NOTE: I did, however, draw a cow elk tag for the Book Cliffs area near the Utah Colorado boarder in June for late in the year. I didn't tell her about the tag as she was on melt down about me being gone for so long in Sept, Oct, and Nov. Not to mention the month of April when I went to Africa for a significant amount of time. I am sorry. I am a butt. I just go nuts for hunting. I had to make a plan to hunt cow elk.
My plan went as follows:
1. I would go to my son's house in Roosevelt, Utah for Thanksgiving holiday and the great turkey feed. I would enjoy the family and eat way too much on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.
2. My son and I would get up and go hunting for cow elk in the Book Cliffs on Friday while the women folk did their things: a) sleeping in, b) shopping, and c) talking about Christmas up coming.
3. We could slip out and the girls would not know we are gone. Hopefully we could get to the Book Cliffs perimeter within a reasonable amount of time and do some hunting.
4. We took some sleeping bags and bought some food at Smith's Food King in Vernal, Utah "just in case" we had to stay over a night in the Book Cliffs hunting. Forgiveness is easier obtained long distance rather than permission in person. . . .
Finally, a plan went together for me. -- We, Dax and me, got up and had breakfast with everyone who was awake at 9 a.m. We kind of, gradually in stealth mode, loaded the truck with gear and then told the few folks conscious goodbye we were going to the Book Cliffs hunting for cow elk. We snuck out of town ever so quietly.
It is a 2.5 hour drive to the Book Cliffs cow elk hunting perimeter from Roosevelt. We had a great time talking to each other Father-to-Son and Son-to-Father. This is one of the best parts of hunting. The communication between your fellow hunters. Whether driving or sitting around a fire or just looking at God's majesty of creation together perched on a ridge top -- the thoughts shared while hunting are high lights in life. We finally breached the perimeter of the hunting zone around 2 p.m.
Dax was driving and took me to down a snow covered road in the hunting area. It had been snowing the night before. There were tire tracks, so we knew someone had been down the road before. I was hoping the other party had not scared the elk away from the road. I would like to re-do the "shoot the elk and slide it downhill in the snow into the back of the truck whole" operation as we had done two other years while in this area hunting cows.
We took a branch of the road that was still snow covered and virgin to tire tracks. We drove down the road about a mile and Dax said "there are some on the hillside straight ahead." My spirit leaped! There they were -- a medium sized cow, a large calf, and a big mama cow. Dax ranged them at 494 yards. There was no cross wind - thank heavens. They were walking along the ridge top and away from us. They were not walking very fast, kind of eating and walking, and visiting as cow elk do among themselves. They were not concerned because of the distance between us. They did not know I had an ICBM readying for use. {ICBM = Inter County Barnes bullet Magnum}
I got out of the truck and loaded a round in my .300 Rem Ultra Mag. The Barnes 180 gr. triple shock bullet resting in the chamber had a job to do. I took aim at the big mama cow calculating the distance hold over in my scope and switched off safety then gently eased the trigger back. The rifle went off and I heard the bullet smack ribs. The cow staggered and then walked over the top of the ridge. Oh, Crap-O-Rama, no sliding the meat animal downhill in the snow; now she was on the other side of the hill 500+ yards away.
Dax went after her directly on foot. I being a 66 year old with a bad heart whisy went around the hill to the south and west on the road in the truck looking for the wounded elk to leave the area and perhaps get another anchoring shot. I drove maybe 1.5 miles looking for tracks crossing the road, for blood on the hill sides, and just animals moving. NO sightings. Dax found a blood trail on the ridge top. He followed the blood trail in the snow for a short distance and found the cow dead in a small ravine. The Barnes bullet had passed clear through even at the 500 yard distance. Two holes make for a better blood trail than one hole, if you know what I mean?
Dax started skinning and gutting the elk for transport as soon as he got to it. I got back together with Dax and drove the truck to within 250 yards of the downed animal. We made some pack-out trips to get the meat to the truck and I was so glad to have my son with me to do most of the work. He treats me really well. I HAVE TWO SONS AND THEY BOTH ARE PERFECT, SORRY WORLD.
We congratulated each other on another successful Book Cliffs hunt and the delicious natural meat we will have for the next year in the freezer. I am so happy to share with Dax and his family the fruits of our efforts. If Matthew were closer he too would enjoy the elk meat with his tribe.
We headed home just at dark. I drove and it was another great conversation time. I am truly blessed in life. We arrived home around 8:30 p.m. and no one really mentioned we had been gone all afternoon and evening. We just casually mentioned we got an elk and then everyone was back to playing fish around the woodstove and eating treats. It was totally cool! I don't think the Supreme Commander actually put it all together until the next day - that we had been hunting on Friday after Thanksgiving.
Even I get lucky sometimes.
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