Elk Day 4 - Third Elk Down!
Got up at 7 this morning and showered. Went to the main lodge for breakfast. Ate with The Band Perry. They asked lots of questions but were really dodging our questions. Funny stories there.
Loaded up the elk and drove down to Grand Junction. Stopped at D&M Meat processors. They will process for $0.82 / #. It gets frozen and then trucked to our doorstep for another $500. These elk are Expensive!
Drove down to the taxidermist to turn in my hide. $380 gets it processed hair off and shipped in about a year from now. Guess my loincloth will have to wait. Hit Safeway for lunch fixings and then drove up Douglas Pass to the high ranch. Along the way, we ran into Jason's (our guide) family - wife, daughter, grandson and granddaughter. They were hauling cows out of Douglas Pass.
Stopped at the cabin to kill some time and winterize it. Waited on fog to disperse. It's 25 F and still spitting snow. We saw tracks, but not fresh ones.
We drove around the ridges scouting for elk, but saw Nothing except for old tracks. Once we hit Mud Spring, where Trent and I killed elk yesterday, we ran into Fresh tracks, but still no elk. We drove out of Mud Spring to the top along the ridge following fresh tracks. Finally, Trent spotted a lone cow in front of us.
Dad got out and Jason called out the range at 244 yds. Dad's first shot missed high, but the elk did not move - she was still facing away from us. Dad's second shot lunged her and she hunched up. Now all of a sudden, there are three elk standing there and Jason calls out, "Shoot again. She's the one in the middle." Dad had to wait until the others cleared, but then fell her on the spot with a neck shot. Good thing too, because if she'd gone another 10' she would have slid down 1,500 feet to the bottom of Kimball Creek. We'd have to quarter her and haul her DOWN the mountain. Instead, we backed the truck up to her and winched her into the truck. Score all around!
The guides are giving us grief that all of our elk have come from Mud Spring, which they've renamed Seager Flats. They claim we used Trent's aspen stands to trap them there. All in good fun.
Needless to say, this has been one great trip - getting to share a week's worth of hunting with your Dad and brother and Dad and I get our first elk ever! Sweet. Can't put a price tag on these memories.
Still no pictures to post here yet. Will load them when we return.
Running Dad's elk to the processor in the morning. Then packing up and flying home. Should be back home by this time tomorrow night. Sad the trip is coming to a close, but it will be good to be home again.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Loaded up the elk and drove down to Grand Junction. Stopped at D&M Meat processors. They will process for $0.82 / #. It gets frozen and then trucked to our doorstep for another $500. These elk are Expensive!
Drove down to the taxidermist to turn in my hide. $380 gets it processed hair off and shipped in about a year from now. Guess my loincloth will have to wait. Hit Safeway for lunch fixings and then drove up Douglas Pass to the high ranch. Along the way, we ran into Jason's (our guide) family - wife, daughter, grandson and granddaughter. They were hauling cows out of Douglas Pass.
Stopped at the cabin to kill some time and winterize it. Waited on fog to disperse. It's 25 F and still spitting snow. We saw tracks, but not fresh ones.
We drove around the ridges scouting for elk, but saw Nothing except for old tracks. Once we hit Mud Spring, where Trent and I killed elk yesterday, we ran into Fresh tracks, but still no elk. We drove out of Mud Spring to the top along the ridge following fresh tracks. Finally, Trent spotted a lone cow in front of us.
Dad got out and Jason called out the range at 244 yds. Dad's first shot missed high, but the elk did not move - she was still facing away from us. Dad's second shot lunged her and she hunched up. Now all of a sudden, there are three elk standing there and Jason calls out, "Shoot again. She's the one in the middle." Dad had to wait until the others cleared, but then fell her on the spot with a neck shot. Good thing too, because if she'd gone another 10' she would have slid down 1,500 feet to the bottom of Kimball Creek. We'd have to quarter her and haul her DOWN the mountain. Instead, we backed the truck up to her and winched her into the truck. Score all around!
The guides are giving us grief that all of our elk have come from Mud Spring, which they've renamed Seager Flats. They claim we used Trent's aspen stands to trap them there. All in good fun.
Needless to say, this has been one great trip - getting to share a week's worth of hunting with your Dad and brother and Dad and I get our first elk ever! Sweet. Can't put a price tag on these memories.
Still no pictures to post here yet. Will load them when we return.
Running Dad's elk to the processor in the morning. Then packing up and flying home. Should be back home by this time tomorrow night. Sad the trip is coming to a close, but it will be good to be home again.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:De Beque, Colorado, United States
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