October- 2 elk down and meat in the freezer
Since Mikal and I both drew on a bull elk tag this year, we were both determined to shoot an elk. We drew on the area that Mikal did all his work for the fish and game. We got the earlier hunt that opened October 1st through the 14th. The 14th was when general season opened. Mikal went out the weekend before our hunt started and found a nice 6x6 bull just up above Sandcreek ponds. We went out looking on Monday (opening day for us) for that elk and did not see any elk that day. We saw some deer and moose. We jumped a moose at the very beginning of the day. It had me spooked all day. We went up over this small little hill and Mikal thought it was a mule deer. It was actually a cow moose. She was about 30 to 40 yards off. I did not want to be that close and asked Mikal if we could climb over the fence that we were following. He told me it was okay and we will be just fine. She was just eating and not bothered by us. Just after he said that about 5-10 yards away, a small bull moose stood up! I was about ready to pee my pants. I hate moose that close to me! He didn't seem bothered by us. He just got up and started walking away. We walked in a big loop and made it back to the side by side around lunch time and ate. We drove up further into the mountains to see if we could see anything, but no luck. Just lots of encounters with moose.
Mikal went out quite a few more times that week, but saw nothing worth shooting (just spikes and cows). We went out on Friday afternoon after I got off work and drove to a new area and didn't see anything but a skunk! I always wore that goofy, too small, orange hat as well haha
On Saturday afternoon, we went back out. It was cold,rainy and Mikal had a bad headache, but I told Mikal if we don't go out we may miss our chance. We drove up the mountain and came down from the north side of where Mikal saw that bull the previous Saturday before opening season. We hiked around and probably saw about 20 head of moose.
I had a dream earlier that week that Mikal and I were out hunting and we saw some antlers over a hill. I went up to shoot the elk and by the time I got up to him, he had run off. I then turned around and saw a HUGE bull moose. I tried to sneak down and it followed me down back to the car and before I could get in the car, he bit my head off. So seeing all those moose with tons of bulls among them had me wanting to turn around and run away!
We hiked about 2-3 miles in the tall brush and headed back to the truck. I was tired by then and told Mikal I was going to sit in the truck while he went down to where he saw the bull. We had the walkie talkies on us so we could keep in contact. I am going video Mikal telling the story of how we shot my bull moose, because it is so much better in the video than written down.
I will write it down as well just so we have a story.
He walked down along the fence line for probably about 45 minutes and jumped some deer. His headache was now a migraine and it was getting dark. He decided to turn around and take a road back to the truck. He started walking back and looked up and saw a bull elk standing in the middle of the dirt road about 220 yards away. He walkie talkied me and said "I found a bull elk." So what do you think I said back? "Well shoot it!" I heard a gun shot in the distance and knew that was him. Then it came again. He called me and said he got him and he was going to bed down, but once he got close to him, the elk jumped up again and ran. He shot 4 times total and could not kill that stubborn bull! He called me and said "Mindy, you got to come down and kill this bull. I cannot seem to shoot him." He was about 400 straight south of the truck. I gathered up the courage to go walk down (since the moose were just over the hill) and Mikal met me halfway. The elk has bedded down and was just sitting on the grass about 15 yards away. Mikal told me to shot it just behind the neck and so I ended up shooting him 3 times. Missed the first time, shot him the second time and then shot his esophagus out cuz the blood and cold air made it look like he was smoking! haha He kept tipping his head down to the ground and pulling it back up. Poor thing was in so much pain! Mikal decided he was going to go and slit its throat to put it out of its misery, but when he walked up behind it, he grabbed its antler and it turned around and started charging him! He jumped up over a dead tree and rolled onto the ground. I was running away and trying to put bullets in my gun because I was out. I was shaking so bad that I couldn't put the bullets in! It scared me to dead that it charged Mikal! I finally got a couple bullets in and shot once and missed and shot again and the elk collapsed. We knew then that it was finally dead. We found out when we were gutting it that Mikal had grazed his belly and that is why he went and bedded down.
I was pretty happy to finally shoot my first big game ever! It was a nice sized 3x4. We then went and got the truck and was just going to load the elk into the bed of the truck with Mikals come along and dirt bike ramp. We gutted that thing in the dark with no moon. Thank goodness we had flashlights and headlamps. We hooked him to the truck and drug him onto the road and then tried to pull him up the ramp. It took us forever and I was pretty useless since I was 15 weeks pregnant. Mikal tried to get me to stand on the ramp, but I don't weigh enough to hold that ramp down with a full sized bull elk on it! It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get the thing loaded and on our way back home. Mikal's uncle wanted the elk for meat, so we were able to just take him down to the butchers the next morning and be on our merry way. What an exciting adventure for my first big animal. It was quite the story.
Sage on the other hand, does not like whole dead animals. She was not liking have the elk head in the back of the truck after we dropped it off at the butchers. The whole way there she whined and was pretty freaked out about it!
Mikal was deteremined to find another bull that was bigger than the one I got earlier. He talked with his uncles and they told him to go out to their hunting spot around Spencer area. He went out on Thursday with his Uncle Daren and hiked most of the day. He hiked through knee deep snow straight up a mountain. I would have died if I was with him! He finally heard so herds of elk and went to check them out. He found this one and dropped him in one shot! (we sighted in our guns earlier that week to check and make sure they were actually on this time)
He was pretty excited about his bull elk! It was a nice 5x6 and had good mass. Mikal gutted him without any headlamps or flashlights because he forgot to reload his backpack after we shot my elk. He did all the gutting by feel and walked back in the dark to meet his uncle. Oh, and his phone was completely dead too! They decided to leave the elk out there and pack it out in the morning. They made a few calls that night and were able to get some of his uncles buddies to come and help with their packing goats they have. It was an exciting thing for Mikal and he said he is now going to get packing goats when we move back to Washington. Ugh. 🐐
https://www.facebook.com/brady.stewart.507/videos/2709227875761444/?__tn__=%2CdlC-R-R&eid=ARDDGiRTDqp1YhR79Gv9nbIwM_0E6TelJcf4Mar6TeyLtforK1OD-clQPC2k3aqzfrHzZbssreUuWhqG&hc_ref=ART4tNgrDN0ylspRGNSqqj_lZ72HgJgl4YODFM0bccIZUc0uqfyoMTHWV1FJFmzOe9o
Go check out the video they made of the pack out of Mikal's elk!
We packaged Mikal's elk by ourselves and it was a ton of work. Thank goodness Mikal's brother Tristan was there to help us. I was having a hard time with the meat and getting cold. It filled our little freezer full! I was in charge of the packaging while the boys cut everything up.
Mikal boiled his head right away and was so excited to put it up. I am pretty sure there is no where to put it in the house we live in right now! We are in need of a vaulted ceiling because the antlers are touching the ceiling.
For Halloween, we went up to Harriman State Park with Mikal's family and walked around with the kids as they did trick or treating. They do a fun little hay ride out to the cabins from the main entrance and then at each cabin is either some fun little games or candy. Throughout the whole walk, they had blow up Halloween decor. It was great! We enjoyed ourselves, but poor Mikal had a migraine the whole time. We got hot chocolate and cookies at the very end. :)
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| Loved the fall colors in the mountains! |
Mikal went out quite a few more times that week, but saw nothing worth shooting (just spikes and cows). We went out on Friday afternoon after I got off work and drove to a new area and didn't see anything but a skunk! I always wore that goofy, too small, orange hat as well haha
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| Mack Inn in the background |
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| Small skunk we saw out hiking around |
On Saturday afternoon, we went back out. It was cold,rainy and Mikal had a bad headache, but I told Mikal if we don't go out we may miss our chance. We drove up the mountain and came down from the north side of where Mikal saw that bull the previous Saturday before opening season. We hiked around and probably saw about 20 head of moose.
I had a dream earlier that week that Mikal and I were out hunting and we saw some antlers over a hill. I went up to shoot the elk and by the time I got up to him, he had run off. I then turned around and saw a HUGE bull moose. I tried to sneak down and it followed me down back to the car and before I could get in the car, he bit my head off. So seeing all those moose with tons of bulls among them had me wanting to turn around and run away!
We hiked about 2-3 miles in the tall brush and headed back to the truck. I was tired by then and told Mikal I was going to sit in the truck while he went down to where he saw the bull. We had the walkie talkies on us so we could keep in contact. I am going video Mikal telling the story of how we shot my bull moose, because it is so much better in the video than written down.
I will write it down as well just so we have a story.
He walked down along the fence line for probably about 45 minutes and jumped some deer. His headache was now a migraine and it was getting dark. He decided to turn around and take a road back to the truck. He started walking back and looked up and saw a bull elk standing in the middle of the dirt road about 220 yards away. He walkie talkied me and said "I found a bull elk." So what do you think I said back? "Well shoot it!" I heard a gun shot in the distance and knew that was him. Then it came again. He called me and said he got him and he was going to bed down, but once he got close to him, the elk jumped up again and ran. He shot 4 times total and could not kill that stubborn bull! He called me and said "Mindy, you got to come down and kill this bull. I cannot seem to shoot him." He was about 400 straight south of the truck. I gathered up the courage to go walk down (since the moose were just over the hill) and Mikal met me halfway. The elk has bedded down and was just sitting on the grass about 15 yards away. Mikal told me to shot it just behind the neck and so I ended up shooting him 3 times. Missed the first time, shot him the second time and then shot his esophagus out cuz the blood and cold air made it look like he was smoking! haha He kept tipping his head down to the ground and pulling it back up. Poor thing was in so much pain! Mikal decided he was going to go and slit its throat to put it out of its misery, but when he walked up behind it, he grabbed its antler and it turned around and started charging him! He jumped up over a dead tree and rolled onto the ground. I was running away and trying to put bullets in my gun because I was out. I was shaking so bad that I couldn't put the bullets in! It scared me to dead that it charged Mikal! I finally got a couple bullets in and shot once and missed and shot again and the elk collapsed. We knew then that it was finally dead. We found out when we were gutting it that Mikal had grazed his belly and that is why he went and bedded down.
I was pretty happy to finally shoot my first big game ever! It was a nice sized 3x4. We then went and got the truck and was just going to load the elk into the bed of the truck with Mikals come along and dirt bike ramp. We gutted that thing in the dark with no moon. Thank goodness we had flashlights and headlamps. We hooked him to the truck and drug him onto the road and then tried to pull him up the ramp. It took us forever and I was pretty useless since I was 15 weeks pregnant. Mikal tried to get me to stand on the ramp, but I don't weigh enough to hold that ramp down with a full sized bull elk on it! It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get the thing loaded and on our way back home. Mikal's uncle wanted the elk for meat, so we were able to just take him down to the butchers the next morning and be on our merry way. What an exciting adventure for my first big animal. It was quite the story.
Sage on the other hand, does not like whole dead animals. She was not liking have the elk head in the back of the truck after we dropped it off at the butchers. The whole way there she whined and was pretty freaked out about it!
He was pretty excited about his bull elk! It was a nice 5x6 and had good mass. Mikal gutted him without any headlamps or flashlights because he forgot to reload his backpack after we shot my elk. He did all the gutting by feel and walked back in the dark to meet his uncle. Oh, and his phone was completely dead too! They decided to leave the elk out there and pack it out in the morning. They made a few calls that night and were able to get some of his uncles buddies to come and help with their packing goats they have. It was an exciting thing for Mikal and he said he is now going to get packing goats when we move back to Washington. Ugh. 🐐
https://www.facebook.com/brady.stewart.507/videos/2709227875761444/?__tn__=%2CdlC-R-R&eid=ARDDGiRTDqp1YhR79Gv9nbIwM_0E6TelJcf4Mar6TeyLtforK1OD-clQPC2k3aqzfrHzZbssreUuWhqG&hc_ref=ART4tNgrDN0ylspRGNSqqj_lZ72HgJgl4YODFM0bccIZUc0uqfyoMTHWV1FJFmzOe9o
Go check out the video they made of the pack out of Mikal's elk!
We packaged Mikal's elk by ourselves and it was a ton of work. Thank goodness Mikal's brother Tristan was there to help us. I was having a hard time with the meat and getting cold. It filled our little freezer full! I was in charge of the packaging while the boys cut everything up.
Mikal boiled his head right away and was so excited to put it up. I am pretty sure there is no where to put it in the house we live in right now! We are in need of a vaulted ceiling because the antlers are touching the ceiling.
For Halloween, we went up to Harriman State Park with Mikal's family and walked around with the kids as they did trick or treating. They do a fun little hay ride out to the cabins from the main entrance and then at each cabin is either some fun little games or candy. Throughout the whole walk, they had blow up Halloween decor. It was great! We enjoyed ourselves, but poor Mikal had a migraine the whole time. We got hot chocolate and cookies at the very end. :)
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