11-18-2009, 04:57 AM
Went for elk hunting w/ my dad for my B-Day today. We drew on the late cow tag north and west of Dubois again. Spent the day checking the usual haunts after not catching them heading from the fields to the hills first thing this morning. almost called it a day at noon after seeing absolutely no sign! Really unusual for that area. We decided to stop in at a friends place in the unit and see if he had some suggestions. He pointed us back where we started but up a certain canyon in that area. Otherwise he had no clue and had heard very little of them for about 3 wks. We headed over, spotted some critters up on a hillside and decided to put a stalk on them. Easier said than done since most approaches were wide open. Finally decided on one at just before 3pm and started up. Barely got going before we spotted deer between them and us. Lots of deer! Thought I had a chance to circle and went for it and found more deer! My dad went back to the car and i went up to see if I could learn anything. A little later he signaled they were all deer! headed down figuring to call it a day. On the way out, in the wide freaking open no less, we saw 2 critters. I initially thought they were horses but stopped anyway. ELK! We got out, counted off then shot with my dads going down and mine not doing anything. I fired again and still nothing! By now I'm shaking a little so take a breath then fire again. The elk wanders off a little then stopps and turns broadside again. I fire again aiming a little lower, this time hearing a thud and it went down. We had a short search in the sage brush before we found them both about 30 yds off the road. We also found a big blood trail from where I had fired my first shots (thank god, I'm not that bad a shot!). We got them dressed, dragged and loaded into the back of my Subaru outback. Yes. you can fit 2 medium cow elk into the back of a subaru w/ the seats down (I'll include pics later). Overall, a truly great day! Pics will be posted probly tomorow or the next day.
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