09 Elk

drhart

New member
My hunting partner and I have't been drawn for our elk area for four years but this year we were lucky again. Trouble is that we have pretty much gotten out of the horse business and our area is a wilderness area. We each had a saddle horse but had to pay and outfitter that we know to drop pack us into the area. We decided we would walk out with the meat on the horses if we killed anything. We would camp at 9600 feet and hunt up from there.

We packed in on Wednesday and spent the rest of the day setting up camp. The high altitude always makes both of us kind of weak and headachy for the first couple days until we get acclimated. The first morning hunting, we were both still feeling pretty weak but got into elk right away.

We bumped a big six point while trying to get downwind of him and sat down to reconsider our options. While we were sitting there, a spike walked within 15 yards and stood facing us. I thought my partner was going to shoot him but never got the right angle. He likes spikes because they are easy to pack out. We figured that we would be able to put the quarters on one horse and trade off walking and riding the second one which would be a lot less work to get him out.

The spike left and I had opened a candy bar and was laying on my back with my head on a log when Doug told me not to move; another elk was coming. When I got my bow up, I glanced at his antlers and saw it was a decent five point. He walked up and stood just on my side of a stump that I had earlier ranged at 18 yards. He was quartering toward us slightly and I was at full draw. I thought that I could shoot through the center of the shoulder and get both lungs. I shot and as he wheeled away, I could see the arrow right where I aimed with about 5 inches of arrow protruding. I told Doug that he was a dead elk.
He went about 100 yard and died running.

We packed him the three miles to camp that night. We really didn't expect to kill and elk the first day and weren't very organized so I didn't have my game bags and Doug didn't have his saddle panniers so we packed bare meat to the camp where we could bag it. The next day we walked to the trailhead leading the horses to get the meat to a cooler. It was 16 miles to the trailhead and needless to say we were both exhausted when we got out.

We went back in and hunted until yesterday. Doug had his bow drawn four times on bulls within 20 yards but never got the right shot. At one point he had a big six point standing facing him at 6 yards. He never got a chance at him but that is a sight I will never forget. I was about 20 yards behind him doing the calling. All in all, it was a great trip but I am worn out.

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Anyone who has never done it, just doesn't appreciate it. The work that goes into it truelly makes any elk a trophy but to get a fine elk like you did is the iceing on the cake. Congrates!
 
Very nice, and congratulations. I'm a bit jealous. I've been chasing them hard this season and have got on a ton of bulls, but have yet to connect. Awesome pics. Love the pick of the wall tent tucked away in the trees.
 
Man thats beautiful. You guys must be some tuff dudes. Me and my hunting partner did a our first wilderness hunt last year. It was the most awesome hunt I have been on but also the hardest. We only packed in 7 miles too. We did it our selves, but were thinking of haveing someone do a drop camp for us next time we draw. I dont know what a fair rate for that would be. A guy told us $700 a piece. Does that seem about right?
 
We were actually 16 miles from the trailhead. We had two horses to ride and used them to pack the elk while we walked out. I told my partner that not every 54 and 60 year old guy can walk 16 miles out of the mountains their second day of the hunt. We both felt fortunate to be in good enought physical condition to be able to do that.

We know the outfitter and he gave us a deal so what we paid isn't really representative of his normal price. His normal price is $85 per horse per day with a six horse minimum. We used three pack horses of his and then his saddle horse. It was a long day but he went all the way in with us and then came back out the same day. I would think the price should be very dependent on how far in you want to go.

It was kind of disappointing to us because there was another camp of bowhunters about a quarter mile from us and they were hunting the same drainage as us. The reason we wanted to go so far in was to be alone and then it didn't work out that way. It was a great trip though but I don't think we want to go in that far again unless we have at least one pack horse so we can split riding and walking time when we come out with meat. I'm not sure I want a replay at age 55.
 
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