2006, September, I was ready to give elk hunting another shot. This time we booked our hunt with Sage Mountain Outfitters. Six years after our very first elk hunt, we were getting better at choosing outfitters. It was going to be a bow hunt in the rut. We drove all the way across country from Virginia to the western part of Montana. In all, it took us 42 hours; we had a fantastic time; we stopped at Mount Rushmore; drove through Custer State Park, and Visited Devil’s Tower. We finally made our way to camp again with high hopes of bugling elk echoing over the mountains. We were introduced to our guide, his name was Jim VanNorman. He wass the author of several respected mule deer books. We knew we were going to have a blast on this hunt when Jim introduced himself to us for the first time; he came to our cabin with his glasses held together with duct tape, a disheveled shirt all un-tucked and his fly unzipped. When I said hello, nice to meet you, he crossed his eyes and talked with a slang that we could hardly understand. Brent and I didn’t know what to think of the man who was supposed to be guiding us all week, right about the time I was hoping this was a joke, he busted out laughing! Boy, he really pulled our leg! At that point I knew that if I did not harvest an elk, at least we would have a lot of fun trying!
It was extremely hot that first week of September, unseasonably, and miserable. I lost 6 pounds on that hunt, I’m sure mostly in sweat! We hiked and hiked and hiked, we set up, and cow called, and waited and waited….nothing. The elk did not want to respond to our calls. It was just too hot for any animal to move in temperatures like that. Every day it was at least 90 degrees. I was soaked in sweat before I even crested the first hill. I was starting to feel jinxed. Was it me? I felt like I had given it my all. Everything that could go wrong did. We had great fun that week with Jim, it was nobody's fault, just bad timing. We needed to be there towards the middle to end of September. That was OK; we hunted hard, but in the end came up empty. We left with new friends and surprisingly my spirits were high, I was accepting the fact that again….Elk 4, Christine 0! We made our long drive back to Virginia, looking towards the future, planning next year's hunt.
About two weeks after we arrived home, Brent called Cal, owner of Sage Mountain Outfitters. He asked if we could come back in rifle season that year to try one last time. We still had our non-resident tags, and with our flexible schedule we were hoping this would work out. This was the first outfitter that we have ever considered going back to. We knew it was a great outfit; we were just there at a bad time! Cal told us that he would look at the books and call us back. I had kind of figured that there would be no way he would have space. It must have been meant to be, because one of his leases came available one week early and opened up two spots the first week of gun season. The owner of that ranch was suppose to do a huge prescribed burn, but with all of the wild fires and dry weather he was forced to wait one week and that was how that week opened up for us. I couldn’t believe it when we got the phone call, letting us know that indeed we could come back that season! We had one month until we would head back out to Montana and try again! I got online immediately and purchased two plane tickets, driving once was enough! I got my rifle ready. I started to organize my hunting gear; this time it would be cold so all my winter gear had to come out.
2006, October, A fresh blanket of snow covered the ground; we would be hunting the first week of rifle season, what could have been any better?
The first day of the hunt, it was a calamity of errors! We were into the elk hot and heavy! We were driving the roads of the ranch and basically almost ran over a herd of elk! They took off running; we were able to get in front of them, and set up waiting for them to cross. As I sat there waiting and hoping they would cross in front of us, I steadied my gun on the shooting sticks, Brent whispered “here they come, get ready” the bull was only about 100 yards in front of me and he stopped! I squeezed the trigger…. CLICK! I forgot to chamber a round! I was so flustered; I could not believe that my gun did not fire! My mind was going crazy, Brent said, “Cycle a round,” I worked the bolt only to jam my gun, and at this point I knew there was some higher power stopping me from harvesting a bull! By the time Brent tried to offer his gun to me the bull was gone! It all happened really fast and it was over, I broke down into tears. I tried to replay it all in my head. I was so mad at myself. I was not going to let what just happened ruin the rest of my hunt, so I put it in the back of my head and pushed on. We had 5 more days to hunt and that was all I was going to concentrate on!
The next day, we went to a different ranch, and split up. Shane was my guide and Joey was Brent’s guide. Shane is the land owner of the ranch we hunted that day, and he knew how hard I had hunted over the years, so his best friend Joey offered to guide Brent so we could cover more ground and both have shot opportunities that day! I had no confidence in my gun, because of yesterday’s event, so I gave my gun to Brent and I used his 7mm RUM. Everyone was rooting for me, and wanted so badly for me to finally get my elk! Shane had a sweet spot that we went to at the crack of dawn. We climbed to a high peak, overlooking a valley that over 400 plus elk were grazing in all night. Shane knew that at first light a group of hunters would start to fire shots at the large group of elk, causing them to scatter, and he knew they would scatter our way. You see, Shane did not own the valley, he owned the side of the mountain that we were on, and he knew that group of hunters would bugger the elk and they would retreat up to us. The valley that we were glassing was about two miles away. It was the biggest concentration of elk that I had ever seen!
Sure enough, just as legal shooting light came; shots rang out in the valley. Shane was glassing every elk in that valley and was ready for us to make our move. I was set up overlooking a huge park, hoping the lead cow would bring them my way. They started to make their way up the mountain to our far left side, we side hilled to our left hoping to see the herd funnel up the mountain. We eventually made it to the perfect spot. At least 200 cows, calves, and spikes were calmly making their way up the mountain! Shane had told me that the big bull will be taking up the rear, so we just waited patiently. Every elk walked right by us, but no big bull! So Shane figured the herd split coming up the mountain, we raced back to our original position, about 500 yards back, and he was right. Just as I threw my shooting sticks up, and placed my gun on them, they started one by one making their way out of the cover of the trees and through the park I was looking onto. I was sitting on my butt with my gun resting on the shooting sticks in front of me. Shane was sitting directly behind me glassing over my shoulder. They were about 500 yards from me now, and closing the distance, Shane ranged a bush at 300 yards as a reference point for me, and the elk were going to make their way right past that bush and that is where I would take my shot. The lead cow started taking the herd up the mountain; she passed the bush angling her way to us. Unfortunately she started to get our wind. I had my scope focused on the 6 x 6 elk that was in the rear, my crosshairs were on his vitals, just as the bull was even with the 300 yard bush, the cow locked up and she was starting to whirl back down the mountain. At that same moment Shane said “kill em!!!!" At that point I had no idea what the cow was doing, my focus was on the bull, and before Shane said “em” his ears were ringing!!! The recoil of the gun knocked me back into Shane’s arms, I quickly tried to get back on the bull to shoot again, but Shane said, “He’s down!!!!!" I could not get up because I was in shock. He lifted me to my feet and we made our way to the fallen bull! What a beautiful sight, my very FIRST elk!!!! I had finally done it! I cried; I was so happy! The saga had ended! What a weight that had just been lifted off my shoulders! I had worked so many years for this. I had hiked so many mountains, and I was rewarded with a beautiful 6 x 6 bull elk! The rest of the week I hiked with Brent, hoping he would get his bull as well, and that he did, the last day, of the last hour, down to the last minute, he shot a 5 x 5! What a great way to end our hunt! Two bulls down!
I have harvested a lot of animals, and this one is definitely the hardest one earned! I will look at this elk on my wall and never forget how hard it was to achieve! This animal is very special to me. Thing is, I’m ready to try again. They say elk hunting is addictive and I couldn’t agree more!!!!
