I got my elk and I guess I put the story here

[edmehlig]

What No Sausage?

 

[idahoron]

That will happen

 

[D55]

Nice bull and great shooting.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Jealous...
Rejoicing with ya! Quite a poke though. You almost had time to reload by the time the bullet got there.
Good things do happen to good people after all

 

[Okie Hog]

Congrats on the great elk.

 

[52Bore]

Great hunt!
Congrats and thanks for sharing.

 

[idahoron]

Thanks everyone.

 

[hillbilly-bear]

I drew my first ML bull tag this year. I'm just not the lucky kind I guess it took about 20 years to get it.
Well I went on opening day Oct 1st. I fell and I was sure that I was not going to be finishing the season again all the luck of a run over snake.
But my son Jacob got me out today.

We went to a place I have seen a lot of elk but it is wide open and not much cover. We didn't see anything until 2:00 pm. We drove around a corner and there were two bulls on the side of the hill. They took off running and went into a creek. One bull the biggest one took off across the desert the other stayed in the trees. I got out and followed him into the trees. I found him, but didn't get a shot. Jacob went down the creek and saw him again, and we lost him. We decided that Jacob was going to try to push him out of the trees. We were wondering why this bull didn't follow the other one.
Well Jacob saw him and waved me to go around in front of him. I got to the BLM fence and started to make my way to the bull. Then he came out in the open. He wasn't limping but he wasn't running either.
I decided that something was wrong with him and decided to take him anyway.
This picture he is in the center, Right before I shot.

I took a range on him, it was 248 yards. This was a lot farther than I normally shoot at game with the first shot but knowing that something wasn't right I decided to go for it. I set the sight and held for a high shoulder shot.
At the shot the bull folded right there.
Jacob was watching and he said he saw the bulls legs pull up and down he went. Then he heard the shot.

We went to work getting him quartered to pack. I did the cutting and Jacob did the hauling.

The only load I carried was the head. He is a great young man.

We found the bullet. It had broken the shoulder and took out the spine. Jacob found it as he picked up the shoulder and it landed on his boot.

The bullet lost only 4 grains. I was impressed with that.
Rifle-- TC Hot Rod Renegade 50
bullet-- 458 gr paper patched lee 500 S&W bullet I make my self sized for my gun
Powder-- 80 gr of Pyrodex P with an over powder wad.

The bull had scratches on the inside of his hind legs. It appeared he had been in a fight with a lion at some point. All the meat was good and everything was fine.

Great job, nice bull, and a really great shot! Hey, do you guys know or live near "Idaholewis"?

 

[idahoron]

do you guys know or live near "Idaholewis"?

I do know him, but we don't live close. I'm in southern Idaho he is in northern Idaho. About 12 hours driving. I consider him to be a good friend. This is a picture of him shooting my 45 Hot Rod Hawken.

 

[Idaholewis]

I do know him, but we don't live close. I'm in southern Idaho he is in northern Idaho. About 12 hours driving. I consider him to be a good friend. This is a picture of him shooting my 45 Hot Rod Hawken.

I remember that well Ron! Your Ole Hotrod Hawken Rifle is the VERY ONE that started it all for me.

Me and Jax very much enjoyed your Company when you were here on your Whitetail Deer Hunt, We talk about that often. It would be a Pleasure to have you back again, as I’ve said before, you are always welcome here

 

[hillbilly-bear]

I do know him, but we don't live close. I'm in southern Idaho he is in northern Idaho. About 12 hours driving. I consider him to be a good friend. This is a picture of him shooting my 45 Hot Rod Hawken.

He is a very good friend and Patriot. Just loads and loads of knowledge! Lewis is just a class act.

 

[Renegadehunter]

Great job Ron!
Did you ever find why the bull couldn't / wouldn't run?

 

[Saxtonyoung]

Nice Bull ! Glad you son was there to share the experience and the work load.

 

[idahoron]

Great job Ron!
Did you ever find why the bull couldn't / wouldn't run?

Jacob is a nurse. He looked at the liver, heart, Kidneys. He has seen tons of animals killed and inspects organs every time. He didn't see anything that was odd. There were some scratches on the elk's legs and back. It was tough to tell if it was a Mountain lion or a barb wire fence that gave him the scratches. He appeared to have all normal body movements and function. Nothing in the meat gave any clues either.
He might have got away with hiding in that creek bottom and that his way to escape was to hide, I don't know. Most elk would have just ran and kept running.

 

[Renegadehunter]

I've read a lot of your posts, as well as Idaholewis's posts and youtube videos. I live 3 hours south of Lew in Lewiston, I love reading/seeing other Idaho folk's hunting experiences. You have a lot more open country down south, makes for some longer shots for sure. Both of you do some darn great long range shooting.
That elk could've taken a tumble and was just sore, got beat up fighting during September, cougar is a very real possibility, or several other scenario's.
I find this kind of stuff intriguing, but all that really matters is you have yummy elk meat in the freezer.
Oh, and I'm going to need Jacob's number the next time I go elk hunting! ha ha

 

[idahoron]

I've read a lot of your posts, as well as Idaholewis's posts and youtube videos. I live 3 hours south of Lew in Lewiston, I love reading/seeing other Idaho folk's hunting experiences. You have a lot more open country down south, makes for some longer shots for sure. Both of you do some darn great long range shooting.
That elk could've taken a tumble and was just sore, got beat up fighting during September, cougar is a very real possibility, or several other scenario's.
I find this kind of stuff intriguing, but all that really matters is you have yummy elk meat in the freezer.
Oh, and I'm going to need Jacob's number the next time I go elk hunting! ha ha

Ya its tough to say why he was beat up. Our hunting is really open country. The last few years I have been doing a lot of Mountain hunting for deer. This year I probably wont get to hunt deer too much. I was diagnosed today with Covid 19.

 

[ENCORE50A]

Sorry to hear about the virus. Hoping its a false positive maybe? Stay strong, get healthy quick.

 

[Idaholewis]

Ya its tough to say why he was beat up. Our hunting is really open country. The last few years I have been doing a lot of Mountain hunting for deer. This year I probably wont get to hunt deer too much. I was diagnosed today with Covid 19.

Here’s wishing you Speedy Recovery Ron! Stay well Hydrated

I know a few people here that have/Had that Covid Crap, a few of them were Asymptomatic, And the others say it Feels/Felt no different than a Cold. I will sure be Glad when this Junk finally goes away, With my Wife in the Medical/Care field, it’s almost inevitable that she gets it, and of course then i do.

 

[Renegadehunter]

Ya its tough to say why he was beat up. Our hunting is really open country. The last few years I have been doing a lot of Mountain hunting for deer. This year I probably wont get to hunt deer too much. I was diagnosed today with Covid 19.

I just got over it about a week ago.
I'm 47 and have no underlying issues, although I did smoke for 25 years.
I woke up Oct. 9th with a fever and feeling cruddy. The next day I realized I had lost all sense of taste and smell (and I mean ZERO), which prompted me to go get tested. 4 days later I got the call that I was positive.
The first 5 days were the worst. I had every flu symptom you can have except I never threw up, got a cough, or had shortness of breath. Had a fever for 7 days straight, ran about 99.5 to 100.5, although the 4th day it was 101 all day. 8 days of waking up in a cold sweat every night.
It felt just like having a fairly nasty illness, wasn't the worst sick I've ever been but wasn't a good time by any means.
I felt pretty good by day 8, but it was a good 14 days before I didn't get winded and sweaty doing small tasks.
It is day 16 since I lost taste and smell, I have about half my normal senses of those back currently. It apparently takes quite some time for those to return to 100%.
Horrible headaches if you don't stay hydrated, drink plenty of water. Everything will taste like water anyway!
Hope you don't get it any worse than I did and are recovered in short order.

 

[idahoron]

Sorry to hear about the virus. Hoping its a false positive maybe? Stay strong, get healthy quick.

Not a false one this time. I'm not in bad shape though.