Elk hunting is tough

[Dave]

I hunt elk nearly every morning from now until the end of the year or I get a elk which ever comes first. By this plan I leave the house before daylight. Drive to neighbor B's alfalfa field. If the elk are there I shoot a cow elk (I have a cow only tag). If they are not there I drive home in time for breakfast. If I am successful neighbor B will load the elk in the back of my pickup with his loader. This elk hunting is really hard on the body......

 

[Bright Raven]

It was not like that in Montana. It was straight up a mountainside, then if you got one, it was several trips up and down backpacking the boned meat out. I could not do that now.

 

[HanknCali]

Good luck Dave,,,, enjoy your time out hunting.
That's not at all like my elk hunts and I'm jealous.

 

[Dave]

Four days of this hard hunting and still no elk. Good thing this tag is good clear to the end of the year. The people who drew a bull tag for this area season starts next Thursday for 6 days. That will screw up my hunting for a couple weeks as they will chase the elk all over the place.

 

[Dave]

Well the elk were there this morning. About 200 of them. There was 14 branched antler bulls. Two of those were whoopers. It is pretty open. Hard to slip up on 200 elk. One of them is going to see you. They bunched up real tight. Don't want to shoot into a tight bunch where you might hit more than one. I did have one in the crosshairs, just slipped the safety off, and she moved off. They ended up going down into another property where I don't have permission so I backed off. They like the alfalfa so they will be back.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

that must have been a great site! exciting - gets the heart pumping!

 

[Dave]

that must have been a great site! exciting - gets the heart pumping!

It was nice to see. Actually I saw them again a few minutes ago. Standing out in the open in the middle of neighbor D's cows. They are far enough from any cover that a person would need a Marine sniper rifle.
I am either getting too old or have shot too many elk. Didn't get the heart pumping at all. Of course I am just shooting a cow. Had I been allowed to shoot one of those big bulls it would have been a bit more interesting. Shooting a cow elk in a hay field is just one step above shooting a beef cow. It is meat.

 

[Dave]

Today was the first day for those who have a bull tag. My tag is good for cow only on the south side of the road. The elk were on the north side. Some shooting. The elk ran to the left. The elk ran back to the right. The elk never came my way. They were better than half a mile away from me all the time. I got to watch two bulls get shot. Neighbor B's son got a real nice 8 by 6 bull. One of the son's buddies got a 6 point. But the best one is his 80 year old uncle who is about half blind and can't walk a hundred yards on flat ground without stopping for a breather got a bull. And he shot it with his old iron sighted 30-06. It is a 3 by 4, not a great huge bull but a trophy for him.

 

[midTN_Brangusman]

I bet a herd of 200 elk can do some serious damage to a man's alfalfa.

 

[Dave]

I bet a herd of 200 elk can do some serious damage to a man's alfalfa.

It is pretty much into October before they come in so hay is done for the year. But they do like whatever regrowth there is. And you need good tall fences around the stack yards. Get enough snow on the ground and they will be in helping the cows eat hay.

 

[gcreekrch]

I bet a herd of 200 elk can do some serious damage to a man's alfalfa.

It is pretty much into October before they come in so hay is done for the year. But they do like whatever regrowth there is. And you need good tall fences around the stack yards. Get enough snow on the ground and they will be in helping the cows eat hay.

Did you ever get to exercise your trigger finger?

 

[Dave]

I bet a herd of 200 elk can do some serious damage to a man's alfalfa.

It is pretty much into October before they come in so hay is done for the year. But they do like whatever regrowth there is. And you need good tall fences around the stack yards. Get enough snow on the ground and they will be in helping the cows eat hay.

Did you ever get to exercise your trigger finger?
[/quot

Nope, that one time was the only time they came down to my area. During the bull season they got the stuffings shot out of them and pushed way back into the hills out of my area. I knew where they were earlier but it was outside the area my tag was good for. The weather hasn't been bad enough to push them down but there is too much snow for me to be driving a quad up on those goat trails that get called roads. Good thing I have beef in the freezer and I did shoot Bambi.