We ended up with three elk and a mule deer. Best season ever in terms of excitement. Due to an illness in the fam, We ended up taking our 82 yr old friend again.
My elk was a "non-event" really. Hiking in opening morn and had him bugling in the dark. I said that I would kill the first legal elk and he fit the bill
Right after i shot , I caught a glimpse of this one.
The next day I hunted a big mulie I had been seeing
of course once season opened he got wary. Hunted him Saturday eve and all day Sunday. Monday I stalked this one and he was fine by me
after loading this deer by myself I picked up the nephew and driving out, the big mulie was feeding in plain sight with not a care in the world. Next year I will practice patience.
Tuesday morn was slow only hearing a few bugles. The old man and nephew were getting nervous as they hadnt seen any legal bulls. That aft I took the nephew to the highest place on the ranch where I have killed two other elk, and we glassed and listened. About 1hr before dark I heard a faint bugle. I pointed my spotting scope in the general area and it landed on the bull. It was 1.22 miles as the crow flies. We watched for a few and it was slowly feeding down the mountain it was on. I had a feeling it was headed to a water hole and field I knew about. We basically slid down the steep side of the mountain to make it in time to the field. The elk were moving faster now and I have never heard so much bugling. There were at least 4 bulls in the herd of about 40 elk. After a lot of reposition this bull came out and nephew made a good 250 yard shot and dropped him
Now the old man was convinced he was not going to get one as we were leaving the next day. We decided to give it one more day and would try hard to find him one. We all knew this would prob be his last hunt ever. Wed morn was a bust and we went back and packed up. Wed eve we dropped the old man off at a good glassing spot and the nephew and I rode and and glassed.
About an hour before dark we found a herd way up on the side of a mountain. Pulling up an arial, we found a road that ran pretty close to the bottom of the mt. We rushed back and picked up the old man and headed up the mountain rd. We couldn't see elk but could here a bugle every now and then. The old man wanted to do it alone so We let him out and made sure his location service was on and he had his locator beacon. The nephew and I drove to a point we could somewhat see. Elk started pouring out of cover and we just knew he was going to get busted. Finally we heard three shots and saw elk going everywhere. The old man called and he was almost in tears with excitement! That alone made my trip successful. I don't know how a frail 82 yr old man made it up that steep a mountain but It was getting dark fast and I knew we had to get him off that mt before dark. A few quick picks and a quartering up job and we made the first of several trips down.
