Oregon Roosevelt Elk Hunt - Day 1
At 3am the alarm clock went off. Finally! Getting up so early was not a problem since I had woken up about 50 times anyway! Was I a little excited? That would be a slight understatement.
After a pot of coffee and a high-protein breakfast, we loaded the car and were off to our guide’s house, arriving there just after 5am. We transferred our gear into his super comfy Dodge Ram pickup truck and we were off to find elk.
We arrived at our destination and I finally got to load up with all the awesome hunting gear I had purchased. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something truly exhilarating about being fully decked out in camo, masking your scent, blending into the surrounding woods and going hunting.
The scenery was beautiful, but that’s a given being in southwestern Oregon. But still… it was green, breathtaking and ever so quiet and still since our guide, Todd, managed to take us into areas where nobody else was hunting. We walked slowly and quietly as Todd showed us tracks from elk, deer, bear and cougar. Along the way we found rubs from deer and elk, logs demolished by bear while looking for bugs and… a new one for me… elk wallows. Every single part of the day was amazing. But it was about to get even better.
Around 2pm we were hiking up a hill when Todd stopped in his tracks and held out his arm to stop us. “Elk!” he whispered excitedly. We all dropped and got out our binoculars as he showed us a massive bull on the next hill over.
“It’s yours” I told my husband. And as he got out his gun I got out my rangefinder he had gotten me for Christmas and used it in a hunting situation for the first time.
“He’s at 300 yards”, I told him and he dialed it into his scope. We all took our backpacks off and stacked them up for Dave to use as a gun rest. The bull had his back to us so we all patiently waited for it to turn and give Dave a good clean shot. It took a little time, but it was worth it as he finally turned sideways and opened himself up. Todd gave the okay and Dave shot, hitting him right in the shoulder and sending him tumbling down the hill.
When we got to him, we were in awe of the size of an elk up close. He was a 6×7 with a beautiful brown symmetrical rack with white tips that was beyond worthy of mounting. Along the way several people saw him and we heard over and over again about how people hunt their entire lives and never get a shot at an elk that big. Our butcher said that he had killed 16 elk in his life and none had come even close.
I’m sure that my husband, Dave, smiled for the rest of the day and that night dreamed of his elk. Of course… I dreamed about his elk too, but wondered what my chances would be of getting one also.
I would find out soon enough…. the very next day.
Happy Hunting!
– Marci
Stay Tuned for Part 3!