11-23-2008, 04:56 PM
Jeff called me friday night and asked if i wanted to go with him to Dagget/Three corners to find a cow. I couldn't turn that offer down as we would get a cow and then hit the Green for some FFing.
We left roy at 3 am and headed to Dutch John. After almost 3.5 hours of driving and almost taking out a 3 point buck at 65 mph, we made it just in time to start looking for an elk. The first 2 hours was nothing but big rutting bucks and not a single elk. We got to an area Jeff said would hold some elk and he was right. A big spike. No cows to be found so we did a big 3 mile loop toward some other elk i had glassed. Well, we found part of the herd, 5 bulls with one around 300" and some other raghorns and spikes. No cows to be found again.
We hiked back to the truck and headed to another part of the mountain Jeff said would hold some elk. He was wrong. None to be found. I climbed a 25' tall rock outcrop and started glassing everything i could see within sight. After Jeff met back up with me we rested for a few minutes and decided to bail. I threw up the bino's one more time and saw a herd of elk over 3 miles away. We looked at our options and decided to try and drive as close as possible. We got within 1/2 mile and started to hike toward our reference tree. When we got to the point we thought we should see them, we realized we were still 1/4 mile from where we needed to be. We backed out and found the right spot. When we hit the rocks we needed to be at, there they were. 2 nice bulls, some raghorns, and about 12 cows and calves. Jeff had not seen them so i got his attention and showed him where they were. He found them as they started to leave in single file at 350 yards. He had to wait until the second to last cow to shoot because other elk were in the way and had calves. He made a great shot with his 7mm WSM and she went only a hundred yards and she was done. Jeff and i were pumped up after the whole thing played out like it did!
We got her quartered and prepared for the mile(easiest route)pack back to the truck. We took the front quarters and gun the first trip and brought the packs back for the hind quarters, backstraps, misc. jerky meat, and everything else. She was a 3 year old. The packs were not exactly big enough for a a hind quarter so we had to stuff and mash to get them to fit. Jeff had never packed out an elk on his back so it was a real treat for him with 100# on his back and a mile to go[shocked] He actually did better than me on the last trip to the truck, my legs weren't cooperating very well, but we got-er-done and headed home about 4:30.
It was a fun hunt and an awesome place to see for the first time. We never got to fish but it was well worth the trip.[
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We left roy at 3 am and headed to Dutch John. After almost 3.5 hours of driving and almost taking out a 3 point buck at 65 mph, we made it just in time to start looking for an elk. The first 2 hours was nothing but big rutting bucks and not a single elk. We got to an area Jeff said would hold some elk and he was right. A big spike. No cows to be found so we did a big 3 mile loop toward some other elk i had glassed. Well, we found part of the herd, 5 bulls with one around 300" and some other raghorns and spikes. No cows to be found again.
We hiked back to the truck and headed to another part of the mountain Jeff said would hold some elk. He was wrong. None to be found. I climbed a 25' tall rock outcrop and started glassing everything i could see within sight. After Jeff met back up with me we rested for a few minutes and decided to bail. I threw up the bino's one more time and saw a herd of elk over 3 miles away. We looked at our options and decided to try and drive as close as possible. We got within 1/2 mile and started to hike toward our reference tree. When we got to the point we thought we should see them, we realized we were still 1/4 mile from where we needed to be. We backed out and found the right spot. When we hit the rocks we needed to be at, there they were. 2 nice bulls, some raghorns, and about 12 cows and calves. Jeff had not seen them so i got his attention and showed him where they were. He found them as they started to leave in single file at 350 yards. He had to wait until the second to last cow to shoot because other elk were in the way and had calves. He made a great shot with his 7mm WSM and she went only a hundred yards and she was done. Jeff and i were pumped up after the whole thing played out like it did!
We got her quartered and prepared for the mile(easiest route)pack back to the truck. We took the front quarters and gun the first trip and brought the packs back for the hind quarters, backstraps, misc. jerky meat, and everything else. She was a 3 year old. The packs were not exactly big enough for a a hind quarter so we had to stuff and mash to get them to fit. Jeff had never packed out an elk on his back so it was a real treat for him with 100# on his back and a mile to go[shocked] He actually did better than me on the last trip to the truck, my legs weren't cooperating very well, but we got-er-done and headed home about 4:30.
It was a fun hunt and an awesome place to see for the first time. We never got to fish but it was well worth the trip.[
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