Part 1 recap: Crouching and waddling across the ridge we got to what I thought was as close as possible. A quick look at the herd revealed a large number of spike bulls which I knew my dad wouldn't be able to discern through his scope very well. I tried to direct him to a broadside cow but there were so many elk moving around that it was nearly impossible. One cow in particular with a brilliantly white butt stood out. As soon as she was clear I whispered “shoot the one with the white ass”. BOOM. I could see her flinch with the shot and the herd began streaming up the hill....
I was trying to find her in the pile of animals moving around when I noticed a cow behind a large ponderosa pine. I could clearly see her white butt and was praying she would go down which she promptly did. As we were walking towards her she popped up again and began trotting up the hill after the herd. “Hit her again” I said as my dad dropped to a knee and took another shot. She shuddered and wasn't in good shape, a third shot finished the deal. We were stoked that we had not only managed to find elk but kill one. Now was the hard part. I went and got the truck and was able to drive relatively close. After gutting her we managed to lift her into the bed of the truck. Pretty knackered after such an adrenaline filled morning and the full body exercise that is cleaning and loading an elk we headed back to camp. After getting her hung on the gambrel and skinned we headed to my house to clean up. While there we checked the weather and were concerned to see another large snow storm forecast for Wednesday night. Our campsite was awesome but if the 6-12 inches were to fall there was a chance they would find us some time in April having eaten the weaker members of the tribe.
Rush Hour
Tuesday morning dad went with Doc to find him a doe and Devin went with me back to the pivot on the chance that the elk were back. The elk were nowhere to be seen but a sizable buck piqued my interest. After watching him for a few minutes it was clear he wanted to cross the road to public land to the north of the property. I zoomed around to the other road and parked in a small depression. Grabbing my rifle and gear belt I snuck to a spot overlooking the small gully that I was pretty sure the buck was going to walk up.
It was at this moment that rush hour started. A satellite tv company van passed below me, followed by a pickup truck and then a rather loud dump truck. The buck turned from the road and headed back into the property moving east. I sprinted back to the truck and zoomed back around to the main highway and sure enough there he was wanting to cross. I whipped into the pull off and started working up the hill to the small gully he and his doe’s were headed for. I could see the first does starting to cross. Settling into a perfect shooting lane between a couple of juniper bushes the unmistakable rumble of a diesel pickup truck could be heard. The truck had to slow down to not hit a couple does and as soon as they were clear he hit the gas growling and belching black smoke right at the buck. I don't know if the driver saw me and intentionally wanted to screw my hunt or was just ignorant but either way the buck started running up the hill and never slowed down disappearing over the hill. That's the risk one takes hunting public land.
Arriving back at camp we helped skin the doe Doc had shot then spent the rest of the day looking for deer, elk and lost iPhones to no avail. Our friend Lindsay rolled into camp that night bringing a weather update with her. We elected to hunt in the morning and then shift camp to my backyard so we didn't get stuck in the wilderness for the rest of the winter.
Clean Miss
Wednesday afternoon our friend Brad and his son Charlie arrived at camp which was now my backyard. There were a few hours of shooting light left in the day so we headed out to try and get Charlie his first deer. It didn't take long to find a couple of doe’s and Charlie and I started stalking up the hill. Just as we were cresting a small rise we tripped on a different group of doe’s. I set up the bipod and Charlie dropped to a knee. He was having trouble finding them in the scope and the doe’s started getting nervous. The group moved across the slope and over a small rise. We followed them and got into position for a shot. Charlie still couldn't find them with his scope and I quickly realized he had the zoom maxed out. I reached over and cranked it back to a more reasonable setting. Our next issue was the doe’s were covering each other. For the better part of five minutes Charlie kept swapping his aim between doe’s I thought were going to present an opportunity. One finally stepped clear and presented a shot. BOOM. I watched dirt fly from under and behind her as she pretty much levitated a couple feet in the air. Clean miss. The group continued off up the hill as Charlie and I pursued them for another few hundred yards unsuccessfully.
A Doe For Charlie
That night the weather packed it in and Thursday morning we awoke to blowing snow and several inches of accumulation. With the cold weather the animals were on their feet much later in the morning and we had no trouble making a couple stalks on multiple bucks and groups of does. We called it an early day when another wave of blowing snow moved in.
Friday morning was even better. The weather was nice and the fresh snow had the animals out and about. I made a stalk on a pair of nice bucks but could never get under the 100 yard mark I had told myself I wouldn't shoot past for ethical reasons. I didn't see anything I wanted to pursue so Brad, Charlie and I continued to the road where my dad had killed the cow a few days earlier. We were barely off the highway when right next to a juniper bush was a doe bedded. I threw the truck in reverse and told Charlie to get his rifle ready. We hopped out and snuck to about 40 yards when she stood up. I set up the bipod and Charlie lined up the shot. BOOM. His shot went low through the chest and broke a front leg. She hopped a few yards as I told him to hit her again. His second shot sealed the deal. We shook hands and I could tell he was a little overwhelmed as are all that shoot their first deer.
Stay tuned for "Hunt With History" - Part 3
