Bagged My Elk!

If I look a little tired in the photo, it is mostly because of all the celebrating I did after filling my tag and trying to squeeze that big sunuvabitch into that little pick up. General hunting season came to a close yesterday 1 hour after sunset. Thank GOD I filled my Elk tag just in time. I have spent more time in the field this year then I have the last 3 years combined. To leave this season empty handed would have "Blown Donkey Shnuts". If you were wondering where I was last week, I was busy chasing the elusive critter known as "Wapati". I finally found one dumb enough to walk into my 185 grain bullet.

It all started Labor day weekend with the opener of Archery season and led all the way up to last week. I had my share of close encounters and failed stalks, but finally made it happen. Now don't laugh at the size of the bull. I was in it to fill the freezer and not my wall.

The scene of the assassination took place in the Castle mountains near White Sulphur Springs. My brother and I just got done filling our coffee cups with whiskey and a little coffee when we noticed 75 head of Elk feeding 2 miles ahead of us. It took everything in me not to dump my scaulding coffee on my brothers lap. We grabbed our gear and headed out on foot. Only getting 2 sips of coffee. We soon reached the creek bottom where we last saw the critters. They had moved around one ridge further and we thought we had spooked them. Then we discovered two cow elk standing on the ridge the other elk were behind. It was "belly crawl/stalking time". We made it to within 450 yards of the herd. A little far for some outdoors men, but this is Montana. We know how to be like AT&T, "Reach out and touch someone". Rockin my .300 Browning A-Bolt, I was comfortable taking that shot. We noticed the wind was in our favor and none of the 75 Elk had a clue we were watching them. It gave us time to catch our breath. I took my day pack off and laid prone using the pack as a rest. My brother said "pick your target and let me know when you are ready". The group only had cows, calfs and a few spikes wandering around. I noticed one "branch antlered" bull walking along the edge of the herd at a range of 500 yards. Still confident about my shooting I nudged my bro and gave him the thumbs up.

What happened next was straight out of the arcade game "Big Buck Hunter". My brother took the first shot, missing of course, sending the herd into a panic. I immediately squeezed the trigger watching the bull hit the ground before he had the chance to realize why everyone was freaking out. Just then a huge 6x6 bull appeared out of the trees behind the herd and ran out just to show us he was there and then , just like in BBH, he disappeared. Wishing the FWP gave me more than one tag, I was glad to see that my first shot was a good one and that at least I didn't have to eat ramen all winter.

It was a good end to a loooong season. How was your season? Do you have any good pictures of your hunts? If so, send them to angel@963theblaze.com right now for your chance to be our "Horn Porn 2011" winner and receive A7X floor tickets and dinner at the Depot. HURRY NOW! Winner will be announced at 8am tomorrow 11/29