cooperjd
Well-known member
well, i'm back in the wonderful D.C. now, and I havent' written up the complete account yet, but here's a relatively quick version...
Fly into Sioux Falls saturday, picked up by dad and we head west. Sunday morning we head for Edgemont, SD and some dirt roads to find Ken Cassens ranch, 6 square miles of elk country. we get settled into camp and head out for some scouting after an early dinner. its hot, 95 degrees or so hot. and we didnt' think anything would move til near dark anyway. we made it up to the top of a ridge and glassed down, and found a group of 3 bulls and some cows. 2 of the bulls looked very nice, but we didnt' bring the spotting scope, just binocs and they were pretty far away, and it was getting dark. the guide thought it'd be best to come back to that spot in the morning and try to locate the group again.
monday morning we head out. we spot some bulls out in the open prairie going in, but with no way to approach them we had to leave them and hope they would venture our way to the timber later in the day. we made it to the top of a ridge, only to be spotted by 2 spikes, so we had to ease back out and go around another ridge to glass. we were on top of one hill and located a group of cows across on top of the next ridge, so we had to stay down not to scare the lookout cow. the elk act like whitetails, with one main cow looking out for danger watching over her group. there was one decent bull with this group, but no way possible to put a stalk on him with my bow. our agreement was since i had the bow, we would try to get within bow range, but if a nice bull wouldn't cooperate, dad would take the longer shot with his rifle.
these elk file out and go around us and we ventured down and up the next ridge to see what was over that side. nothing. we made our way to the bottom of this ridge and could hear a bull rubbing his antlers on a tree. so we slowly crept up the hill and nestled behind a tree. dad stood about 20' to the side with the rifle. now early season, the bulls do not respond to cow calls, but my guide tried a few to see if curiosity would draw the bull closer. well the bull turned out to be a group of 6 bulls, with 2 nice ones! they are about 70 yards away and the lead one is heading our way. he gets to about 55 yards or so and doesn't like something. not sure what, we were hidden and had a great wind, but he spooked and took the group with him. dad was too far to whisper to to tell which bull to shoot, so he didnt' get a shot either. it was fun being that close to an animal that size though.
we hiked around a while longer peering over various hills and ridges, and finally left dad while the guide and i went back for the truck to try a different part of kens land. we drove around for a while without really seeing much, and decided to try another spot the guide (Ty) has had success. we had success there, and got 8 rattles from a 3' rattle snake... but no elk. i stepped about 3" from this snakes tail and happened to look down at my foot when i stepped. anyone who thinks a white boy can't jump has never seen me almost step on a rattlesnake. and when an injured snake strikes at me, i can jump pretty far then too!
I know i said short version....sorry...
ok we finally spot 2 good bulls making their way through the timber. Ty thinks they're going to water, and knows how to cut them off. He guessed right and we crept our way to the top of a hill overlooking the elk. with a stiff wind in the perfect direction, and enough cover with small hills and ditches, we think we can make a stalk. so off we go running down the hill and to a path for a perfect ambush point. well, the elk reverse direction and start feeding away from us. but with the ditch and wind we give chase. now its difficult to describe this stalk, utterly amazing, lucky, whatever. we had a stiff wind blowing right in our face, no smelling us. difficult to hear us, and they had no clue we were there. i topped a small rise and there were 3 bulls! not 25 yards from me. i could barely clip my release on my string. but i couldn't shoot, they were too close together. the start to separate, and to get out of range, but one hung back, but he was turned too far. quartering away, but the angle was too much. dad is behind me ready with the rifle, if these elk get out of bow range, he's shooting one. mind is made up. well the last bull in the group is a touch over 40 yards, and finally turns and gives me a good target. i make my draw and shoot, but the shot looks low and a little too far back. in the excitement, i didnt' think to tell dad to give me another arrow ( he had my quiver) or give me the rifle, i just said shoot him! the elk was hurt, and only took a few steps before stopping, so dad quickly shot him with the 7mm ultra mag. Dad had his bull. my shot turned out to be a pretty good one, but at the angle, we're not sure if we'd would've ever found him. the angle was too much. i hated to have chosen dad's bull for him in this way, but he said it was fine, since he scores around 340 gross, and was the biggest of the 3.
pictures taken, hugs and handshakes, etc...
we get the truck and a trailer and go back after the 700lb bull to take back to the lodge for skinning. on the way out we spot the other 2 bulls bedded up, and they are in a stalkable position. we drop off dad's elk and head back out with my bow. they get very few bowhunters there, and my guide's personal mission was to get me an elk with the bow and on video. the bulls were bedded down in a bowl, and with the strong wind we could sneak up to the edge, but they were about 65 yards, too far for me to shoot. so we had to wait them out. well they got out of there with noone shooting at them, and made their way into the open prairie again. dad is trying to get me to shoot with the rifle, but my guide is begging me to give him another chance. so me and ty leave dad (he is pretty sore in his hip by now) and we basically run about 1.5miles in a huge circle through the timber, up and down hills to try to get in front of these elk. they are feeding uphill, and we want to be on the other side. so around we go. we near the top and cannot see the elk. we spotted dad way away and he is waving at us, telling us to get down. i finally see why when i see the tips of antlers not 50 yards away and just under us! thankfully we still have the wind in our favor and find some nice sagebrush to hide behind. the first bull tops the hill and stands broadside for me, but i can see the other one coming behind him, and i want to wait. this first bull is a bigger bull than the other one, but isn't as pretty in my eyes. this bull spots us, and circles downwind of us and runs off. no matter, here comes the one i want... he tops the hill and i draw my bow. Ty cow calls to stop him, and he turns and faces me... oh no.. i am at full draw. i can't shoot... how long will he stand like this... ty ranges him and whispers 43 yards... the bull starts walking again and turns broadside. ty cow calls... he stops again, slightly quartering to me, but just barely... i can put the G5 montec just behind the shoulder....thump... perfect! i see arrow bury to the white fletch just inside the front shoulder. the big bull jumps and stops, turns a small circle, and stumbles downhill for about 60 yards before piling up. my guide has awesome video of this, and dad watch the whole thing from the opposite direction through his bino's and got some video as well. never in my dreams would i think we could take 2 great bulls like this, much less in the same day. it was a great help that we were the first hunters in camp and the elk had not been pressured at all, otherwise stalking with a bow would be impossible until the rut comes in and calling would work. a dream come true for sure. dad did well with hiking, he put in around 6 miles. me and ty put in almost 9 that day. the mathews outback purchased from maddog performed flawlessly. and the g5 montecs are devastating on elk, i love those broadheads. i know i said short version, thats as short as i can make it and get most of the details in.
Fly into Sioux Falls saturday, picked up by dad and we head west. Sunday morning we head for Edgemont, SD and some dirt roads to find Ken Cassens ranch, 6 square miles of elk country. we get settled into camp and head out for some scouting after an early dinner. its hot, 95 degrees or so hot. and we didnt' think anything would move til near dark anyway. we made it up to the top of a ridge and glassed down, and found a group of 3 bulls and some cows. 2 of the bulls looked very nice, but we didnt' bring the spotting scope, just binocs and they were pretty far away, and it was getting dark. the guide thought it'd be best to come back to that spot in the morning and try to locate the group again.
monday morning we head out. we spot some bulls out in the open prairie going in, but with no way to approach them we had to leave them and hope they would venture our way to the timber later in the day. we made it to the top of a ridge, only to be spotted by 2 spikes, so we had to ease back out and go around another ridge to glass. we were on top of one hill and located a group of cows across on top of the next ridge, so we had to stay down not to scare the lookout cow. the elk act like whitetails, with one main cow looking out for danger watching over her group. there was one decent bull with this group, but no way possible to put a stalk on him with my bow. our agreement was since i had the bow, we would try to get within bow range, but if a nice bull wouldn't cooperate, dad would take the longer shot with his rifle.
these elk file out and go around us and we ventured down and up the next ridge to see what was over that side. nothing. we made our way to the bottom of this ridge and could hear a bull rubbing his antlers on a tree. so we slowly crept up the hill and nestled behind a tree. dad stood about 20' to the side with the rifle. now early season, the bulls do not respond to cow calls, but my guide tried a few to see if curiosity would draw the bull closer. well the bull turned out to be a group of 6 bulls, with 2 nice ones! they are about 70 yards away and the lead one is heading our way. he gets to about 55 yards or so and doesn't like something. not sure what, we were hidden and had a great wind, but he spooked and took the group with him. dad was too far to whisper to to tell which bull to shoot, so he didnt' get a shot either. it was fun being that close to an animal that size though.
we hiked around a while longer peering over various hills and ridges, and finally left dad while the guide and i went back for the truck to try a different part of kens land. we drove around for a while without really seeing much, and decided to try another spot the guide (Ty) has had success. we had success there, and got 8 rattles from a 3' rattle snake... but no elk. i stepped about 3" from this snakes tail and happened to look down at my foot when i stepped. anyone who thinks a white boy can't jump has never seen me almost step on a rattlesnake. and when an injured snake strikes at me, i can jump pretty far then too!
I know i said short version....sorry...
ok we finally spot 2 good bulls making their way through the timber. Ty thinks they're going to water, and knows how to cut them off. He guessed right and we crept our way to the top of a hill overlooking the elk. with a stiff wind in the perfect direction, and enough cover with small hills and ditches, we think we can make a stalk. so off we go running down the hill and to a path for a perfect ambush point. well, the elk reverse direction and start feeding away from us. but with the ditch and wind we give chase. now its difficult to describe this stalk, utterly amazing, lucky, whatever. we had a stiff wind blowing right in our face, no smelling us. difficult to hear us, and they had no clue we were there. i topped a small rise and there were 3 bulls! not 25 yards from me. i could barely clip my release on my string. but i couldn't shoot, they were too close together. the start to separate, and to get out of range, but one hung back, but he was turned too far. quartering away, but the angle was too much. dad is behind me ready with the rifle, if these elk get out of bow range, he's shooting one. mind is made up. well the last bull in the group is a touch over 40 yards, and finally turns and gives me a good target. i make my draw and shoot, but the shot looks low and a little too far back. in the excitement, i didnt' think to tell dad to give me another arrow ( he had my quiver) or give me the rifle, i just said shoot him! the elk was hurt, and only took a few steps before stopping, so dad quickly shot him with the 7mm ultra mag. Dad had his bull. my shot turned out to be a pretty good one, but at the angle, we're not sure if we'd would've ever found him. the angle was too much. i hated to have chosen dad's bull for him in this way, but he said it was fine, since he scores around 340 gross, and was the biggest of the 3.
pictures taken, hugs and handshakes, etc...
we get the truck and a trailer and go back after the 700lb bull to take back to the lodge for skinning. on the way out we spot the other 2 bulls bedded up, and they are in a stalkable position. we drop off dad's elk and head back out with my bow. they get very few bowhunters there, and my guide's personal mission was to get me an elk with the bow and on video. the bulls were bedded down in a bowl, and with the strong wind we could sneak up to the edge, but they were about 65 yards, too far for me to shoot. so we had to wait them out. well they got out of there with noone shooting at them, and made their way into the open prairie again. dad is trying to get me to shoot with the rifle, but my guide is begging me to give him another chance. so me and ty leave dad (he is pretty sore in his hip by now) and we basically run about 1.5miles in a huge circle through the timber, up and down hills to try to get in front of these elk. they are feeding uphill, and we want to be on the other side. so around we go. we near the top and cannot see the elk. we spotted dad way away and he is waving at us, telling us to get down. i finally see why when i see the tips of antlers not 50 yards away and just under us! thankfully we still have the wind in our favor and find some nice sagebrush to hide behind. the first bull tops the hill and stands broadside for me, but i can see the other one coming behind him, and i want to wait. this first bull is a bigger bull than the other one, but isn't as pretty in my eyes. this bull spots us, and circles downwind of us and runs off. no matter, here comes the one i want... he tops the hill and i draw my bow. Ty cow calls to stop him, and he turns and faces me... oh no.. i am at full draw. i can't shoot... how long will he stand like this... ty ranges him and whispers 43 yards... the bull starts walking again and turns broadside. ty cow calls... he stops again, slightly quartering to me, but just barely... i can put the G5 montec just behind the shoulder....thump... perfect! i see arrow bury to the white fletch just inside the front shoulder. the big bull jumps and stops, turns a small circle, and stumbles downhill for about 60 yards before piling up. my guide has awesome video of this, and dad watch the whole thing from the opposite direction through his bino's and got some video as well. never in my dreams would i think we could take 2 great bulls like this, much less in the same day. it was a great help that we were the first hunters in camp and the elk had not been pressured at all, otherwise stalking with a bow would be impossible until the rut comes in and calling would work. a dream come true for sure. dad did well with hiking, he put in around 6 miles. me and ty put in almost 9 that day. the mathews outback purchased from maddog performed flawlessly. and the g5 montecs are devastating on elk, i love those broadheads. i know i said short version, thats as short as i can make it and get most of the details in.
Good job Coop.
