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The comforts of an elk stand

Started by Okanagan, November 06, 2019, 12:29:17 AM

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Okanagan


My son and grandson convinced me to get an elk tag and hunt this Fall.  My mobility is slowing but there is a half mile hike I can manage to a spot where a man can watch an elky hillside.

In years past, some hunter had left a folding chair out there.  The frame was intact so I made a seat and brought out a Cabela's stadium seat for a pad. 

A pole tripod made a superb shooting rest with my daypack turned upside down in the tripod nest.



A 1½ liter titanium cook pot holds a stove and fuel canister plus 8 or ten envelopes of instant soup, oatmeal, spiced cider etc.  Add an insulated cup and one spoon and I was set. By an hour after dawn I was bored and getting chilled so a hot breakfast would keep me going till my noon nap!



The warm sunny weather with no wind has been great for people but terrible for hunting Roosevelt elk, so far.  They lie down all day, eat within a few steps and don't even make tracks outside of that small area. Son has seen only five, including a spike bull at 125 yards.  A legal bull has to have 3 points or more on one side.  Normally in November it rains nonstop there in the rainiest place in the lower 48, and the elk eat and move much of the day.



nastygunz

 Now that is becoming one with your environment !

Hawks Feather

I would suggest a dorm refrigerator if you decide to hunt there in the summer.   :biggrin:  But you sure are 'good to go' for cooler weather.

pitw

Looks like a great place for a nap.  I bet you know where the fetchers are before ya shoot down that incline. :innocentwhistle:
I say what I think not think what I say.

Okanagan

Quote from: pitw on November 06, 2019, 09:17:17 AM
Looks like a great place for a nap.  I bet you know where the fetchers are before ya shoot down that incline. :innocentwhistle:

Yep, had a nice nap there a couple of years ago under a poncho in light rain.  I toughed it out for three days so far this week and hiked back to the rig for a good nap each day.

We have walkie talkies and a schedule to check in, plus sometimes the fetchers are close enough to hear my shot.  I questioned whether I should shoot an elk way down in that hole but they are all for going after it for me and told me emphatically NOT to go down in there to gut it but to wait and watch in case it moved, etc. and to direct them to the right spot.  They are right but it feels odd.

Along that line...  I had an elk get up and leave one time while I moved to him and had to go out of sight of where he lay after my shot.  I got him but was lucky.  A friend who hunts with us lost a good bull one year when he hiked up over 200 yards to where the bull went out of sight after he shot it broadside.  He misread the terrain and brush in pouring rain, searched the wrong spot and concluded that he had missed.  My son listened to his story, told him he was too good a shot to miss that one and went back with him the next day.  When the hunter stood at the spot from where he shot and directed my son to where the bull had been, the bull was lying dead behind the first clump of brush.  Without someone to direct him the evening before, the hunter had gone to the wrong clump of brush and searched the wrong trail and wrong section of hillside.  Bummer.

My son is out there solo again while I am home recuperating from three days.

Okanagan

Quote from: Hawks Feather on November 06, 2019, 07:52:31 AM
I would suggest a dorm refrigerator if you decide to hunt there in the summer.   :biggrin:  But you sure are 'good to go' for cooler weather.

You got a loooong extension cord I can borrow? :laf:

Tikaani

Really nice view Ok, like what you did with the chair. I don't go anywhere with out my cook pot.
Growing Old Ain't for Pussies.

Okanagan

Quote from: Tikaani on November 06, 2019, 11:25:12 AM
Really nice view Ok, like what you did with the chair. I don't go anywhere with out my cook pot.

Thanks.  It sure is nice to stop and make a hot lunch with a cup of soup in the snow.  Re the view:  not many places in real rain forest where you can see the ground on the other side of a canyon. 

JohnP

When they come for mine they better bring theirs