Son just phoned to say he got an elk

[Okanagan]

My elk hunter son phoned a few minutes ago, saying that he got a smallish 4x5 (?) bull elk this morning and had just finished packing out the second load of meat.  The elk is about a half mile from his pick-up on a straight line.  The first 2/10 of a mile pack out is 700 vertical feet uphill through unbroken timber.  From there it is nearly a half mile of brushed-in contour trail that is mostly level or slightly downhill.

He found this bull last Friday morning, the day before season opened.  After the Fri. night football game his nephew, Cody, went out to help him hunt on Saturday and they could not find any elk nor tracks.  Worst elk hunt Cody has experienced in terms of no elk nor sign.  It rained heavily non-stop from then till now, 1 ½ inches a day and harder at night.  David hunted miles across a big canyon on Sunday without finding elk tracks, and Cody headed back to work on Sunday night.  Late on Monday, near dusk, David spotted the herd again.  He was pretty sure one was a bull but with fog and brush he never was sure enough to shoot across a side canyon.  He had planned to go home Monday night but decided to stay over and hunt Tuesday.

He shot the bull about 8:30 AM Tuesday morning, the 5th day after first seeing it.  At 40 yards it was looking back at him, half covered in brush and he was not as sure of a hit as he likes.  He found lots of hair but no blood, tried to sort out tracks, and going the way the bull had gone he spotted the bull lying down looking away from him.  Christmas trees between them made it hard to find an opening to shoot through but after a lot of dancing around as silently as he could, he found a small hole to put a second round into the bull.  It never got up and is in a good place to work on.  .338 Win. mag in Tikka T3 lite stainless synthetic and I think he shoots 225 grain Swift A-frames, not sure. 

Cody is headed out there tonight to help him pack the rest of the meat tomorrow.

[Hawks Feather]

Tell him congratulations and thank him for filling YOUR freezer.

Jerry

[Okanagan]

Tell him congratulations and thank him for filling YOUR freezer.

Jerry

[pitw]

Golly them boys must like eating elk .  I'm looking for an antlerless and she's gonna die on a loading ramp or nothing .  Congrats to the hunter and Kudu's to Cody for helping.

[FinsnFur]

"My elk hunter son"
Congrats to the boy

Barry..on a ramp? LOL

[Okanagan]

He sent me some pics from his phone to my cell phone but I can't figure out how to get them from phone into computer or would post a couple of pics.  Very light colored bull, almost white on its sides. 

Elk hunting is EXTREMELY low success rate in WA State and he hunts about the lowest success rate area in the state.  If you want an elk, you gotta go after it. 

Also, I'm heading out for a few days later this morning and may not get anything posted till I get back.  Family stuff and high school football playoff game, etc.  We have four grandkids on the field each Friday night, three players and one cheerleader so I have made the pilgrimage to the US every Friday night except for the week that I ran up to the Yukon.   I only have the energy for about one such foray per week and it sure has messed with my hunting and Fall salmon fishing but is well worth it.

[Hawks Feather]

You keep making a 'run' every Friday and the border patrol will start to watch you a little closer.   

Jerry

[JohnP]

UPS & FedEx are still in the overnight delivery business, even to sunny Arizona. 

Tell him I said congratulations - again.

[Okanagan]

I got down there last week in time to help cut up elk meat.  On Saturday morning my son fixed one of his famous breakfast meals with prime elk steaks, quality bacon, etc.  It is a young bull that is prime eating.  John, overnight would make it to AZ easily and merely age a tad more.   That afternoon we watched college football and nibbled on slices of flank steak while we finished the cut and wrap.

I am so frustrated trying to get a photo from the phone into my computer that I need to quit messing with it and not waste the anger.  It is a pretty typical 4x5.

Son and grandson went out elk hunting on Sunday and Monday and tracked a herd all day Monday, expecting to see elk any moment but never did.  Grandson had an elk tag and his Dad was along to pack meat.

Edited to add:  225 grain Barnes TTSX in Win Mag .338, the Barnes with the plastic tip.  He has killed several elk with that bullet now and really likes it.  The bull had turned around to look back at him and was facing him at a sharp angle within 40 yards.  The bullet hit shoulder, broke the bone below the scapula into 7 pieces, caught 2 inches of one lung, entered the paunch and apparently stayed there because there was no exit on the stomach and we never found the bullet.  He has caught several of the Barnes bullets in elk, with no exit.  No exit is why there was no blood, but the elk was hit hard.  He really likes that bullet because it is sure to penetrate a long ways no matter what the body angle.  In that jungle vegetation, you usually have to take whatever shot angle the bull gives you and do it quick, and a hunter usually can't wait for an ideal pose.

[nastygunz]

I just turn the wifi on my phone on when im home then email the pictures to my computer, then download the pictures from my email to my computer in Photos.

"I am so frustrated trying to get a photo from the phone into my computer that I need to quit messing with it ".

[Okanagan]

I have e-mailed the pics from my phone to my computer and it says that they have been sent but they never arrive.  Plugged into my computer, the computer detects the phone and says that it is totally empty and has nothing in it. 

[Okanagan]

Got the pics.  My e-mail provider had classed them as spam and not even sent them to me.  Not expecting much I went onto their web site and checked web mail and found the e-mails shunted into a trash file rather than being sent to my computer.





David said that the bull had passed through a belt of thick Christmas trees and lay down in the open old growth timber.  David was in the Christmas trees when he saw the bull ahead and took a second shot to put him down for good.  The bull was on a little flat spot and in a good place to work on.  He looks very light colored but David said that he seemed pretty normal at the time and he thinks that the dim light under the forest caused the camera to open up more and make the bull look lighter than he was.  Bull elk are usually lighter colored than cows, so that if you see a herd, especially across a canyon in dim light, the bulls stand out.

[JohnP]

NICE BULL, TELL HIM I SAID CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN

[Okanagan]

NICE BULL, TELL HIM I SAID CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN

Done!   

[HaMeR]

Nice looking Elk for sure!! You certainly have a fine dedicated outdoors Family Ok!