Success came early, at 08:30. We had been using our binoculars to glass the far hills when for elk when we noticed a small herd of 20 or so were walking past us on the opposite side of the draw to our left. The elk were strung out in singles and doubles, mostly cows with a couple of bulls. My two Snake River Ranch licenses were for “Antlerless” elk so cows were good.
When I brought the rifle up I couldn’t get a clear shot at any of the cows – they were either doubled up or behind the aspen trees. I looked over the scope for a gap in the aspens, swung the rifle around to cover it, and waited. In a few seconds a lone cow walked into the gap and I gently squeezed the trigger. I lost the cow in the recoil and when I recovered found a cow standing a few yards further away and looking back at me. Was it the same one? Should I shoot again? I decide ‘no’ as I’m not sure it is the same one.
Just then Dave whispers that some elk are running directly in front of us. I swing around and a several cows and a bull are running left to right, no more than 25 yards in front of us. Again I consider taking a shot, as I had two cow tags. Again I decide ‘no’, unsure what the status of the first cow was. The last thing I wanted was to have two wounded cows wandering off in opposite directions.
The herd disappeared on the scrub-covered hills across the road. Dave and I sat watching one cow that hung up in a stand of aspens just short of the road. Was it the one I shot? It wandered into a depression and we didn’t see it again. Was it down?
Dave and I carefully approached the stand of aspen and I elected to circle around to the road. Dave searched the stand of aspens for blood or a downed cow while I searched the dry roadbed for blood, following it around to the far side of the drainage. It was possible the cow was down in the sage by the aspen but I started my search of the knoll walking to the top and taking a peek at what laid beyond. Only after I was sure a wounded cow wasn’t headed away did I begin to work my way back down to the drainage and the aspens. My search was rewarded when I found the cow exactly where she had been when I shot. She had simply dropped out of sight in the sage. I wish I could say it was a clean one shot kill, but it was not. As I approached the cow stood up and I fired a second shot from about 20 feet. The cow went down again but amazingly managed to keep her head up. In spite of using premium bullets and placing them well, I had to administer a final shot to the head.
The rifle was a Ruger M77 .30-06, made in 1984. It had become mine in November of 2006, the Centennial year for the .30-06. The load was a 165 grain North Fork bullet hand loaded to a bit over 2800 fps (feet per second). The first shot was measured at 126 yards with a laser rangefinder. We had to carry the elk 42 yards to the road.
After field dressing the cow and getting it to the truck we went back to our spot on the hill for a while, thinking I might possibly fill my second tag so we could refocus our hunting efforts on public land where Dave’s cow tag was valid. Two cows ran by within range but we couldn’t get a shot as they never stopped, even when we hit our cow calls. A lone bull ran by and Dave called it in to within 20 yards with his call. After a short while we decided to call it quits and get the cow to Quality Custom Meats in Craig for final processing.
We spent the final hours of opening day hunting the BLM land east of Highway 13 and a few miles south of the Colorado-Wyoming border. We drove in to a spot facing Baker’s Peak from the west and stopped to discuss our options as we glassed the sage for deer. A few raindrops sprinkled the windshield and Dave mentioned it looked like it could snow. Remembering the forecast, neither of us gave that thought much credence. A few minutes later it was indeed snowing and the weather was getting worse rapidly. We decided to call it a day and head back to camp.
When I brought the rifle up I couldn’t get a clear shot at any of the cows – they were either doubled up or behind the aspen trees. I looked over the scope for a gap in the aspens, swung the rifle around to cover it, and waited. In a few seconds a lone cow walked into the gap and I gently squeezed the trigger. I lost the cow in the recoil and when I recovered found a cow standing a few yards further away and looking back at me. Was it the same one? Should I shoot again? I decide ‘no’ as I’m not sure it is the same one.
Just then Dave whispers that some elk are running directly in front of us. I swing around and a several cows and a bull are running left to right, no more than 25 yards in front of us. Again I consider taking a shot, as I had two cow tags. Again I decide ‘no’, unsure what the status of the first cow was. The last thing I wanted was to have two wounded cows wandering off in opposite directions.
The herd disappeared on the scrub-covered hills across the road. Dave and I sat watching one cow that hung up in a stand of aspens just short of the road. Was it the one I shot? It wandered into a depression and we didn’t see it again. Was it down?
Dave and I carefully approached the stand of aspen and I elected to circle around to the road. Dave searched the stand of aspens for blood or a downed cow while I searched the dry roadbed for blood, following it around to the far side of the drainage. It was possible the cow was down in the sage by the aspen but I started my search of the knoll walking to the top and taking a peek at what laid beyond. Only after I was sure a wounded cow wasn’t headed away did I begin to work my way back down to the drainage and the aspens. My search was rewarded when I found the cow exactly where she had been when I shot. She had simply dropped out of sight in the sage. I wish I could say it was a clean one shot kill, but it was not. As I approached the cow stood up and I fired a second shot from about 20 feet. The cow went down again but amazingly managed to keep her head up. In spite of using premium bullets and placing them well, I had to administer a final shot to the head.
The rifle was a Ruger M77 .30-06, made in 1984. It had become mine in November of 2006, the Centennial year for the .30-06. The load was a 165 grain North Fork bullet hand loaded to a bit over 2800 fps (feet per second). The first shot was measured at 126 yards with a laser rangefinder. We had to carry the elk 42 yards to the road.
After field dressing the cow and getting it to the truck we went back to our spot on the hill for a while, thinking I might possibly fill my second tag so we could refocus our hunting efforts on public land where Dave’s cow tag was valid. Two cows ran by within range but we couldn’t get a shot as they never stopped, even when we hit our cow calls. A lone bull ran by and Dave called it in to within 20 yards with his call. After a short while we decided to call it quits and get the cow to Quality Custom Meats in Craig for final processing.
We spent the final hours of opening day hunting the BLM land east of Highway 13 and a few miles south of the Colorado-Wyoming border. We drove in to a spot facing Baker’s Peak from the west and stopped to discuss our options as we glassed the sage for deer. A few raindrops sprinkled the windshield and Dave mentioned it looked like it could snow. Remembering the forecast, neither of us gave that thought much credence. A few minutes later it was indeed snowing and the weather was getting worse rapidly. We decided to call it a day and head back to camp.
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