missjordan
WKR
Just returned from hunting camp and this year has been a great one so far! We left October 29th with the intentions of spending two and a half weeks in the field, instead my fiance and I tagged out during the first week and got to come home Monday. Now the fun starts with getting all the animals butchered and into the freezer!
The first part of our trip we met up with some friends that made the long drive from Michigan. The four of them had been hunting all week and didn't have much luck. On their last weekend and the first day of our vacation, we hiked into a new spot to see if we could find some elk. All morning the fog would disappear and roll back in thick clouds so it made glassing difficult. Finally a few hours went by and the fog rolled out and the temperatures got really warm. Still not seeing much, we decided to split up and hike two different ridges back to the trailhead. My fiance Michael and our friend Ryan spotted some bulls in the far distance which they decided to go after and everything paid off! Both of them harvested two bulls in the group of 7 elk and we all went in the next day to pack them out. Both of us were really happy to share the whole experience with our fellow flat-landers and I'm glad that they didn't head home empty handed!
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The next day we quartered Ryan's elk out first and loaded up to make it down to Mike's elk- Mitch and Ryan are loaded up and ready to go!
Mike's bull, he expired about 100 yards down and into the draw.
Mitch, Ryan, and Mike posing over his bull
After harvesting and packing the elk out, I headed back to Butte Sunday night to work out of my employers satellite warehouse for a few days and take our elk to get into some refrigeration so he wouldn't spoil. After working for a few days, Mike had a lot of time to hunt solo filling his deer tag and also spotted a good buck for me to try and make gains on. I was excited to head back to camp Wednesday afternoon ready for some more action.
Thursday morning we headed out to spend some time glassing for the buck, We spotted him from a distance and had to make a good move to close the gap while still trying to work around his does and the terrain. Once we worked onto the ridge we last spotted the buck, he disappeared and never reappeared again for us to see.
Friday morning we were up ready again to hunt for the big buck when we were glassing and spotted a herd of 30+ elk bedded along the mountain at sunrise. When we spotted the elk Mike asked if I'd rather try to find the buck again or hunt the herd of elk. The herd had a two good bulls and we knew where they were unlike the deer, so I opted to hunt the elk instead. After watching the elk get up out of their beds, we took notes on which way they were feeding as it was going to take a lot of fast-moving effort to close the distance on them to get a shot hopefully before they moved into the timber. Once we finally started working our way around and onto the opposite ridge from where the bulls were, we still weren't fast enough and the elk had already moved into the trees. The next three hours we sat patiently on the opposite ridge and watched the elk feed and bed. The elk were around 750-900 yards bedded all over the hillside which was a comfortable distance for me to still take a shot. However with the elk bedded in the shaded timber and the sun shining directly above us, made the glare in the optics too unclear for me to feel confident about the shot. Around 11:30 the sun started to light up the hillside the elk were on which worked good in our favor. We ranged, dialed, and shot my bull at 922 yards slightly quartering away in his bed. After the shot he never stood up and just rolled into a tree and expired. The 300gr. Berger bullet performed phenomenally allowing the animal to absorb all that energy. He would be the second elk that I would get the chance to harvest.
I really can't thank Michael enough for his patience and guidance when it comes to hunting. He hunted really hard this year and had two misses on big bulls during archery season but he remains so humble, I feel very blessed to have been by his side all year for every step and I can't wait to see what next year brings us!
The first part of our trip we met up with some friends that made the long drive from Michigan. The four of them had been hunting all week and didn't have much luck. On their last weekend and the first day of our vacation, we hiked into a new spot to see if we could find some elk. All morning the fog would disappear and roll back in thick clouds so it made glassing difficult. Finally a few hours went by and the fog rolled out and the temperatures got really warm. Still not seeing much, we decided to split up and hike two different ridges back to the trailhead. My fiance Michael and our friend Ryan spotted some bulls in the far distance which they decided to go after and everything paid off! Both of them harvested two bulls in the group of 7 elk and we all went in the next day to pack them out. Both of us were really happy to share the whole experience with our fellow flat-landers and I'm glad that they didn't head home empty handed!
[URL=http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/kitscharging/media/IMG_0649_zpsch2sa5tu.jpg.html]
[/URL]The next day we quartered Ryan's elk out first and loaded up to make it down to Mike's elk- Mitch and Ryan are loaded up and ready to go!
Mike's bull, he expired about 100 yards down and into the draw.
Mitch, Ryan, and Mike posing over his bull
After harvesting and packing the elk out, I headed back to Butte Sunday night to work out of my employers satellite warehouse for a few days and take our elk to get into some refrigeration so he wouldn't spoil. After working for a few days, Mike had a lot of time to hunt solo filling his deer tag and also spotted a good buck for me to try and make gains on. I was excited to head back to camp Wednesday afternoon ready for some more action.
Thursday morning we headed out to spend some time glassing for the buck, We spotted him from a distance and had to make a good move to close the gap while still trying to work around his does and the terrain. Once we worked onto the ridge we last spotted the buck, he disappeared and never reappeared again for us to see.
Friday morning we were up ready again to hunt for the big buck when we were glassing and spotted a herd of 30+ elk bedded along the mountain at sunrise. When we spotted the elk Mike asked if I'd rather try to find the buck again or hunt the herd of elk. The herd had a two good bulls and we knew where they were unlike the deer, so I opted to hunt the elk instead. After watching the elk get up out of their beds, we took notes on which way they were feeding as it was going to take a lot of fast-moving effort to close the distance on them to get a shot hopefully before they moved into the timber. Once we finally started working our way around and onto the opposite ridge from where the bulls were, we still weren't fast enough and the elk had already moved into the trees. The next three hours we sat patiently on the opposite ridge and watched the elk feed and bed. The elk were around 750-900 yards bedded all over the hillside which was a comfortable distance for me to still take a shot. However with the elk bedded in the shaded timber and the sun shining directly above us, made the glare in the optics too unclear for me to feel confident about the shot. Around 11:30 the sun started to light up the hillside the elk were on which worked good in our favor. We ranged, dialed, and shot my bull at 922 yards slightly quartering away in his bed. After the shot he never stood up and just rolled into a tree and expired. The 300gr. Berger bullet performed phenomenally allowing the animal to absorb all that energy. He would be the second elk that I would get the chance to harvest.
I really can't thank Michael enough for his patience and guidance when it comes to hunting. He hunted really hard this year and had two misses on big bulls during archery season but he remains so humble, I feel very blessed to have been by his side all year for every step and I can't wait to see what next year brings us!
