Calbuck
WKR
Just got home from Area 6 mid season cow hunt. Couldn't have asked for anything better! Found a group of cows (and bulls) 20 minutes into our first glassing session, then it was pins and needles until season opened 4 days later. All the early season deer hunters had cow tags too, and they gave me fits, hiking in my canyon full of elk. Luckily for me, nobody seemed to know they were there, and come opening morning, I was hiking before the sun came up. When I topped the first ridge, I could see em up above me at around 9500 ft. I put my head down and started hiking. At about 9:30, I was in the draw where I had last seen elk. The wind had been perfect all morning, blowing in my face down-canyon. I dumped my Nomad, marked it on gps and started to try and locate my elk. I hadn't gone 60 yards when I noticed a brown spot in the brush up above me. Quick look in the scope verified a cow bedded there. I got clear of a little aspen bush, steadied, shot. Perfect base of neck shot and my first elk was mine! After hiking approx 2 miles up there, I ended up with a 135 yard shot. After boning her out, the pack out was murderous. I didn't get back to the Polaris until 4:45 that evening. Great feeling!
