Still working on filling the Goose Prairie ML tag

[RG]

I had to run home temporarily tonight, I'm on my way back tomorrow.  So far I've seen 3 six points, two of which were moving and I managed to get into less than 200 yards but couldn't get ahead of them and cut the distance to 100 which is my range for my flintlock.  Another was on a pretty open hillside with a lot of cows, at least a dozen, and I managed to get busted by one while I was still about 150 yards out (should have gone around the other way!). I've seen 1 or 2 smaller bulls as well. This morning I was in tight, within 50 yards or less, in a patch of jack pines where a bull I didn't see was bugling and raking.  I was close enough to smell him.  I eased around a tree and, once again, came face to face with a cow, she barked and ran off as did the herd.  Yesterday I had 3 bulls bugling at once and had to pick which one to go after.  The only frustration is that I'm not getting them to come to bugles or cow calls, they stop and look, and sometimes bugle back, then continue on their way.  I've tried light calling, aggressive calling, lots of calling, very little calling, so far they seem to be preoccupied or won't leave the cows they already have.  I'm having a ball and sooner or later it has to work out.  Well, I'm heading back down there tomorrow.

[carpsniperg2]

Still great to get into elk like that

[KimberRich]

Good Luck!  Look forward to hearing the rest of the story and hope to see some pics of a nice Bull.

[RG]

I went back with my son-in-law and another friend for the general muzzleloader opener.  There were other camps around and the elk pretty much disappeared.  On Sunday the 7th I was sitting down in a steep timbered draw that goes between a creek and some nice grazing area.  About an hour before dark I saw an elk coming up the trail about 70 yards or so from me.  Since I was sitting on a hillside I put my flintlock over my knee and aimed it down that way.  When the elk came into view I saw that he was a bull with fairly short antlers, I didn't try to count points, so I took the shot since my trophy hunting mood was behind me by now.  The elk turned around, took about 5 steps, and tipped over, sliding down into a little V-bottom gully in the trees.  I couldn't tell if he was dead or not and couldn't see him so I waited since, if he jumped up and ran the direction he was headed, it was long deep and steep to the bottom.  Eventually I was able to sneak down there and confirm he was DRT with a round ball through his heart.  As I got up to him I was amazed.  I've never seen an older, more geriatric elk in my life.  This guy was never going to make it through winter.  His hip bones were sticking out and he had heavy short antlers that had little palmations on the tips.  They still had velvet on them.  There was feed in his belly but almost no fat, and his molars were worn down almost to the gum.  I sat there in amazement, disappointed but also feeling sorry for this great monarch that had passed his prime and was looking at a cold starving winter.  I think I did him a favor, which I feel good about, but man I think the hamburger is going to be tough.  He had 5 on one side and 3 on the other.  He had huge hoofs so you know there was a day when he was the boss.  It wasn't what I had in mind but, I had my opportunities earlier in the hunt and my final pronouncement at the end of the hunt was, this hunt has been what elk hunting is supposed to be all about.  I got to chase beautiful bulls that were doing what elk do, none of them were being chased by a crowd of hunters.  I heard mass amounts of bugles and had the mountain to myself for 5 days.  I explored new country and got to take my horses down new trails I had never travelled.  In the end I took an elk that clearly was going to die before Spring so, I have nothing to complain about.  Now my wife might complain when I bring that burger home though....

[Todd_ID]

Cool pics and story!  Congrats.  You must be just a half step below Superman on the totem pole; that's a quarter of an elk on your back, and you're not even struggling or stooped over!  Thanks for sharing your trip!

[Naches Sportsman]

that bull was a good one during his prime. congrats on not going home empty handed.

[aer212]

Congrats!

[brianmtsinc]

Congrats!  Sounds like a great season!  Way to get it done! 

[Ridgerunner]

Congrats on killing probably the smartest bull in the woods

[SniperDanWA]

He may not have made it through the winter, but you have a freezer full for the winter.  He sounded like a patriarch.  Congrats on the end of the season.

[RG]

Cool pics and story!  Congrats.  You must be just a half step below Superman on the totem pole; that's a quarter of an elk on your back, and you're not even struggling or stooped over!  Thanks for sharing your trip!

I was leaning all the way up the hill, ha!  And on the following trips too.

[hunterofelk]

Burger, baloney, sausage, and jerky...it's all good.  Sounds like you got a hunt worth the special permit.  Glad you gave us an update.

[MagKarl]

Outstanding!  The fact that you use more traditional gear means a lot in my book.  Tell us about the shot, angle, ball performance, etc.  Did you recover the ball or was it a pass through? 

[RG]

Outstanding!  The fact that you use more traditional gear means a lot in my book.  Tell us about the shot, angle, ball performance, etc.  Did you recover the ball or was it a pass through?

I didn't recover it, there was a hole in his heart but the angle he was laying on the ground made it hard to gut him out since I couldn't roll him over.  It's somewhere in there.  It was about 70 yards at maybe a 20 degree downhill angle.  The elk was walking and it actually went through his front leg and into his chest and heart.  I was surprised but pleased.  I used 90 gr 3f goex powder and a patched 220 grain round ball.  It's the third elk I've killed with that load and probably 4 deer too.  He took about 5 or 6 steps then just tipped over and slid down the bank, that was it.