Who ever said

[Dave]

The person who said that "the worst day hunting was better than the best day at work" wasn't up on that ridge over the East Fork of the Gray's River opening day of elk season. Something about 40 degrees, pouring rain that was going sideways with a steady 40 mph wind with gust to 60 mph that took all the fun out of it. Oh, and being socked in with clouds so you couldn't see 50 feet. A herd of elk could have walked right past me and I would have never seen them. I have had way better days at work. The wind actually pushed me up hill on my bike. It also stopped me from coasting down hill when I was going into it.

The weather did improve later in the week and last Friday I once again proved that a 200 grain Nosler partitioned out of a 300 Win Mag will kill an elk with proper bullet placement. I also found out once again how heavy dead elk are and how old I am getting to be. But I managed.

 

[Alan]

Ah, you gave me flashbacks to my days of hunting. Fog so thick you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you. That was always the only part of hunting I hated, packing out quarters. Did you have quarter and pack or could you get your truck close enough?

I will say, I have yet to ever see a hunter, deer or elk, on a bike.

 

[Dave]

The elk was about 6 miles behind a locked gate but only a 100 yards off a road. I have a friend who is a hooker for Jerry De Bries (sp) there in Cathlamet. He got Jerry to come in and haul the elk out. We had to quarter and pack it because I had already skinned it but it was a dead easy pack. The biggest problem was that the elk died in between an old growth log and some slash. I had to drag him about 15 feet to get to a place where I could roll him over to gut and skin.

There is a pretty big area in the upper Grays, Chehalis, and Elocheman (sp) rivers that is now behind locked gates. Public access is allowed but no motor vehicles. Mountain bikes work great on the flat parts and slight down hills. Very much up hill or steep down grades I get off and walk the bike. But they do allow a person greater range. Alan does know the general area I am talking about. For the rest of you it is an area of probably 200,000 -300,000 acres of timber land.

 

[Alan]

I had met Jerry a few times while we lived on Pudget Island, very nice guy. I have often wished I had a key to those gates. In my area the timber companies open the gates for hunting season(s). Lock them up again they day after. I do know the area pretty well, lots of elk compared to other areas. Lots of years since I hunted, did you have a cow tag or did you get a bull? In the saddle Mountian area (Astoria) it was 3 pt or better. I should mention all I ever did was archery hunt, so the regs I'm referring to is archery regs. Although I know they do give out a limited amount of cow tags for rifle season.

I'm just trying to get my mind around where a flat area is? In this country it seems everything is uphill both ways.

Congrats on another year of elk meat in the freezer.

 

[slick4591]

The person who said that "the worst day hunting was better than the best day at work" wasn't up on that ridge over the East Fork of the Gray's River opening day of elk season. Something about 40 degrees, pouring rain that was going sideways with a steady 40 mph wind with gust to 60 mph that took all the fun out of it. Oh, and being socked in with clouds so you couldn't see 50 feet. A herd of elk could have walked right past me and I would have never seen them. I have had way better days at work. The wind actually pushed me up hill on my bike. It also stopped me from coasting down hill when I was going into it.

The weather did improve later in the week and last Friday I once again proved that a 200 grain Nosler partitioned out of a 300 Win Mag will kill an elk with proper bullet placement. I also found out once again how heavy dead elk are and how old I am getting to be. But I managed.

Ummm...Dave. I actually think they said that about fishing. Hunting can be quite miserable. Congrats on your kill!

 

[Dave]

I had met Jerry a few times while we lived on Pudget Island, very nice guy. I have often wished I had a key to those gates. In my area the timber companies open the gates for hunting season(s). Lock them up again they day after. I do know the area pretty well, lots of elk compared to other areas. Lots of years since I hunted, did you have a cow tag or did you get a bull? In the saddle Mountian area (Astoria) it was 3 pt or better. I should mention all I ever did was archery hunt, so the regs I'm referring to is archery regs. Although I know they do give out a limited amount of cow tags for rifle season.

I'm just trying to get my mind around where a flat area is? In this country it seems everything is uphill both ways.

Congrats on another year of elk meat in the freezer.

It was a 3 x 4 bull. Basically all of Western Washington is 3 pt or better. I think they give out about 30 cow tags for the entire Willipa Hills. I have yet to draw a cow tag.

Not a lot of flat ground up there. Flat ground is measured in square feet. Steep hill sides that go on for ever are measured in square miles.

 

[Dave]

The person who said that "the worst day hunting was better than the best day at work" wasn't up on that ridge over the East Fork of the Gray's River opening day of elk season. Something about 40 degrees, pouring rain that was going sideways with a steady 40 mph wind with gust to 60 mph that took all the fun out of it. Oh, and being socked in with clouds so you couldn't see 50 feet. A herd of elk could have walked right past me and I would have never seen them. I have had way better days at work. The wind actually pushed me up hill on my bike. It also stopped me from coasting down hill when I was going into it.

The weather did improve later in the week and last Friday I once again proved that a 200 grain Nosler partitioned out of a 300 Win Mag will kill an elk with proper bullet placement. I also found out once again how heavy dead elk are and how old I am getting to be. But I managed.

Ummm...Dave. I actually think they said that about fishing. Hunting can be quite miserable. Congrats on your kill!

It would have been a nasty day to have been fishing too. Possibly a worse day to have been fishing that to be hunting. You probably aren't going to drowned standing up on a ridge. I wouldn't have wanted to be in a boat out on the creek that day.

 

[Jogeephus]

Congrats on you kill. About how much does an elk weigh?

 

[3waycross]

Congrats on you kill. About how much does an elk weigh?

4 to 7 hundred for a mature bull. maybe 4 on a big cow.........on the hoof

on the ground 12 to 15 thousand lbs...uphill from the truck

double that downhill from the truck ;-)

 

[Alan]

Congrats on you kill. About how much does an elk weigh?

I hope Dave will not mind me answering your question, although Vic is correct by the time you gut, skin and quarter an elk it feels like several thousands of lbs.

In Oregon and Washington on the west side of the cascade mountians we have Roosevelt elk, east of the cascades they have rocky Mountian elk. Roosevelt elk are larger, the largest of north American elk. Here's a cut and paste from Wikipedia on Roosevelt elk;


Adults grow to around 6–10 ft (1.8–3 m) in length and stand 2.5–5 ft (0.75–1.5 m) tall at the shoulder.[4] Elk bulls generally weigh between 700 and 1100 lb (300–500 kg), while cows weigh 575–625 lb (260–285 kg).[2] Some mature bulls from Raspberry Island in Alaska have weighed nearly 1300 lb (600 kg).[2]

 

[Alan]

Double post.

 

[Limomike]

Ah, you gave me flashbacks to my days of hunting. Fog so thick you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you. That was always the only part of hunting I hated, packing out quarters. Did you have quarter and pack or could you get your truck close enough?

I will say, I have yet to ever see a hunter, deer or elk, on a bike.

reminds me of the time I was headed out to my deer stand, and had to walk across an 80 acre field in some VERY thick fog.. I walked and walked, and after about 15 minutes, I ran back into the fence on the side of the pasture, I had just come from :shock: Went in a big circle .. So, I started out again, this time making sure I had my compass out, to direct me in the right direction..

 

[Dave]

This elk in quarters weighed just under 360 pounds. He was a 2 1/2 year old bull. I figure that whole he weighed in the 700-800 pound range. I know that dragging him that 15 feet took me a while and took a bunch of energy out of me. I think they are growing heavier than they did 20-30 years ago.

Rocky Mountain elk have smaller bodies but have bigger horns than these Roosevelt elk. I am think about taking up elk hunting where they have Rocky Mountain elk.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Last years cow hung at 297#, year before a spike hung at 197#.

 

[Dave]

Last years cow hung at 297#, year before a spike hung at 197#.

You shot a spike bull in Washington you must have been on the Eastside where the Rocky Mountain elk live.

 

[Deepsouth]

Picture please

 

[Dave]

I never have been able to get pictures on here. I don't know why. I will try tomorrow or later this evening. The only picture I have is just a head resting on the tailgate. I generally don't pack a camera back where I hunt. And he came out of the woods in pieces.

 

[Deepsouth]

How many points?

 

[Dave]

How many points?

Just a rag horn with 3 on one side 4 on the other. Not the biggest bull I have ever shot by a long ways. But in a state with an elk hunter success rate of about 9-10% any legal bull is a good one.