Kifaru Hunting Camp - Segment 5, Elk Down

Snow fell in earnest overnight. I awakened to a pristine blanket of white, with more coming down. Ive always figured elk are just like us, and prefer real water to eating snow. So The Plan remained: another ascent to the water hole. The morning was quite cold, but not enough time had elapsed for a freeze-up. I arrived at the water hole the same time the elk did. A big bull and about twelve or fifteen cows spied me from their perch on a shelf above the hole at the very moment I came into view from below and saw them. I love such encounters! My rifle fairly leaped from the GunBearer. The safety snicked off as the scope cross hairs lowered across the back of the left-most cow in the startled, momentarily frozen-in-place herd. The instant the cross hairs arrived at a spot 60% down from her withers and six inches right of her near shoulder (exactly in line with her off shoulder) the shot was on its way. The whole sequence, from spotting the herd til the shot was released, transpired in less than five seconds.

Upon coming out of recoil, I could see the herd scurrying back off the edge of the shelf. I hadnt heard a thump, but the distance was too close—only about a hundred yards. Nevertheless, those crosshairs never lie, and elk seldom drop in place even from a mortal blow. I couldnt see if my elk was down over the lip of the shelf anyway--I would have to sort the situation out when I got up there. Aligning my path on a rock near where my girl had been at the moment of the shot I struggled up. And found her blood trail when I got there. It led diagonally across the bench about thirty yards, to the opposite edge, and it became immediately apparent she had expired there, and then slid off! She was, in fact, wedged under a big blowdown partway down the slope! Oh my, we elk hunters live for such moments, dont you know. Snow was coming down, the world was slippery, the slope was serious, and there was plenty more blowdown below my stuck elk. This was going to be dicey, now that the real work was about to commence. Here I was again, looking to dismantle several hundred pounds of critter on a sidehill from hell.
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Category:

Sports

Tags:

• ELK
• DOWN

[anavidhunter]

Pretty kule how you go out and get it done, congrats and nice work.

5/5