Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 25 DEGREES BELOW ZERO AND WE GO ELK HUNTING

Mr. Shrapnel;
Thanks for the story of the elk hunt and the photo.

As a guy who grew up hunting in Saskatchewan, I can relate to hunting in cold conditions, but after a couple dozen years here in a warmer part of BC, I can�t say I�d like to go back to hunting in conditions that cold.

I�d like to send a tip of the hat your way for taking the young fellows along, whoever they might be. It�s good to see young folks out hunting, so thanks.

Thanks again and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Regards,
Dwayne

We used modern rifles: My son shoots a Remington 700 stainless in 300 Ultra Mag, I have a Sako Deluxe in 300 Weatherby. When it comes to elk and turkeys, I don't mess around with a chancy situation and I always take the most gun I can.

I have shot somewhere in the neighborhood of 45-50 elk, and I can never get over the urgency of killing one whenever I encounter them. I don't know why, but with elk, I leave nothing to chance.

I will admit I am an opportunist as well, I will always shoot the first legal animal I see. I always hear guys say they passed up one hoping for something bigger or better, but not me. I have shot everything from a 17 year old cow to a 385 bull, every one of them was where the opportunity first presented itself.



The young men are my 2 sons, Jesse, 25, and Reid, 27. They were able to drag the 2 elk to the truck over some rough country in very little time, while Mark and I sat in the truck and stayed warm. I call them slave-boy 1; Slave-boy 2. I am glad they still like to go with me as we spent their entire youth in the woods doing these things together.

Jesse learned enough about the outdoors that when he graduated from high school, he spent his first summer guiding fly fishing on the Madison River. Reid stayed in school and became a civil engineer and works for the Forest Service in Alaska, so he can work in the outdoors. I get the benefit of going to Alaska and hunting and fishing with him there.

Mr. Shrapnel;
Very cool that your boys hunt with you still, shows success on several levels to me. Well done sir!

Merry Christmas and all the best in '09.

Dwayne

Jeez Brad, what's wrong with a guy getting a pat on the back? It's like he's in court or something...........

Joseph

hey, guys! new to site, but not to elk hunting; where are you guys in pic? guys

Have done the cold hunting. Lived in Northwest Colorado for 24 years and killed many, many elk. My favorite hunts were the days that started in the 30'2 and progressed to the 50's with lots of sunshine. But I wasn't picky - no matter what the weather I wanted to be out there hunting. I think that the coldest was on Christmas Day in 1987 when we killed four elk (on depredation tags) and it was -30 F. Cleaning was miserable. We were in 3' of very fluffy powder snow and were able to drive to within winch distance. Truly an adventure.

On another hunt, it was -18 F and my firing pin wouldn't travel fast enough to ignite the primer. It would dimple the primer, but it wouldn't fire. So that night I stripped the firing pin apart and cleaned all the lub off and the next morning in -24 F temp it worked fine. Lots of learning in cold country.

I really enjoyed hearing all of the comments and stories on this topic. Thanks to everyone - refreshes fond memories.

Merry Christmas and God Bless to all!