Growing up in a small town in Southwestern Minnesota, you begin hunting by shooting pheasants and deer with a shotgun. My grandfather and father instilled a hunting passion in me that fueled my desire for the outdoors. Prior to moving to Oregon when I was 30 years old, I had shot at least one deer every year since I was 12 years old. I still recall pushing cornfields and groves of trees with anticipation of a big whitetail busting out or walking a field of grass, waiting to flush a pheasant. I loved hunting with my family as it was a big event every year.
As I got older, I had the opportunity to hunt Western South Dakota with my best friend, his dad, and my dad. The time we spend on the open prairies in Western South Dakota chasing big mule deer and whitetails are days I look forward to every year. Hunting with family is and always will be time I will cherish forever.
I had moved out west to Oregon and had not hunted with my family other than in South Dakota for a number of years. We had always wanted to hunt elk. We talked at length about where, how, and what we were going to hunt, and it kept coming back to chasing elk in the mountains. My dad was adamant that we do a self-guided hunt in Colorado, but with not ever hunting elk before, I thought it necessary to hire an outfitter to learn how to hunt these animals and have a better opportunity to harvest one. Being a subscriber to Huntin’ Fool for the past two years, I knew I could lean on them for advice. In talking to Jerrod Lile at a Full Draw Film Tour event, he tipped me off to their portfolio of Endorsed Outfitters in several western states. After doing our research and having several conversations with outfitters, we decided to work with Cory and HR from Backcountry Montana Adventures. I would classify this hunt as an affordable opportunity hunt. That was exactly what we were looking for in our first elk hunt.
In my conversations with Cory, I had indicated that we wanted a 3x1 hunt, which is not typical. Since this was going to be the first hunt together in over 15 years, it was important for us to hunt together. We also made it apparent that my brother and I wanted our dad to have the first shot at an elk as he was going to be 65 and had always wanted to hunt elk. Cory and HR assured us that they would accommodate and do everything in their power to get Dad the first opportunity on an elk.
After seeing the elk coming down the mountain the night before our hunt, we were confident we would all be tagged out at first light. We made our plans and were set to get out to our spots before first light. None of us slept a wink in anticipation of our first elk hunt.
Thirty-four degrees, slightly overcast skies, and a slight breeze made for a perfect morning to sit. Danny, my brother, went with HR to the other side of the property to access the land from the south. Dad and I accessed the land from the north and were set up about 400 yards from each other. Fifteen minutes before shooting light, I could make out silhouettes of deer feeding in the alfalfa field. I kept my eyes on them as it was the first animal I was able to pick out other than the 300 head of cattle. Shortly after picking up these deer in my binoculars, I heard the sound of cow elk calling behind me. I slowly turned around to see a herd of 100 elk making their way towards me. I anxiously kept checking my watch in anticipation of shooting light. As the elk came closer and closer, I realized having my tag punched first thing on day one may become a reality. Eight minutes, seven minutes, three minutes. Unfortunately, as shooting light approached, the elk continued to work their way towards the mountain. Once legal shooting light had come, the elk had worked their way to well over 500 yards and were in and out of the tree line on the base of the mountain.
Not hunting elk before, we did not know their tendencies or habits. Many of the elk that had circled around onto private land that we could not hunt continued to work their way back to where they had come from. This gave us hope that we would still have an opportunity to harvest a bull in this herd. Dad, our guide, Waylon, and I quickly tried to get into position on elk that were making their way back to the land we could hunt. We closed the gap to 360 yards and couldn’t make it any closer to where we thought they would cross a fence. The elk cooperated and crossed where we thought but didn’t give us a shot. Not feeling confident in making an ethical shot, we chose to watch the elk and get a better glimpse of what was in the herd for “legal bulls” to shoot. As luck would have it, these bulls would make their way to the other side of the property right where Danny and HR were waiting. Danny was able to make a 100-yard shot on a bull to harvest his first ever elk. Many emotions ran through his mind as he saw his elk go down. The thrill of harvesting his first bull was exciting, but the feelings of guilt crept in not knowing if Dad had gotten an elk first. We had talked the night prior that since we were not going to be sitting by each other, if we saw a legal bull, we needed to take our opportunity to harvest it, regardless of who else may have shot.
As Dad and I walked back into camp, we were told that there was another small herd of elk trying to work their way to the west towards camp. We quickly grabbed our gear and walked three-quarters of a mile to get into position where we thought they would come. After watching them for over 30 minutes, we realized they were not going to keep coming our way, so we slowly headed back towards camp. Keeping our eyes on the elk,
we saw a cow had jumped the fence onto the property we could hunt. We stopped to glass and see if the bulls would follow. Just as we thought, the bulls slowly followed the cow’s lead. We had to quickly move into position for an opportunity at these bulls. After closing the gap to 400 yards, Waylon, our guide, said we needed to take our shots now. Dad and I both picked out bulls that we wanted to shoot and put the crosshairs on the animals. What seemed like an eternity was merely 30 seconds until we each had an elk on the ground.
The tears of joy on my dad’s face when we approached my bull was something I will never forget. I know he was prouder to see me harvest my first bull than he was taking his own. We sat in awe of my bull for a few minutes before walking back to my dad’s bull. As we approached his bull, it was evident his was much larger, which I was thrilled about. My brother and I wanted to be sure my dad got a bull and the biggest one if possible. Our high hopes of being tagged out on day one became a reality all with the help from the tremendous crew at Backcountry Montana Adventures.
To add icing to the cake, we had a combo tag which allowed us to hunt mule deer as well. Danny and I were able to each harvest mule deer on our second and third days of hunting.
What started as a dream of hunting elk in the mountains became a hunt-of-a-lifetime. Going five for six in filling our tags ain’t bad. I can’t thank HR, Waylon, Cory, Hayden, Josh, and the others at Backcountry Montana Adventures enough for making our first elk hunting trip a truly memorable one.
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