Opening morning we were glassing from a ridge to a canyon about a mile and a half away. We found two really nice bulls.
The canyon had several hunters on it and they ended up pushing the elk even deeper. That evening we glassed another canyon from about two miles away and turned up two more good bulls(one of which I believe is the one I ended up shooting a few miles away and days later). Those bulls ended up going all the way to the bottom of the huge canyon and disappeared for the evening. Over the next few days glassing was not turning up anything so we switched tactics to still hunting and ambushing known travel corridors. We did see some smaller bulls but nothing really worth shooting. On the morning of the day before the last we hiked in a couple miles to set up on a ridge to glass the backside of the canyon from the first day. We immediately turned up three bulls. I decided I was going to shoot this one
They were just milling around about 660 yards away. I decided I had time to get the TinesUp Phone Cam setup so I went to grab it and before I could even get to the gear the bull had disappeared. With the tough conditions I decided I was going to take the smaller one still in view. Just as I was ranging him one last time and verifying the turret was dialed correctly we saw another group of three bulls at 800 yards. We watched for about ten minutes as the smaller bull at 660 yards fed out of sight. The biggest of the three at 800 yards would not give me a shot so I decided to take the next bigger one as soon as he gave me a shot. I ranged him one last time, with the Sig Sauer Kilo 2400 ABS, as I tried to warm my hands. He was 800 yards on the dot at a 17 degree angle for a 13 MOA dial. I dry fired the Fierce CT Edge 30 Nosler a few times to make sure I was good as well as confirm a solid shooting position. I checked the wind one last time which was very faint at my back. I could see no wind in the mirage at the bull and saw no movement in the trees from wind.
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as I gently squeezed the trigger to the shot. Shortly after, I got the report "you dropped him in his tracks". The bull was down. I chambered another round and put the crosshairs back on his position just in case. After a few minutes we had some high fives and made a plan to get to him. It took two hours to get to him and another nine to get him out. I can't wait to do it again. It was the cherry on top of a great season.
The canyon had several hunters on it and they ended up pushing the elk even deeper. That evening we glassed another canyon from about two miles away and turned up two more good bulls(one of which I believe is the one I ended up shooting a few miles away and days later). Those bulls ended up going all the way to the bottom of the huge canyon and disappeared for the evening. Over the next few days glassing was not turning up anything so we switched tactics to still hunting and ambushing known travel corridors. We did see some smaller bulls but nothing really worth shooting. On the morning of the day before the last we hiked in a couple miles to set up on a ridge to glass the backside of the canyon from the first day. We immediately turned up three bulls. I decided I was going to shoot this one
They were just milling around about 660 yards away. I decided I had time to get the TinesUp Phone Cam setup so I went to grab it and before I could even get to the gear the bull had disappeared. With the tough conditions I decided I was going to take the smaller one still in view. Just as I was ranging him one last time and verifying the turret was dialed correctly we saw another group of three bulls at 800 yards. We watched for about ten minutes as the smaller bull at 660 yards fed out of sight. The biggest of the three at 800 yards would not give me a shot so I decided to take the next bigger one as soon as he gave me a shot. I ranged him one last time, with the Sig Sauer Kilo 2400 ABS, as I tried to warm my hands. He was 800 yards on the dot at a 17 degree angle for a 13 MOA dial. I dry fired the Fierce CT Edge 30 Nosler a few times to make sure I was good as well as confirm a solid shooting position. I checked the wind one last time which was very faint at my back. I could see no wind in the mirage at the bull and saw no movement in the trees from wind.
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as I gently squeezed the trigger to the shot. Shortly after, I got the report "you dropped him in his tracks". The bull was down. I chambered another round and put the crosshairs back on his position just in case. After a few minutes we had some high fives and made a plan to get to him. It took two hours to get to him and another nine to get him out. I can't wait to do it again. It was the cherry on top of a great season.
