Hirshey's Family Clockum Muzzleloader Antlerless Elk Hunt

[hirshey]

Well, my parents and I put in a group hunt application and were very excited to have drawn... I sweated out the fire season with great excitement and comfort knowing I got to spend some time with two of my favorite people on the planet, and the ones responsible for my existence as well as shaping me into the person I am today.

I was laid off from my work in Oregon on September 30th, and made the push back to my parent's abode in Central Washington in an attempt to see the first few days of morning light out hunting moose. (For those of you that don't know... after 20 years of applications, I drew my once in a lifetime moose tag in the East Okanogan/Kettle Range... story: http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,161954.0.html )

Long story short for those of you who don't want to read about it, I couldn't tape my trigger finger to my palm and shot a moose October 3rd... right before our elk hunt was supposed to start! My parents came and helped me wrangle the ridiculously large, magnificent animal and we all ended up burning a few days off the beginning of our elk season.

We were fortunate to draw this tag this year in particular... the elk were rutting late. The first evening my parents were able to hunt, they heard nothing shy of one hundred bugles from two to three bulls along the steep, rocky canyon walls. Joining late due to moose-related chores (making sure my cape went to a good home and coordinating meat cutting efforts) I was excited to experience what the next morning had in store.

Thirty minutes into the morning light, I was sneaking through a small meadow, chirping on my diaphragm call when we received a surround-sound bugle concert. I crouched, nestled against a small evergreen unsure as to whether I should get my camera or my muzzleloader ready. Tines glistened through the timber-rich hillside as my excitement mounted... a few more chirps produced two smaller satellite bulls at less than 50 yards... a young 6 point, an odd-ball 4x3 with no eyeguards, along with a young and curious yearling bull with no headgear who lingered at 80 yards. The two herd bulls still bellowed in the distance, as I snapped some photos of my close companions, playing with them in the warm morning air. They finally had enough and took off towards the rocky hillside, and my father (who unbeknownst to me had been off my left shoulder) and I met up to discuss further tactics.







Look at that fella's right antler!!

[hirshey]

Tree Violence!

[hirshey]

The remainder of the day produced lots of elk sign, but few elk... lots of other critters kept my camera busy, however.

[hirshey]

Life after tree-death...

[hirshey]

Lots of fresh rut activity was visible and audible... a small, well-placed cow chirp or set of cow chirps could produce bugles from first light to last light... 8AM, noon, or 3PM, it didn't matter the bulls were vocal.

[hirshey]

Even though the weather was EXTREMELY warm, the snowshoes are starting to trend towards their winter fashion.

[hirshey]

The next day continued my trend of finding myself elbow-deep in bulls, with very few opportunities at antlerless animals. Another cow calling set produced two small fellas... a 2x2 and 1x2 that would have stepped over me looking for the non-existent cow had I not giggled when they were both within poking-distance of my barrel.

[hirshey]

This day was my 10 bull day... this fella was actually actively bugling at 1PM and coming into my call...

Shortly after he busted me, five small three points (none with eyeguards... all looked more crown-structured which I found kind of interesting) came in to look for love, too.

[jrebel]

As usual I am caught reading your posts....wishing you were a faster typer.   

You are a great asset to this forum and to the hunting community.  Keep it coming, I love reading it.   

[hirshey]

While I was busy playing with bulls, this was the day my mom was busy putting elk in the freezer! She made an excellent shot on a cow, which didn't go five steps before it's legs were up in the air. My father, so excited by the great shot, shouted "YEAH!!! YOU GOT HER!!!" and scared the rest of the herd who had been confused by the loss of their lead cow into the timber-scattered earth... we didn't catch back up with them that day.

Because it had been so hot, we made the group decision to drive the few hours back home to hang, clean, and get the beautiful cow into a cooler environment. We got back home at roughly 8 PM to a balmy 83 degrees! The animal hang and cooled nicely overnight, and we were back for the evening hunt with little to report. With my mother's contribution to our freezers, the pressure was off and anything else we were able to harvest was simply a huge blessing, as we share a lot of our meat with friends and folks that have not been as fortunate as us, both hunting and financially.

The next morning yielded elk in the middle of our skid road as we were driving into our usual spot, but... they were on the road and there was no way to ethically/legally shoot at them. They scrambled up the steep hillside followed clumsily by me. My father chose a different tactic, and took a small skid road downslope and ended up in more animals, just barely shooting over the back of a healthy cow. The rest of the day was pretty slow with the exception of bumping a small herd with a bugling bull with too little light left in the day to shoot. We'd have to try again tomorrow.

[hirshey]

(Had to delay putting this photo in because I had to get permission from my mother to post her)

She said I could post it as long as I thought it was an OK photo... OF COURSE it is OK! This is a perfect example of where I get my hunting prowess from. She's my hero.

[hirshey]

We were up there for the Lunar eclipse, but a small veil of clouds prevented us from seeing it, even though my mother's phone hummed After Midnight by Eric Claptin to wake us up to see it... the moon the night prior was just beautiful, however.

[hirshey]

The next morning (Thursday) was my father's last.. he had some appointments on Friday, so we agreed to hunt the morning and then break down camp a little after noon, and my mother would stay and accompany me on the remainder of my hunt. We were slightly delayed for some reason this morning, and got to our parking spot fifteen minutes later than usual... our first mistake. As we turned off the car and opened the doors, there were two bulls bugling less than 100 yards away, each just down the slope from us. As we scrambled to get ready, ears appeared down the road grade roughly 75 yards away. I hit the dirt, but it was too little too late, especially with two other people still moving around the truck behind me. A large bull accompanied by his harem took off down the slope. Knowing they didn't want to be that direction for the day, I took off down the road, which contours the hillside. Again, timing is everything and I was moments too late. The precise spot those animals had been standing in the road a day or two prior is where the bull and his hoard of cows piled across and up the slope, heading up the creek drainage. The bugling bull seemed to be signaling to his cows, "THIS WAY!" as his roar faded to a muffled cry, and then into silence. They had moved fast, and although I maneuvered up the slope fairly quietly and efficiently, they were long gone. I made one last fleeting attempt to see if there were any lost critters by making one small chirp. A bull answered, again in close proximity. I crouched behind a 6 foot tall evergreen as tines appeared on both sides, towering over me. This was ONE BIG BULL, and so close I could smell his sweet and pungent musk. His tines swayed left and right, trying to get eyes on me around this small tree. He finally caught my scent and took off down the hill. He crossed the road and his swift hoof beats quickly faded from earshot.

[hirshey]

Meanwhile, my father had wandered down his same skid road where his previous opportunity still haunted him. Sitting alongside the road where he had a good view of a seed-sapling stand and meadow, his senses heightened as he heard an approaching animal... my bull.

The bull slowed, and paused below my father, roughly 20 feet away as he started feeding and relaxed into normal activities. This beautiful 8x7 is in my dad's top 5 he has seen in this state, and the thing was RIGHT there for roughly 30 minutes. Finally, the bull took his leave down the streambed and out of sight. That was the second to last elk my father got to see for the season, as he and my mother took a drive and spotted another nice bull sans-cows while I snuck through our meadows and hillside haunts from the last few days with no success. We met back up at roughly noon, and broke down camp. It was now up to the women of the household to finish out the hunt!

[BOWHUNTER45]

Nice ...That could be the best photo I ever seen of a rabbit ...Congrats to your mother