I Passed up the opportunity to shoot a nice bull elk yesterday morning at my house.

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Is it even legal to hunt at 3:30 am?

Not sure why you asked that question but it's certainly not legal to hunt game animals in MT at 3:30am. Legal hunting starts 30 minutes before sunrise and ends 30 minutes after sunset.

So why pass up an easy shot?

I think I've made the point more than a few times in this thread as to why I didn't shoot a bull from my front door. It's not that complicated.


In that scenario, you've had a nice hike, if you like hiking, but a failed hunt. As far as doing something, I have enough of that between work and family responsibilities.

I looked for those elk again this past Friday hiking 7.0 miles up and back to a really good lookout point but it was very windy so didn't get to see an elk, just a few does. I did spook a bull (based on sound of small branches breaking) less than a mile from the house on my way back down in the dark. So from your perspective another failed hunt but last week's effort worked out well for a coworker. I spent Saturday and Sunday doing numerous projects around the property including moving and splitting firewood, grading the driveway, cutting a new access road to the barn, framing the barn for a door etc., so you're not the only one with limited time to hunt. I have a job too and with the SHOT Show fast approaching I have plenty to take care of at work as well.

Here are some photos from last Friday. It was a tough day with a frozen crust on top of 12" of snow and it got old having my trailing foot being constantly grabbed by that icy layer. The howling winds kept the elk bedded down assuming that they were even in the area, but I'll be back out this week hoping for another chance before our season ends on Sunday.

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I don't know what planet you are on. I feed 120 head all summer. When season comes its time for revenge for destroyed bales, destroyed fences, and mutilated newly planted fields. I have killed them out of the bedroom window in my underwear. One year off the balcony. One year out of the barn while I was loading horses to go hunting. Yard elk just means I get to fetch them with the tractor. All is fair in a war. The goal for me is enough elk in the freezer to last till next year. There is no room for emotion.
 
I don't know what planet you are on. I feed 120 head all summer. When season comes its time for revenge for destroyed bales, destroyed fences, and mutilated newly planted fields. I have killed them out of the bedroom window in my underwear. One year off the balcony. One year out of the barn while I was loading horses to go hunting. Yard elk just means I get to fetch them with the tractor. All is fair in a war. The goal for me is enough elk in the freezer to last till next year. There is no room for emotion.

And I bet they taste the same as the ones people walk 8 miles for.
 
I'd have shot it, but my situation is a little different, I have to drive 3 hours to get to my elk hunting spot. I spent, I think 4 weekends and a week hunting elk this year, saw tons of bulls, but only a few cows, and didn't get a shot on those. I really enjoy it, but there is definitely a cost in terms of equipment, gas and time away from family, at some point not seeing anything shootable starts to wear on you. I went out two days ago and spotted a herd on a hillside about a mile away and started my approach. I was tired of striking out and got a bit carried away, hiking a 5 mile loop to sneak up on them from the only angle where they didn't have full visibility. When I finally pulled the trigger on a cow I figured I was about 2 miles from the truck, not great but doable by myself. Wrong... I was 4.1 miles from the truck and by the time I finished quartering and skinning, had about 2.5 hours of daylight left.

I wound up stashing the quarters in a tree and coming back the next day (yesterday) with a hell of a friend and his cart. The pack out was pretty excruciating, and I don't feel the extra effort added anything to my kill, just the product of a sub-optimal choice on my part, the meat will taste the same regardless.

So if it was me that saw that bull the other day with basically no pack out needed, I'd have shot it because I know that, for me a chance like that would be a fluke, and next time, most likely, I'd be stuck packing quarters out all over hell and creation.

On a related note, I really regret passing up a 250yd chip shot on a decent bull I saw three years ago. At the time I was new to elk hunting, was expected back at home (no cell service) and thought I'd probably see more the next week, or at worst the next year..... Didn't see any more that season and haven't drawn another bull tag since!

Good luck finding the elk you want this year, just saying though, if you find another good bull less than a mile from the house.....

Edited to add a few token pics.
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View from where I shot
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Road out of Dodge
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The pack out was pretty excruciating, and I don't feel the extra effort added anything to my kill, just the product of a sub-optimal choice on my part, the meat will taste the same regardless.

Hopefully, but not always on a long pack out or if having to leave the meat overnight.
 
Yep, in this case though, it was down in the mid-thirties with twenty to thirty mph winds all night. All the quarters were skinned and in game bags up in a tree and were quite chilly when I got back to them. It could definitely have been a different story earlier in the season though.
 
@Gtscotty, congrats on the cow and thanks for sharing your story and being honest about what you would do and why. Great country there and a very nice rifle by the way! :) At this point I've put in close to 20 miles in tough conditions but I still have no regrets. I'm back up there tomorrow and possibly Sunday which is our last day for hunting. It's been really windy recently and has warmed up so not great for elk hunting.

@Snowbank! , your post gave me a good laugh. Maybe that wasn't your intention but I found it quite humorous. I know a few farmers down in the Belt area that share your contempt for the elk that get into their haystacks but I don't have that problem so my thought process is different than yours (and theirs). A reasonable person should be able to understand that.
 
congrats on the cow and thanks for sharing your story and being honest about what you would do and why. Great country there and a very nice rifle by the way! :) At this point I've put in close to 20 miles in tough conditions but I still have no regrets. I'm back up there tomorrow and possibly Sunday which is our last day for hunting. It's been really windy recently and has warmed up so not great for elk hunting.

Thanks! I was quite pleased with how the 6.5 Montana did on my cow. One 140gr Accubond at 140yds, clipped the lower scapula going in, took out ~2.5" of onside rib, deflated the lungs and exited. She trotted about 30yds and tipped over.

Any luck finding your bull over the last few days?
 
Any luck finding your bull over the last few days?

@Gtscotty , I ended up hiking just shy of 30 miles over 4 days and didn't even see another elk, just a few does. I think they moved up to higher ground the weekend a coworker shot a bull. Ironically I suppose, on the way back to the house on Saturday evening I passed by a nice maple tree that I'd planted a couple of years ago and noticed a branch missing and some significant damage to the bark one side of the tree where a bull had been raking. Now it's personal! :p

The MT season is officially over so here's the bull a coworker shot less than 2 miles from the house just a couple of days after there were 30 or so elk in the yard. He shot this one at 525 yards or thereabouts using a .280 AI. I wonder if he'll give me a steak or two ... somehow I doubt it.

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MCMXI,

If It doesn’t feel right, then it’s not right. I completely understand and respect your sentiments.

I couldn’t shoot something that hung out in my back yard either. There’s a difference between hunting and killing and that would feel more like the latter to me
 
@Nature Boy , thanks for your comments. There are many ways to look at a situation and I feel good about the effort I've put in this year elk hunting. I also feel good about giving those bulls a free pass and I'm looking forward to putting in even more effort next year.
 
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