Go Go Go or No No No :Anatomy of a hunt.

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The past couple years I have begun to notice that I am finally getting older. Not an easy thing to accept. My mind says go go go but my body says no no no. I have had to get the kids to help me even drag a deer. Hiking uphill causes a lot more huffing and puffing.
I finally decided that my opportunities for an elk hunt are limited at my age. When I found out we could combine preference points this year I decided to do that and apply for a cow elk tag.
I figured a cow tag would increase my chances in the draw and I was more interested in the hunt and the meat than in a rack. Sure enough I was successful.

I figured this was my one and only elk hunt since I couldn't even apply again til I am 70 and probably be over 80 before I had enough preference points accumulated.

In the couple of months leading up to the hunt I had a real hard time deciding what gun to use. The side lock was out as I couldn't meet the energy requirements set by the state.

I was back and forth on which inlines. I shot several different ones and any would have worked out to 250 yards, but I wanted this to be a special hunt.
After much agonizing and wavering I made my final selection. In the end I decided that this hunt would be a tribute to the two individuals who were the most influential in my 40 years of muzzy hunting. So in honor of Gary “Doc” White and the late Tony Knight I went with my White .451 Super Safari and as my backup I went with a .52 Knight Disc Extreme.

The Super safari load was Ed's 465 gr conical, 75 gr by weight of 777, .060 veggie wad and a Remington #11 cap. The gun was topped with a Nikon Monarch scope and weighed in at 9 pounds.

The Knight was set up to shoot Blackhorn ,95gr by weight and a Barnes 375 gr spitzer style bullet. It packed well over 3000 Fpe at the muzzle.

The White I figured was good out to 200 yards. The Knight to 300.

I shot a lot more with the White in getting ready. I shot over 150 no excuses and 100 of Ed's bullets.

I started off at 80 gr to practice and at 90 gr I was able to get 2 ½ inch 200 yard group on a really good day.

I shot at all ranges between 50 and 200 yards. I settled on a 125 yard zero.

When it was all said and done even though I had better groups with 90 gr by volume I chose to up the powder to 75gr by weight , about 96 by volume. I felt a little extra energy was worth the tradeoff in accuracy. The group opened up about another 1 to 1 ½ inches.

The Knight ended up causing me to wear a sissy pad on my shoulder as the recoil was rather stout.

Both guns were ready and I was getting that exciting feeling as the day slowly drew near.
I was taking two of the boys along with me just in case.

I packed the bare minimum, clothes, knife ,flashlight, reloads ,range finder ,para-cord, game bags, binoculars, Sharpener, and a Fieldpod gun rest. The pack was about 15 pounds and had all the necessities.

I headed up to the hills the day before so I could get an early start on opening day. I didn't get much sleep as the excitement kept me waking up constantly. 4:00 am rolled around, I got the boys up and we headed out ,arriving right at first light at the area we were going to hunt.

I popped a couple caps, loaded the Super safari. I grabbed the pack, while the boys carried a range rod, the field pod and some drinks etc. Even in the excitement of the first minutes of the hunt I realized it wasn't going to be easy. The hill we were climbing brought me to that realization.

At the 5 mile mark my back was starting to feel the pain. I decided to pass of the pack to my older son,after all he was much younger. That eased the burden a little. We trudged along seeing lots of sign but no elk.




I think 3 people in the woods with all the blow downs, dry twigs etc was just 2 much noise. It was like a herd of elephants stumbling around.

At the 8.3 mile mark we spooked 2 little bulls , they disappeared so fast that even if it was a cow we would never have had time for a shot. But just seeing something was a great encouragement.

However my 9 pound gun now weighed in at 30 pounds.

My older son decided the pack weighed way to much and handed it off to his younger brother. They finally agreed on 15 minutes each carrying time.

At this point my back hurt,both feet hurt, and my ankle started hurting. My mind kept saying go go go buy my body was saying no no no.

Well we stumbles along , but the more tired we became the louder we were since it seemed hard to pick the feet up. Then to make matters worse a short hail storm, just enough to make everything wet. I didn't have a finger cot or balloon for over the barrel as the weather man said sunshine. we ended up getting hailed on twice, rained on once and even a brief snow flurry. That the weather in the hills I guess. I was a little concerned about the powder.

At 12 miles my hip joint joined the family pain of the other parts and I was extremely discouraged and felt like giving up. My gun now weighed over 50 pounds easily.

My mind said go go go but my body said no no no.

I have never been a quitter though so we continued on but it was back toward the truck. I was thinking I would be lucky to make it to the truck. We arrived , thankfully before dark ,having walked 15.2 miles ,33,970 agonizing steps and climbed the equivalent of 52 floors.


I headed to Rapid to find a motel. Winter rates were cheap but the way I felt , just to take a hot bath and lay down would have been worth any price.

I was thinking this might be a big bust . I figured I would see how I felt come morning. I didn't really care if I was at our hunting area at daylight or didn't make it til noon.

I woke up several times , looked at the clock. It was 4:30 .

My mind was saying go go go but my body said no no no.

At 4:38 I couldn't take it no more. I got up, got the kids up and we packed our stuff and headed back for day 2 .

This time with a different plan.

I figured a lot more sitting and a lot less walking.

The backpack was staying at the truck. I was going to carry my gun which miraculously lost weight during the night and was was back to its original 9 pounds.

I had a range finder and a knife. The older boy carried a knife and a pair of binoculars. The younger son a knife and a range finder.

No fieldpod, nothing else. zip nada. Nothing.

For the noise level the older kid was instructed to stay about 30 or 40 yards behind me, stop when I stop ,move when I move.

His younger brother was then to stay the same distance behind him.

I checked often though to make sure I saw an orange hat bobbing along behind, as I didn't want to lose them in the woods. After all I might need them should I get an elk.

We hiked in only about ½ mile.

There was a big somewhat bowl area that looked like a good funnel. I found a natural rock that made a good blind and a decent gun rest all in one. The view of the area was good also. We stayed there 2 hours.




Nothing moving, only a squirrel chattering at us. I wanted to shut it up but it wasn't much bigger than Ed's bullet to begin with. Low and behold after 2 hours I hear something. Nope not an elk, a pickup truck . It was driving up a 4 wheeler trail. I think the guy was hunting from his truck. I figured that ends that. We got up and started following the ridge north for about 1 ½ miles.

It was good to get moving anyway as it was in the low 30's and I was getting cold and stiff. The boys had cold feet.

The 4 wheeler trail ended and I figured we would be pretty much alone for sure.
We came to the end of the bowl area . It was all shoulder high jack pine and dead trees etc.

I sit under a little pine on the hillside . The kids came up also . We decided to sit for a while . The spot looked good . I lay under the little tree with the sun shining on me. The sun was high and felt really good.

As a matter of fact we lay there 3 hours enjoying the sun and almost sleeping. I am pretty sure even though they denied it I heard snoring once or twice. Leaving the gun in the sun must have helped tremendously as it still weighed in at 9 pounds.

3 hours into laying , watching, snoozing , I couldn't believe it but here come a polaris 4 wheeler up through the bowl. Not even a trail, he just kind of picked his way through the open area. He stopped behind some trees and I realized he was glassing the hillside and area. While we were laying down I had taken my hat off.
I decided it was a good idea to make sure this guy saw us so he didn't mistake us for an elk.
We sit up good and tall with our orange on. He spotted us, started his 4 wheeler and left going back the way he had come.. As good as the sun felt I figured we might as well forget this area and move on. The hard part was getting up.




A lot of people never really know what it is like to be old and try to get up off the hard ground when all sore and stiff. It's something you have to experience to appreciate .

I decided we would head to the ridge , the thick trees, scrub pine and blow downs. At least no vehicle or 4 wheeler could get in there. Shucks it was hard enough just walking through.

We went back to our staggered formation and started still hunting. I found a trail that looked well used. Following it was a little easier than picking our own way through. I saw some pieces of wood that had recently been moved and some elk pellets that looked pretty fresh compared to what I had been seeing.

I was picking my way through the little jack pines, creeping along when something caught my eye. I looked through the rangefinder. This time it was not a stump it was an elk butt. Yes, yes yes, an elk butt. Oh my goodness. 2 cows and a bull. 104 yards away in the thick area. I was behind some scrub pines about shoulder high. I moved over to a pine tree and looked again. Sure enough an elk butt. The other cow and bull were barely visible behind the trees. The cow with her butt to me turned her neck and looked right at me. I was debating on what to do. All these thoughts running through my head. Here's my chance but there was a problem No rest. I looked through the scope but didn't feel good about an off hand shot. I put the gun against the side of the pine tree thinking it would help brace it but the bark was extremely slippery. I couldnt kneel for a shot because of the little pines. From where I was I only had a field of view while standing.

I just knew they would be gone any minute. I spied a stump to my left and about 10 yards away. It was an open area and if I tried to get to it I was probably going to get busted. But the stump looked like the right side of it would make a good steady rest and from the stump to the cow looked like an open shooting lane.
I took my chances and snuck to the stump. I set the rifle on it and looked at the cow. She was looking right at me. I was kneeling down but the only shot offered was a neck shot.

I chose not to do that and waited to see what would happen. I ranged her at 94 yards but the shooting lane was filled with dead branches and limbs and stuff. She took a step turning just enough that I could see her shoulder area nice and clear but had all these thoughts of the clutter deflecting my bullet enough to mess me up.
I turned the scope power all the way down so as not to blur out any obvious branches . I felt pretty confident that I could thread a bullet through the tangle but was a little worried as I felt my time was running out.

I pulled the trigger . The other cow and bull bolted out of there heading south, she took a step forward and I thought in the midst of the smoke I saw her go down. I wasnt sure though as the jack pines blocked my view. The kids come running and I was motioning for them to stop and stay still. I wanted to wait a little and see but the excitement got the best of me and we circled around and looked . It was a big relief when I saw that big brown body lying flat on the ground not 5 feet from where she had been standing. We sprinted to her , I poked her eye and sure enough she was stone cold dead. That's when reality set in. Wow , we actually got an elk. How cool is that we actually got an elk with the muzzle loader.







Now the real work was to begin. My mind was saying go go go and this time my body in spite of the pain didn't disagree.

I think I was running on pure adrenaline . Unfortunately everything was at the truck . We had our knives though so I dressed and quartered her and removed the head as it had to be taken in.

Then I hoofed it back 2 miles to the truck in record time. Drove to the closest spot I could get and got the sled game bags etc. It turned out that it was only 7/10 of a mile from the road and that was mostly down hill.



We were able to get the truck, dress the cow ,haul it out and get her loaded up and head to the check station in only 2 hours. Hallelujah !!. I had to drive the long way home in order to drop the head off at a collection site but made it back at 8:00 pm.

After taking care of the meat for the night I went to clean my gun. And I didn't mind one bit. As matter of fact as I was cleaning the gun I was thinking that even though I didn't get many pictures I got a lot of memories. And those memories will be with me long after the last steak is eaten. If I ever have grand kids,(none yet) I bet they might not even want to come visit because when they show up and say “Hi grandpa” I will say “hi youngsters, did I ever tell you about the time me and the boys went elk hunting?' They will sigh and run off saying “ yes grandpa a hundred times”.


And as far as Ed's bullet , the youngest son found it on the far side in the hide.





I weighed it while cleaning the gun. It was a 465 gr bullet but I was disappointed that it had shed some weight.





JUST KIDDING ED. It performed beautifully. Any bullet that will take down a mature cow elk at 100 yards and she drop in 1 step stone cold dead is a bullet that I think did its job above and beyond.. So thanks Ed.
 
Dang SSHooter what great story to read... and what an experience for the kids.

I know exactly what you speak of with the mind and the body!

Great harvest!

I am so glad it all worked out for you and the kids...
 
Congrads! :applause: What a great read too! Congrads again to you and the boys! That bullet looks great too!
 
Chet, GREAT JOB !!!!! You made us DWB's Proud and I'm sure Doc would be grinning ear to ear. The expansion that you got with your bullet is typical of what I've gotten with game that I harvested with it. Regarding your body telling you No, No and NO!! I know exactly what you mean. I just came back from a hunt with my son in South Africa. Unfortunately I had to use my 280Rem and 150gr Barnes TSX bullets instead of my .451 M98 Super Safari. Reason being one can't obtain black powder in South Africa unless you have a special permit to buy it. I knew of a way that I may be able to sneak the powder and caps, but I didn't want to take a chance and spend my time there at the Gray Bar Hotel! GRIN Any way I harvested a Impala, Zebra and a Kudu. The Impala was shot at 206 yards and both the Zebra and Kudu was shot at 230yds. But the Kudu really tested my metal and my lungs were screaming. Plus being 66yrs old with Sarcardois on my lungs didn't help matters. After I walked to the base of the Mountain and looked up to where my Kudu was hiding, I had to make a 300yd plus walk up this steep mountain, to get within 200yds of him. I'm getting too old and out of shape to do that kind of walking these days.

But I'm glad you got your Elk with your White, you made us DWB's PROUD!! Not to mention, I'm glad my bullet performed as well as I knew it would!

Ed
 
Great story 1874! Made me feel like I was there :yeah:
Congrats on laying out a plan, preparing like a mad man, and it all coming together!! That's what its all about! Elk is some wonderful tasting meat as well, so I'm sure your family will enjoy it :D

Nice bullet Ed :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
Everyone reading this story is proud for you!
As for the gun, glad you chose one for a reason.
As for the bullet, lead is still king.
Congrats.
 
Great read! And wonderful pictures. I really can understand about aches and pains. wonderful to get old age.
 
1874, that was a great story! I have never been elk hunting but now I feel a part of me was with you and your boys on the trail. Thanks for sharing and congratulations! :applause:
 
Great story and such awesome memories for all involved..
The lord will provide but he never promised it be easy.. god bless
 
Congrats to you and your family Chet! Great memories and what a job that piece of lead did for you!
 
Congratulations Chet. Beautiful pics and great story!! Its one of the few ive taken the time to read it all.

I hope you send a copy to Doc also.

Lord, I thank You for the opportunity to go out on the hunt. I thank You for the time alone to think and reflect on life. I thank You for the time with hunting friends, enjoying good fellowship, good stories, meals and drinks. Thank You for the beauty seen during the hunt and for the game taken and shared. I thank You especially for a safe hunt for myself and for all the hunters who share the field.

written by Father Mitch Pacwa
 
Congrats! No doubt in my mind the White .451 would perform like it did, an Ed's conical looks like mine did from last years buck. Great read also!
Now its to the hot tub and grillin time!! 8)
 
Congratulations on a successful hunt! It's great you were able to share the hunt with your sons.

The telling of the trip was written well...you had me on the edge of my seat halfway through, I was so hoping you'd get an elk. :D
 
Thanks for sharing your hunt, and congrats! What state were you hunting?
 
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