My daughter's first Elk! Bittersweet cow

[cohntr6]

We had a heck of a great hunt on the junior elk hunt. My daughter, Kaitlyn, is 11 and drew a elk tag before me!

A HUGE THANKS GOES TO YOUTH OUTDOORS UNLIMITED AND AZ FISH AND GAME (specifically Mike Godwin, Jason Capps with AZGF)and the RMEF and Arizona elk Society for sponsoring the Elk camp. It was great food and company despite the snow and freezing temperatures.

IN late may we camped just east of big lake on the 249 road and had elk walking thru camp in the morning. With the fire I wondered if the camping spot was toast but we were able to camp in the same spot! MOst of the area around us was burnt but the elk were still there.

OPening day we saw turkey, deer, grouse, and several bulls without cows! One 6x6 even let me take pictures of him 50 yards from the road! I think he was tired from the rut! LOL

It was cold!!!

On saturday morning we hunted from camp as elk were running around our tent some of the night.

It took a couple hours but we found some cows as they topped over a ridge. A bull was pushing them and we tried to catch up but we only found some tracks in the mud and snow that had not melted. It amazed me that on the map there was no roads shown but we crossed 5 spur roads off the east side of the 285 road. The elk crossed at least four of them before we couldnt track anymore. We were almost 2 miles from camp and my little Kaitlyn hadnt complained one bit! Now we had to get back to camp! Almost four miles before lunch so we took a rest. Saturday afternoon we headed out to a area along the paved 273 road that we had seen a bull with cows the night before coming back from elk camp. We hiked back in about 3/4 mile while clouds moved in and it started snowing again! We settled into a good draw and sure enough at 430 a bull started bugling. It wasnt 10 minutes and three more bulls lit up the draw! It was loud and intense! We could hear two bulls fighting and I couldnt tell if one or two bulls had cows so we stayed put and listened to the sweet mountain music. At about 515 I decided we better move closer to a bugle because light was starting the fade. We quietly moved in and listened. I knew we couldn't get much closer because the bull only sounded 50 yards away but couldn't see him because of the trees. All of a sudden the bull appeared and was pushing a single cow that limped down the hill and started feeding 20 yards from us. I slipped a round into the chamber and kneeled down holding the fore end of the gun while Kaitlyn shouldered the .250 Savage and prepared for a offhand shot. I tried stopping the cow with a squeak, it worked but Kaitlyn had to shoot between some branches. The bull was looking at us a screaming at us from 20-25 yards away and I was whispering "do you have the crosshairs behind the shoulder, shoot, shoot, squeeze the trigger,!!" Talk about intense! The gun went off and the cow went up the hill a short distance. The bull stood there and screamed at us some more! We were jumping up and down, hugging and couldn't be more excited! Kaitlyn wanted to go right after it but i knew we needed to wait, which only lasted maybe two minutes, LOL. We walked over to where she was and couldnt find any blood. We circled and retraced our steps and nothing. The bull had moved somewhere up the hill and was still bugling so I figured he was by the cow. Sure enough the cow had bedded down and at only 10 yards I finally saw her in the dark timber, she turned to look at me and I tried to get Kaitlyn to shoot but the cow got up and took off. I saw where the cow was last and we looked and looked. NO blood, the sun was down and I was in a panic, "no way, where in the heck did she go"! We looked until it was dark, flagged a couple trees and decided to head out. Unfortunately we were not able to get back until monday afternoon. We went back to the area and we jumped 6 or 8 cows and a bull heading in! AHHH! It didn't take long after that I could smell dead animal, checked the wind and and my nose led me to the dead cow in a thick patch of dark timber. I was sick cause i knew I had walked by this spot at least twice within 5 yards. Kaitlyn and I had a discussion about the ethical and legal dilemma we were in. She made the right choice to end her hunt so we took pictures and headed out. On the way back to camp, not 75 yards off the road three cows stood patiently in a meadow, ahh, man that was tough! It was a fun and bittersweet hunt with some great lessons learned.

 

Jeff

[Lance]

Thats so Awesome! Congrats to you guys! Love the Pink!!!! Way to get it done girl!

 

Lance

[cramerhunts]

Sorry to see you lose the cow but congratulations on the success and the lessons taught and learned by both. Doing the right thing is always a WIN in my book

[Pine Donkey]

Your little girl made the tough descision that many adults fail to make. Congratulations to her.

[Chef]

You're teachin her right.

Sad to hear you lost the cow but you taught a good lesson and she'll remember it forever.

It sounded like the buglin bulls made quite a spectacle.

Congrats on a successful trip.

[Schmitty]

I was just looking @ pics of Kaitlyn and Hakan playing together back in CO. Funny how they grow up so fast! My girls are jealous of the pink rifle!

 

Good job getting into the elk. Sorry about the loss of meat.

 

Schmitty

[Redman]

Wow she's a little thing! But boy she can lay the smack down! Awesome!

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

I just think that is AWESOME!!!! I'm grinning so wide, my eye almost leaked!! Priceless! Congrats to you both!!

[lucky2hunt]

Kaitlyn, you are so awesome! For you to stay calm while a bull is bugling and screaming right in front of you is incredible. I know there is no way I could have done it! And good job at hanging in there in the cold weather, I know it's hard to get going when it's so cold. Way to go girl!!!

 

Congrats to you and your dad on a fantastic hunt, hopefully it's just the beginning and you'll have many more hunts with your dad and that snappy pink rifle!

[NRS]

Congratulations to Kaitlyn on a tough hunt and making the right decision on the elk. Looks like you have a real trooper there to put in the miles in the snow and cold. I remember seeing her at camp and wondering if she connected on an elk.

[muzzlehunter75]

Kaitlyn, great job you did awesome! Dad you were awesome for teaching ethical hunting. Both of you guys deserve a pat on the backs!

[Jackal]

Congrats on your hunt. Glad to see you made the right choice. You will get one again next time.

[AZBUCKEYE]

What a sad ending but you did the right thing. She will grow up knowing right. I just got my bull elk meat back from butcher if your in Tucson give me a ring she deserves a steak or 2, burger roast, whatever she wants.

 

Good job

[COOSEFAN]

Congrats Kaitlyn on a great hunt with tons of experiences and memories! You and your dad should be proud of being ethical hunters and hold your head high! Thanks for the story and pics! JIM>

[Will K]

Awesome. Looks to be a big cow. Congrat's.