First of all I want to let you all know I have never posted on this website or any other. I joined this site several years ago after reading some of the posts on here in regards to load development and long range shooting tips. They all seem to make sense to me and were practical. I was raised hunting and shooting guns, however my dad was old school and only gave me this advice when shooting. "Don't flinch", that's all he would say. Bless his heart, he just didn't know how to teach me how to shoot. I have spent years learning and practicing and believe I can hold my own now when shooting 600 hundred plus yards. The information I gained from this site assisted me greatly in accomplishing this goal.
I'm from South East Idaho and I've hunted here most of my life. I've been lucky in drawing controlled tags in the past, but I have spent the last five years trying to draw a Moose tag. I still haven't drawn that tag yet. I have an area that has always been good to me for Elk and Deer. The blessing in not drawing is that I can't put in for any other draw hunts due to putting in on Moose and because of this I've had the opportunity to hunt with my daughter and two sons each year I haven't drawn. Not that I wouldn't allow them to go with me, but typically a hard to draw tag would require me to take some time and stay in the hills until I was able to fill the tag.
This year found my son and I hunting this particular area for deer on opening morning. We were not successful and we planned a weekend hunt. We had another two days to hunt deer before elk season opened. We hunted the two days before the elk opener and was not able to locate any bucks. We also were not able to locate any elk. The evening of the 14th of October found us high on a hill side looking for deer. I was looking over a high bench. As I studied the hill side I discovered a young 5 point bull elk laying in some scrub brush 249!yards away from me. I was surprised because he never once stood up and ran. I backed out of the area and located my son. I told him about the elk I saw and he told me about the bull and handful of cows he had located as well. We made a plan to return to this place at first light the following morning, opening day of elk.
On the 15th of October after several morning of waking up early took its toll on us. We sat in the camper and drank coffe and realized we would be getting out of camp late. My son and I made our way to the bottom of the hill just as it was light enough to see. In my opinion we were late as we had planned to be sitting on the hill side at this same time. We began our climb up the steep mountain. We had to fight our way through young maples and aspen trees. When were were about 500 yards from where we wanted to be we took a short break to catch our breath. I looked in the direction of a ridge we believed the elk may have tried to go up. I was looking through my Vortex Diamondback 12X50s and I saw two elk. I was breathing hard enough that it was hard to steady and see if they were cows or bulls. Having been in this position before I knew we needed to get to our vantage point. So the hike (jog) resumed on a hill side we had to hold onto so we wouldn't fall off the mountain. I'm 6'4" and weigh 240 pounds and am 42 years young. I jog 4 Miles a day four days a week in 30 minutes, plus I have a good weight lifting program for myself. I thought I was in good shape. Nevertheless leave it to my 17 year old son to show me up. We made it to the vantage point and my legs and lungs were in fire. I told my son I couldn't go any further and had to sit down.
As I sat on the ground with sweat running through my beard and my heart beat pounding in my ears I began looking for the elk I had located earlier. To my luck they were coming out into a large opening of sagebrush. This was the last vantage point I would have before they crossed the hill and disappeared. First two elk came out, both cows, then a spike and then a rag horn bull. I told my son he was up and to pick which bull he wanted. He passed on the opportunity and told me that he would gladly sit this one out knowing that in Idaho he can hunt a cow elk later in the year with his youth tag. I still can't believe the maturity he showed. While we were having this discussion I saw a large bull walk out of the maples into the clearing. At the distance we were from it I could tell he was a mature bull. The white tips of his Horne's stood out from across the canyon. I quickly grabbed my Leupold 1200 Range Finder and ranged him at 586 yards. I gathered my Vanguard scout B62 shooting sticks and got my rifle ready.
I was shooting a Remington 300 Ultra Magnum rifle and the bullets were Barnes TTSX 168 grains. I put a Timney Trigger in this rifle to fix any safety issues it may of had and I floated the barrel. The rest of the rifle is stock. I've worked a load up in this rifle that has worked for four years now on bringing home elk and expanded ranges. The rifle is topped with a Vortex Diamondback HP in a 3X12 power with a BDC reticle. My third has mark is good for about 547 yards and my fourth is good for about 674 yards. When I placed the reticle on the elk he fit right in between the third and fourth hash mark. I steadied as best I could given the hike I just made and when I was ready I touched the trigger. I don't have a break on this rifle and I've noticed as I shoot it off the sticks it's a little difficult in seeing where I hit due to recoil. However with my son sitting next to me all I heard him say was "dude you dropped him right there!" I looked trough the scope and I could see him laying where he had been standing.
After a few high fives and a memorable hike through some thick brush and maples we were able to Put our hands on this bull. As luck would have it, due to us being late and rushing, we discovered that we did not have water or snacks with us. That would be Murphy's hunting lawnfor sure.
The two of us cleaned quartered and packed him out that same day. I shot him at 7:30 am and we made it back to camp for dinner at 8:00 pm. What a great hunt and an great weekend to spend with my youngest child.
I apologize for the picture. For some reason I keep getting an error code when I tried to upload the field
Picture of this elk.
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