Samsquanch
Member
Every year since Colorado first offered a Plains elk license, I have carried one in my pocket. I hunt a lot of canyon and cedar country here in southeastern Colorado where I grew up and currently live. I have seen a lot of sign, heard them mew and bugle and have stumbled across a few at inopportune moments. Long story short, I was never able to fill a tag.
This year however, started a little different. I went through the same old routine of stopping by the local Wally World to buy my Plains tag in hopes that this may be the year. If I only knew what was in store for the upcoming month!
It all started with a phone call from my father-in-law saying that he may have stumbled into a spot to hunt elk. He does some custom farm work for different folks around the area, one of which happened to have a large herd of elk set up shop in his hay fields over the summer. He was able to work out a deal with the land owner to do some farming in exchange for letting us in to hunt his property. I was able to get left-over tags for this particular area for my 14 year old son and I as it was not covered on our Plains tag that we had already bought. This last Friday evening was the day my son and I set out to see what we could find.
As we pulled into the farmers yard and parked, we were greeted by a friendly heeler dog and a waiving farmer. we greeted him next to a swather he had been working on that afternoon. As we introduced ourselves we immediately herd elk bugling in the river bottom that flowed through the middle of the property. The farmer must have seen our faces light up because he smiled and started explaining the layout of his property and where he thought the elk might show up that particular evening.
My son and I parted ways with the owner and headed toward the corrals which were maybe another 100 yards closer to the river bottom where we met up with my father-in-law who had just gotten finished raking hay. We devised a plan to sneak down through the narrow river bottom and check some fields that bordered the north side of the river. The two track road that traveled through the bottom was littered with elk, deer and turkey tracks. A hunter's paradise! We followed the road up the far bank where it opened up into a beautiful grass meadow that had just been cut. There was another grass field just to our south on the other side of a heavily wooded draw that bordered another section of the river bottom where we had heard the elk bugling upon our arrival and we knew that the herd would likely work into that lower field from the river. All we had to do was get through the small draw and set the ambush. As we snuck along the north edge of the draw I caught movement on the other side about 300 yards from where we stood. We snuck down the steep bank and up the other side. before we crested the top I poked my head over to find 12 cows feeding about 60 yards from the fence line we had to shoot from. I ducked back down and got my son situated in front of me. He crawled out on his belly to the fence and steadied the Remington 7600 that my father-in-law gave him on his birthday on a t-post. While he waited for the best shot I tried to slide around a sage bush to pick out a cow for myself. In doing this one of the 12 sets of eyes caught me and in a split second all eyes were on us. our only saving grace was that they couldn't tell what we were behind the bit of grass in the fence line. My son picked out a big mature cow that was directly facing him and asked if it was a good shot as the others would not clear each other. I whispered back to him if he felt comfortable to take the shot. In an instant, the .270 barked and that big cow stumbled across an irrigation ditch that split the field and fell over. While this was happening the remaining 11 headed across the ditch as well without presenting me with an opportunity to fill my tag. I stood up from our hide and was then able to see clearly over the grass in the irrigation ditch to see that the 11 cows had now multiplied to near 80 head! I had to hustle down the fence line to get a clear shot over the grass in front of us. by the time I found a clearing in the tall grass to shoot through, the elk had bunched up as they do in the far end of the field. I struggled to find a cow that was clear of any others. As I settled the crosshairs of my 25-06 on one another would walk behind it not giving me the opportunity to pull the trigger. I started to get nervous as this continued to happen because I knew my time to take the shot was limited. Finally one of them slipped up and fell behind the herd. I settled the crosshairs on her slightly high not knowing the exact distance and touched it off. She fell in her tracks. My son and I had just shot our first elk together, in the same field with his grandpa looking on. It will be a memory I will cherish forever! I was extremely proud of my son who was able to keep his composure and make a fantastic shot to harvest his first elk and to see my father-in-law smiling from ear to ear to get to witness everything unfold will be unforgettable. I can not wait to get my younger two boys out in the field when they come of age to share the same experience with them!
This year however, started a little different. I went through the same old routine of stopping by the local Wally World to buy my Plains tag in hopes that this may be the year. If I only knew what was in store for the upcoming month!
It all started with a phone call from my father-in-law saying that he may have stumbled into a spot to hunt elk. He does some custom farm work for different folks around the area, one of which happened to have a large herd of elk set up shop in his hay fields over the summer. He was able to work out a deal with the land owner to do some farming in exchange for letting us in to hunt his property. I was able to get left-over tags for this particular area for my 14 year old son and I as it was not covered on our Plains tag that we had already bought. This last Friday evening was the day my son and I set out to see what we could find.
As we pulled into the farmers yard and parked, we were greeted by a friendly heeler dog and a waiving farmer. we greeted him next to a swather he had been working on that afternoon. As we introduced ourselves we immediately herd elk bugling in the river bottom that flowed through the middle of the property. The farmer must have seen our faces light up because he smiled and started explaining the layout of his property and where he thought the elk might show up that particular evening.
My son and I parted ways with the owner and headed toward the corrals which were maybe another 100 yards closer to the river bottom where we met up with my father-in-law who had just gotten finished raking hay. We devised a plan to sneak down through the narrow river bottom and check some fields that bordered the north side of the river. The two track road that traveled through the bottom was littered with elk, deer and turkey tracks. A hunter's paradise! We followed the road up the far bank where it opened up into a beautiful grass meadow that had just been cut. There was another grass field just to our south on the other side of a heavily wooded draw that bordered another section of the river bottom where we had heard the elk bugling upon our arrival and we knew that the herd would likely work into that lower field from the river. All we had to do was get through the small draw and set the ambush. As we snuck along the north edge of the draw I caught movement on the other side about 300 yards from where we stood. We snuck down the steep bank and up the other side. before we crested the top I poked my head over to find 12 cows feeding about 60 yards from the fence line we had to shoot from. I ducked back down and got my son situated in front of me. He crawled out on his belly to the fence and steadied the Remington 7600 that my father-in-law gave him on his birthday on a t-post. While he waited for the best shot I tried to slide around a sage bush to pick out a cow for myself. In doing this one of the 12 sets of eyes caught me and in a split second all eyes were on us. our only saving grace was that they couldn't tell what we were behind the bit of grass in the fence line. My son picked out a big mature cow that was directly facing him and asked if it was a good shot as the others would not clear each other. I whispered back to him if he felt comfortable to take the shot. In an instant, the .270 barked and that big cow stumbled across an irrigation ditch that split the field and fell over. While this was happening the remaining 11 headed across the ditch as well without presenting me with an opportunity to fill my tag. I stood up from our hide and was then able to see clearly over the grass in the irrigation ditch to see that the 11 cows had now multiplied to near 80 head! I had to hustle down the fence line to get a clear shot over the grass in front of us. by the time I found a clearing in the tall grass to shoot through, the elk had bunched up as they do in the far end of the field. I struggled to find a cow that was clear of any others. As I settled the crosshairs of my 25-06 on one another would walk behind it not giving me the opportunity to pull the trigger. I started to get nervous as this continued to happen because I knew my time to take the shot was limited. Finally one of them slipped up and fell behind the herd. I settled the crosshairs on her slightly high not knowing the exact distance and touched it off. She fell in her tracks. My son and I had just shot our first elk together, in the same field with his grandpa looking on. It will be a memory I will cherish forever! I was extremely proud of my son who was able to keep his composure and make a fantastic shot to harvest his first elk and to see my father-in-law smiling from ear to ear to get to witness everything unfold will be unforgettable. I can not wait to get my younger two boys out in the field when they come of age to share the same experience with them!
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