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<blockquote data-quote="QuietHunter" data-source="post: 3132" data-attributes="member: 808"><p>Muzzle Elk</p><p>After all the trips to the hills looking for sheep this year, the ponies were in great shape. We decided to try a new area for elk and the day before season started, found us at the trailhead getting everything loaded up and ready.</p><p>There were four of us going in, and we had seven horses. We got things loaded up and began the 7 mile trek up to where we wanted to be. After riding up a long valley and crossing a couple of streams we began zig-zagging up the steep hill to the pass that would take us to where we wanted to camp.</p><p>We setup the sheepherders tent in a bowl just below timberline with a meadow nearby that had plenty of food and water for the horses. There was some snow and sleet aqualls coming through as we were setting up camp and the sheepherders stove was a welcome thing. </p><p>We did not have much of a chance to glass that evening due to the bad weather and setting up camp. After darkness had set in, we could hear a bull bugling on the mountainside above us. He kept us awake all night. We decided to split up for the morning hunt with my brother and a fried going up toward the basin with the bull that caused us to lose sleep, and my FIL and I going to a different area in the opposite direction.</p><p>As the sun began to come up over the 14,000 foot peaks in the distance, I was sitting on the edge of a meadow that held the promise of lots of elk traffic. My FIL had gone to check out another area about a half mile away that looked good for elk. When the sun hit me and I began to get nice and warm, all the sleep I had missed the night before caught up with me. I was startled awake by the sound of twigs breaking behind me. I eased around and saw the vague outline of elk passing through the trees. If they continued in the direction they were going, they would break into the meadow about 80 yards to my right. All I had to do was ease around the tree I was next to, and I would have a shot. I eased around the tree, and the elk seemed to stop. They then changed direction and started coming straight toward me! I was all decked out in orange and sitting in the sunshine at that point, and I could not move. The lead cow passed by 20 yards away and the rest of the herd followed suit. I figured that if a bull came by I could try a quick snap shot at that range. As the lead cow moved on, she got downwind of me and nailed me to the ground with her eyes. I could not move. The rest of the elk started trotting off quickly and she kept me down. Finally a bull stepped out, but he was a very small raghorn. squinting out of the side of my eye, I could not even verify he was legal in the 4 point or bigger area. As they trotted off over the hill, I thought how much fun that had been.</p><p>I settled down to wait for my FIL to get back and was visited by a friendly group og camp robber jays. I started to share the danish I had for breakfast with them and eventually had one sitting on my shoulder, one on my head, and one on the end of the muzzleloader as it sat in my lap. I kept playing with them, for a while and then saw my FIL on the other side of the meadow. The birds flew off as I gathered up my gear. I began trekking over to where my FIL had sat down to wait for me and he was complaining about how all these darn jays had come over and started landing on him and pecking at his fingers. I guess I trained them right.</p><p>We did some exploring of the area we were in, ate some lunch, took a nice long nap and made plans for our evening hunt. The meadow area looked really good and we decided it was where we wanted to be for our evening hunt. We were sitting there discussing what is wrong with the world, and what is right about us when I caught a flash of movement. I said "elk!" and pointed as a suicide kid (spike bull) came sauntering past about 50 yards away. After he went past, I said there has to be more. We eased up to the edge of the meadow and there were two decent sized raghorn bulls wallowing in the mud. We then started to cirle around in an attempt to be closer to them if they started to leave the meadow. I caught a glimpse of them through the trees and it looked like they were headed to the trees at a point about 100 yards away. We hustled around a small group of trees and sat down to see what was going on. My FIL was right behind me and I was the outline of one of the bulls as it was coming across our path. I got my gun up, pulled the hammer and hit the set trigger. The bull stepped through an opening about 60 yards away. I waited until he took one more step and his shoulder cleared, put the peep on him and let her rip. Before the smoke cleared we were sprinting toward the meadow to cut off his escape. I was trying to use a speed loader as I was running and stopped at the edge of the meadow. One bull was half way across the meadow and headed out. I heard a crash about 30 yards away in some timber at the edge fo the meadow. I eased up and saw the 5x5 bull down. I unloaded my gun through his head and began to celebrate. The .54 had done the trick going through both lungs. He had ran about 80 yards.</p><p>That evening, I bugled in a couple elk to within muzzle range, but my FIL suddenly went from meat to trophy hunter as soon I mine hit the ground. The next night, I brought a beautiful 6x6 to withing 100 yards, but my FIL missed him (old eyes and iron sites).</p><p>Our friend killed the elk that had kept us awake the first night. It was a pretty 5x3.</p><p>On the third day in, the weather hit hard. I hauled out and decided to save some vacation days for deer season.</p><p>All in all, another awesome experience.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="QuietHunter, post: 3132, member: 808"] Muzzle Elk After all the trips to the hills looking for sheep this year, the ponies were in great shape. We decided to try a new area for elk and the day before season started, found us at the trailhead getting everything loaded up and ready. There were four of us going in, and we had seven horses. We got things loaded up and began the 7 mile trek up to where we wanted to be. After riding up a long valley and crossing a couple of streams we began zig-zagging up the steep hill to the pass that would take us to where we wanted to camp. We setup the sheepherders tent in a bowl just below timberline with a meadow nearby that had plenty of food and water for the horses. There was some snow and sleet aqualls coming through as we were setting up camp and the sheepherders stove was a welcome thing. We did not have much of a chance to glass that evening due to the bad weather and setting up camp. After darkness had set in, we could hear a bull bugling on the mountainside above us. He kept us awake all night. We decided to split up for the morning hunt with my brother and a fried going up toward the basin with the bull that caused us to lose sleep, and my FIL and I going to a different area in the opposite direction. As the sun began to come up over the 14,000 foot peaks in the distance, I was sitting on the edge of a meadow that held the promise of lots of elk traffic. My FIL had gone to check out another area about a half mile away that looked good for elk. When the sun hit me and I began to get nice and warm, all the sleep I had missed the night before caught up with me. I was startled awake by the sound of twigs breaking behind me. I eased around and saw the vague outline of elk passing through the trees. If they continued in the direction they were going, they would break into the meadow about 80 yards to my right. All I had to do was ease around the tree I was next to, and I would have a shot. I eased around the tree, and the elk seemed to stop. They then changed direction and started coming straight toward me! I was all decked out in orange and sitting in the sunshine at that point, and I could not move. The lead cow passed by 20 yards away and the rest of the herd followed suit. I figured that if a bull came by I could try a quick snap shot at that range. As the lead cow moved on, she got downwind of me and nailed me to the ground with her eyes. I could not move. The rest of the elk started trotting off quickly and she kept me down. Finally a bull stepped out, but he was a very small raghorn. squinting out of the side of my eye, I could not even verify he was legal in the 4 point or bigger area. As they trotted off over the hill, I thought how much fun that had been. I settled down to wait for my FIL to get back and was visited by a friendly group og camp robber jays. I started to share the danish I had for breakfast with them and eventually had one sitting on my shoulder, one on my head, and one on the end of the muzzleloader as it sat in my lap. I kept playing with them, for a while and then saw my FIL on the other side of the meadow. The birds flew off as I gathered up my gear. I began trekking over to where my FIL had sat down to wait for me and he was complaining about how all these darn jays had come over and started landing on him and pecking at his fingers. I guess I trained them right. We did some exploring of the area we were in, ate some lunch, took a nice long nap and made plans for our evening hunt. The meadow area looked really good and we decided it was where we wanted to be for our evening hunt. We were sitting there discussing what is wrong with the world, and what is right about us when I caught a flash of movement. I said "elk!" and pointed as a suicide kid (spike bull) came sauntering past about 50 yards away. After he went past, I said there has to be more. We eased up to the edge of the meadow and there were two decent sized raghorn bulls wallowing in the mud. We then started to cirle around in an attempt to be closer to them if they started to leave the meadow. I caught a glimpse of them through the trees and it looked like they were headed to the trees at a point about 100 yards away. We hustled around a small group of trees and sat down to see what was going on. My FIL was right behind me and I was the outline of one of the bulls as it was coming across our path. I got my gun up, pulled the hammer and hit the set trigger. The bull stepped through an opening about 60 yards away. I waited until he took one more step and his shoulder cleared, put the peep on him and let her rip. Before the smoke cleared we were sprinting toward the meadow to cut off his escape. I was trying to use a speed loader as I was running and stopped at the edge of the meadow. One bull was half way across the meadow and headed out. I heard a crash about 30 yards away in some timber at the edge fo the meadow. I eased up and saw the 5x5 bull down. I unloaded my gun through his head and began to celebrate. The .54 had done the trick going through both lungs. He had ran about 80 yards. That evening, I bugled in a couple elk to within muzzle range, but my FIL suddenly went from meat to trophy hunter as soon I mine hit the ground. The next night, I brought a beautiful 6x6 to withing 100 yards, but my FIL missed him (old eyes and iron sites). Our friend killed the elk that had kept us awake the first night. It was a pretty 5x3. On the third day in, the weather hit hard. I hauled out and decided to save some vacation days for deer season. All in all, another awesome experience. [/QUOTE]
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