Well, the super hot weather may have put a crimp in my opening day moose [Aug 15]
But it did not hurt my opening day elk hunt whatsoever.[Sep 1]
I headed off to Peace River country on Wednesday afternoon, Aug 31. Got settled in and
retired early. Up at 4:15 AM and headed off to area where elk had been seen. As daylight
arrived, the Oat and Canola fields showed several Black Bears, but no elk. Stayed put till
around 9:30, and as it was getting quite warm, I left the area.
Back on post in same area at 5:30 PM. 2 Bears still in the oats, but no elk yet. Kept checking
and, typically, when there was about 15-20 minutes of shooting light left, 14 elk show up in
the edge of the field. in the group were 2 young spike bulls, and two larger ones. Here we can
only take a Bull with 3 points or more.
I range the closest 5x5 bull.......587 yards. pretty long poke. I headed into the timber, and
closed the distance by what I figured must be 200 yards. sneaked out to timbers edge, and
re-check distance. 308 yards, much better, but light is starting to fade.
I use a small, handy Poplar tree as a rest, and lay the crosshairs of my Leupold on his chest.
[presentation is slightly quartering away] When it looked right, I dropped the hammer on my
Winchester 325 WSM, and sent a 196 grain Norma Oryx on it's way. [It is 8:10 PM] I am
gratified to hear the solid Whoppp!! of the bullet contacting that Bull.
He did a short "wobble" walk of about 10 yards, then his hind end caved, followed by his front.
He is down!! I cut my tag right away.
I text my friend to bring the Side by side. It is now heavy twilight, almost dark, so
I head to where I saw him go down......Disaster! I cannot find him, and the vegetation is high
enough. to hide him. When the others [3] arrived with the SxS, they helped, and we found him.
Dragged him out of the field, dressed him, and lifted him up with the tractor to transport to the
farmyard.
To say I am pumped is an understatement. Butcher's scale says the 4 quarters hanging weigh 410 lbs.
Deep freeze will look good, moose or no moose, lol.
Regards, Dave
Ready for skinning...
But it did not hurt my opening day elk hunt whatsoever.[Sep 1]
I headed off to Peace River country on Wednesday afternoon, Aug 31. Got settled in and
retired early. Up at 4:15 AM and headed off to area where elk had been seen. As daylight
arrived, the Oat and Canola fields showed several Black Bears, but no elk. Stayed put till
around 9:30, and as it was getting quite warm, I left the area.
Back on post in same area at 5:30 PM. 2 Bears still in the oats, but no elk yet. Kept checking
and, typically, when there was about 15-20 minutes of shooting light left, 14 elk show up in
the edge of the field. in the group were 2 young spike bulls, and two larger ones. Here we can
only take a Bull with 3 points or more.
I range the closest 5x5 bull.......587 yards. pretty long poke. I headed into the timber, and
closed the distance by what I figured must be 200 yards. sneaked out to timbers edge, and
re-check distance. 308 yards, much better, but light is starting to fade.
I use a small, handy Poplar tree as a rest, and lay the crosshairs of my Leupold on his chest.
[presentation is slightly quartering away] When it looked right, I dropped the hammer on my
Winchester 325 WSM, and sent a 196 grain Norma Oryx on it's way. [It is 8:10 PM] I am
gratified to hear the solid Whoppp!! of the bullet contacting that Bull.
He did a short "wobble" walk of about 10 yards, then his hind end caved, followed by his front.
He is down!! I cut my tag right away.
I text my friend to bring the Side by side. It is now heavy twilight, almost dark, so
I head to where I saw him go down......Disaster! I cannot find him, and the vegetation is high
enough. to hide him. When the others [3] arrived with the SxS, they helped, and we found him.
Dragged him out of the field, dressed him, and lifted him up with the tractor to transport to the
farmyard.
To say I am pumped is an understatement. Butcher's scale says the 4 quarters hanging weigh 410 lbs.
Deep freeze will look good, moose or no moose, lol.
Regards, DaveReady for skinning...
