Post Hunting Wrap-up

I guess 2 out of the three isn't too bad. I was hoping for the trifecta this year (deer, antelope, and elk) but the elusive Wapiti managed to give me the slip. There were a couple extremely close calls but in the end that actually was the problem.

The antelope hunt was in Wyoming with Steve Hiebert, his brother-in-law Micheal Taylor and his son Jordan. Despite an abbreviated hunt due the weather, myself and Jordan were able to bag a couple of nice antelope. We hunted on an extremely large ranch which I had never been on before. It was very unusual country that combined rolling prairie with some high rocky plateaus. In addition to the antelope, which were actually a bit scarce, I saw two of the largest buck mule deer that I have seen in years, and a very decent six point bull elk (not usually what you see during an antelope hunt). The one mule deer had an antler spread that could have easily been a record, and he was so fat he could hardly run. Unfortunately on day two a cold front blew in and the weather turned into a mix of snow, freezing rain, and fog. Add the chill factor of a constant 10-20 mph wind and no one was having a good time at that point.

This last weekend was my final chance to elk hunt. I bought a leftover license and headed back to Paul and Carols. In contrast to the Wyoming hunt the weather had turned balmy again, and to my surprise the aspen trees still had significant number of leaves still on. The nice weather doesn't actually make for good hunting, unfortunately, but it was just tremendous being out in the woods in these conditions. Every breeze brings down a shower of yellow leaves, and the woods have that rotting leaf smell of fall that really is incredibly nostalgic for me. Blunder #1: I'm sitting on a log one evening when I hear the crunching of foot falls in the dead leaves. An animal is coming in but I'm having trouble telling from what direction so I stand up to look around. By the time I determine it is coming from behind it is almost on top of me, and any movement will give me away. I make a move to turn around when it's head goes behind a tree, but the cow catches a glimpse anyway and we are in an eye ball to eye ball staring match. No way for me to win this one. If I bring the gun up its gone, but before I can even decide it wheels around and is instantly back in the brush.

Blunder #2: I'm sitting on the same log the next morning (yeah, yeah...lightening never strikes twice in the same place) when out of nowhere I hear a lot of crashing coming in my direction...again. This time it's a large young bull and two cows. Having learned something from the previous night I dropped down on the ground and knelt tight up against a tree. When the bull breaks cover he is coming straight for me at a brisk trot and only pulls up broadside at about 10 meters when he notices something a bit odd...me pointing a rifle at him. Unfortunately, I don't have a bull license so I am actually trying to get lined up on one of the cows behind but no one is holding still. Knowing that he doesn't like the look of me the bull cuts back in front of me and leads off again dragging the cows with him. I swing around to the other side of the tree...one cow stops and as I try to lineup it takes off again. The other cow stops and as I try to switch over to her she takes off again. Game over as they trot on off into the thick chokecherries. As it turns out my handicap was the scope on the rifle. With the animals that close I didn't have enough field-of-view to acquire a target fast enough. At close quarters I would have been much better off without it but even so this all transpired in only a matter of seconds. Oh well...there's always next year.