I went on my annual Tribal Employee cow elk hunt this morning with the guys; Tom: Wildlife Biologist, Stuart: Director of Game & Fish, Doug: BIA Natural Resouces, and Dave: Doug's friend. It was bitterly cold, somewhere around 8ºF when we met at 6am and set out for Willow Creek Ranch. We had progressed no further than 1/4 mile down the access road when a herd of 6 or 8 elk ran across the road in front of us. We jumped out of the truck but decided against shooting as it would have been impossible to get close to a downed one where they were. About a mile further we came upon a second small group and shortly afterward a third and fourth. The recent snow we've had (24") has apparently forced the migratory herds down out of the high country. There were elk everywhere we looked.
Stuart quickly dropped a small cow and Tom took a long, fast shot at another that was over 400 yards out. I was pretty sure he hit it and after a short discussion he and I hiked up the hill through the snow to see. I felt pretty bad for being so sure he'd hit it because when we got to where they had been standing there was no sign of any damage, let alone a cow down. We agreed it was better to hike a little and be sure than to leave a wounded animal out there.
After hiking down the hill, Tom and I got in Dave's truck the others had left behind for us and drove until we met up with them. About 3 minutes later we ran into a herd of over 50 elk milling around about 350 yard out on the side of a hill. Six shots later there were 3 more down and we were done for the day! It was 8:57 when I checked my watch.
Here's some pictures.... click to start:
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