ZachP
FNG
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2019
- Messages
- 15
Elk are historically native to Virginia but went extinct in the late 1800s. Virginia began reintroducing Elk in 2012 and held its first Elk Hunt in 2022, raising over $600,000 that goes back into wildlife management in the area. This year was the 3rd annual hunt and I was lucky to draw 1 of 6 total tags, out of 30,000+ applications.
The hunt is hosted at Southern Gap Outdoor Adventures in Buchanan County. We arrived on a Wednesday evening to make camp, and woke up early Thursday to scout prior to the Saturday opener. We had barely left the campground before coming across our first elk herd, roughly 30 cows, several bulls, and a massive 8x9 bull leading them. This was at one of the observation areas that was not huntable, but started the trip on a high note nonetheless.
Each hunter is assigned their own area, and we spent the mid-day scouting mine. The landscape is a mix of flat plateaus and steep ravines, resulting from reclaiming strip mines with native habitat, and managing for elk and other wildlife. We came across plenty of fresh sign, saw elk, deer, and turkey, and checked cameras I had dropped on a previous trip.
Thursday evening the VA Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) held a dinner for the hunting parties, landowners, and volunteers. We got to meet a lot of the faces that I had been in contact with leading up to the hunt, and hear all about the success of the reintroduction program.
Friday morning, we scouted again and then rode the Spearhead Trail system for most of the day, similar to Hatfield McCoy trails. From the Spearhead trails we were able to visit the town of Grundy for lunch via UTV.
In the evening we set up to glass and located a beautiful 7x7 bull who was bedded just outside our unit, and at last light he got up, tore up some trees, and made his way into the middle of the hunt unit.
The hunt kicked off Saturday morning. Excited to have a good bull located in our unit, we started the morning on foot where we saw him last. Shortly after sunrise, we spotted two smaller bulls across the highway, and then heard a strong bugle from behind them, indicating a larger bull. We cow called and bugled back, and a beautiful 6x6 stormed across the highway, bringing his cows and the small bulls with him. It was not the 7x7 we had seen, but he was equally impressive.
Though he did not go the direction we were set up for, I caught up with him in the next field. He ran circles while chasing the smaller bulls away from his cows, and did not present a safe shot opportunity. We followed him a mile or so and had several encounters with smaller bulls along the way. That morning he made it to the timber and bedded down as the day got hotter. We ran back to camp for lunch and to see the first bulls making it into the check station before returning to the hunt unit later in the afternoon.
Upon arriving in the afternoon, we set up on a hill with a view of the timber and began cow calling. A bull answered with a bugle shortly after. For the next hour we talked back and forth with him, before a younger 6x6 came out of the timber at 80 yds. He hung out for 10 minutes, until we heard another bugle in the distance and he snuck back into the woods.
We set off down the trail towards the new bugle, and a few hundred yards down hit the cow call. Immediately, a bull let out the most aggressive bugle we heard on the trip, on a ridge 50 yds above us. Knowing it had to be the herd bull, and the ridge being too steep for a direct route, we immediately turned around to circle back and use the trail to get around him. We arrived at our vantage point right as his cows started filtering out to feed around 5pm, and roughly 10 minutes later we spotted the herd bull in thick brush.
It took 5 to 10 minutes for him to present a clear shot and at 215 yds I was successful, shooting from a tripod to clear the tall grass. While we were on the ground hunting, others in our group were watching and listening to the hunt unfold from a glassing point just outside the unit, and could hear us celebrate. We waited for everyone to make it before approaching, and the hunt was concluded with the same bull from the morning encounter, weighing 777 pounds, earning the nickname Triple 7. He scored 309" even with shorter point length, likely due to 48" main beams and 44" inside spread.
VA DWR, volunteers, and landowners came out to help with the recovery. It is hard to describe how amazing the community is in SWVA and their passion around the Elk reintroduction, highlighted by the crowd awaiting our return to the check station. I’m incredibly thankful to VA DWR, Southern Gap Outdoor Adventures, SWVA Sportsmen, Robinson Taxidermy, and all the landowners, volunteers, friends and family that made this hunt possible. Whether you have an Elk tag or not, Buchanan County and the reintroduction area are a must visit!
The hunt is hosted at Southern Gap Outdoor Adventures in Buchanan County. We arrived on a Wednesday evening to make camp, and woke up early Thursday to scout prior to the Saturday opener. We had barely left the campground before coming across our first elk herd, roughly 30 cows, several bulls, and a massive 8x9 bull leading them. This was at one of the observation areas that was not huntable, but started the trip on a high note nonetheless.
Each hunter is assigned their own area, and we spent the mid-day scouting mine. The landscape is a mix of flat plateaus and steep ravines, resulting from reclaiming strip mines with native habitat, and managing for elk and other wildlife. We came across plenty of fresh sign, saw elk, deer, and turkey, and checked cameras I had dropped on a previous trip.
Thursday evening the VA Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) held a dinner for the hunting parties, landowners, and volunteers. We got to meet a lot of the faces that I had been in contact with leading up to the hunt, and hear all about the success of the reintroduction program.
Friday morning, we scouted again and then rode the Spearhead Trail system for most of the day, similar to Hatfield McCoy trails. From the Spearhead trails we were able to visit the town of Grundy for lunch via UTV.
In the evening we set up to glass and located a beautiful 7x7 bull who was bedded just outside our unit, and at last light he got up, tore up some trees, and made his way into the middle of the hunt unit.
The hunt kicked off Saturday morning. Excited to have a good bull located in our unit, we started the morning on foot where we saw him last. Shortly after sunrise, we spotted two smaller bulls across the highway, and then heard a strong bugle from behind them, indicating a larger bull. We cow called and bugled back, and a beautiful 6x6 stormed across the highway, bringing his cows and the small bulls with him. It was not the 7x7 we had seen, but he was equally impressive.
Though he did not go the direction we were set up for, I caught up with him in the next field. He ran circles while chasing the smaller bulls away from his cows, and did not present a safe shot opportunity. We followed him a mile or so and had several encounters with smaller bulls along the way. That morning he made it to the timber and bedded down as the day got hotter. We ran back to camp for lunch and to see the first bulls making it into the check station before returning to the hunt unit later in the afternoon.
Upon arriving in the afternoon, we set up on a hill with a view of the timber and began cow calling. A bull answered with a bugle shortly after. For the next hour we talked back and forth with him, before a younger 6x6 came out of the timber at 80 yds. He hung out for 10 minutes, until we heard another bugle in the distance and he snuck back into the woods.
We set off down the trail towards the new bugle, and a few hundred yards down hit the cow call. Immediately, a bull let out the most aggressive bugle we heard on the trip, on a ridge 50 yds above us. Knowing it had to be the herd bull, and the ridge being too steep for a direct route, we immediately turned around to circle back and use the trail to get around him. We arrived at our vantage point right as his cows started filtering out to feed around 5pm, and roughly 10 minutes later we spotted the herd bull in thick brush.
It took 5 to 10 minutes for him to present a clear shot and at 215 yds I was successful, shooting from a tripod to clear the tall grass. While we were on the ground hunting, others in our group were watching and listening to the hunt unfold from a glassing point just outside the unit, and could hear us celebrate. We waited for everyone to make it before approaching, and the hunt was concluded with the same bull from the morning encounter, weighing 777 pounds, earning the nickname Triple 7. He scored 309" even with shorter point length, likely due to 48" main beams and 44" inside spread.
VA DWR, volunteers, and landowners came out to help with the recovery. It is hard to describe how amazing the community is in SWVA and their passion around the Elk reintroduction, highlighted by the crowd awaiting our return to the check station. I’m incredibly thankful to VA DWR, Southern Gap Outdoor Adventures, SWVA Sportsmen, Robinson Taxidermy, and all the landowners, volunteers, friends and family that made this hunt possible. Whether you have an Elk tag or not, Buchanan County and the reintroduction area are a must visit!
