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- Jan 28, 2003
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My daughter Tori turned 12 this summer. She also took her hunters safety course. Since the day that she passed her test she’s been asking if she could come elk hunting with me this year. I decided to do one better . After several phone calls I was graciously granted permission for Tori to hunt a cow elk on an absolutely gorgeous private ranch in central Colorado. The land owner generally charges big money to allow hunters a chance at trophy elk on his property. When he found out that this was for a little girl on her first hunt he granted permission with the following caveats. One that he gets a picture and a story of Tori and her elk and that she writes him a letter explaining why hunting is good for environment and what she is going to do to become a better hunter and conservationist as she grows up. And that we have to keep the name of the ranch and land owner a secret. I would be especially grateful of if you’d please keep the last request in mind when posting .
The hunt took two days in total on the first day we were treated to this beautiful herd of bighorn sheep while glassing for elk. We watched them for about an hour or so until they peacefully grazed over the ridge line and out of sight. What a way to start out an elk hunt!
On day one we spotted several herds of elk but we were unable to get within our self imposed shooting limit of 150 yards or less. We once got to within 189 yards of a nice fat young cow but I wouldn’t let Tori shoot. A limit is a limit and I was being ultra conservative for two reasons. I wanted Tori’s first experience on elk to be a positive one. I was really trying to make sure we didn’t have a an episode with a wounded elk on this ranch given the special circumstances of us being one of the few people ever granted permission to hunt this place gratis. I was really not wanting to have to explain a three legged elk to the landowner!
Tori was disappointed and bit upset that I didn’t let her shoot. I explained it all to her and she seemed satisfied but not happy with my answer. She knew she could have made the shot and that is good ,but for now we weren’t taking any chances.
The second day of the hunt we drove for 30 or 40 minutes before spotting a huge herd out in the middle of an open meadow. I tried to sneak Tori around down wind and crawl into some rocks and brush within shooting distance but we got busted early on and the herd made way for the hills and trees on the north side of the meadow. We decided not to push them but rather to drive around to the north side of the ranch in the direction that the elk were heading I figured that they’d settle down once they got into thick timber.
After parking the truck we started easing into the wind and working up a series of ridgelines glassing every time we had a vantage of the bottoms and the opposite slopes . About three ridges into it and just as we were getting ready to crest I spotted a white rump between two trees about 400 yards distant on the opposite ridge. We immediately dropped and belly crawled the rest of the way up to the crest of the ridge. As we crested we were surprised to see a nice bull with 5 fat cows not 80 yards below us. I unfolded the bipod on Tori’s M-70 .308 Win and she settled into the scope. I told her to shoot one of the cows when she felt comfortable. The elk were moving to our right and as I was below Tori as they moved they went out of my line of sight. I had to wait without seeing the elk so instead I watched Tori. She waited for what seemed an eternity I didn’t dare move up to see the elk as we were in the wide open. As I watched Tori she was slowly tracking the elk in the scope moving the rifle slowly to the right. She calmly flipped the safety off took in a breath let it half way out and started to take up pressure on the trigger. At that moment it occurred to me that it took me years and dozens of blown shot before I got this calm and this in control. The kid is a natural. My thoughts were interrupted by the muzzle blast as I watched Tori gently rock back in recoil and slap another round in the chamber. She stayed in the scope and tracked the elk to the left she then flipped the safety on and looked over at me with a confident grin.
She said that she thought the shot had been good. I stood with her and we waited for a tell tale sign. Several seconds later we got it. From the bottom of the draw we heard a soft cough then another and another even more severe this time. We waited a bit before starting down the slope to retrieve the cow. We went to the place where the elk was standing at the time of the shot and didn’t find any blood. We started towards where we heard the coughing , it wasn’t long before the drama of the day happened.
As we started down hill and just as we entered the timber the cow not 15 yards from us jumped up and lunged in to the thick brush she was out of sight before either of use could react. We found her bed and in it was a copious amount of frothy red lung blood. I turned to Tori and commented that now would be a good time to break out those tracking skills. The trail was not difficult to follow but it took some concentration and some back trailing as we lost the blood trail several times in the thick pine needles that covered the forest floor. After 20 minutes of dogging the track I heard a elk cow calling. I spotted her as she was again softly calling and looking down the hill from where she was standing. I motioned Tori to leave the trail and come up the where I was. I had a suspicion that the lead cow was calling to the wounded straggler. As I was standing listening and watching Tori tugged at my sleeve and pointed down right next to me was a still wet, bright red pool of blood about 8 inches in diameter.
We both knew that we were getting really close. What we didn’t know was how close we really were. We hadn’t taken ten steps when there in a small opening stood our wobbly legged cow. We immediately dropped prone. Tori was going to get her chance to show dad that just what a capable marksmen she has become. The elk was just a bit over two hundred yards and we weren’t going to get any closer. I told her to wait until she had a angle as the elk was standing with it rump to us.
The cow on the hill called one more time and the wounded cow turned to try and hobble up the hill as she did Tori sent a 150 gr Sierra Game king into her shoulder hitting her just exactly where she should. The elk spun, lunged several times and slid to a stop on her belly. She was still alive however and had her head up. I asked Tori if she thought she could hit her in the neck without answering she fired once more breaking the elks neck just below the skull. The cows head flopped over never moving again. I looked at Tori and said “I guess you’ve got this shooting thing figured out !”
I don’t need to explain how I was feeling at that moment as any dad who is reading this already knows. The pride and sense of accomplishment that watching you child excel at a complicated activity such as this is indescribable. It turns out that the cow had the good manners to die not 50 yards from a two track road. I started walking up the track when I realized that the cow had made a big half circle and that we weren’t a half miles from the truck. I went to get the truck and Tori decided that she wanted to stay with her elk. She was sitting with her elk stroking it’s mane when I left. When I got back with the truck and the wife and younger daughter she was still sitting in the same position and was still admiring her elk with gentle strokes of her hand .
On the way out we were treated to a sunset view of some sky lined mule deer bucks. This was a fantastic trip!
The hunt took two days in total on the first day we were treated to this beautiful herd of bighorn sheep while glassing for elk. We watched them for about an hour or so until they peacefully grazed over the ridge line and out of sight. What a way to start out an elk hunt!
On day one we spotted several herds of elk but we were unable to get within our self imposed shooting limit of 150 yards or less. We once got to within 189 yards of a nice fat young cow but I wouldn’t let Tori shoot. A limit is a limit and I was being ultra conservative for two reasons. I wanted Tori’s first experience on elk to be a positive one. I was really trying to make sure we didn’t have a an episode with a wounded elk on this ranch given the special circumstances of us being one of the few people ever granted permission to hunt this place gratis. I was really not wanting to have to explain a three legged elk to the landowner!
Tori was disappointed and bit upset that I didn’t let her shoot. I explained it all to her and she seemed satisfied but not happy with my answer. She knew she could have made the shot and that is good ,but for now we weren’t taking any chances.
The second day of the hunt we drove for 30 or 40 minutes before spotting a huge herd out in the middle of an open meadow. I tried to sneak Tori around down wind and crawl into some rocks and brush within shooting distance but we got busted early on and the herd made way for the hills and trees on the north side of the meadow. We decided not to push them but rather to drive around to the north side of the ranch in the direction that the elk were heading I figured that they’d settle down once they got into thick timber.
After parking the truck we started easing into the wind and working up a series of ridgelines glassing every time we had a vantage of the bottoms and the opposite slopes . About three ridges into it and just as we were getting ready to crest I spotted a white rump between two trees about 400 yards distant on the opposite ridge. We immediately dropped and belly crawled the rest of the way up to the crest of the ridge. As we crested we were surprised to see a nice bull with 5 fat cows not 80 yards below us. I unfolded the bipod on Tori’s M-70 .308 Win and she settled into the scope. I told her to shoot one of the cows when she felt comfortable. The elk were moving to our right and as I was below Tori as they moved they went out of my line of sight. I had to wait without seeing the elk so instead I watched Tori. She waited for what seemed an eternity I didn’t dare move up to see the elk as we were in the wide open. As I watched Tori she was slowly tracking the elk in the scope moving the rifle slowly to the right. She calmly flipped the safety off took in a breath let it half way out and started to take up pressure on the trigger. At that moment it occurred to me that it took me years and dozens of blown shot before I got this calm and this in control. The kid is a natural. My thoughts were interrupted by the muzzle blast as I watched Tori gently rock back in recoil and slap another round in the chamber. She stayed in the scope and tracked the elk to the left she then flipped the safety on and looked over at me with a confident grin.
She said that she thought the shot had been good. I stood with her and we waited for a tell tale sign. Several seconds later we got it. From the bottom of the draw we heard a soft cough then another and another even more severe this time. We waited a bit before starting down the slope to retrieve the cow. We went to the place where the elk was standing at the time of the shot and didn’t find any blood. We started towards where we heard the coughing , it wasn’t long before the drama of the day happened.
As we started down hill and just as we entered the timber the cow not 15 yards from us jumped up and lunged in to the thick brush she was out of sight before either of use could react. We found her bed and in it was a copious amount of frothy red lung blood. I turned to Tori and commented that now would be a good time to break out those tracking skills. The trail was not difficult to follow but it took some concentration and some back trailing as we lost the blood trail several times in the thick pine needles that covered the forest floor. After 20 minutes of dogging the track I heard a elk cow calling. I spotted her as she was again softly calling and looking down the hill from where she was standing. I motioned Tori to leave the trail and come up the where I was. I had a suspicion that the lead cow was calling to the wounded straggler. As I was standing listening and watching Tori tugged at my sleeve and pointed down right next to me was a still wet, bright red pool of blood about 8 inches in diameter.
We both knew that we were getting really close. What we didn’t know was how close we really were. We hadn’t taken ten steps when there in a small opening stood our wobbly legged cow. We immediately dropped prone. Tori was going to get her chance to show dad that just what a capable marksmen she has become. The elk was just a bit over two hundred yards and we weren’t going to get any closer. I told her to wait until she had a angle as the elk was standing with it rump to us.
The cow on the hill called one more time and the wounded cow turned to try and hobble up the hill as she did Tori sent a 150 gr Sierra Game king into her shoulder hitting her just exactly where she should. The elk spun, lunged several times and slid to a stop on her belly. She was still alive however and had her head up. I asked Tori if she thought she could hit her in the neck without answering she fired once more breaking the elks neck just below the skull. The cows head flopped over never moving again. I looked at Tori and said “I guess you’ve got this shooting thing figured out !”
I don’t need to explain how I was feeling at that moment as any dad who is reading this already knows. The pride and sense of accomplishment that watching you child excel at a complicated activity such as this is indescribable. It turns out that the cow had the good manners to die not 50 yards from a two track road. I started walking up the track when I realized that the cow had made a big half circle and that we weren’t a half miles from the truck. I went to get the truck and Tori decided that she wanted to stay with her elk. She was sitting with her elk stroking it’s mane when I left. When I got back with the truck and the wife and younger daughter she was still sitting in the same position and was still admiring her elk with gentle strokes of her hand .
On the way out we were treated to a sunset view of some sky lined mule deer bucks. This was a fantastic trip!
