Son's First Elk


Guest ronin

Recommended Posts

We just returned from a family elk hunt at our cabin in Idaho. I took my elk on the 2nd day of the hunt and was able to spend the remainder of our trip working on my son's 1st elk.

We got lucky with a few inches of fresh snow during the evening. We hit the road at day break with the intent of setting Shayne up on a good stand in front of the predicted elk route of travel to their daytime beds. No sooner did we stop the truck then a small herd of about 10 animals crossed the road in front of us about 300 yards out. Shayne took a shot at a large cow as she trotted into the dark timber.

We quickly drove to the crossing to see if there was a blood trail but only found churned up snow. Thankfully, we know this ground very well as it is only a short distance from our cabin. I've been running through these woods since I was a boy and my son grew up the same way.

My wife, Judy, jumped out of the truck and promptly picked up the trail. We kept in contact with our Garmin radios and Judy gave me constant locations updates. With this knowledge, we were able to plot the course of the herd and get in front of them. Judy gained on the herd slowly but surely as the lead cow kept to the old growth timber. It was obvious they were going to try to cross Henry’s fork that morning but exactly where was the problem.

Judy caught up to the herd as they piled up at the edge of a pole line road. She was within a few yards of the tailing cow elk and had not been busted. She watched in awe as the herd turned around and passed right by her on both sides of a lodge pole pine Judy was crouching against. They winded her as they passed but only sped up slightly. Judy radioed the new direction of travel and there was only one way out to the river; Shayne was set up perfectly to intercept them.

The lead cow stepped out of the woods to scan the crossing. Shayne was positioned roughly 80 yards from the ol’ gal and he put a 7mm Barnes 140 Gr. TSX right in the boiler plate. A Perfect shot on a perfect morning. I can think of no better way to spend time with the family.

Rifle: Steyer 7mm Mag topped off with a Nikon Monarch 3X9. Ammo: Federal Vital Shoks loaded with 140 Gr.Barnes Triple Shocks.

[image]shaynes_elk.jpg[/image]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.