Due to unforeseen circumstances I had to work through bow season. I finished up with my work project Oct 1st, and went hunting.
I'd bought a slick shooting sako 85 with a Proof barrel and a Mcmillan stock off of a LRH member a couple years before and figured I'd put her to work. I loaded up a some 185 berger hybrids, and gotten the little 300WSM shooting really well in August, so I litterally threw my camp in my pickup and headed into elk country Oct 1. On the way up the mountain my inreach chirped and a buddy told me that he'd hit a cow, but needed help tracking. I made my way to him, about 20 miles south of my hunting area and spent the day trying to track his elk. We ended up losing at about noon, then spent the rest of the day grid searching for her. No joy.
I set up camp in the dark that night with my 78 year old buddy Rich. We ate steakes, drank some Buffalo Trace and went to sleep. My hunting grounds were on fire, and we were pressed for time. Roughly 1/3 of the hunting area was on fire, so naturally the forest service closed down 3/4 of it. There was a lot of hunting pressure, but luckily its a tag that usually has a lot of easy access and hunters that arent willing to shoot an animal more than 100 yards from their truck. On the fourth day I spotted a herd about a mile away on a steep bluff, I snuck through an ould clear cut up hill until I was out of concealment. I picked out a big cow standing broadside at 550 yards got my breathing under control and shot her tight behind the shoulder . She went about 30 yards and tumbled in the tall sage brush. From up on the hill I could see the fire raging just a few miles north east of me. I knew we had to get down the mountain while we could still get down our side. It was about 80Ā° too so it was a race in more ways than one. I didnt want the meat to spoil after all. I broke her down and packed her out as quickly as I could. Rich and I broke camp down really quickly. Litteally just rolling our tents up and throwing them in the cab of our pickups. I took about a days break, then zig zagged my way west to fill my general elk tag, and possibly hunt a mule deer. Killing the bull wasnt very exciting. I litterally waited for him to stop, put the range in my kestrel, and shot him quartering away at 630 yards....well the whole grizzly deal was exciting, but ended up being a non issue as he didnt make a second apperance.
My buddies girlfreind used my rifle a couple weeks later to fill her deer tag. Her third animal ever, and the biggest buck so far. I think watching her kill that deer was the high point of my season.
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. When you are in your 80s and talking to your grandkids you will have fought your way to the fire with a pack shovel and fought off a grizzly with your knife
