01-14-2008, 02:11 AM
After 6 trips to Cache valley and who knows how much money and hours behind lenses, how many landowners and phone calls i made, and how many elk i saw that i couldn't go after, it finally paid off early this morning
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I arrived at a property i had permission to hunt and drove up to the top of the ridge. It was kind of foggy/snowy and it was hard to see anything. I had not seen the elk in the hay stacks on the way in so i figured they had already boogied to the cwmu behind the farm i was at. I stayed put for a few minutes and then saw 7 cows across the valley i was looking at. They were probably 1000 yds from where i was and moving quickly. i had enough time to grab minimal gear and took off after them. After a very hard run uphill for 1/4 mile, i saw 8 cows on the hill east of me about 500 yards. I stopped and tried to decide what to do. This particular herd has almost 400 head in it and i figured the rest of them had already gone over. I watched to see if the cows were getting nervous and decided to head straight toward them until i couldn't get any closer or they bolted. Amazingly they stayed there watching me until i got close enough for a shot. I felt the distance was a little far but i regained my composure and sat down. I noticed the top 3 cows start to bolt and decided it was now or never. I leveled off on the lowest cow and squeezed the trigger. I missed! Ok, now i am getting worried. Probably my last chance to fill my tag! I jacked in another shell, leveled off as she walked straight away from me at 387 yards, put the crosshairs on the back of her head and squeezed the trigger again. She never knew what hit her. The bullet went in at the base of her skull. The other 7 cows left in a hurry and i sat there for a few seconds taking it all in. I looked over my left shoulder to see the other 370+ elk walking single file about 150 yards from me. I got to watch every one for 25 minutes(they looked like ants walking over the hill) before they were all gone. I then walked up to make sure she was done, notch the tag and left her to get the sled 3/4 of a mile down the mountain.
I got back to her pretty quickly and took some pics and field dressed her. I cut off the head, legs, and neck and still wasn't sure if she would fit in the sled. She finally got in and off we went down the mountain in 4' of snow. I never realised how difficult it is to drag a 300# animal down a mountain in a sled! Glad it's done now.[pirate]
As i was getting close to the truck after almost an hour of dragging, 2 co's met me. They checked tag, license, and all pertinent info. They then inspected her for evidence of sex. He asked where is it? I said right....Oh man, i messed up bad![shocked] I left the mamry glands attatched to the hide and body while field dressing it, but when i was getting ready to leave i cut all the unnecessary scraps off to minimize weight. I guess i cut a little too far and cut all of that stuff off. After some talk it was decided to go back up the hill to the kill site and get the evidince. Luckily, i was honest with them and they were good to me. They gave me a warning and i deserved it. My mistake. Never happen again.[
] Really nice guys. Had some good conversation with them. Anyways, here are some pics and i am going to attempt to upload a video. Enjoy.[cool]
[inline "2007-2008 cow elk 002.jpg"]
[inline "2007-2008 cow elk 001.jpg"]
[inline "2007-2008 cow elk 006.jpg"]
Here's the video [url "http://uk.youtube.com/mommyjamieof2"][#0033cc]http://uk.youtube.com/mommyjamieof2[/#0033cc][/url]
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] I arrived at a property i had permission to hunt and drove up to the top of the ridge. It was kind of foggy/snowy and it was hard to see anything. I had not seen the elk in the hay stacks on the way in so i figured they had already boogied to the cwmu behind the farm i was at. I stayed put for a few minutes and then saw 7 cows across the valley i was looking at. They were probably 1000 yds from where i was and moving quickly. i had enough time to grab minimal gear and took off after them. After a very hard run uphill for 1/4 mile, i saw 8 cows on the hill east of me about 500 yards. I stopped and tried to decide what to do. This particular herd has almost 400 head in it and i figured the rest of them had already gone over. I watched to see if the cows were getting nervous and decided to head straight toward them until i couldn't get any closer or they bolted. Amazingly they stayed there watching me until i got close enough for a shot. I felt the distance was a little far but i regained my composure and sat down. I noticed the top 3 cows start to bolt and decided it was now or never. I leveled off on the lowest cow and squeezed the trigger. I missed! Ok, now i am getting worried. Probably my last chance to fill my tag! I jacked in another shell, leveled off as she walked straight away from me at 387 yards, put the crosshairs on the back of her head and squeezed the trigger again. She never knew what hit her. The bullet went in at the base of her skull. The other 7 cows left in a hurry and i sat there for a few seconds taking it all in. I looked over my left shoulder to see the other 370+ elk walking single file about 150 yards from me. I got to watch every one for 25 minutes(they looked like ants walking over the hill) before they were all gone. I then walked up to make sure she was done, notch the tag and left her to get the sled 3/4 of a mile down the mountain.
I got back to her pretty quickly and took some pics and field dressed her. I cut off the head, legs, and neck and still wasn't sure if she would fit in the sled. She finally got in and off we went down the mountain in 4' of snow. I never realised how difficult it is to drag a 300# animal down a mountain in a sled! Glad it's done now.[pirate]
As i was getting close to the truck after almost an hour of dragging, 2 co's met me. They checked tag, license, and all pertinent info. They then inspected her for evidence of sex. He asked where is it? I said right....Oh man, i messed up bad![shocked] I left the mamry glands attatched to the hide and body while field dressing it, but when i was getting ready to leave i cut all the unnecessary scraps off to minimize weight. I guess i cut a little too far and cut all of that stuff off. After some talk it was decided to go back up the hill to the kill site and get the evidince. Luckily, i was honest with them and they were good to me. They gave me a warning and i deserved it. My mistake. Never happen again.[
] Really nice guys. Had some good conversation with them. Anyways, here are some pics and i am going to attempt to upload a video. Enjoy.[cool] [inline "2007-2008 cow elk 002.jpg"]
[inline "2007-2008 cow elk 001.jpg"]
[inline "2007-2008 cow elk 006.jpg"]
Here's the video [url "http://uk.youtube.com/mommyjamieof2"][#0033cc]http://uk.youtube.com/mommyjamieof2[/#0033cc][/url]
[signature]
