First Ever ELk Hunt.

Well.... I am back from my first ever elk hunt which was in Wyoming...I was successful in killing a bull elk! got a 6 x 5 on my 3rd day of the hunt.

Day 1: we saw at least 15 bulls and 40 cows...was in position to get a shot off on a 350"+ bull when about 15 seconds before he would feed into the open, hunters in another draw began firing on another bull and spooked the ones we were watching. We scrambled and tried to cut them off...we did so successfully but the bull broke through the timber hauling butt and didn't offer a good shot. We hunted the rest of the day, saw a really nice 5x5 at about 700 yards and talked about him, and agreed that if given an opportunity I'd take the first shot on him... Dillon (the guide) said he was maybe the largest 5x5 he had ever seen.

Day 2: Weather set in, rain, cold, wind, all day long!!! snow started about 4 PM, by 5 we couldn't see 100 yards, we decided to pack it in early so we could get some sleep... we only got a few hours the first night.

Day 3: SNOW!!!!!!!! 4-6" in the low lands 12+ in the high country...18"+ on top of the mountain. We saw elk immediately once we got into position at daylight. We spotted the 5x5 from day one...but he had half his rack missing!!! broken about a foot off of his head. So he was kinda out of the game so to speak. We spotted the 6x5 I eventually shot but the guide was a little hesitant about shooting him that morning... He said wait till the afternoon...we could see him bedded at like 10 am...he wasn't going anywhere, we talked it over and I had decided that I wouldn't pass him on the last day, it was public land and were seeing many other hunters and horses...so I wasn't going to pass the animal. After he got up to eat, we moved into position at the bottom of the meadow he was feeding into... it took only a few minutes for everything to come together.

I had my Bog Pod shooting sticks, sitting in the snow, I...with the assistance of the guide... packed some snow behind me to give me a more stable platform... I had time to dry fire my rifle twice at my elk as cows passed in front of him... once the last cow passed, I put a shell in the chamber, got one final range call from the guide... 436 yards ... looked at my range card one last time...8" of drop, hold for high shoulder... my crosshairs were bouncing a good bit, but they were bouncing high in the zone where I needed to aim so I began to squeeze...

When the gun went off all I felt was the scope come back and pop me in the forehead...which is very common with my 300 ultra mag. As I looked up I watched as the elk immediately dropped in his tracks and never moved again, he fell straight down butt first and slid down the hill about 15 feet. When I squeezed the trigger, my crosshairs were a little higher than I wanted, the high altitude changed my trajectory a little... my bullet struck him right on top of the high shoulder, went through both shoulder blades, and also took out his spinal cord. Very minimal meat loss, animal was dead almost immediately, my brother and the other guide got to watch from our glassing spot through spotting scopes as I dropped the elk. That was at about 215 in the afternoon. We hiked up to him, took a bunch of photos, I gutted him, we left him open to cool and went back to the horses to ride back to the truck. We went back the next day with a pack train of horses to get him, we quartered him up and packed him out without incident.

Hunt was great, the entire operation was great I give them 9/10 for the entire experience... nothing was lacking. I hate horses though... prior to my mule deer hunt in a few years, I will have to get some saddle time... the horseback riding about ruined my trip.

Now for the photos.

 

Congrats!
Would love to try this one day. How much do the quarters weigh? W or W/O skin?

 

They were flipping heavy... the front shoulders were 4 times the size I thought they would be... the rear hams were massive... the back straps were giant, the inner loins were sizeable... they are just huge animals. I anticipate getting well over 200 pounds of meat back.

 

CONGRATS! If you think that elk is big, just wait till you get a moose on the ground. You will end up with a lot of great meat. We love elk. Great story, hope it's the first of many.

 

Had a young bull moose 150 yards of me... he was massive and I cannot wait to hunt them....

 

Now throw both hind quarters in a backpack and hike out a mile.


Congrats on the elk, jealous of he horse.

 

Great Bull!

Who makes that bino case?

 

Congratulations!!! That is awesome.

 

This post seems strangely familiar lol

Well done!

 

Nice! Looks like you shot dinner lol

 

http://www.alaskaguidecreations.com/

It is an awesome bino case... it really is

 

Thanks...I'll check them out.