It was the last day of Archery elk season, headed up into the western portion of (not telling) and arrived an hour before light. 4 degrees out with a foot of snow, 4” fresh, drove until I saw lots of tracks (not telling) and got out and went for a sneak. Lots of tracks everywhere but they were all snowed in, and heading east to the (not telling). After 2 hours I hiked back to the truck and headed down, went to the bottom of (not telling). Just a patchy skiff of snow there. Drove up high and got my bino’s out revealing a heard of elk on private land. Dropped back down in elevation and went for a sneak. I made a big loop and ended up following the property boundary where I had seen the elk. I turned west still hunting a ponderosa pine flat that had been thinned out. Saw a cow at 400 yards through the trees, and watched her go into some brush, she hadn’t seen me and the wind was right. I snuck up the where she had been, no sign of her. She was heading north, so I headed north, sneaking from tree to tree. Then I saw a patch of brown move and then another and pretty soon no less than 50 animals fed into the open 150 yards away. I had a steady cross wind and started sneaking towards a slash pile at the edge of the clearing they were in using a patch of pines between us for cover. I made it to the slash pile. I picked out a healthy looking cow, one of the closest ones to me and clear of the rest of the heard. No time to look for the range finder (which ironically was in my front pocket and was badly needed) I guessed 50 and took a shot, the arrow hit the dirt 10 yards short, and now they’re alert. They calmed down but were noticeably more attentive, last day, better give it a try, I took a “just over the back hold” with my 60 yard pin and shot over her back. The whole herd decided to get the hell out of there, and Ironically they ran right past me at 20 yards. I drew back and waited for one to stop, and it happened, but I had been holding back so long and was so shook up that I shot over her back too. They got the hell out of there and hid out in some thick timber on private property the rest of the day. What an exciting hunt!!! I consider this to be a successful day even though I failed to fill up the freezer this year. Merry Christmas!!!
