Using
@MeatBuck and
@RichCoyle as inspiration for their collective story telling prowess, I hope this turns out half as good as their stories!
My buddy Mark and I left early Monday morning on our 3.5 hour drive to “work elk camp”. I call it that because our boss and another co-worker put in this camp every year to rotate through employees and various other friends for elk season. Anyone who wants to go is welcome. Needless to say the bullspit runs deep in those wall tents!
While on pace to be an hour earlier than planned, I had numerous calls and texts saying that we were missing “A” day already and needed to hurry up! Soon enough we’re at the trailhead packing the wheeler for the long ride in. We hit camp after a 3 hour ride, unpacked in a hurry and got ready for the evening hunt. As I’m getting out my .33 Nos and screwing the suppressor on, the first round bullspit flys! “Oh I see you brought Dikembe again?” The boss says, which I immediately knew he had found himself a new nickname for my obnoxiously long rifle. If you didn’t watch the NBA 20 some years ago, Dikembe was a tall skinny basketball player. He then proceeded to go on a 5 minute rant about how I’m cheating and I need to bring a “timber gun” if I want to consistently kill elk in his camp. He concludes with “get it outta here” and an air swat as if he’s blocking a shot! Finally it’s time to head out.
On the ride in we had glassed a hillside with hundreds of elk tracks across it on the north end of the mountain we hunt. Naturally everyone wanted to head there so since I killed a nice bull last year I went south to the “rock” which happens to be where I shot from last year. I was there for 45 minutes and hadn’t seen an elk yet when 3 guys came hiking over the ridge and proceeded to sit right in the middle of the hillside I’m hoping the elk feed out on. Initially I was discouraged and almost left but decided to stay thinking they would at least alert me if any elk were to skirt out below me on my side of the drainage. Not 30 minutes later I spot 2 bulls feeding out right below them on their side. They have no clue yet that they are so close to the elk. I watched them for another 10 minutes before I decided that the bigger of the 2 6’s was worthy of my tag on night 1. A quick range told me he was 565 yards at 26 degrees downhill. The bull is quartered uphill and away from me. I click the safety off and send one down range. No reaction what so ever. I can’t believe I missed! My second shot connects and he wheels into a small patch of sparse timber maybe 10 yards away. I can see him in there but don’t have a clear shot. A few seconds later he wobbles and lays down. Just then a flash of something catches my eye. Immediately I knew it was a bear. The shots scared him out of the bottom and he’s running straight for the timber my bull is in. He cruised right through it within a few feet of the bull and kept running. Perfect he must dead! Now I turn my attention back to said hunters who are now walking across the hillside trying to figure out what I was shooting at. They circle around to 40 yards or so from my bull and straight up wind. Just then he comes boiling out of the timber clearly NOT dead and running side hill back towards me. He only makes it fifty yards before he stops again and I can see that I hit a little high and only got one lung on the way down through. With the other hunters in there spooking him I took 2 I’ll advised shots at hit though the fir branches trying to put him down. Neither connected. He took one step out and exposed himself at 525 and he was down for good. All of this happened in less than 5 minutes and the second bull ran right passed where the hunters had been and they didn’t see him either. While leaving they found the bear tracks and judging by the frantic arm gestures and speedy departure I’m guessing they thought it to be a griz.
So now I begin the 700’ descent into the bottom where my bull stopped sliding with 30 minutes of light left and no one to help. I made quick work of the hike and found him piled up in the very bottom. Now the work begins. In fading light I managed to quarter him up, remover the back straps and tenderloins, and separate the head from the spine in a lighting fast 24 minutes!
At this point I look at my phone and realize that the text I sent saying I went to quarter him up and where I was never went through and the other guys have no idea where I’m at. I made fairly quick work of the climb back to the sniper perch and was able to send another text saying I’d be out after a short break and some water. I no sooner put the phone away and looked down and realized I was standing on bona fide grizzly bear tracks that were on top of my tracks that are an hour old! Needless to say the water could wait and I was back on the move and yelling “hey bear” and “go on get” in rapid succession!
I met up with the guys at wheelers. They had a beer and some congratulations for me. I told them of the shot, the other hunters, the bear, and the griz tracks close by. The boss and “Georgia” told me I was wrong and they hadn’t seen a G bear during rifle season in there in the 20 years they’d hunted it. There was more ribbing about “Dikembe” and how I’m no longer allowed to hunt “Dikembe’s rock”! Georgia even went so far as to challenge me to kill a bull next year with his iron sight 45-70 in the timber next year. Challenge accepted!
Over the next 3 days we saw bulls nearly every morning and evening hunt. One more bull, a 5x6 was added to the wood pile. Many rag bulls were passed and a few beers were drank! Another trip to work elk camp is in the books!
A Bald Eagle buzzed the tower when I first arrived!
Black bear
The hillside. The bull was in the bottom left corner trees and the hunters are just out of frame on the right.
The bulls last slide.
I’ll add some more pics when I get them from the other guys.
♂
!
) & letting us into your world 
