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After a couple years of point accumulation it was time to hunt antlerless elk again. This year would be especially fun since my brother and his 12 year old son drew for the same unit. My brother and I have plenty of experience hunting the unit so we liked our chances but I had quite the head shake when he told me he put his boy in on it in his first year of hunting. If the hunt is nothing else it’s friggin COLD so I was a little worried about my nephew enjoying the experience. Let’s just say he ended up being a lot tougher than I thought.
In early December I decided to make a quick scouting trip after the November snow storms to see how the migration was going and I was pleasantly surprised to find hundreds of cows in the unit. This kicked off a very long 2 week wait for the opener on 12/24.
With our wives blessings my brother and I were granted permission to go elk hunting on Xmas eve! We decided it was probably best to split up and hunt different sides of the unit so I headed up the south side on foot and my bro went up the north side on horseback.
I made it to the trailhead about 30 minutes before shooting light and was surprised to see 3 trucks already there. I thought being Xmas eve would provide less competition but I was clearly wrong. Fortunately I headed up the trail and had a tasty calf on the ground before 9am.
![Snow Deer Freezing Elk Snout]()
I called my brother to report the success and he was just unloading to head up.
A couple hours later he was calling me to report success.
![Snow Smile Hunting Deer Fawn]()
Now that the old men are out of the way it’s time for the big show! Getting my nephew his first big game animal. He was coming off a rough deer hunt where he missed a couple opportunities on bucks and it was hard watching the disappointment on his face. But he had a dad and uncle that were fully committed to doing whatever we could to help him succeed. It was obvious by now that finding elk wasn’t going to be the hard part. Deep snow, cold, and saddle soreness where our challenges.
So 12/28 we headed out on the steeds with high hopes. We did see lots of elk but none in a good spot for a 12 year old. We found one group of half dozen cows but they required approximately 4 hour pack up a steep canyon side to get back to the horses and we didn’t want to put him in the position of hating late cow hunts on his first time out. So we headed out for the day and got the youngster warm and let him know we’d try again in a week or so.
Today was time to give it another go. Lots more snow by now and my horse threw a shoe last time out so we decided to set out on foot and drag the jet sled. We slogged up the trail about a mile through a couple feet of snow and were obsessing over a dandy buck when my brother says “look down there!” Sure enough we had walked right past a herd of 12 cows and a nice 5x5 bull. We made a plan to head up a draw that met the ridge they were on and get close. The plan worked and we found ourselves at 450 yards of the bedded herd. At this point I hung back to keep an eye on the herd while father and son made the stalk. Good times watching them move in to 100 yards or less and watch my little nephew put the smack down on his first big game animal! A fatty cow elk!!
![Snow Hunting Deer hunting Trophy hunting Sky]()
![Snow Sky Outdoor recreation Ice cap Recreation]()
![Car Motor vehicle Vehicle Hood Automotive lighting]()
Jet sled came in handy and we got her out whole!!
So, with an assist from Mother Nature we swept our cow elk tags this year!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
In early December I decided to make a quick scouting trip after the November snow storms to see how the migration was going and I was pleasantly surprised to find hundreds of cows in the unit. This kicked off a very long 2 week wait for the opener on 12/24.
With our wives blessings my brother and I were granted permission to go elk hunting on Xmas eve! We decided it was probably best to split up and hunt different sides of the unit so I headed up the south side on foot and my bro went up the north side on horseback.
I made it to the trailhead about 30 minutes before shooting light and was surprised to see 3 trucks already there. I thought being Xmas eve would provide less competition but I was clearly wrong. Fortunately I headed up the trail and had a tasty calf on the ground before 9am.
I called my brother to report the success and he was just unloading to head up.
A couple hours later he was calling me to report success.
Now that the old men are out of the way it’s time for the big show! Getting my nephew his first big game animal. He was coming off a rough deer hunt where he missed a couple opportunities on bucks and it was hard watching the disappointment on his face. But he had a dad and uncle that were fully committed to doing whatever we could to help him succeed. It was obvious by now that finding elk wasn’t going to be the hard part. Deep snow, cold, and saddle soreness where our challenges.
So 12/28 we headed out on the steeds with high hopes. We did see lots of elk but none in a good spot for a 12 year old. We found one group of half dozen cows but they required approximately 4 hour pack up a steep canyon side to get back to the horses and we didn’t want to put him in the position of hating late cow hunts on his first time out. So we headed out for the day and got the youngster warm and let him know we’d try again in a week or so.
Today was time to give it another go. Lots more snow by now and my horse threw a shoe last time out so we decided to set out on foot and drag the jet sled. We slogged up the trail about a mile through a couple feet of snow and were obsessing over a dandy buck when my brother says “look down there!” Sure enough we had walked right past a herd of 12 cows and a nice 5x5 bull. We made a plan to head up a draw that met the ridge they were on and get close. The plan worked and we found ourselves at 450 yards of the bedded herd. At this point I hung back to keep an eye on the herd while father and son made the stalk. Good times watching them move in to 100 yards or less and watch my little nephew put the smack down on his first big game animal! A fatty cow elk!!
Jet sled came in handy and we got her out whole!!
So, with an assist from Mother Nature we swept our cow elk tags this year!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
