Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Odd year worked out again - cow in the freezer

I seem to have success every other year, with even years being empty. I guess I will need to break that tradition next year.
This fall I hunted Unit 12 for the first time, on the North end of Jensen SWA. I had permission to go on private land as well, so I was hopeful. I initially planned to hunt in style and bring my 30-foot trailer over but the day I was leaving there was a winter storm in the Front Range, and I dared not take it over the iced up Eisenhower and Vail passes.
I ended up piggybacking on the outfitter's camp, where the guided hunters were finishing their hunt that day. The outfitter let me stay in his camp, and it was the most comfortable time ever I hunted: warm bathrooms, showers, hot water - living high on the hog! One night a mouse ran over along my outstretched arm, making me nearly jump out of my skin and my sleeping bag, but that was about the roughest part of the accommodations.
I scouted the area the next day and saw 4 does; I ranged them with my new Eliminator and left it at x12. Sun came out, and strolling along a dirt track I relaxed and was brought back to reality by crashing through scrub oaks 100 yard away. By the time I wheeled around there were 2 cow elk running from my left to right, 40 yards from me.
Have you ever tried to get a running elk at 40 yards into the field of view at x12 power? Well, if you could you are better than I am, for the cows are still out there somewhere, roaming the land. I consoled myself by saying, I didn't want to end the hunt in the first hour of its start and that they were actually small. They were.
I saw nothing the rest of the day, and the other hunters, including the group that tried to film long range shots for the outdoor channel, saw nothing either. It was the first day after a winter storm, and the elk were holding tight in the darker timber and willow thickets in the steep valleys.
The second day I walked about 3 miles to the Northern side of Jensen SWA and picked up a trail left by about 5 elk, leading down into a very steep creek. I contemplated, and then, against my better judgement, followed them down the creek. What a mistake! Sliding on my sitting end, falling and crashing through the willows and scrub oaks was what I have been doing for the next hour. I did kick up the elk, which I heard some 100 yards away, when visibility was 10 feet. All this time I actually managed to keep the rifle out of the snow, although my binocs and camera weren't as lucky, and in the end all my pockets and gear were full of snow and sopping wet.
Once at the bottom of the valley in James creek, I looked up and wanted to die right there: I had to go back up that stuff! Well, half an hour rest put me in a better mood, and I picked up the next valley upstream to head back west. It was very steep but not too overgrown (yet) until I reached the upper third of the creek. The walls became 45 deg slopes, and panting and slipping, I finally fell hard enough and dropped the rifle, the binocs and everything else, hearing the rifle hit a deadfall under the snow. So I planted myself down and started a cleanup job of all my gear... just to look up across this valley and see several elk grazing on the other side some 200 yards away.
I was at the point to where I wasn't very interested in shooting that cow, so I needed an excuse. The barrel was full of snow; the binoculars too. I unloaded the rifle, found a twig; cleared the snow out of the barrel and action, checked it; loaded it up again. Cleared the scope and binoculars and used them to glass the elk, which were still there. By then I rested enough to regain interest so I decided, this must be the sign that it is my cow - one of the two was nice and fat. So I sat in the snow, braced against an aspen, ranged the cow with the Eliminator (197 yds) and fired.
All five elk (three spikes and two cows) ran straight downhill towards me like an avalanche and disappeared from sight. After a bit I heard faint noises from below that meant I should go look, even though the cow ran as if I missed cleanly. The other cow and a spike ran 50 yards from me uphill, and another spike went back and forth several times, until I finally got my camera out and took a few pictures, after which the sound of the shutter spooked him. Here he is:

I gathered my gear and started heading along the slope, down the hill I just climbed with so much effort. From the side of the hill I noticed blood on the snow at the bottom of the valley, and then the cow itself, motionless. It was 2:30 in the afternoon.

The hand-loaded 200 gr TSX flat base bullet from my 300 Wby passed through, interestingly breaking 3 ribs on the impact side and only one on the exit side. I hit her exactly where I aimed, so that nasty fall did nothing to the scope and rifle setup (I am impressed with how solid the Eliminator mount is). There was no meat damage, even the rib meat went into my burger grounds bag. By 5 pm I have cleaned the cow, quartered it out, bagged the meat and was ready to go up the darn hill again. It was very steep and I was very tired, half an hour later I covered the 300 yards to the top and all that was left was the 3 miles to the campsite.
Half way along the two-track road what would I see? 4 more cows, grazing on the slope 60 yards above the ranch road! If I shot one of those it would have fallen right into the road. Oh well.
A shower and six ounces of Hennessy really helped me recover that night.
The next morning I drove up my truck right to the top of that valley and went down with a plastic snow sled that my kids used in the past in the winter. Loaded up all the meat and then tried to pull it up... it felt as if welded to the ground. So I heave and pull with all my might... 5 feet! Awesome. It was going to be a long trip. I took brakes every 10 feet and never felt so much satisfaction before from having made it another 5 feet

The cow was 900 feet from the truck on the map. It took me 3 hours to drag her these 900 feet. She has given her life but I myself darn near did, too.
I drove home that same afternoon and the next day spent 6 hours cutting, wrapping and vacuum packing the meat with the help of the family and two friends. It was quite a social event, all were tired but had a great time.
In any case, the meat is now in the freezer, awaiting the grill and sausage making day.

Great job and fantastic pics and story. Thanks for sharing and congratulations!

Great story, a lot of times they still get the last laugh. Congrats.