- Joined
- Jan 28, 2003
- Messages
- 13,341
My wife, Kim shot her first mule deer this season. The event lit a fire in her, she is all of a sudden wanting to hunt as much as possible. We both have elk tags in an extended season here in Colorado. I have been trying as hard as possible to get her an elk this season. Honestly for me, this is one of the most important hunts to me that I’ve ever done. I am extremely excited to get Kim her first elk.
We hunted for five days and saw not one single elk in the in late November and early December. Needless to say I was feeling a bit glum. We were however having a great time in the outdoors. We made the best of it. I made sure and turned our long hikes with rifles into an adventure, getting some technical bouldering and minor rock climbing in served to keep the days interesting. We spotted several world class mule deer bucks as we happened to be hunting in a fantastic mule deer unit during the rut. And of course neither of us have mule deer tags. But just seeing them was exciting. Kim would ask me, if we were hunting that buck how would we get within range? We’d sit and plan out a detailed fantasy stalk and talk about the shot distance, the angle, where you’d want to hold and possible field shooting positions that we might encounter. Then we’d practice getting into those positions to see how steady they’d be if we were to actually get a shot. These practice sessions turned out to be educational for both of us. For her, she learned new ways of steadying a rifle In the field and for me I figured out what was going to work for her.
Last week we had a one day window to hunt, after work we packed up and drove down to our unit and got there at about midnight. It was a cold, dark, snowy, evening, perfect elk hunting weather for the first time this year. After a short 5 hours we back were in the truck and headed into some canyons and breaks that looked interesting on the map. We spent the early part of the morning making several short hikes to glass. Without any luck we moved further into the unit and were sitting in the truck when we spotted a big herd of mule deer with a decent buck attending them. I start scanning the deer then the tree lines and breaks off in the distance When I saw one spec of color that stuck out. As I focused in on that dark sorel colored spot it moved into the open. Standing there at about 1.5 miles away is a big, old, dry, cow elk. Exactly what we are looking for.
I casually mention to Kim that “I see your elk, do want to go get her?” Where? She says, excitement growing in her voice, I point it out but by the time she gets zeroed in on the exact location the cow has disappeared into the tree line. I mention to her that at this time of the day and by the way she was moving that cow would most likely find a good vantage point and bed down just inside the tree line for the late morning. We grab packs and a rifle and head out. I can sense that Kim has her doubts about this phantom elk that she didn’t get to see.
The wind was perfect, so I had us stay low in a draw until we got to some heavy cover then used that to side hill. After about twenty minutes we were getting close to the area where I had seen the cow. I slowed down our pace and started carefully glassing the opposite side of the draw where the cow had disappeared. After several minutes I spotted a strip of her tawny, sorel hide, I turn to Kim and whisper, “I got her”, I pushed the range button on my binos and the laser read 468 yards. Kim is getting excited, after a short explanation she was able to pick up the cow in her binos and I can could sense her energy level ratchet up.
I explain that we are to far and we need to try and get closer. We dropped down into some juniper trees and were able to close to 376 yards. Still further than I like but, at that spot we can’t get a shot as her vitals are covered by brush. We moved back up the hill and were able to get our one and only clear view of her at 423 yards. Further than I’d like, but Kim has proven a capable shot past 500 yards so we decide to set up for a possible shot. Kim puts down her bi pod legs and I place my pack under her rifle. She has a rock steady rest. The cow is laying down sunning herself and through my binos I can see that there are a few sticks covering her shoulder/vital area. Not enough to completely cover them but enough that the chances of hitting a stick and causing a deflection are just too great. I tell Kim we are just going to have to wait for the cow to stand up.
We laid there in the snow for almost an hour and besides the occasional ear flick the cow never moved. We were getting cold and stiff, Kim asked “do you think we can move and get a better shot?” Against my better judgement I agreed to try. I had been looking the area over and there was one spot to our right that looked like it might give us a better vantage point and close the distance by about 60 or 70 yards. We started crawling over to the spot. As I glance over at the cow I can tell she’s starting to get agitated, we were busted! We immediately stop and I have Kim set up her rifle. Just as she gets ready the cow stands, takes one look in our direction and disappears into the trees.
My elation at being the worlds best husband, elk guide, elk spotter and elk stalker, immediately fades to the dark realization that I just screwed up big time. And I’ve got to tell you, in the moment, it really hurt! We should have simply stayed where we were and waited for that cow to stand up and start milling around as she surely would have at some point. But I got impatient and tried to push the situation.
We tracked the elk for about a mile then gave it up. That wise old cow would make about four hundred yards ahead of us then wait in the nastiest darkest timber that she could find and when she heard us would dash to the next chunk of impenetrable timber and wait. The evidence of her ability to ditch a hunter was clearly laid out by her tracks in the snow. I’ve played this game with wapiti before and it’s an almost impossible scenario to win. So we called it off and headed back to the truck.
I got to relearn about patience, Kim got to see her first wild elk through her scope with a tag in her pocket. We are excited to hunt again next week!
We hunted for five days and saw not one single elk in the in late November and early December. Needless to say I was feeling a bit glum. We were however having a great time in the outdoors. We made the best of it. I made sure and turned our long hikes with rifles into an adventure, getting some technical bouldering and minor rock climbing in served to keep the days interesting. We spotted several world class mule deer bucks as we happened to be hunting in a fantastic mule deer unit during the rut. And of course neither of us have mule deer tags. But just seeing them was exciting. Kim would ask me, if we were hunting that buck how would we get within range? We’d sit and plan out a detailed fantasy stalk and talk about the shot distance, the angle, where you’d want to hold and possible field shooting positions that we might encounter. Then we’d practice getting into those positions to see how steady they’d be if we were to actually get a shot. These practice sessions turned out to be educational for both of us. For her, she learned new ways of steadying a rifle In the field and for me I figured out what was going to work for her.
Last week we had a one day window to hunt, after work we packed up and drove down to our unit and got there at about midnight. It was a cold, dark, snowy, evening, perfect elk hunting weather for the first time this year. After a short 5 hours we back were in the truck and headed into some canyons and breaks that looked interesting on the map. We spent the early part of the morning making several short hikes to glass. Without any luck we moved further into the unit and were sitting in the truck when we spotted a big herd of mule deer with a decent buck attending them. I start scanning the deer then the tree lines and breaks off in the distance When I saw one spec of color that stuck out. As I focused in on that dark sorel colored spot it moved into the open. Standing there at about 1.5 miles away is a big, old, dry, cow elk. Exactly what we are looking for.
I casually mention to Kim that “I see your elk, do want to go get her?” Where? She says, excitement growing in her voice, I point it out but by the time she gets zeroed in on the exact location the cow has disappeared into the tree line. I mention to her that at this time of the day and by the way she was moving that cow would most likely find a good vantage point and bed down just inside the tree line for the late morning. We grab packs and a rifle and head out. I can sense that Kim has her doubts about this phantom elk that she didn’t get to see.
The wind was perfect, so I had us stay low in a draw until we got to some heavy cover then used that to side hill. After about twenty minutes we were getting close to the area where I had seen the cow. I slowed down our pace and started carefully glassing the opposite side of the draw where the cow had disappeared. After several minutes I spotted a strip of her tawny, sorel hide, I turn to Kim and whisper, “I got her”, I pushed the range button on my binos and the laser read 468 yards. Kim is getting excited, after a short explanation she was able to pick up the cow in her binos and I can could sense her energy level ratchet up.
I explain that we are to far and we need to try and get closer. We dropped down into some juniper trees and were able to close to 376 yards. Still further than I like but, at that spot we can’t get a shot as her vitals are covered by brush. We moved back up the hill and were able to get our one and only clear view of her at 423 yards. Further than I’d like, but Kim has proven a capable shot past 500 yards so we decide to set up for a possible shot. Kim puts down her bi pod legs and I place my pack under her rifle. She has a rock steady rest. The cow is laying down sunning herself and through my binos I can see that there are a few sticks covering her shoulder/vital area. Not enough to completely cover them but enough that the chances of hitting a stick and causing a deflection are just too great. I tell Kim we are just going to have to wait for the cow to stand up.
We laid there in the snow for almost an hour and besides the occasional ear flick the cow never moved. We were getting cold and stiff, Kim asked “do you think we can move and get a better shot?” Against my better judgement I agreed to try. I had been looking the area over and there was one spot to our right that looked like it might give us a better vantage point and close the distance by about 60 or 70 yards. We started crawling over to the spot. As I glance over at the cow I can tell she’s starting to get agitated, we were busted! We immediately stop and I have Kim set up her rifle. Just as she gets ready the cow stands, takes one look in our direction and disappears into the trees.
My elation at being the worlds best husband, elk guide, elk spotter and elk stalker, immediately fades to the dark realization that I just screwed up big time. And I’ve got to tell you, in the moment, it really hurt! We should have simply stayed where we were and waited for that cow to stand up and start milling around as she surely would have at some point. But I got impatient and tried to push the situation.
We tracked the elk for about a mile then gave it up. That wise old cow would make about four hundred yards ahead of us then wait in the nastiest darkest timber that she could find and when she heard us would dash to the next chunk of impenetrable timber and wait. The evidence of her ability to ditch a hunter was clearly laid out by her tracks in the snow. I’ve played this game with wapiti before and it’s an almost impossible scenario to win. So we called it off and headed back to the truck.
I got to relearn about patience, Kim got to see her first wild elk through her scope with a tag in her pocket. We are excited to hunt again next week!
Last edited:
