My First Muzzle Elk!

[Dansk]

I took my first elk this year during the late hunt down in southwest wa.

Thought some of you might like the story.....(?)

My most memorable big game hunt- tracking elk in the snow, with 32 inch snowshoes and a muzzleloader.  I've never hunted in the snow- it was awesome.  Maybe it's my pasty white genes, but i'd take hunting in the snow over a nice day in Sept or Oct.  What an experience.

Last day of late muzzle.  Nov 30th.  Hunting for 4 days with not much to show for it.  No sightings and lots of snowshoeing.  I was deep in some old growth and came accross a bed- new snow, prints going out, none going in, so I knew the critter was close.  Figured I spooked it out of it's bed.  So I calmed down, let things settle, and when I looked up to follow the tracks I saw the thing standing out of some brush just looking at me.  This first shot was close (maybe 30 yds?)- It was low and I blew out the leg just below the body.  Elky took off, I reloaded (very VERY calmly.. why you ask? We ran into some dude a few days earlier who put the ramrod THROUGH his hand as he was reloading after a botched first shot!  Buck fever 1, holy hand man 0) .  Anyway, started tracking the 1400 pound fanged elk beast through the snow... and it went into some T-H-I-C-K reprod.  You could see a whole 15 feet.  I stood there wondering...  "ok Master Hunter, so I'm not POSITIVE I hit it, and there were other elk tracks I could follow... it's only 8am and I really don't want to sludge through the reprod in deep powder all day chasing an elk that I would probably never see and might be accross the columbia by now."  Then the ethic bug hit me and so I decided to continue tracking my elk that by now was (in my mind) a world record monster that would take a month to pack out.  I started into the reprod... and stood there for a minute taking in the new lanes that opened up- and wouldn't you know it- the durn thing was snuggled up under the drooping bows of a 20' silver fir.  The next few seconds were textbook: slowly shouldered my TC, exhaled, squeezed off the 400 grain sabot and put one through both lungs and enough of the spine to finish the job.  I've taken deer, but this was my first kill with no buck fever whatsoever.  My buddy came up and said I was acting kinda funny.  No hi fives, no "yeah man!!", only a little smile on my face.  I told him I was happy.  I told him I've reached a level of hunting only few reach, and that I was having a Zen moment.  Zen moment my a$$- turns out, I didn't know it, but my California Cool episode was really because I was $#it out of energy and sicker than a dog.  I realized this later that night as I blew lattes out the other end from the stomach flu.  (so yeah- hi fives and some whooping/hollering DID occur about a week later when I finally got my sick a$$ out of bed.)

Anyhoos- the best part of the story was that this little guy had the decency to wander all that way just to hide and get shot in some reprod which was exactly 100' from the stinkin' road.  Lucky twice, I guess.

Only 140# at the butcher (fully dressed), but I'm told calf meat beats it all. (?)

Hope y'all enjoyed the story.

Great site!

-Dansk

[boneaddict]

I'm glad the ethics bug caught you.  Dang you look familiar...wouldn't happen to be from Winthrop would you.

[Dansk]

Nope, sorry.  West-sider.  Hunted Winthrop off and on over the years though.  Chewuch and Perrygin mostly.

And yeah- that ethics moment sure resonates with me now.  The little guy would have died slowly only having the use of 3 legs.  I started being more conciensious after reading 'fair chase'- a book I got from the AHE program.  Didn't have the luxury of learning hunting ethics from a parent at a young age, so that AHE course taught me a lot.  Never too late I guess.

[boneaddict]

You're a dead ringer for someone I grew up with, who just happens to be named Dan.
Congrats on harvesting your elk.  Thats about the perfect eating age.

[GoldTip]

Nice job, and you've been told right, that there calf is gonna be some fine eatin.

[DBake]

Dansk,

Congrats!!!

If you do not mind, I am wondering what bullet/powder combination you used?

I am hoping to get my first hunting rifle this christmas, a Knight BigHorn or T/C Black Diamond.

[Slider]

Congrats!!! Your hooked for life..........LOL

[addicted]

awesome fricken story dansk. the snowshoeing makes it a perfect story.

[Amsdad]

Great story Dansk..Any elk is fine feed..enjoy your first muzzle elk..And I agree with you, hunting in the snow is a great experience.

[Muleyslyr]

I'm glad you decided to continue on.....you never know.  Congrats on the first Muzzy Elk.

[WAcoueshunter]

Welcome aboard Dansk!  Glad you found your way here.  And congratulations again on a great hunt and a freezer full of fine eatin'.

[M_ray]

I did enjoy the story Nice job and congrats! any elk with a Muzzloader is a fine trophy, looks like my first one and with a muzzy too! Thanks for bringing back those memories

[Little Fish]

Nice story and picture. Congratulations on getting an elk. I haven't done much hunting in the snow, but it's been fun when I have.

[MADMAX]

I love veal, good job, congrats

[Chesapeake]

Not much background, but it looks like the amount of snow we had up neer Trout lake.

Congrats on the kill. Them little buggers eat great. An old man I ran into in the woods once said "Cows and calves baby, cows and calves". I had watched him kill his first bull, and went to talk to him and during the conversation asked what he had killed in the past.

A few years back my father in law killed a little bull calf. While he was reloading I walked up to the animal and the conversation went as follows:

Me: "Hey you got a bull"
Dad: "I didnt see any horns"
Me: "There aint none"

Its was one of those hunting moments I will never forget.