Scotty and his friend were already there when we arrived, and had immediately picked up two cow elk wandering around and feeding on juniper berries a little over a mile to our north high up on the mountain we had hiked that morning, but about a quarter mile to the west of where we had been.
Good news-except, where was the rest of the herd?
The four of us spent some time trying to find the rest of the elk, but we couldn’t see any except those two. Finding the rest of the herd was import to plan a stalk so as not to blunder into them and spook them all and blow the hunt again.
After about 20 minutes and no sign of other animals on the hill, we made the decision to plan a stalk and get on with it before we ran out of daylight.
We had a 2-3 mile drive to a known insertion point, then a hike of about a quarter to a half mile to get to a shooting position. But that short hike was straight up the side of a steep, rocky hill, with the last several hundred yards needing extra care to spot the animals before they spotted us, and was not going to be quick or easy.
I did some mental math, judging time, distance and the suns current position. It was going to be close on time for us to get where we needed to be and set up a shot, real close.
Again, nothing to it but to do it, so we said goodbye to Scotty and hustled the Mud Taxi towards a faint trail we knew of at the other end of the tree cut at the base of the hill we needed to climb.
Once there, we bailed out, grabbed our packs, rifle and other gear and started a brisk walk up the hill.
The hill got steeper and rockier as we got closer, and progress was slow and noisy, with us having to stop every couple minutes to catch our breath.
The sun was headed towards the horizon in the west at a rapid pace, and I knew we were razor thin on time. The pressure was on, the adrenaline was up, and we were winded and shaky-but the view, as usual, was worth the price of admission no matter what the outcome of this stalk.
We pushed on, and about the time I figured we needed to start slowing down and trying to locate the animals before we spooked them, the trees 30 yards ahead of us exploded in sudden movement and the sound of hooves running away.
Dammit!
We spooked animals!
Now the question was, was this this missing herd members, and did the two were stalking-who I was sure were still at least 500 yards further along and in a different direction-also cut and run?
Only one way to find out, so we cautiously pushed on.
Another 50 yards and again frantic hoof beats sounded just ahead of us-only this time I got a glimpse of one of the animals and it was a deer-so maybe the other animals that took off were also deer. 🤷♂️
Finally, after another agonizingly long 20 minutes or so, we spotted our quarry right about where we had expected them to be!
Yes!
There was good cover to push closer to a good shooting position, so we snaked our way through the trees and finally popped out on a nice brush-screened ledge with a decent view of the pair of feeding elk.
Perfect!
Except now adrenaline and nerves really set in, and Denise and I struggled to keep our shit together and set everything up properly. 😄😄
We are still pretty new to hunting, and none of this comes second nature to us.
I got the gun tripod set up and turned it over to Denise to put the rifle in while I got down to getting range and wind information collected and into the ballistics app. 336 yards, slightly uphill, zero wind. Excellent!
I fumbled the data into the app with shaky hands I would love to tell you was just from the exertion of the hike, while Denise was having similar struggles with the rifle and tripod. We finally got our shit together and set up. I dialed in the scope and double checked everything, and Denise knelt down to get on the rifle-sticking her knee right into a small cactus neither one of us saw and getting a knee full of thorns for her efforts. 🙄
Now, we gazed upon the perfect shot: easy distance, steady rifle, feeding elk standing in a clearing perfectly broadside to us with their heads up, like they were posing for the shot.
There was just one problem-both animals were in the same position, but practically touching each other and stacked up perfectly. To shoot one was to for sure shoot both of them, and while it’d be cool as all hell to be able to kill two elk with one shot ( I have zero doubts that the 300RUM would have more than enough power to do it based on previous observations), we only have one elk tag, and Game and Fish frowns upon harvesting animals without the proper tag.
Shit!
So we waited for one of the animals to move so we could get a clean shot while the sun dropped and time ran away. It seemed like forever before one of them finally moved, and when one did, both did, and they slipped behind some trees and started walking East.
Crap!
They kept moving, and we were forced to move our shooting position twice while trying to keep them in sight but not be seen by them.
Our nerves were shot and the fading light had only a few minutes left of legal shooting time when the two elk finally separated and stopped enough for the shot.
“Which one?” Denise whispered shakily.
I had been watching the two animals intently through my binos and had determined which one was in a better position, “ Take the one higher up.”
“Copy that” She said
And a second later “Going hot”.
“It’s all yours. Take your time “ I whispered, while inside my mind was screaming “HURRY! HURRRRRY!!!”😄😄
The next few seconds stretched into forever, and when she finally lit off the gun, the reduced sound of the shot through the silencer was a welcome sound, and I managed to not jump out of my skin and I kept my glass on the target.
Both elk jumped and ran, and I could hear Denise run the bolt next to me, chambering a fresh round.
“Where did it go?!” She half whispered, half yelled, trying to get back on target after the recoil.
I wasn’t letting the target out of my sight-or at least I was trying not to-her animal had bolted east and disappeared behind a tree about 30 yards from where Denise shot at it; the other I could see out of the corner of my eye still heading east.
Did the target elk escape?
Was it even hit?
Or had it been a good shot and had it collapsed behind that tree?
We got the rifle on that tree and we both watched for several minutes to make sure, but nothing moved, so we packed up and began the 336 yard hike to inspect what we hoped was a down and cleanly killed elk.
Except that hike was more like 600 yards because it turns out we had to hike straight down, then straight up an unseen ravine to get there. 😄😄😬
With the last of the light from the day, we found the elk right where I’d lost sight of her. She was dead on impact, but just didn’t know it.
It’s always a sorta bittersweet moment for me when we get to this point. Victory. Meat in the freezer. Elation. But we also love animals, and a part of me is always a little sad. We take a moment, touch this great animal, thankful, respectful, there’s a few quiet moments…
Then we had to get to work field dressing the animal, which I had never done myself before, so I had to call Scotty for some pointers.
And at this point, the story of our hunt should be over, but it turns out there’s one more chapter…