[horsepower]

I was a mule on this hunting trip for a friend had drawn a tag and he was in need of someone with a strong back and a weak mind. Well, that’s me.

The first morning was full of optimism and enthusiastic energy. Being the first day of base hunting we expected to find pockets of elk dotting the landscape. After morning briefing from base staff and wildlife biologist we where cautioned that we may not see as many elk as perhaps we had hoped for as the herd reduction plan has been effective. As well the dry summer followed by the fire has kept numbers down on the base. We saw 3 groups of elk first thing in the morning. 2 groups were in the NWA which we did not have access to and as we were closing in on the 3rd group a truck pulled up on a neighbouring road and the herd ran away as a cow was shot. The rest of the day was spent in the north part of the base travelling roads and glassing hills. No elk were spotted and we noticed a lack of forage. We left the base that day dejected and talked about the lack of elk seen. Tomorrow would be another day.

The second morning we decided to draw for a NWA opportunity and were successful. It was close to 10:30 by the time we checked into the NWA and began our hunt. We immediately parked and headed east. Without going into detail we successfully harvested a bull at last light. We accumulated 23ish Km’s of hiking. Saw a combining of many herds into a super herd of 1700+- elk that we were able to get within 250yds of. The noise and chatter of this herd was phenomenal and something we all won’t forget. It was a huge challenge to find an animal that we could ethically shoot as their were often several animals either in front of or behind our target bull. We had a fantastic day and left tired but fulfilled.

This is our first experience on a suffield hunt and cannot say enough good things about base personnel. After our experience on the first day we decided to make this a hunt and we worked very hard for our bull. The experience will be what you are able to make of it.

Good luck to all in future hunts.