Author Topic: Hirshey's Family Clockum Muzzleloader Antlerless Elk Hunt (Read 8967 times)

hirshey · « **on:** October 12, 2014, 02:06:49 PM »

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 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:07:33 PM »

Tree Violence!

hirshey · « **Reply #2 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:09:47 PM »

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

hirshey · « **Reply #3 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:10:51 PM »

Life after tree-death...

hirshey · « **Reply #4 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:12:45 PM »

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 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:14:50 PM »

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

hirshey · « **Reply #6 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:17:01 PM »

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 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:20:53 PM »

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 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:23:41 PM »

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 · « **Reply #9 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:30:28 PM »

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 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:33:34 PM »

(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 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:38:09 PM »

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 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:48:46 PM »

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 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:53:05 PM »

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 · « **Reply #14 on:** October 12, 2014, 02:55:52 PM »

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

hirshey · « **Reply #15 on:** October 12, 2014, 03:04:26 PM »

My mother and I decided to spend the early afternoon exploring new country, and turned up another mature bull. He was pretty leery and didn't allow us a long viewing period. We continued to stalk quietly around the drainage when ANOTHER bull erupted at about 150 yards... at 3PM! I told my mother to get her camera ready and we set up to try to talk him in... He wasn't impressed, however, and bugled about 8 more times, before half-heartedly almost doing would I would describe as "mewing". It was almost as if he was saying, "Come on, baby! I'm over here. I'm not coming over THERE." We let him be, and continued stalking around the hillside. The light was getting long, and we were about 1.5 miles from the nearest road... just on the edge of my comfort zone for what work I wanted to sign my mom up for this late in the day, and by ourselves. We started back in the general direction of the vehicle as I smiled and quietly told my mom that the hillside to our left is where I would be if I were an elk... the terrain shadows the slope for the majority of the day, there was plenty of feed, they had the sun in the faces of anything trying to put a stalk on them, the meadows and water in the valley-bottom nearby were easily accessible... the list goes on. I stopped hunting for just one moment, and unfortunately it was a critical one... the hillside above us produced the unmistakable snaps and cracks of multiple animals moving off... two animals out of about six were within shooting distance with good vital shots, but I couldn't see if they had headgear. They had bested us as they headed back up the drainage towards the bugling bull. Drats! I looked back as my mom smiled, acknowledging my correct assessment of the elk habitat. Right assessment, wrong time to lose focus!

hirshey · « **Reply #16 on:** October 12, 2014, 03:08:22 PM »

We headed back to the vehicle with one more location in mind to burn the rest of the day.. We were slightly delayed as we pulled over on the narrow road to let a truck pass, and he kind of blocked us into the pullout and asked us what we were doing.

"Hunting!", we said while smiling. We were met with a frown. "For what? What season?" We explained, and a slow smile crossed the long-haired gentleman's face.. "OH! Me too. Been seeing them, haven't gotten one."

After a few moments and a marriage proposal, the truck pulled forward and we were back on our way.

SniperDanWA · « **Reply #17 on:** October 12, 2014, 03:15:52 PM »

Great family! Thanks for sharing your hunt.

hirshey · « **Reply #18 on:** October 12, 2014, 03:23:10 PM »

Our last spot, one suggested by my mother, didn't fail to produce results. She spotted a bull working a small meadow, and there was a cow with him. I slowly snuck into position, and sat over my knees (my favorite position to shoot from, one I am generally very comfortable with). I put my sights behind her shoulder, and looked over my gun at her.. thinking, "wow.. this is definitely under 100 yards but it's longer than I am used to". With that in mind, I aimed just at the top of her back (MISTAKE) and squeezed the trigger. She and the bull ran off, not seeming to be worse for wear. My mother, who had been watching the cow through her binoculars told me she had seen hair fly, but that I did not wound, let alone mortally, that animal. I had shaved the hair off of her back. That is my FIRST EVER miss with my muzzleloader, and a slightly disappointing end to the season... but everyone has to miss at some point, I suppose, and I do find comfort in knowing I did not wound her without recovering her. I went out to her location in the meadow and followed her tracks to ensure (although I trust my mother with binoculars over my view through smoke) she wasn't wounded... no blood, as I followed her tracks for about half a mile. Shucks!

It was a great season, and I'm so lucky that my mom got an animal and took the pressure off so that I could just... be. And take photos. And enjoy taking my gun for a walk in the woods. And have a good, humbling experience to remind me to first and foremost trust my sights, and to continue to strive to be a better markswoman and huntress.

Three tags, one elk. We are thrilled, and feel so lucky to have had such a fun, exciting season.

Most of all, it was so wonderful to spend that time with my mother and father... I am so fortunate to get that kind of opportunity time and again.

Now, on to the remainder of the general deer rifle season!

chucker · « **Reply #19 on:** October 12, 2014, 04:21:02 PM »

Great story, great hunt, congrats on a successful season.. can't wait for the deer story.

Mfowl · « **Reply #20 on:** October 12, 2014, 06:49:26 PM »

Nice write up Hirshey. Sounds like you've had an eventful hunting season so far. Good luck the rest of the season!

buck man · « **Reply #21 on:** October 12, 2014, 07:13:37 PM »

EXCELLENT! As usual!

coachcw · « **Reply #22 on:** October 13, 2014, 11:48:33 AM »

I wish I had half the writing skills you have kiddo. I know where you get you good looks ..... your mother is a fine looking woman and great hunter to boot ! congrats on the season .

wildmanoutdoors · « **Reply #23 on:** October 13, 2014, 12:05:58 PM »

Too bad the pics are all Red X's for me.

elkoholic1 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 13, 2014, 02:18:31 PM »

mkcj · « **Reply #25 on:** October 13, 2014, 03:21:21 PM »

Another great story and picture's Hirshey, thanks for sharing.

bowhunterforever · « **Reply #26 on:** October 14, 2014, 02:11:18 AM »

Great story and pics

oneshot12 · « **Reply #27 on:** October 14, 2014, 08:24:41 AM »

nice story and nice pictures as well

Hornseeker · « **Reply #28 on:** October 14, 2014, 08:31:38 AM »

Great hunt, story, Pics! Thanks!

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Author Topic: Hirshey's Family Clockum Muzzleloader Antlerless Elk Hunt (Read 8967 times)

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