Year five came and it was time to take off and meet my brother for our elk hunt out in Idaho. This year we changed up units and where hunting with a friend of my brothers who has hunted the area before. Also coming with were three lamas Blaze, Winchester and Aspen.
We hiked in the day before opening day and set up camp at an old mining site. Its amazing all the stuff they had in there and to think of the history and how tough those guys were back then i kinda crazy.
Opening morning and we took off up a ridge to glass an area Reuben had seen bulls earlier in the year. No more than i get set up looking one way and my brother comes running over and says grab your stuff with some other colorful language which had to mean they saw something . I grab my stuff run over there and in the spotter stands a nice branch bull and a spike.
We put a plan together and get to moving to try and cut the distance. There are only 2 directions in Idaho up and down and it seems like both take forever. We get to another opening across the ridge and they are right at 1000 yards across the other side of the ravine. Now i am starting to get excited.
We get to the end of the ridge its now or never time we cant get any closer and there is not a breath of wind. It was a far shot but i didnt lug this 13 pound rifle around the last 4 years and practice all summer to pass it up. After calming my self down getting a rock solid rest I shot. First shot with the 143 eldx went right through the heart but he didnt even budge next one hit high shoulder found bullet just under spine. He ran up hill then did a back flip and down the hill he slid. Next was the longest 2 hours of my life it seemed as thats what it took to get to him. He would have kept sliding but his horns dug in.
Now the work start my brother went back to camp and got the lamas which are amazing animals and i will never pack in again with out them. We got the elk quartered out took pictures(had to have one long arm one haha) and boned and he showed up about six hours later with the lamas. We made it half way back to camp and in the dark it was just to dangerous with all that weight on us and the lamas so we stashed the meat half way back to camp. Shot the elk at 10 am and got back to camp that night at 10:30 pm it wasnt hard to sleep that night.
We went back the next morning got the meat and took the rest of the day to rest at camp and heal up. For supper that night we had some elk fajitas which i dont think could have been any better. Cooked them on old iron from the mining camp with a make shift grill. out of the old piping laying around.
We hunted the next 3 days but didnt find any thing else so we packed up camp and headed back to star to cut up the elk and split up the meat.
Overall it was a trip of lifetime I was shaking like a 12 year old shooting their first deer when i first walked up to the elk. I learned more about elk hunting that week than the last 4 years Reuben was a wealth of knowledge and a hell of a good guy to hang out with. Learned that lamas are cool animals and they were a joy to have around camp and when it came time to work they loved it. Reuben has never shot a whitetail so i am hoping he can draw here next year and i can help him with that.
We hiked in the day before opening day and set up camp at an old mining site. Its amazing all the stuff they had in there and to think of the history and how tough those guys were back then i kinda crazy.
Opening morning and we took off up a ridge to glass an area Reuben had seen bulls earlier in the year. No more than i get set up looking one way and my brother comes running over and says grab your stuff with some other colorful language which had to mean they saw something . I grab my stuff run over there and in the spotter stands a nice branch bull and a spike.
We put a plan together and get to moving to try and cut the distance. There are only 2 directions in Idaho up and down and it seems like both take forever. We get to another opening across the ridge and they are right at 1000 yards across the other side of the ravine. Now i am starting to get excited.
We get to the end of the ridge its now or never time we cant get any closer and there is not a breath of wind. It was a far shot but i didnt lug this 13 pound rifle around the last 4 years and practice all summer to pass it up. After calming my self down getting a rock solid rest I shot. First shot with the 143 eldx went right through the heart but he didnt even budge next one hit high shoulder found bullet just under spine. He ran up hill then did a back flip and down the hill he slid. Next was the longest 2 hours of my life it seemed as thats what it took to get to him. He would have kept sliding but his horns dug in.
Now the work start my brother went back to camp and got the lamas which are amazing animals and i will never pack in again with out them. We got the elk quartered out took pictures(had to have one long arm one haha) and boned and he showed up about six hours later with the lamas. We made it half way back to camp and in the dark it was just to dangerous with all that weight on us and the lamas so we stashed the meat half way back to camp. Shot the elk at 10 am and got back to camp that night at 10:30 pm it wasnt hard to sleep that night.
We went back the next morning got the meat and took the rest of the day to rest at camp and heal up. For supper that night we had some elk fajitas which i dont think could have been any better. Cooked them on old iron from the mining camp with a make shift grill. out of the old piping laying around.
We hunted the next 3 days but didnt find any thing else so we packed up camp and headed back to star to cut up the elk and split up the meat.
Overall it was a trip of lifetime I was shaking like a 12 year old shooting their first deer when i first walked up to the elk. I learned more about elk hunting that week than the last 4 years Reuben was a wealth of knowledge and a hell of a good guy to hang out with. Learned that lamas are cool animals and they were a joy to have around camp and when it came time to work they loved it. Reuben has never shot a whitetail so i am hoping he can draw here next year and i can help him with that.
