I went out to a ranch to check some traps and snares on Wednesday. I had a few coyotes waiting for me but no bobcats...
The ranch manager had told me about a herd of elk that were seen on the portion of the ranch I have permission. I had looked for them at first light in another drainage but couldn't find them.
On the way home I was driving down the highway and found a herd of elk a couple miles off the road on a high bench below a rocky ridge. I debated on whether to go after them as I was supposed to be in the office that afternoon but decided not to pass up the chance to kill elk when they are in a good location for stalking and an even better location for recovery. I texted some co-workers and told them I was not going to make it in to work. I was able to drive several miles around the elk so I could come up behind them on the ridge overlooking their bench. I could have driven pretty close but I had my hounds with me and was afraid they would start howling and spook the elk so I parked over a mile away. I had to walk about 1.5 miles in crusty snow but the terrain was favorable and the elk were bedded for the afternoon so I knew I had time. The wind was oddly out of the east which gave me a perfect setup as it covered both my scent and my noise...
In the picture above is 100+ elk from around 250 to just over 300 yards away. It is a mix of 15-20 small to medium sized bulls and a bunch of cows. They were mostly bedded except for some calves in the middle of the herd so I waited a while until a large cow on the edge of the herd stood up and gave me a broadside shot right at 300 yards.
At the report, she looked like the 180 TTSX had found its mark so I quickly found another cow that was willing to hang around for a few seconds while the herd started moving out. She was quartering to me and I held to stay just off the shoulder. She took the hit and looked like she was hit hard as she went over the hill.
The herd had gone over the hill out of sight but reappeared about 1/2 mile away in open country. I watched for a while to see if any looked wounded or were wanting to separate from the herd. Everything looked healthy so I assumed my cows were just over the hill and down.
After picking my way through the rocks I got to the bench and peaked over the hill. The first cow had been hit well and only made it about 50 yards before piling up.
The second cow had also only gone about 50 yards but her head was still up so I gave her a finisher and she had the good manners to kick a few times and roll a couple hundred yards down the hill closer to where I could drive my truck...
An autopsy on cow #1 showed good heart damage. Cow #2 was hit a bit further back then I would have liked but I hit part of a lung and liver. She was not going anywhere but I am glad I was able to get a second shot into her to hasten the process.
I was not real familiar with that section of the ranch so after gutting the cows and getting back to the truck I made the decision to come back the next day to find a good trail in when I had lots of daylight.
I took my oldest boy out of school and we looked for the herd but only saw a few bulls. Since this is a cow only deal we just went to recover the elk so he could get back to school and I could get to work.
It sure made it easier having another hand to help run the come-along and keep things tight while I wrestled the cows into the pickup.
Elk is our favorite protein so it was a big relief to have two nice sized cows for the freezer after what proved to be a fairly slow general season. We still have three more tags in the house so hopefully I can get my wife and kids out sometime in the next couple months.