This was shaping up to be quite the year, with my son Zane drawing both a youth deer tag and a youth elk tag, one week after the other with the deer tag coming first.
Thursday before the deer hunt came along after multiple scouting trips, and I sent him off to school to pick him up at noon to leave for the hunt. Between sending him to school and picking him up, we got the call that my father in law had a stroke. When I picked him up, instead of leaving for the hunt, it was rushing to point guard his deer tag and then leave out of state to go see grandpa in the hospital.
After a whirlwind couple days, we headed up to get ready for elk. We grabbed an OTC turkey tag and got in a little turkey hunting. We didn’t get a shot but got in birds a few times and had a blast. It was nice to clear our heads in the woods.
He turned 14 on opening day and we had more family matters to attend to, so we didn’t get to start our hunt until Saturday.
Saturday AM, We were in place before sun up, listening to screaming bulls. About 10 minutes into shooting light, he spots cows across the clearing from us. The first one kept walking. The second stopped for a cow call, Maybe 40 yards away. It seemed like an eternity waiting for a shot that never came. When he said the gun wouldn’t shoot, the cow walked off as we realized the bolt had lifted a half inch. Got that fixed just as a third cow stepped out and stopped. Again, no shot. Trouble shooting in a hurry found the safety was on. Safety off just as that cow walked away. We moved to try to get ahead but never got another shot. He was pretty crushed, but I was proud of him for not taking a shot that wasn’t there.
We spent the afternoon and evening hunting a different spot, and had eyes on elk but never had a shot.
Sunday morning we heading back to the same spot as Saturday. This is my sons third elk tag, and it’s been magical watching his patience and hunting improve across the tags. We took our time, and he caught two cows crossing in a clearing at about 200 yards. One stopped quartering to. This time I heard the shot and watched her hunch up and stumble forward.
We waiting a few and went to tracking. It was quick work. She had gone about thirty yards and piled up. Great shot and great bullet performance and we had a great birthday present for a happy kid.
I wanted to thank @bojangles and @BritSaz for information during and before the hunt. This is a great community, and both were a huge help when I was in a bind and the usual spots weren’t producing. Thank you both.
The last two stills are of opening morning. I was trying to film the bull when he saw the cow and the way it worked out I was able to get a short video . The shot above the gun was me wondering why he wasn’t shooting, then the last still was the camera flashing across the not closed bolt. Lessons learned all around.
I was thankful for another hunt and time in the woods with him.
