Went on an Elk hunt north of Lloydminster Alberta. Was invited by a longtime friend when his original partner bailed.
I'll make this clear at the outset...these Elk are farmed, but if anyone thinks that necessarily makes it a "slam-dunk",
they better revise their thinking. We worked hard, and covered a lot of land trying to find these Elk. We had NO
guide nor any directives as to where to look for these animals.
This is on multiple square miles of land, with about 70% of it in scrub poplar and above shoulder level brush. A million
places for game to hide, and hide they do. Add to this the fact that it was very warm, made seeing game in any
numbers a challenge.
But game makes mistakes too, and very early one morning, I caught a 6x5 [velvet just starting to strip] Bull at the edge
of an open patch. Ranged----425 yards from the stand of poplar I am in. He was not spooked, but started to move.
A squeak on the cow call, he stopped, and I sent a 220 A-Frame his way from my 8mm Rem Mag. Double lunged him, and
in typical Elk fashion, he took a couple of jumps, and trotted another 30 feet or so. He was looking pretty sick by then,
but I know elk, so I gave him another, which put him down to stay. Both shots were perfect, which tells me practice and
confidence in your equipment means so much when the chips are down.
Had the wickedest storm we have ever experienced one night. We woke up to a lot of lightning and very loud thunder at 3:00
AM. Then came the wind and rain. Blew the rain straight sideways so hard that it came in my window and wetted down my
clothes and sleeping bag. Dropped 2.25" of rain in about an hour. Then the next day, back up to 26 - 27ºC.
All in all though, we had a great time. came home with what we wanted, and enjoyed the solitude. Freezer is starting to fill...great!!
Dave.
I'll make this clear at the outset...these Elk are farmed, but if anyone thinks that necessarily makes it a "slam-dunk",
they better revise their thinking. We worked hard, and covered a lot of land trying to find these Elk. We had NO
guide nor any directives as to where to look for these animals.
This is on multiple square miles of land, with about 70% of it in scrub poplar and above shoulder level brush. A million
places for game to hide, and hide they do. Add to this the fact that it was very warm, made seeing game in any
numbers a challenge.
But game makes mistakes too, and very early one morning, I caught a 6x5 [velvet just starting to strip] Bull at the edge
of an open patch. Ranged----425 yards from the stand of poplar I am in. He was not spooked, but started to move.
A squeak on the cow call, he stopped, and I sent a 220 A-Frame his way from my 8mm Rem Mag. Double lunged him, and
in typical Elk fashion, he took a couple of jumps, and trotted another 30 feet or so. He was looking pretty sick by then,
but I know elk, so I gave him another, which put him down to stay. Both shots were perfect, which tells me practice and
confidence in your equipment means so much when the chips are down.
Had the wickedest storm we have ever experienced one night. We woke up to a lot of lightning and very loud thunder at 3:00
AM. Then came the wind and rain. Blew the rain straight sideways so hard that it came in my window and wetted down my
clothes and sleeping bag. Dropped 2.25" of rain in about an hour. Then the next day, back up to 26 - 27ºC.
All in all though, we had a great time. came home with what we wanted, and enjoyed the solitude. Freezer is starting to fill...great!!
Dave.
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