FINALLY got my first elk!

[bsnedeker]

Been hunting elk for 5 years total, 4 years hunting them seriously, the last two years hunting them hard since I relocated to MT. I've had opportunities during both archery season and firearms season every year and I've been consistently getting closer and closer, and I finally connected last weekend on one of my B tags in central MT on a chunk of MT state land! I've still got my general tag and a few weeks left so I still have a chance of getting a bull but I gotta say it just feels good to finally get one!

Story: I had been sitting in a glassing spot where I knew elk funneled most evenings for a few hours before I spot some walking along the next ridgeline over (a few cows, spikes, and a raghorn)...about 450 yards away in some light timber. No shot for me so I make a move to get closer and end up busting them. At this point I have about 1 hour of shooting light so I start hunting my way back towards the truck. I'm walking up to a bend in the a trail and two cows pop out in front of me and run across the trail. They turned and started walking parallel to the trail, but in my direction. I get a shot at about 80 yards and pull the trigger, see the elks back legs kick and they both run off. I head after them and I see them both standing about 100 yards from where I shot and I'm getting ready to shoot again when one of them flops over. I got excited at first...but then she got up and started walking slowly away. I trail her...GREAT blood trail for about 200 yards, where I bump her and she runs off. At this point it's almost dark so no chance of me getting another round in her so I decide to leave her for the night. Come back in the morning, keep following blood for another 400 yards and find her dead in a creek bottom. Took me about 4 hours to cut her up solo, and the rest of the day to pack her out of there (about 3 miles each way)...luckily I've got a buddy who lives a couple hours away and he came and helped with the last load.

Only bummer is one of her back hams had spoiled from leaving her overnight so I lost that entire ham (saved the shank, but that's it). I tried really hard to salvage something from that ham but it just smelled rotten all the way through. I still have a TON of meat though so I'm pretty stoked!

 

[Geewhiz]

Heck yeah man! Gives you a lot of respect for them when you see how truly tough those animals are after soaking up bullets and acting just fine.

Congratulations on a fine elk!

 

[Ucsdryder]

Good job! Was that a cow or calf? Hard to tell, but has a bit of a baby face. Leaving them overnight will almost always lead to meat loss, but sometimes it’s necessary! Keep shooting until they’re down! When she “walked off” at 100 yards if possible, I’d have put another round in her, even if it was the old ham blaster!

 

[bp702]

Well done! I am enjoying the stories, like yours, of those finally getting their first elk after multiple attempts. I head north on Saturday for my NV bull elk hunt and hope that I have a great "first elk" story to share before my season ends. Thanks for sharing and getting me amped up!

 

[bsnedeker]

Good job! Was that a cow or calf? Hard to tell, but has a bit of a baby face. Leaving them overnight will almost always lead to meat loss, but sometimes it’s necessary! Keep shooting until they’re down! When she “walked off” at 100 yards if possible, I’d have put another round in her, even if it was the old ham blaster!

She's actually a pretty good sized cow. It had the heaviest rear quarters of any of the cows I've cut up in the past few years that my buddies have gotten.

In retrospect I really should have taken the Texas heart shot that she offered me. At the time I was thinking she wasn't going to go far based on the way she flopped over that first time but yeah, that was clearly a bad decision on my part!

 

[twdjr]

Congrats!

 

[Tradchef]

Great job man......that’s always a great feeling that’s for sure.

 

[Str8shooter]

The texas heart shot is rarely a good call...you're better off moving a couple yards to the right or left to get the quartering away shot. Congrats on the first elk!

 

[bline]

Congrats!

 

[Jn78]

She's actually a pretty good sized cow. It had the heaviest rear quarters of any of the cows I've cut up in the past few years that my buddies have gotten.

In retrospect I really should have taken the Texas heart shot that she offered me. At the time I was thinking she wasn't going to go far based on the way she flopped over that first time but yeah, that was clearly a bad decision on my part!

I connected on a follow up Texas heart shot on an elk that was running away from me. Missed the bullseye by like an inch. I agree - shoot till they stay down, but the Texas heart shot makes a mess. My first shot would have killed the elk, but the followup expedited it.

 

[Elkhunter777]

Great job!

 

[Trr15]

Congrats man!

 

[jcarpenter28]

Well done

 

[bardenes]

great job! awesome!

 

[Steelruger22]

Good job man on busting your elk cherry. Got some delicious meat in the freezer. Great story too.

 

[Dos Perros]

Congratulations. Elk hunting is hard.

 

[Jauwater]

Well done, Sir! Congratulations!

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[Hungry like the Wolf]

Well Done Sir! That first elk is one you'll never forget !

 

[bobby.davidson11]

Been hunting elk for 5 years total, 4 years hunting them seriously, the last two years hunting them hard since I relocated to MT. I've had opportunities during both archery season and firearms season every year and I've been consistently getting closer and closer, and I finally connected last weekend on one of my B tags in central MT on a chunk of MT state land! I've still got my general tag and a few weeks left so I still have a chance of getting a bull but I gotta say it just feels good to finally get one!

Story: I had been sitting in a glassing spot where I knew elk funneled most evenings for a few hours before I spot some walking along the next ridgeline over (a few cows, spikes, and a raghorn)...about 450 yards away in some light timber. No shot for me so I make a move to get closer and end up busting them. At this point I have about 1 hour of shooting light so I start hunting my way back towards the truck. I'm walking up to a bend in the a trail and two cows pop out in front of me and run across the trail. They turned and started walking parallel to the trail, but in my direction. I get a shot at about 80 yards and pull the trigger, see the elks back legs kick and they both run off. I head after them and I see them both standing about 100 yards from where I shot and I'm getting ready to shoot again when one of them flops over. I got excited at first...but then she got up and started walking slowly away. I trail her...GREAT blood trail for about 200 yards, where I bump her and she runs off. At this point it's almost dark so no chance of me getting another round in her so I decide to leave her for the night. Come back in the morning, keep following blood for another 400 yards and find her dead in a creek bottom. Took me about 4 hours to cut her up solo, and the rest of the day to pack her out of there (about 3 miles each way)...luckily I've got a buddy who lives a couple hours away and he came and helped with the last load.

Only bummer is one of her back hams had spoiled from leaving her overnight so I lost that entire ham (saved the shank, but that's it). I tried really hard to salvage something from that ham but it just smelled rotten all the way through. I still have a TON of meat though so I'm pretty stoked!

Congrats!


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[roosiebull]

Been hunting elk for 5 years total, 4 years hunting them seriously, the last two years hunting them hard since I relocated to MT. I've had opportunities during both archery season and firearms season every year and I've been consistently getting closer and closer, and I finally connected last weekend on one of my B tags in central MT on a chunk of MT state land! I've still got my general tag and a few weeks left so I still have a chance of getting a bull but I gotta say it just feels good to finally get one!

Story: I had been sitting in a glassing spot where I knew elk funneled most evenings for a few hours before I spot some walking along the next ridgeline over (a few cows, spikes, and a raghorn)...about 450 yards away in some light timber. No shot for me so I make a move to get closer and end up busting them. At this point I have about 1 hour of shooting light so I start hunting my way back towards the truck. I'm walking up to a bend in the a trail and two cows pop out in front of me and run across the trail. They turned and started walking parallel to the trail, but in my direction. I get a shot at about 80 yards and pull the trigger, see the elks back legs kick and they both run off. I head after them and I see them both standing about 100 yards from where I shot and I'm getting ready to shoot again when one of them flops over. I got excited at first...but then she got up and started walking slowly away. I trail her...GREAT blood trail for about 200 yards, where I bump her and she runs off. At this point it's almost dark so no chance of me getting another round in her so I decide to leave her for the night. Come back in the morning, keep following blood for another 400 yards and find her dead in a creek bottom. Took me about 4 hours to cut her up solo, and the rest of the day to pack her out of there (about 3 miles each way)...luckily I've got a buddy who lives a couple hours away and he came and helped with the last load.

Only bummer is one of her back hams had spoiled from leaving her overnight so I lost that entire ham (saved the shank, but that's it). I tried really hard to salvage something from that ham but it just smelled rotten all the way through. I still have a TON of meat though so I'm pretty stoked!

first off, huge congrats! first elk and you were solo when it happened, i can appreciate that. i am the first hunter in my family, and had to piece things together myself... it took me 4 years to kill my first as well, but after that first one, i went 15 more in a row (last year the recurve messed that up, haha... missing 4 point blank, this year back on track with the compound) that first one is the hardest, it's the culmination of the steep learning curve, and i think this is the beginning of full freezers in your future..... i think the first one, getting the monkey off your back introduces a confidence you never had before, and that confidence is bad news for elk, and only grows.... look forward to your future recaps!

the one part of the story that raised an eyebrow a bit, and needs to be thought of is after you shot, when you saw them again, and were going to shoot again when yours fell over.... this is a mistake that repeats itself in the elk woods and can turn your excitement into a bad scenario. i assume in the heat of things you could not tell which cow was the one you had shot at, so shooting again turns into a 50-50 chance of shooting both.... when hunting cows, this only amplifies because there are often many of them. once you take a shot at a cow, you have to let time pass and let things cool down and follow up on that shot before taking another one.... elk can soak up bullets and act not hit, this is something you need to be aware of to keep you out of trouble.

never shoot again unless you KNOW it's the same elk, or you have made sure the first shot was a miss. i have heard way too many stories of people shooting 2 thinking they missed the first, only to find out they now have 2 dead elk on the ground, and only one tag.... it can make for a bad day, it happens more than you could imagine.

maybe you confirmed what elk you had shot, and if you had, i apologize, but if not, it's a common screw up elk hunting with rifles. i have seen plenty of elk not react to a perfect rifle shot, they are big animals that don't just flop over when they are shot..... it's a difficulty of cow hunting, but something you have to 100% consider shooting cows.

again, huge congrats! sorry you lost some meat, but i bet you learned more on this hunt than several others combined. when stalking elk, don't get tunnel vision, take your time and use your binos, even and especially in thicker country. it's easy to get tunnel vision on the elk you know about and get busted by elk you didn't know were there.... sometimes glassing up a patch of tan through the brush, or an ear can save your situation. i used to get tunnel vision bad, and got busted a lot.... that doesn't happen much anymore, i learned that lesson.

well done on your first elk, to many more!