Still Chasing Elk

[sixshot]

Well, so far it's been fun chasing the elk around in 15-20 degree weather & 6"-10" of snow but I haven't gotten a shot yet. I'm seeing them but they are staying high, up above some heavy timber & I need them to come down where the oxygen isn't so thin! There has been at least 2 herds hanging out above some heavy pine pockets for the last several days & then late in the evening they come down through the pines in 5-6 different places & head out into some areas that has less snow where they can feed all night.
The chess game is being played out with me trying to hide out where they funnel into one big canyon where I hope they show up before dark so I can whack one of the large cows. Monday I was sitting in several inches of snow on a padded cushion with a large section of bitter brush behind me to break up my outline. I was glassing up on a ridge a few hundred yds above me & I could see quite a few elk tracks & even at that distance they looked really fresh. The reason they looked fresh was because there were elk standing in them. Now, all I have to do is hope they make their move before it gets to dark to shoot or else I freeze to death.
I watch them slowly work their way into the timber & the light is fading fast, another night of cold & frustration. That's elk hunting, I'll be back Thursday hoping for a better out come but they are being hunted by others as well & the cold has really been hard to handle. I've got about 3 weeks left & all 10 toe's. You can see in the photo's the areas where they come down into the funnel & I'm sitting there trying to get a good sun tan.





Dick More photo's added on last post.

[gator89]

Good luck!

It is still whitetail deer season down here. If someone has time and is willing to travel, you can hunt deer into February.

[Robster]

Keep on em Sixshot, You'll connect soon, I know it!!!

[bushog]

Keep after them Dick!

Had the same thing happen here to me in NM this year.

I was close but no cigar....like you said, elk hunting....

We only get 5 days which makes it so darned hard.

If I only had a few weeks it sure would be more enjoyable.

Stay warm!

[bradshaw]

.... fun chasing the elk around in 15-20 degree weather & 6"-10" of snow.... another night of cold & frustration. That's elk hunting.... sitting there trying to get a good sun tan.”
----sixshot

*****

Dick.... isn’t that called a moon tan? I think you’re a real hero, sitting motionless in blue jeans & longhandles, and thin leather boots. Make yourself CHAGA tea, sprinkled with raw CEYENNE (African bird pepper), to help circulation to the extremities. I used to sprinkle cayenne in my socks for really cold days on the mountain; it worked. Sitting still is the hardest.
David Bradshaw

[jt]

It looks like you could use some wool leggings to cover that denim, it make those sits much more tolerable, and I'll guarantee it beat the hell outta putting Cayenne in your pockets & socks! ha Looking forward to reading about you skinning.

Have you got ol faithful 41 along, or what's tied to your side this time?

[sixshot]

Guys, I have a very good set of wool bibs I bought several years ago from Cabelas, problem is I can't find them since my basement got flooded a few years ago & I still have a lot of stuff boxed up. I know there're down there some place but haven't found them yet. And I just forgot my gators! Did find my Zebra rug in a big drawer a while back!
I just ordered a pair of the military Mickey Mouse boots, should have them in the next few days. I have some good winter pacs but the tread is a little slick & Monday with my best boots I was sliding down hill even with my trusty walking stick. No 41 magnum on this trip, it's the Bisley 480 stoked with 385 gr powder coated cast slugs running about 1100 fps, only problem is, they haven't been doing much running!
I do have some really good gloves with a liner inside & also so hand warmers in my pockets, but sitting dead still for that long it really doesn't matter much what you're wearing it's going to get cold after a while, it is what it is. We got more snow yesterday, I'm just hoping I can still get back there far enough with my trusty 4 wheeler to even get in position. I doubt they will meet me at the door.
Hoping to make a lot more Jalapeno jerky if I can pop one before the end of the year!!

Dick

[leftysixgun]

Stay after em Sixshot! Exactly what 385gr boolit are you using?
Sounds like fun!

[lobo]

Good luck Dick!!

[sheriff]

Keep after 'em, Dick!

[sixshot]

Wednesday we had another storm with a lot of wind so I felt like today would be the day things would start to change & the elk would start to migrate down lower. I also thought that perhaps more elk would show up because I had only been seeing 2 small herds & I expected to see more this time.
I went back to the same canyon where several little fingers funneled into one area being used by all of the elk & set up again although I did move a little bit so I could be in a spot that was a little bit flatter after kicking the snow around with my boots. It was actually pretty nice & I felt like I could make it til dark without much movement. Any little movement after being hunted for 4 months & it's over with elk, they never hesitate, if they see anything out of place, anything they don't like or is out of place & they will move several miles before stopping, it never fails.
This time I had my gaitors on I plopped down on my padded cushion for the long wait. You have to get there early with elk, the sound of a 4 wheeler or snow machine will send them running in a heart beat every single time, no exceptions. If you're hunting elk, get there early & let things settle down, if not you're just wasting your time.
I took another photo while I was down in the flat of the canyon so you get a different view. At the top, next to the pines you might see a small green fence, there's a spring there for the ranchers cows in the summer, the fence keeps the cows from ruining the spring that runs down to a holding tank & then into a water trough. Again I stayed until dark & no elk, I was surprised & disappointed, I thought this might be the time because of Wednesdays storm, nope!
When I started my 4 wheeler & pulled it out of park it wouldn't budge, it was stuck in neutral & I was stranded! So, now I'm a few miles from my truck, it's colder than Hillary's heart & I'm not really wanting to make that walk. I can do it, I've done it before but I'm losing interest in these kind of adventures as I get older. I start rocking the 4 wheeler back & forth & finally it went into reverse, life is good & I get to ride back to the truck.
Two miles back my face is kind of numb but all of a sudden I see elk, lots of elk, they are everywhere & pretty close. I keep going but I can't believe what I'm seeing, there must be at least 100, maybe 150. They are standing right out in the open but one thing you can't do with elk is STOP! If I stop they would be gone in a flash & never would stop running. I keep going & I'm watching them & they are watching me, probably 200 yds seperates us but at least they don't spook. I come to a gate but now I'm out of their danger zone & I take 2 photo's with my cell phone. Hopefully you can zoom in a bit & see all of these great animals. There were cows, calves, bulls milling around watching me. I'm sure someone with good hearing could have heard them mewing & chirping back & forth.
These elk won't move very far, they were headed right were I had just left, perhaps tomorrow I can break the silence...........





Dick

[bushog]

They're a comin' down Dick!

[sixshot]

After seeing that big herd of elk Thursday I was certain that yesterday things would finally come together. They were only about 200 yds away when I spotted them but they were right out in the open & so was I, it was a stand off & if I had stopped they would have been gone fast. That lead cow would have taken them out of there & they would have ran for an hour, that's why I had to keep going.
When I went back last night I was certain they would be in the canyon I had been hunting in for the last few evenings so I was feeling pretty good. When I got to the spot where I had seen them the day before the snow was chewed up from all the elk tracks, this was a big herd & it takes a lot of feed to keep them in one place.


The tracks were quite a bit lower than I had hoped, I wanted them farther up the canyon where they would have timber to bed in & these tracks were low, I was getting worried that lead cow might have out smarted me & kept going north in the darkness. I went on up the canyon & my worst fears were realized, they didn't come high enough for a bedding area, dang it! I went back down & starting walking their tracks for a mile in the deep snow until I came to a canal & a fence, it was over. They had kept going during the night & now were out of my area & either out into some desert where there were some scattered haystacks or who knows where they might be. Elk can cover a lot of ground when their belly is growling, heck I can cover a lot of ground when my belly is growling but not like them can.
I've still got a couple of weeks but the snow is almost to cut me off now.

[bushog]

That is a great photo!

Keep after 'em!!

[callshot]

This reminded me of a hunt with Doc Lindsay when I was a youngster. We were sitting in the snow and he started singing the minstrel song, “Massas in the cold cold ground”. We didn’t have a padded cushion. If I know you, you will keep at it until successful. Good luck.