MT_Nate
FNG
Chalk one up to keep a young elk hunter happy and passing on a great tradition.
My 15-year old daughter is a very determined elk hunter - she and has no problem doing whatever, whenever to get the job done. She got a cow elk the very first season she could legally hunt (youngster regulations allowing cows), and she was eternally hooked. The past two years she's been on plenty of elk but never had the right tag to close the deal - it's brow-tine only for General Elk tags in Region 1 NW Montana and she wasn't lucky enough to draw a cow tag in previous years. We were in elk nearly every day we hunted in 2012/2013, but everything was spikes, cows, and calves. Very frustrating.
The addition of true "Elk-B" licenses in Region 1 this year brought the opportunity to have both...a cow tag and a general bull tag for units other than the cow tag you draw/hold. Lo and behold, she got a Swan/Mission Mountain cow tag this year...1 of only 5 awarded. School has been tough this fall, and this past weekend was her first opportunity to really get after it. And get after it we did.
We have a honey hole that requires about 3.5 miles and 2200' of climbing to get to ~6000' elevation. Seems every time we're there in November, so are the elk. Finding mature bulls in this spot has been about a 1-in-7 occurrence, but the cows are always there, and that's the tag she knew she had to fill. Saturday brought some close opportunities, but no killing shot. Sunday brought this sizeable cow down at 100 yards at about 2pm as we rounded a ridge and found a group of 4 feeding on bunch grass beneath the snow.
Skinned and quartered the elk by 3:30 and began to make our plans for packing out. My daughter was convinced we could make the 2 trips back to the truck and be walking out with the last at the entry of darkness. I was thinking it would be nip and tuck, as we had already logged a good 7 miles already...she said "Come on Dad...you're not THAT old yet!" Gotta love it...she was actually pushing me to my limits during the pack out last night - I was hanging on by a thread. I had a large toboggan sled back at the truck that we decided we could skid all 4 quarters and the meat trim bag in one trip. We went clear down, then clear back up, loaded up and made our way down with headlamps. All went well until the entire sled cracked in half about halfway down the haul...it was ~2-4 deg F and the crappy sled couldn't handle the cold. We got 2 quarters out last night and finished the rest of the job this morning.
My success this year has been limited thus far, so definitely thankful to my daughter and Ms. Wapiti for filling our freezer this year. Also very proud and thankful that my daughter enjoys elk hunting as much as I do...what a blessing. Even better that even with the sore legs and back, she is still motivated to get a bull with her other elk tag during the 2 remaining weeks of the rifle season!
My 15-year old daughter is a very determined elk hunter - she and has no problem doing whatever, whenever to get the job done. She got a cow elk the very first season she could legally hunt (youngster regulations allowing cows), and she was eternally hooked. The past two years she's been on plenty of elk but never had the right tag to close the deal - it's brow-tine only for General Elk tags in Region 1 NW Montana and she wasn't lucky enough to draw a cow tag in previous years. We were in elk nearly every day we hunted in 2012/2013, but everything was spikes, cows, and calves. Very frustrating.
The addition of true "Elk-B" licenses in Region 1 this year brought the opportunity to have both...a cow tag and a general bull tag for units other than the cow tag you draw/hold. Lo and behold, she got a Swan/Mission Mountain cow tag this year...1 of only 5 awarded. School has been tough this fall, and this past weekend was her first opportunity to really get after it. And get after it we did.
We have a honey hole that requires about 3.5 miles and 2200' of climbing to get to ~6000' elevation. Seems every time we're there in November, so are the elk. Finding mature bulls in this spot has been about a 1-in-7 occurrence, but the cows are always there, and that's the tag she knew she had to fill. Saturday brought some close opportunities, but no killing shot. Sunday brought this sizeable cow down at 100 yards at about 2pm as we rounded a ridge and found a group of 4 feeding on bunch grass beneath the snow.
Skinned and quartered the elk by 3:30 and began to make our plans for packing out. My daughter was convinced we could make the 2 trips back to the truck and be walking out with the last at the entry of darkness. I was thinking it would be nip and tuck, as we had already logged a good 7 miles already...she said "Come on Dad...you're not THAT old yet!" Gotta love it...she was actually pushing me to my limits during the pack out last night - I was hanging on by a thread. I had a large toboggan sled back at the truck that we decided we could skid all 4 quarters and the meat trim bag in one trip. We went clear down, then clear back up, loaded up and made our way down with headlamps. All went well until the entire sled cracked in half about halfway down the haul...it was ~2-4 deg F and the crappy sled couldn't handle the cold. We got 2 quarters out last night and finished the rest of the job this morning.
My success this year has been limited thus far, so definitely thankful to my daughter and Ms. Wapiti for filling our freezer this year. Also very proud and thankful that my daughter enjoys elk hunting as much as I do...what a blessing. Even better that even with the sore legs and back, she is still motivated to get a bull with her other elk tag during the 2 remaining weeks of the rifle season!
