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Old 12-06-2016, 12:44 AM
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chaser chaser is offline
 
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Default ELK Success

Unfortunately, due to my temporary geographical residence in Vancouver (as I attend school) I only had one precious weekend in November to get out and fill some tags back home in Alberta.

I arrived home in Calgary on Thursday night and was elated to find that it was snowing. The snow and frigid temperatures were a stark contrast to the weather my folks had been bragging about throughout the month of November in Alberta. I was up late that evening scrambling to get all my gear situated for the following morning. But despite my fatigue, sleep barely arrived, as I was too full of anticipation for the coming morning.

When my alarm finally went off, it did not take much coaxing to get out of bed and hop in the truck before picking up my hunting buddy and aiming my headlights south. When we arrived at the property we would be hunting, I was pleased to see that the snow accumulation had been even more significant down south. This only enhanced my anticipation.

We set off well before legal light with the intentions of summating the main hill system on the property before legal shooting light. My partner had an antlered mule deer tag and had, the previous week, seen a 180 ish buck on the eastern slope of the hill we had just begun to ascent. Our plan was simple, position ourselves at a glassing vantage point where we could survey the area the aforementioned buck resided, as well as the hills to the west for any lingering elk herds. As we crested the hill the early morning sun began to illuminate the valley to the west. As we stopped to catch our breaths, we seized the opportunity to peer through the glass. It did not take longer then five minutes before we had spotted a herd of elk filtering through the open fields and headed towards a patch of willow.

We now had a dilemma on our hands. Do we continue as planned and try and track down the mule deer buck? Or do we descend the hill we had just conquered and head out after the herd of 60 or so elk? We quickly surmised that we had visual contact on the elk already, including a couple bulls, whereas there was no guarantee that the buck would be roaming about, so we got to our feet and began the long two km stalk towards our quarry.

As we closed the distance between the elk herd and ourselves, we had to swing way out to the north of the herd, which was now bedded atop a hill crowned with willow. The detour to the north was necessary to remain out of their sight lines, but also to correct our wind, which was oddly blowing from a southeastern direction. As we inched closer, we tucked into a thick patch of willow to help conceal our movements while periodically poking our heads out of the thick cover to attain visual confirmation that the herd was indeed still present. Eventually we reached a cut line where we could see in full the fruits of or labor. The herd was still content and milling about in the same location we had last seen them.

We also gained visual confirmation that a legal bull was amongst the herd, a small 5X4, but a bull nonetheless. Unfortunately, they were still 650 yards in front of us presenting too difficult of a shot. Quickly my hunting partner and I formulated a plan where I would envelop the hill, on which the herd was mounted, and wait in ambush as my buddy continued through the last remaining bit of willow to either get a shot himself or startle them into my trap. We agreed that 15 minutes would be sufficient for me to move into position and so I set off, as my partner sat and stared at his watch.

As per usual the hill was much larger and much more time consuming to ascend then I originally suspected and it took an enormous amount of exertion to get to a spot I deemed suitable before my 15 minute window expired. By the time I was settled and had my gun in a comfortable position where I could cover all escape routes, I was panting and sweating profusely. I sat there patiently for another five minutes anticipating a gunshot or a stampede of elk. Then suddenly a cow emerged gingerly from the willow not 100 yards in front of me. She did not appear startled nor pressured, as I leveled my scope and prepared. The first cow was followed by a second, then a third, then a fourth… I was certain a bull would emerge, but no. A total of eight cows came forth from the willow, but nothing else came out. My friend clearly hadn’t forced the cows out, as they calmly fed onwards and out of sight.

Frustrated, I picked up my items and moved further south another 100 yards to attain a new vantage point. Then in an instant the forest erupted 200 yards in front of me as the entire herd exploded from the forest and took flight across the open field. I dropped to one knee leveled my sights and waited for the bull I had seen to emerge. Two minutes and 75 elk later all I had seen were spikes. I was dumbfounded. Had he taken a different route and escaped right from under my nose? I waited anxiously for 15 minutes before turning around to retrieve my pack when suddenly I heard a violent crash to my right approximately 50 yards in front of me.

As antler flashed before me, I quickly recognized the bull I had seen nearly an hour prior. He darted across the open field right before me, as I leveled my rifle and gave a whistle at him hoping to impede his progress. As he slowed to look in my direction I squeezed the trigger. He immediately dropped, as the valley echoed with the unmistakable sound of a bullet finding its mark. As I walked up to him I couldn’t help but laugh at how it had all played out and the effort my buddy took to sight my gun in for me while I was away from home only to have a 50 yard chip shot.

After pictures and the works it was time to get to at it. We cut and deboned and hauled the meat out on our backs the 6km back to my truck over the course of the next two days. It was definitely well earned and I will always have a fond memory of this hunt.
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Old 12-06-2016, 12:51 AM
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Flight01 Flight01 is offline
 
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Excellent write up

Congrats on a nice elk !

Thanks for sharing
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Old 12-06-2016, 03:40 AM
Z7Extreme Z7Extreme is offline
 
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Congrats!! Late season elk are tough to get. Good job!!
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Old 12-06-2016, 04:56 AM
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Nice story , good hunt

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Old 12-06-2016, 05:20 AM
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coyotekiller coyotekiller is offline
 
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Congrats on the elk!
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Old 12-06-2016, 05:25 AM
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58thecat 58thecat is offline
 
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Talk about getting it done eh, congrats.
Now get back to school your late
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Old 12-06-2016, 06:33 AM
alder alder is offline
 
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Way to go. Nice elk.
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Old 12-06-2016, 07:54 AM
goldscud goldscud is offline
 
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Sounds like a great hunt, congrats
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Old 12-06-2016, 08:31 AM
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300magman 300magman is offline
 
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Well done, congrats!
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Old 07-08-2017, 09:41 AM
Wolfer1980 Wolfer1980 is offline
 
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Looks like a good eater. Nice work
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Old 07-09-2017, 06:31 PM
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hayseed hayseed is online now
 
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Great story and hunt!!

Thanks for sharing!!
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Old 07-09-2017, 07:59 PM
Slicktricker Slicktricker is offline
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Very good 👍🏾 nice write up congrats on a fine animal
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  #13  
Old 07-09-2017, 08:11 PM
sheerules sheerules is offline
 
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Awesome story i love reading these

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Old 07-09-2017, 09:45 PM
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sns2 sns2 is offline
 
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Great story. Loved it. Felt like I was there.
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Old 07-10-2017, 06:00 AM
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Thumbs up

Flight01's post as shown in #1 above expresses my thoughts exactly.

I'll also add that your misfortune as per school location surely was made up for with fantastic Elk luck! All the best.
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Old 07-10-2017, 12:11 PM
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ex811 ex811 is offline
 
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Nice Elk, Good Hunt, Awesome Story. Thanks.
You must be taking Journalism, it was a good read!
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  #17  
Old 07-10-2017, 12:53 PM
ryeguy21 ryeguy21 is offline
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great read but why the old necro? Threads almost a year old
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Old 07-10-2017, 09:12 PM
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marlin1 marlin1 is offline
 
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congrats on the bull last year
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Old 07-10-2017, 09:33 PM
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brendan's dad brendan's dad is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ryeguy21 View Post
great read but why the old necro? Threads almost a year old
I think someone was trying to get to 20 post, must have an item to sell.
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  #20  
Old 07-11-2017, 01:20 PM
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chaser chaser is offline
 
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Blew the dust off this one. Was surprised to see it in the news feed lol.
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  #21  
Old 07-11-2017, 08:41 PM
StillHunter1 StillHunter1 is offline
 
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Awesome account of your success! I've been getting into sheep hunting and got an elk bull 3 years ago with the bow. But have been stumped aince with no response from or sightings of elk. Hoping I can seal the deal this year as you did! Thanks for sharing.
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  #22  
Old 07-21-2017, 11:47 PM
igotamike igotamike is offline
 
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Very nice! Congrats!
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