Two more elk hunting Videos - both Montana

[f16jack]

I just uploaded a couple more videos of Montana elk hunts I've done.

 

[Tag]

Sweet bulls man, congrats!

 

[f16jack]

Sweet bulls man, congrats!

Thanks.

 

[f16jack]

Sweet bulls man, congrats!

The double bulls in 2014 were a nice surprise. We were thinking the deer would be up there at dawn, and suddenly my buddy said "there they are." I thought he meant deer, but there were three bulls about 400 yards out in the center of the park. One was a spike, and the others 5x5's. We dropped down and lined up on the big bulls. Both of us are F-16 pilots, and we did a side/side sort of the target, one taking the North elk and the other the South. Then, just like the Seals in Capt. Phillips, we did a short count down to a double tap. One elk dropped on the spot, and the other took a 2nd bullet and went down. What a great morning.

 

[f16jack]

Sweet bulls man, congrats!

The single bull of 2015 required a bit of patience. I followed the elk around the mountain and then heard them ahead of me at the same elevation.

Suddenly, even with me on the slope and about 80 yards ahead, I heard a commotion and saw elk fur through the trees. They weren’t running, but knew something was there and they needed to move. They went uphill, and I was able to see some of them through a gap in the trees at about 100 yards. A bull entered the lane, but I noticed that he had one antler with 4 points, and the other was missing. I figured that I’d give him another year to balance out.

The elk then moved above me and then began to go downhill across the area that I had just hiked. I figured that they were gone, but then as I stared through the trees I saw what looked like elk fur. I put my rifle up and sure enough, it looked like fur – or bark, I couldn’t decide. Nope, it had to be fur. I had about a 1 to 2 inch gap between some trees to see the elk. The fur slowly took the form of a young calf. He was broadside, and I was seeing just his neck. I looked carefully at him and then noticed that a large bull was standing right behind him, staring intently at me. I could see his black nose, his chest, and his antlers that were barely visible and hard to distinguish from the trees and branches.

I held my rifle offhand for several minutes with nothing changing – a broadside calf blocking a shot and a bull that was acting like a statue. My arm began to shake and I decided that I needed to reposition. I slowly leaned backward a couple of inches and due to the thickness of the forest I was hidden from the elk. I quickly and smoothly sat down, slid off my backpack and took out my shooting sticks. I then, in a sitting position, leaned forward so that I could see the elk again. The reposition only took 5 to 10 seconds. The elk were still there, unchanged. Now, though, I was able to sit all day with my rifle supported and focused on the elk.

The calf turned his head away from me several times, and I had what appeared to be a clear shot. He hadn’t moved his body, though, and I was concerned that as I went to shoot he’d straighten back out and I’d shoot him by mistake. So I waited.

The calf eventually took a step forward (downhill), and then another. He slowly cleared from my line of sight, and the big bull was still there, having not moved a muscle for about 5 minutes. I only had about a 2 inch gap to shoot through, and only his face and front of his chest were visible. I aimed at the base of his neck and took the shot.

The bullet flew true, and the bull collapsed where he stood. Due to the steepness of the slope he rolled downhill about 15 yards before coming to a stop. As the trees were so thick I lost sight of him as he dropped, but I was sure that he had gone down.

I collected my gear and hiked over to him. His downhill roll had been stopped by his antlers, and one of them was sandwiched under his body, and the other was above. As I approached it appeared as if he had only one antler. I mused to myself: “Did I shoot old one-antler?” But no, he had two, one was just under him.

 

[Mag_7s]

Thanks for sharing your elk hunts!

 

[f16jack]

Thanks for sharing your elk hunts!

You're welcome