Kentucky Elk drawn

[davepowers]

Went to the mail box today and found a letter from fish and wildlife. I thought it was raffle tickets to be sold for extra bull elk tags. I open the letter and didn't find any tickets so I unfold the letter and read the first line and I am glad I was home alone.

I get to go after cow elk. That also means I need to get a rifle.

I called my wife and she was excited for me and even said "what kind of gun do you use for elk" Oh that would be a rifle "you don't have one do you" nope just slug guns for deer "looks like you need to get looking, you need to practice all summer".

Funny thing is I have been purchasing 2 chances each year. This year I decide I would just get 1 chance.

Dave

[schall53]

Congratulations

[schall53]

Congratulations

[Deleted]

Win win!!!

[dbd870]

Not only do you get to elk hunt but you get a new rifle - you are living high!

[goosepondmonster]

Congrats. I hope your trip is a success.

[featherduster]

Play the lottery tonite.

[gilder]

I also got Elk Cow tag. Awesome! And need to buy rifle too, my 6.5x55 doesn't qualify, minimum has to be .270.
Very happy.

[HuntMeister]

Congrats to you guys hitting the Elk lotto!! Good luck and keep us posted.

[Deleted]

Congratulations, eastern Kentucky has over 12,000 wild Elk. They are doing very good there, and their population grows every year. There are even B&C Elk being taken every year in eastern Kentucky.


Have a great time on your Elk Hunt.

[michaeladkins]

That is awesome. Congrats. I look forward to the photos.

[davepowers]

Had a great time on my Kentucky cow elk hunt and tagged out Saturday afternoon. Didn't know what to expect with temps running 60-70 deg high winds and rain in the forecast for the weekend then Monday the temps were to drop to the teens. I hired a guide Hurley Combs ( Lost Mountain Outfitters) and it was worth it. I would have spent that money driving to scout and hotel plus the field dressing and hauling it out for you. My cow was halfway up one of the big hills and was one of the larger ones taken that day.

 The morning started with us sitting on a coal road on top the mountain 1-1.5 hours before daylight, Hurley Sr (guide) myself , another hunter and 2 watchers. The plan was to cover a lot of area, glassing to find the elk then planning how to get close enough for a shot. When it was light enough to see the hillside in front of us there were no elk so we moved on to another location. Hurley Sr. went to the ridge. When you see your guide running back to you  you get a little excited, Hurley Sr. had spotted a large herd of cows but they were to far away to shoot so we had to relocate to another ridge. We tried to head them off but another group got to them first and pushed them into the timber.

We covered a lot of area Saturday morning but the 1 herd was all we could find being windy as it was. The elk had bedded down in the timber.

We ran into a couple of guides and planned a stalk into the timber, with a guide and hunter going in and the rest spread out covering escape runs. The hunter shot and we saw the elk run through the timber but they did not move to us.

That afternoon we went back out. The rain was moving in and it was still windy. We glassed the hillside where we did the stalk and there looked to be 5 elk so we made the plan again with 4 shooters spread along the hillside and Hurley Jr. and me being the dog and going in after the elk. It would be a free handed shot no shooting sticks. This ravine was shaped like a "Y" we circled around to the leg of the "Y" and the shooters were on the on the "v" part and would be shooting down into the bottom of the ravine. We dropped down the hillside and started working around to the elk. The beat down trails and deer and elk droppings everywhere meant this was a big bedding area and used a lot. I noticed the gut pile from the one that was shot in the morning as we were getting close. It sprinkled several time as we moved to the elk. Once in the timber there was no wind and it felt 20 deg warmer. As we worked closer to the big tree that was our marker for the elk I could see the shooters up on top the hillside. We kept going walking on pine needles. Hurley Jr. told me to stay close it was going to be a fast hunt and when he moved out of the way it was up to me. I was told to check for horns first then lower the cross hairs and shoot if it was good.

We get to the spot and there was a ledge like a logging road, Hurley eased up to the edge keeping behind a big pine tree and looked over. When I seen him flinch I knew it was going to happen. He step back and told me they were 40 yards right below us. I eased up to the edge looked down the hill at the cow that was the farthest to the left and the only one standing. It was looking downhill so I looked at its head for horns then lowered the cross hairs and pulled the trigger. The elk just flinched Hurley started saying shot again as I had another round ready so I shot again and she just sank down. Then the woods exploded with elk that were bedded and there had been one with a collar and I thought if I would have seen that one I would have wanted it but it was to the right and might have ran the elk the wrong way for the shooters to get a shot. They had told us that elk when shot stay on there feet for many minutes sometimes, dead but still standing. There was no doubt mine was dead so I unloaded and pulled the magazine and put it in my pocket. We moved along the hillside to see where the elk ran to and then the shots were coming. I went back to wait for the shooting to finish so I could climb down to my elk. We are out of harms way protected by the hillside but it is still hair raising hearing the shots crack. There were a couple of 300 win's and a 270 being shot. The 270 was closest but I don't know what range they were shooting and the farthest was just over 300 yards. The shooters ended up getting the collared cow and a calf, they let the spike go which is good because that is considered a bull and would cost you $1750.00.



In the first picture the shot was from the large trees over my left shoulder the cow was standing at the brush just above my head. 40-50 yard shot.

[HuntMeister]

Congrats on the Elk!
Some of the finest eating right there!

[featherduster]

Never realized how big a cow can get,nice hunt,congratulations.

[Woody Williams]

Congratulations on a fine cow! Yep, lots of good eating there.

Thanks for sharing the story and pictures...

[esshup]

Congrats on a successful hunt!! What rifle did you end up getting?

[davepowers]

I was using a savage 116 30-06

[esshup]

Good choice!

[michaeladkins]

That was fun to read. Thanks for sharing and congrats on your success.

[goosepondmonster]

Congrats. Plenty of good meat in the freezer for you.