It was the last two hours of
the last day of our hunt. We both had
been hunting hard for two and a half days with snow falling each night with an accumulating of 12 inches. We had to leave
by 12:00 in order to pack
out our camp and my brothers elk the 4 miles to the truck so that we could
return in time for work the following day.
I was hunting near the peak of
the group of mountains near our camp.
I was 500 yards from the top when I came out from a wooded area filled
with fresh sign. I paused and surveyed
the wind swept mountain meadow reaching up to the densely covered peak. There was nothing, no elk and no other
hunters. I waited a few minutes scanning
every possible location then I began to work my way around a small grove of
spruce trees with the intention of looping my way back to camp. I stopped near the edge to view the meadow
as it rolled down the mountain side. I
said to myself their should be elk here but where are they?
Something told me to look
behind me, which I infrequently do. I
turned and looked up the ridge and saw two cows emerge from the timber 300
yards away running down the mountain side.
"Look for the bull to follow" I repeated in my mind. Sure enough he appeared 75 yards behind the
cows. He dropped from the trees and ran
along the far side of a small ridge so that all I could see was the top 8
inches of his antlers. My eyes raced to
where the cows were headed, surely the bull would continue to follow them. They were skirting the other side of the
grove of trees that I was standing near.
I quickly doubled back into the grove and around a big spruce that was
behind me. The cows flashed by an
opening 60 yards through the trees. I
saw two other possible openings where I could get a shot through. I dropped to one knee and flipped off my
safety. This was a 4 point or better
area near Gunnison Colorado
We began our trip on
Thursday evening leaving our homes in Utah 6:00 PM . My brother Bruce and I were both excited to
be hunting together again and we talked about our hopes and plans through the
night. We drove until 2:00 AM spending the night in the bed of our
truck at a store parking lot in Gunnison . We arose at 7:00 AM on Friday, had breakfast at McDonalds and began
our drive up to our hunting area. The
first season of elk hunting would start on Saturday giving us plenty of time to
pack in the 4 miles to our camp. We left
the truck at 8:00 AM with
high spirits ready to face the challenges ahead. Our hike started out wonderful despite the
heavy loads we were carrying. It was a
nice fall day and the workout allowed us to wear tee shirts most of the way
in. We hiked a gradual sloping trail
skirting a rancher's property for the first mile. The grade of the trail gradually increased
for the remaining 3 miles to our planned campsite. The last mile was a gruesome rocky trail
through a nearly dry river bed filled will dead fall. Our planned campsite always seem to be just
around the next bend but didn't appear soon enough to relieve our aching
bodies. The frequency and length of our
rests increased and any flat spot along the trail started to look like a good
campsite. But our planned campsite would
be centrally located allowing the best hunting opportunities.
We arrived to our campsite
at 4:00 PM and dropped to
the ground exhausted and nauseous. After
20 minutes we setup camp near a big pine tree that would break the wind blowing
down the small canyon. Thirty minutes
later we were eating our first noodle dinner and soaking in the excitement of
the night before opening day. We both
felt the urgency of doing some scouting prior to our morning hunt, so we
grabbed our coats, binoculars, and compasses and headed out to look around
before darkness would set in. We notice
a few skiffs of snow in the shaded areas and were surprised by them. Scouting didn't produce anything significant
but our spirits were high just the same.
A light snow began to fall
just as we were getting back to camp. We
crawled in our 3 man tent, checked our equipment, and prepared our day packs
for the following morning. We talked a
while about the hike in and the excitement we both felt being so far into elk
country and being alone with them. The
nearest camp was 3.5 miles away at the bottom of the canyon where some hunters
with horses camped every year. They
would have to hunt up the mountain each day, driving any elk up the mountain to
our hideout. We were camped smack in the
middle of a road less stretch of National Forest land that was difficult to get
to by those camped along the roads below.
Our confidence was high that we would not only see elk, but would be
able to harvest at least one. We checked
our preparations one last time and set our alarms for 5:00 AM and crawled into our sleeping
bags.
We awoke to four inches of
new snow which only increased our confidence level. We quickly ate our Quaker Instant Oatmeal and
strapped on our gear for the day. We
wished each other luck and headed out to hunt in the same general area allowing
ourselves the possibility of spooking game to each other. That first day Bruce got an off hand shot at
a couple of bulls in a small herd 70 yards from our camp as he came in from a
long day of hunting. This we realized
was the same herd we heard a short bugle from as we were packing in the day
before. We had both thought we were
imagining things at the time, assuring our selves it was probably the caw of a
crow flying over head.
It snowed another 5 inches
that night and the following day I hunted hard on the back side of drainage
that we had camped in. I saw lots of
fresh sign but was unable to connect with any animals. They seemed like ghosts knowing my every move
always staying out of site. I came into
camp an hour past sundown treading through 8 inches of snow when I noticed a
fire at our camp. Bruce would only start
a fire for one reason, if he got his elk!
He had taken it that afternoon.
He was discouraged and decided to go and try his luck at some deer in an
area near camp. He came around a big
bushy pine tree and saw some does walking along the bottom of a small ridge
across a meadow. He knew the bucks would
be following the does so he ran around to the other side of the tree for a
better look and saw fir in the bushes.
He noticed that the color was more tan than the gray of the does, when
he realized that what he was looking at were bulls not bucks. He quickly ran around the tree again to get a
clear shot but the bulls were hesitating because the does were spooky. He had made too much noise running back and
forth around the tree. The deer started
to get flighty so that when the first bull appeared Bruce quickly took aim and
fired. The bull staggered a bit but
didn't go down. It started to run and
Bruce quickly worked his action retrieving a fresh round. He aimed as the bull was heading over the
ridge and fired. The second bull
followed the first and were both now out of site. Bruce knew that he had hit the bull with the
first shot and possibly the second. But
waited a few minutes to let him settle down..
Soon he could hear some rustling and knew his elk was down and in it's
final struggle. He jumped up and ran
over to where he had last seen the bull and 50 yards further there he lay a
nice 4X4.
Bruce took some nice
pictures then field dressed the animal and headed back to camp to get his
pack. The mile back to camp was an easy
jaunt but the two additional trips he
took that night to get the majority of the meat to our camp was a different
story. He de-boned the entire elk and
hauled 3/4 of the elk down the hill in two trips. He was so tired from the effort he just sat
there in front of the fire in a daze.
When I arrived that night the second load of meat still sat there
strapped to his pack, he was too weak to hang the meat up by himself. I unloaded my gear and we tied the meat off
up in the tree. We went back to the tent
and as we cooked and ate dinner he told me his story of success.
I had pulled the trigger at 10:00 am on that Monday morning. I had spent many years of preparation, four
years of it hunting elk in two states in dedication to what I would or would
not find on the other side of that grove of trees. I jumped up in excitement to see if I could
get another shot off but when I broke out into the open there was nothing but
snow. I trotted up the hill 20 yards and
suddenly I could see the legs of an elk waiving in the air not fifty yards from
where I had last seen the bull. It was
my bull all right and he was flat on his back with his head wrapped around a
quaken aspen. The only blood visible was
a small amount coming from his mouth. He
was having a difficult time breathing taking long pauses in-between each
breath. I was sure that he would expire
soon. Suddenly he rolled over and
started to get his feet under him and I was sure that he would get up and run
off so I quickly put a round through his neck and he relaxed instantly. I looked him over and stood there
puzzled. Except for the round that I had
just placed through his neck the animal looked untouched. I thought for sure that I would have hit him
in the front shoulder but there were no holes to be found. I said to myself "I scared him so bad that he ran into a
tree and broke his neck".
As I stood in awe of this
huge animal I began to realize that my dream of bagging such an elusive
creature had finally come true. All of
my hard work and devoted study and preparation had finally paid off. The sequence of events that had just
occurred were so quick that I never got the chance to get buck fever. My actions were simply reflexes based on
years of experience in the field. All of the mistakes and missed opportunities
of the past made for the success of this one moment. I was thrilled beyond belief as I marveled at
the beauty of this animal. He was a mere
3X4 with single brow tines on each side but to me he was a true trophy to be
savored for years to come well beyond the enjoyment at the dinner table. He would be remembered for the effort
required to harvest him and for the unique way in which he was taken. His beauty and the beauty of the land in
which he lived would be remembered for as long as I live.
"Look at the size of
him, he is huge." I said to myself and this is only his third year of
growth. I began to realize why all of
the other hunters were down there hunting near the road. The task that I was about to undertake was
monumental. I was looking at an easy 400
lb. animal. Just to roll him over was a
major undertaking. It took me two hours
of hard labor just to get him field dressed and quartered. I decided that I defiantly didn't want to
make three trips up this mountain to retrieve this animal. With this in mind I took the back straps and
wrapped them up in my shirt making a nice pack to carry. Then I took a rope from my day pack and tied
it to one of the hind quarters. I
flipped it over , fur side down, and began to pull it down the ridge over the
snow.
The going was quite easy and
I made good time back to camp where Bruce was waiting for me. He heard the shots but was unsure if I had
gotten anything. I found out later that
he had taken his elk very near the location of mine. We hung the meat and grabbed our packs and
headed back up to retrieve the remainder of the meat. Just 1/2 mile from camp I began to get dizzy
and felt as if I would faint. I suddenly
realized that I hadn't eaten anything since morning. I opened my pack and ate the remaining snack
food I had left and rested for awhile.
When we arrived I explained
to Bruce the events that led up to the shot and showed him the location where the
elk crashed into the trees. He too was
astonished at the complexity of the conditions.
We took pictures and completed the processing of the animal.
Again I reviewed with Bruce fact that there
were no visible holes in this animal except for the one in the neck I used to
complete the kill. I repeated my only
explanation that the shot must have scared the elk causing him to run into a
tree breaking his neck. We were both curious and began to skin up the neck to see
if there was anything that we had missed that would show up on the inside of
the hide. Sure enough 5 inches from my
fatal neck shot was a very small bullet hole right through the juggler
vein. Either 1 1/2 inches down or 1 1/2
inches farther forward would have resulted in a missed shot. The opening must have allowed the blood to
run down the wind pipe, filling the lungs.
He fell almost immediately as the result of loss of blood to the brain.
The kill was quick, resulting in little pain to the animal improving the
quality of the meat.
We de-boned the front two
quarters and strapped the meat onto my pack frame. Bruce towed the other hind quarter back to
camp.
We arrived at 4:00 PM , had dinner, and began contemplating
how we were going to get two elk and our camp back to the truck and make it to
work the next day. We were looking at
three trips each as a minimum. Two trips
for the elk and one for the camp. We
decided that we would make one trip and stay the night in Gunnison
and return next day for the rest. We
loaded our packs with 50 lb. of meat and wrapped up two hind quarters to drag
in the snow behind us. We hiked in the
dark most of the way and began to get delirious after 2.5 miles. We began to fight amongst ourselves as to
what we were doing when we would stop for rests and how long we would sit
there. Why did we ever think we could
do this. After 3 miles we were both
totally spent and finally found a good location to hang the meat in a tree. We walked the last mile to the truck
uninhibited. At 8:00 PM the truck was a beautiful thing to
behold. There was food and water and warmth to be had. We headed for Gunnison
to get some grub, a motel, and to call our wives and work and let them know of
our delay. We hit Burger King and had a
feast then searched for a motel.
The steaming tub soothed my
pour aching soul and sent relief to my tired muscles. Bruce had taken a quick shower and was
already in bed. The contrast between the
comforts of a motel and a small tent up in the mountains made us feel like
kings living in the lap of luxury. I set my alarm for 7:00
AM and slid into sheets that felt like clouds. The drama of the day played over and over in
my head making it difficult to clear my mind in order to sleep but it came soon
enough.
We arose had breakfast and
headed for the sporting goods store looking for something to make the hauling
out the remainder of our elk and our camp easier. Our idea was to find plastic snow sleds or something similar. On our second try we were successful in
obtaining two fine purple toboggan like sleds for a mear $10.00 a piece. When we told the cashier what we planed to do
with them she was impressed with our
resourcefulness.
With sleds in hand, fresh
cloths and renewed vigor we set out to complete a very successful hunt. We covered the 4 miles quickly and ate most
all of the remaining food at our camp.
We carefully packed our sleds placing the heavy meat in the bottom of
the sleds and our camping gear on the top.
They each weighed a good 150 pounds.
They pulled easily requiring about 5 pounds of pull to keep the sled
moving.
This was going to be the easiest
pack out that we had ever had. Why
hadn't we thought of this sooner.
In-fact why hadn't we brought in the sleds to begin with. Maneuvering over logs was a little more difficult
but soon we got the hang of it. Now the
only problem we faced was the fact that the sun was out and the snow was
melting fast. 1 1/2 miles form the truck
the snow ran out and we were pulling the sleds over a grass and dirt
trail. Still it only required about 35
pounds of pull to move the sleds, about 1/2 the weight of a full pack and 1/4
Th. of the weight we were bringing out.
We made it down to our truck easily and still had spring in our step. It was so much easier than what we had experienced the night before. This was going to change the way we hunted in the future. How much of a change only time would tell.
Hondo
Copyright 1994 Harlan Pooley
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