excited to see so many bulls together, as was I. When we got around the hill, we spotted the herd bedded down across the valley on an opposite hill. We were able to hoover up to a decent spot to see them all, and were able to look all of them over again. Becca still liked the big one the best, and he was bedded where she had a clear shot. I estimated the range at about 250 yards. She held where I told her to and fired. Unfortunately, the range was closer to 325 yards, and the shot went low, hitting him in the left front leg which was tucked under him. Needless to say, the herd got up and took off. We followed up, and were able to spot them stopped about 3/4 of a mile away and we could see him walking and limping. We made a looping stalk toward where he was headed. When we got close to where we thought they would be, we peeked over the hill top, and they were milling around on a hill top about 200 yards away. What we thought was the wounded bull was bedded in the middle of them and three or four others were lying down as well. After looking them all over carefully we were about 90% sure that the bull in the middle was the correct one. I had Becca get set up for a shot, but told her not to shoot until I told her to. I stood up and whistled so that the elk could see me. They looked but were slow to react. All but the big bull stood, and then as he got up, I could see that the left front leg was wounded. I told Becca to shoot, which she did, and hit him in the lungs. He started to run quartering towards us, and as is my rule, she kept shooting until he went down. The elk was running at about 150 yards and she missed the next shot, but hit him in the front shoulder on the next (the bullet shattered the bone but did not penetrate into the chest), he was still running and she missed the next, but broke a hind leg on the next. After he went down she reloaded. He started to get up so she shot again and hit him in the heart. Elk are incredibly tough, and don't know that they are dead until well after the fact.

Needless to say, we were both really excited, though she also felt dissapointed that she had not cleanly killed him on the first shot.

We got lucky, as the regional DOW biologist for the area had been watching the whole thing from a distant hillside, and came along as we were gutting the elk. After complimenting Becca on her determination to follow up the elk, and the way she got the job done, he co-signed here elk tag and than told us the good news that there was a work party from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) on the ranch, and that several of them were on their way out to where we were with a truck, and that he had given them permission to travel off of the roads to where we were in order to help us get the elk. This was especially good news to me, as I was the designated pack mule and we were about three miles from where we had left the car, and about 3/4 miles from the closest road.

The RMEF guys helped us load the elk, drove us to the ranch headquarters, helped us hang the elk for skinning and quartering, and fed us lunch. I am between trucks, so the fun part was getting us, our gear, and the elk into my Subaru Forrester

As to Becca's rifle, Duane Wiebe was building a 9.3x62 for us to give Becca for her 16th birthday present, but when he heard that she was drawn for this tag, he pushed to get it done for this hunt. Then Charles Lee came through by doing the engraving in under two weeks. As you can imagine, the two of them did a beautiful job. We choose the 9.3x62 because her dream is to hunt Alaska, and to eventually hunt Buffalo in Africa, and she already has a .257 Roberts that is a great deer and antelope gun. Her 9.3x62 is built on the same commercial Mauser 98 action that Empire Rifle uses, but Duane machined the bridges for the Warne Premier rings. The rifle has a 24-inch Krieger barrel, NECG sights, and a Leupold 2.5x8 scope. We used a stock blank that is the twin to one ForrestB helped me pick four years ago, and in style, the gun is a complimentary match for my 7x64 that Duane also built, and which will eventually be Becca's. The gun also has a leather-covered pad. Loaded and with the scope, the gun weighs about 8-1/4 pounds.

I have only tried one load so far, but that load consistently shoots right at an inch for five-shot groups at 100 yards. she was shooting 250-grain Nosler ballistic tips at about 2,350 fps. One bullet hit the junction of the front leg bone and the shoulder blade and shattered the ball and socket joint as it disintegrated on the shoulder. Neither of the two bullets that entered the body cavity exited, though they only hit ribs. I prefer a tougher bullet, and would not use these bullets again on elk, though they should be fine for deer and similar-sized critters.

Way cool! Tell her congrats. I haven't put in for the Tule elk draw but maybe I will now.

Congratulations to her and what great memories for you.....

Dad that's a picture you'll be looking back at many times in the years to come.

Wow...great bull. Congrats to you and your daughter!!

Fjold:

The La Panza hunt is close to home for you, and is one of the most enjoyable hunts that I have participated in. I have drawn the tag twice, including last year when I shot a 5x5 that looks puny compared to my daughter's. Unlike the Grizzly Island or Owen's Valley hunts, the La Panza hunt is a true hunt, with lots of area. As a result it has a lower success ration than other Tule Elk hunts, but with only 6 bull and 6 cow tags per hunting period and 12 tags of each issued per year for a herd of over 1,500 animals, you are not likely to see another hunter. If you find the bulls, chances are that you will see a decent one. The hunt is well worth the effort.

Dave

Congratulations to her. Both she and you deserve to feel proud. I hope my little girl will hunt as well as she grows
Congrats again
Dan

Congratulate your daughter on a job well done and trophy well-earned! Also could you post some pix of the rifle?

Dave,

Way cool. I have a friend who drew a bull tag in Carrizo Plains.

I was down at Kyler's last saturday but no joy. Did she draw the "Chimeneas" (sp?) ranch.

quote:

Originally posted by loud-n-boomer:
Fjold:

The La Panza hunt is close to home for you, and is one of the most enjoyable hunts that I have participated in. I have drawn the tag twice, including last year when I shot a 5x5 that looks puny compared to my daughter's. Unlike the Grizzly Island or Owen's Valley hunts, the La Panza hunt is a true hunt, with lots of area. As a result it has a lower success ration than other Tule Elk hunts, but with only 6 bull and 6 cow tags per hunting period and 12 tags of each issued per year for a herd of over 1,500 animals, you are not likely to see another hunter. If you find the bulls, chances are that you will see a decent one. The hunt is well worth the effort.

Dave

LB, you lucky stiff,

What areas are the easiest to draw? I've been putting in for tule elk for the last 22 years in Kalifornia and haven't gotten a tag! I wonder how it is that some people can get two?

I've got great American elk (Rockey Mountain) and Roosevelt elk racks, but haven't got a tule elk mount on the wall. I just make my donation to the DFG every year it seems. Sorry for the rant!

Great elk! A hardy congratulations to your daughter along with a wish she have many more wonderful hunts! Thanks for sharing.

Congrats on a nice trophy.I knew Tule elk were smaller in body size than the other elk,but I never realized that the difference was so dramatic.

VERY cool. I love it when someone makes a post like this. Hope your daughter does well on all of her future hunts. Looks like she's off to a very good start!

Awesome animal, and nice jobbie to the both of you!

Dave,
Thanks for sharing a great hunting story and some terrific photos. I can't believe how much Becca has grown in the last couple of years; my "little" girl is right behind her though. Let her know we all said congratulations.

Three Tule elk tags in one family?? Someone might think you've rigged the system.

Congrats to your daughter and congrats to you for getting her interested in hunting.

Congrats to you both! It is a fine bull for Tule elk. I live just over the hill from there and have yet to draw myself. Nate

Very nice elk! Good job on the follow-up after that first shot. You have raised a good hunter there dad, and you coached her good; reminding her that the elk isn't dead till it is down for good.

Congrats to both of you!

Mike:

She did get the Chiminez Ranch access tag, which surely helped, but there are a lot of elk in the area if you know how to find them. Based on what the DFG biologist told me, I suspect that Kyler will start to see elk in his area within the next few years, as the La Panza herd is increasing.

Joe Mack:

I think the La Panza hunt is the one with the best drawing odds, but I understand that it is the most difficult of the Tule Elk hunts. That said, I love the area and the hunt, and would absolutely continue to apply for it.

Dave

Congratulations to your daughter and you. What a great elk.

Perry