Short version: Wife and youngest daughter, 2 cow elk tags filled, and time spent with new friends in UT = amazing trip!
Longer version: This starts several years ago when I found this site and started planning our first family western hunt, WY antelope. LOTS of you guys sent me PMs and emails and answered a lot of silly questions for me. We had a terrific trip that year thanks to all of you and one member that met us out in WY and helped with the learning curve a lot! Over the next few years this guy, lets call him C, kept in touch and kept mentioning that I should bring my wife and daughters out to Utah for a cow elk hunt. At first I thought he was just being nice and polite but after a couple years of talking about it I realized how serious he was and took him up on the offer.
C has a wife and 2 daughters that hunt also, as well as a son, so I knew he would be the perfect guy with lots of patience to help my girls possibly shoot their first elk. I have bowhunted elk 3 times now and have yet to shoot one, so I was eager to let the girls shoot one to fill the freezer. C insisted that we stay at his home with his family and I have to say this was one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip. C's family was one of the most genuine loving families we have ever met! We truly enjoyed hanging out with them each evening and sharing meals with them. Mrs. C is an amazing cook by the way
We even got to meet her wonderful parents.
So, back to the hunt that you all really want to hear about. When we first got to UT we met C out of town and jumped in the truck with him and went up the mountain for some quick scouting and lessons on unit boundaries, etc. The nice thing about this part of Utah anyway is that all of the land is public, no need for a map chip like WY. We saw some mule deer but no elk, but we moved quickly as the sun was about to set. Day one of our hunt C was not able to join us because of some church duties but he would be joining us the rest of the week. Who does this? - Takes some of their vacation days to take a crew of flatlanders elk hunting?!?! Well, on day one we had a snow storm, only a couple inches, but the wind really blew and drifted. We managed to bury my truck on a 2 track that had huge ruts. Then we ended up backing part way down another trail on the side of the mountain and sliding backwards far enuf to make the 3 of us more than a little nervous. We saw a total of 0 elk that day and basically just learned the area better and awaited the next day when we would have C with us to hopefully find some elk better than we could. C grew up in this area and knows the mountains and the elks migration patterns well! Of course a lot of the elk were herded up for the winter.
Day 2, Mr. Eagle eyes, C, spots a lone cows head just barely visible on a side hill a half mile or so away just below a ridge. We make our way through the trees and bump a nice mule deer buck, and 2 raghorn bulls who were all bedded within 30 yards of each other. Luckily they run off in a good direction for us. We continue our stalk, if we come from below we will surely get busted, if we come from above we will be walking with the wind so we try to side-hill it. Problem was we had to get too close before we could see them and then the brush was tall and my daughter, well, not so tall. We blew them out and eventually made our way back to the trail. Late that afternoon C spots a herd of elk on the next mountain. He says if we hustle we can get most of the way there on the ATVs, then see if we can make a stalk before darkness sets in. We make it 1/2 way down the mountain we are on and a herd of elk busts out ahead of us and heads up the side of it. C helps my daughter Olivia get her .30-06 on the sticks and set up for a shot while I do the same for my wife. The herd stops at around 250 yards and Olivia quickly shoots and I hear the bullet hit. My wife shoots and misses. Olivia shoots a couple more times as her elk is still on it's feet but moving slowly. Soon it tips over and we begin to pass out hugs until it lifts it's head again. Olivia quickly made a neck shot and put her first and our familes first elk down for good. To say we were all relieved and thrilled would be an understatement. C and I both figured she had shot a calf but that was fine, Olivia said she shot the first elk without antlers that landed in her scope, and that was the perfect one! As we made our way up to the elk we were amazed at how big it was. We took some pics quickly and C gutted it while I went up the mountain farther to be sure there wasn't any more blood in case my wife possibly hit one. We drug the calf down and quartered it when we hit a flat area. and packed it the rest of the way to the ATV trail below us. Quite the easy pack out! We will take it!
Day 3 was kind of uneventful until late in the day again when C spotted 3 bedded elk on a little flat spot probably 3/4 mile below us. Dawn and I started to make our way to them for a stalk but when we arrived where we could see the flat again they were gone. C and Olivia were still watching them and told us they had gotten up and fed off as the sun was setting. Dawn and I looked the whole area over and were unable to relocate them. When we left C we had agreed that if we didn't get a shot that we would bail off the side of the mountain and make our way down to the bottom where he would meet us with the truck. Well, lets just say we underestimated the distance that would be and the time it would take. The bonus was it was all down hill, but it took us almost 2 hours. I think C and Olivia were starting to get a little worried but it all ended well and we slept well that night!
Day 4 is kind of planned to be our last day to hunt before we start our 2 day drive back east. We get up early and head up the mountain in C's truck again. Things felt different, we forgot a few things and parked at a different area. When we made it to the base of one of the mountains we could see elk going up the face of it just after sunrise. It was a crazy rush to try to get up there but we made it just as the elk were headed into the timber to bed for the day. Dawn had one 250 yard hurried shot before they got into the trees, and clearly missed. After the shot we turn around and here comes 2 more herds of elk running up the mountain towards us because of the gunshot they had heard. They all were headed to the top to reach safety. Luckily Dawn and I were able to get into position as a herd came running by us. I got Dawn set up and told her to put the crosshairs one foot in front of a cow and pull the trigger. She has not done a lot of shooting in her life so she didn't understand the concept of swinging with the animal. Instead she improvised and got the herd in her scope and as they were running through her scope she pulled the trigger just as one got to her crosshairs. The cow folded and came to a sliding stop in the snow and then required another finishing shot. I almost couldn't believe it she has missed standing elk but manages to drop one on a dead run at a 90 degree angle to us! As we made our way to this elk we were totally in awe at the size and beauty of this animal. We honestly just stood there for 10-15 minutes talking about the morning, the whole week, how blessed we were, and how beautiful this animal was. We were incredibly thankful ! We had another fairly easy pack out to a trail and we were grateful for that as well as we really had no idea how much meat there is on these animals.
We made it back to C's house before noon and went to do some sight seeing in the afternoon with C and his wife as our guides for that as well This was our first trip to Utah and I have to say it is one of the most stunning and diverse areas I have ever been to. We could be in the snow in the mountains in the morning and in the afternoon were were an hours drive from antelope and desert bighorn sheep terrain, and by the way Mrs. C even has a very cool desert bighorn on the wall, these folks get it done, from bears to deer to antelope to elk to sheep!
I have to thank C and Mrs. C and their two sweet daughters for all of their hospitality and kindness. Words can't express how much we appreciate it! I also have to thank Randy for this site as without it I would have never met C and gained new friends in him and his family and this hunt would have never happened. And I also have to thank many of you members for your words of wisdom that have helped educate me over the past several years, and helped me plan these western hunts with my family. We have all been truly blessed more than we deserve!
Now for some pictures of the girls and their trophies !
Longer version: This starts several years ago when I found this site and started planning our first family western hunt, WY antelope. LOTS of you guys sent me PMs and emails and answered a lot of silly questions for me. We had a terrific trip that year thanks to all of you and one member that met us out in WY and helped with the learning curve a lot! Over the next few years this guy, lets call him C, kept in touch and kept mentioning that I should bring my wife and daughters out to Utah for a cow elk hunt. At first I thought he was just being nice and polite but after a couple years of talking about it I realized how serious he was and took him up on the offer.
C has a wife and 2 daughters that hunt also, as well as a son, so I knew he would be the perfect guy with lots of patience to help my girls possibly shoot their first elk. I have bowhunted elk 3 times now and have yet to shoot one, so I was eager to let the girls shoot one to fill the freezer. C insisted that we stay at his home with his family and I have to say this was one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip. C's family was one of the most genuine loving families we have ever met! We truly enjoyed hanging out with them each evening and sharing meals with them. Mrs. C is an amazing cook by the way
We even got to meet her wonderful parents.So, back to the hunt that you all really want to hear about. When we first got to UT we met C out of town and jumped in the truck with him and went up the mountain for some quick scouting and lessons on unit boundaries, etc. The nice thing about this part of Utah anyway is that all of the land is public, no need for a map chip like WY. We saw some mule deer but no elk, but we moved quickly as the sun was about to set. Day one of our hunt C was not able to join us because of some church duties but he would be joining us the rest of the week. Who does this? - Takes some of their vacation days to take a crew of flatlanders elk hunting?!?! Well, on day one we had a snow storm, only a couple inches, but the wind really blew and drifted. We managed to bury my truck on a 2 track that had huge ruts. Then we ended up backing part way down another trail on the side of the mountain and sliding backwards far enuf to make the 3 of us more than a little nervous. We saw a total of 0 elk that day and basically just learned the area better and awaited the next day when we would have C with us to hopefully find some elk better than we could. C grew up in this area and knows the mountains and the elks migration patterns well! Of course a lot of the elk were herded up for the winter.
Day 2, Mr. Eagle eyes, C, spots a lone cows head just barely visible on a side hill a half mile or so away just below a ridge. We make our way through the trees and bump a nice mule deer buck, and 2 raghorn bulls who were all bedded within 30 yards of each other. Luckily they run off in a good direction for us. We continue our stalk, if we come from below we will surely get busted, if we come from above we will be walking with the wind so we try to side-hill it. Problem was we had to get too close before we could see them and then the brush was tall and my daughter, well, not so tall. We blew them out and eventually made our way back to the trail. Late that afternoon C spots a herd of elk on the next mountain. He says if we hustle we can get most of the way there on the ATVs, then see if we can make a stalk before darkness sets in. We make it 1/2 way down the mountain we are on and a herd of elk busts out ahead of us and heads up the side of it. C helps my daughter Olivia get her .30-06 on the sticks and set up for a shot while I do the same for my wife. The herd stops at around 250 yards and Olivia quickly shoots and I hear the bullet hit. My wife shoots and misses. Olivia shoots a couple more times as her elk is still on it's feet but moving slowly. Soon it tips over and we begin to pass out hugs until it lifts it's head again. Olivia quickly made a neck shot and put her first and our familes first elk down for good. To say we were all relieved and thrilled would be an understatement. C and I both figured she had shot a calf but that was fine, Olivia said she shot the first elk without antlers that landed in her scope, and that was the perfect one! As we made our way up to the elk we were amazed at how big it was. We took some pics quickly and C gutted it while I went up the mountain farther to be sure there wasn't any more blood in case my wife possibly hit one. We drug the calf down and quartered it when we hit a flat area. and packed it the rest of the way to the ATV trail below us. Quite the easy pack out! We will take it!
Day 3 was kind of uneventful until late in the day again when C spotted 3 bedded elk on a little flat spot probably 3/4 mile below us. Dawn and I started to make our way to them for a stalk but when we arrived where we could see the flat again they were gone. C and Olivia were still watching them and told us they had gotten up and fed off as the sun was setting. Dawn and I looked the whole area over and were unable to relocate them. When we left C we had agreed that if we didn't get a shot that we would bail off the side of the mountain and make our way down to the bottom where he would meet us with the truck. Well, lets just say we underestimated the distance that would be and the time it would take. The bonus was it was all down hill, but it took us almost 2 hours. I think C and Olivia were starting to get a little worried but it all ended well and we slept well that night!
Day 4 is kind of planned to be our last day to hunt before we start our 2 day drive back east. We get up early and head up the mountain in C's truck again. Things felt different, we forgot a few things and parked at a different area. When we made it to the base of one of the mountains we could see elk going up the face of it just after sunrise. It was a crazy rush to try to get up there but we made it just as the elk were headed into the timber to bed for the day. Dawn had one 250 yard hurried shot before they got into the trees, and clearly missed. After the shot we turn around and here comes 2 more herds of elk running up the mountain towards us because of the gunshot they had heard. They all were headed to the top to reach safety. Luckily Dawn and I were able to get into position as a herd came running by us. I got Dawn set up and told her to put the crosshairs one foot in front of a cow and pull the trigger. She has not done a lot of shooting in her life so she didn't understand the concept of swinging with the animal. Instead she improvised and got the herd in her scope and as they were running through her scope she pulled the trigger just as one got to her crosshairs. The cow folded and came to a sliding stop in the snow and then required another finishing shot. I almost couldn't believe it she has missed standing elk but manages to drop one on a dead run at a 90 degree angle to us! As we made our way to this elk we were totally in awe at the size and beauty of this animal. We honestly just stood there for 10-15 minutes talking about the morning, the whole week, how blessed we were, and how beautiful this animal was. We were incredibly thankful ! We had another fairly easy pack out to a trail and we were grateful for that as well as we really had no idea how much meat there is on these animals.
We made it back to C's house before noon and went to do some sight seeing in the afternoon with C and his wife as our guides for that as well
This was our first trip to Utah and I have to say it is one of the most stunning and diverse areas I have ever been to. We could be in the snow in the mountains in the morning and in the afternoon were were an hours drive from antelope and desert bighorn sheep terrain, and by the way Mrs. C even has a very cool desert bighorn on the wall, these folks get it done, from bears to deer to antelope to elk to sheep! I have to thank C and Mrs. C and their two sweet daughters for all of their hospitality and kindness. Words can't express how much we appreciate it! I also have to thank Randy for this site as without it I would have never met C and gained new friends in him and his family and this hunt would have never happened. And I also have to thank many of you members for your words of wisdom that have helped educate me over the past several years, and helped me plan these western hunts with my family. We have all been truly blessed more than we deserve!
Now for some pictures of the girls and their trophies !
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