Saturday morning (Oct. 2nd) found Jeff & I up well before daylight. After a quick bite of breakfast, we were off to meet up with our guide Chris. Once again, we loaded up onto Chris' Polaris Ranger & took off in the direction of where we had last seen the elk the night before.
I'm not sure how many acres were in the area we were hunting, but it was pretty big - a mixture of private, public, State, and Coal Company land. Chris took Jeff & I back in on the side where the elk had been the night before. Chris' buddy Darin took another hunter in camp (a bowhunter) to the same property, but they came in from the other side. We had seen & heard so many bulls the night before, we were hoping that they would be spread out enough for us both to have some action.
Unfortunately, the only bugles we heard as daylight was breaking came from the bowhunter's side. We felt pretty much helpless as we were forced to stand back & listen to the sounds of bulls bugling & fighting for over 2 hours while the bowhunter did his best to close the distance. By 9:00, Jeff & I were getting VERY frustrated with the situation. We didn't fault the bowhunter - it wasn't his fault that the elk just happened to be on his side that morning - that's just hunting. However, it was terribly difficult to be that close to "my" elk & not me able to go after him!
FINALLY, after being skunked several times, the bowhunter & his guide finally gave up & came out to regroup. We got back on the Ranger & circled around to meet up with them. They had been really close to several bulls a number of times, but just couldn't close the deal before the main herd moved off down toward some thick timber. As we were standing there talking, I noticed a bull & 2 cows about 1000 yards below us pop out into the open. As soon as I put my binocs on him I knew it was "my" 6x7 from the night before. Once again, Chris, Jeff, & I jumped on the Ranger & closed the distance. After we drove just as close as we dared, Chris crept up to the edge of the draw while I was getting my gun loaded. I knew we were in good shape when Chris started pointing excitedly & mouthing "he's right there!!!".
I threw Jeff my video camera, grabbed my shooting stick, and crawled up to the edge. Sure enough, he was standing with a cow at the bottom of the draw. The rest, as they say, is history... 1 shot from the .300 Ultra Mag at about 150 yards. I couldn't believe it... I had just killed an elk... and he was HUGE!
I don't feel like my words have done this hunt justice. Once again - I feel very fortunate, not only to have drawn a "once in a lifetime tag", but also to have killed an awesome bull! Statistically it is possible for me to draw this tag again - not likely, but possible. For now I'll be content to eat my 397lbs of elk meat fresh from the processor & relish the memories of my "once in a lifetime" experience!
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