Elk Hunt 2001

Preparation The Actual Hunt
It's not too early to start planning for Elk Hunt 2001. Doug Kelley, the guy I went with last year has some tricks up his sleeve to get Elk this season. He's been teaching me about Black Powder rifle hunting.

We put in for tags in May, but will not know for a little while if we have been drawn. Meanwhile, Doug has been improving the wood stove we will use and improving the tent we used last year.

Black Powder rifle shooting and hunting is a bit different compared to rifle shooting and hunting. The biggest difference is that with a Black Powder rifle, hunting in Oregon only allows iron sights....no scope for accuracy. That's OK. Doug and I went out shooting twice with the Black Powder or muzzle loader rifles. It was really fun. The first thing one notices is that you have to load it all manually. First the powder is measured and goes in from the end of the barrel, then the bullet goes in and has to be tamped until it reaches the top of the powder. The next step is to insert a cap or primer under the hammer.

The gun I will borrow from Doug Kelley is a Lyman Great Plains Hunter. It has the old world look to it with a long barrel for accuracy, a dual trigger system, iron sights, and a sharp butt to the stock.

I've shot this rifle about a dozen times and can say that I am used to it and can hit a 10 inch diameter circle from no more than 100 yards away. More will come later as the hunt approaches. June 9, 2001

June 19, 2001 The drawing results just came in. Here's a scanned image of the card that was sent:

What this means is that our group didn't draw the tags for Buck Deer, but did draw the tags for the Elk Muzzleloader. This is what is called a "hair tag" meaning that if it's an Elk, it can be harvested.

Doug and I will be going out again soon to practice shooting the smoke poles since we didn't draw the rifle hunt tags. It's odd, but I like the anticipation and practicing nearly as much as I like the hunt. I still don't know if I have it in me to kill an Elk. We will find out.

June 24, 2001
We went shooting the smoke poles again Saturday morning. Doug's shooting was right on. He pretty much has an Elk bagged without too much problem. Of course, the real Elk will not have targets pasted to their sides, they will not turn broadside and stand at exactly 100 yards away, and we will not have the shooting benches to sit and aim from.

Initially my shooting was way off. I couldn't hit the 100 yard target to save my life. Once I started to hit the target, we figured that my shots were fine for height, but I was missing the target to the right. After concentrating more with the open sights, I was able to hit a tighter group at 100 yards. The weight and type of bullet seemed to make a difference too. The amount of black powder may make the difference too. We were both shooting 150 grains of powder.

I was much more accurate with the 310 grain bullets compared to the 425 grain slugs. There are many reasons for this but I will not get into it here. Since I'm more accurate with the smaller bullets, my resolve is to hunt with the 310 grain slugs.

The Actual Hunt
Elk Hunt 2001 was unforgettable. Nearly eight months afterwards (6/02) and I can still remember how I felt during the week of the hunt. Although I had put in for the time off months prior to the hunt, I had to work most of that week. The season was to start on Saturday morning, so the rest of the group went to set up camp as early as possible on Friday. Trying to get as much done as possible, I stayed late at the office on Friday and arrived after dark at camp. The camp was nearly the same as the previous year, but with a few extra features from lessons learned. Extra features included a new stove for the wall tent and a relocated outer door expanding the livable space inside. Instead of just Doug and I in the wall tent, we accommodated Mike, Dave, and Jacob.

Before retiring to bed on Friday night, I actually broke out some work papers and put in about 2 hours of chargeable work. Early Saturday morning, Mike, Doug, and I piled into Doug's truck and went hunting. We did the same on Sunday. I don't recall what day it was, Saturday or Sunday, but at the point when it seemed like we weren't even close to any Elk, we saw two right in front of us. They jumped out of the forest onto the road and darted up and out of sight disappearing about as fast as they appeared. We tried to guess the direction they were headed so we might cut them off, but were disappointed and didn't see any further sign.

I had committed to going back into the office on Monday morning to finish off some tasks and touch base with the project manager then high tail it back to Elk Camp. Sunday evening I traveled back to my house and went to the office Monday morning. I worked all day Monday, all night Monday, went to my house on Tuesday about noon to sleep, but returned to elk camp. Tuesday afternoon I called the office from Sisters, Oregon and had to commit to return to the office the next morning. That was really frustrating. I reported to the office on Wednesday morning, worked all day, worked all night, and finished up Thursday afternoon. I left immediately for elk camp and got there with some daylight left, but no way to contact the guys. Upon arriving, I noticed that someone in the group had taken an elk and that Derek's tent was gone. I learned later that both Dave and Derek had taken elk.

There was really only one more day of the hunt and that kept me motivated despite the unadulterated disappointment of the previous several days. When Doug and Mike came back to camp, they told me about the elk taken by Derek and Dave/Jacob. Since both of them had helped to carry out quarters of Derek's elk, there was a quarter between them. Doug informed me that he was going to give me his 8th. He knew I was out there for Nora to get meat that she is least sensitive to and I can't say how thankful I am to Doug (and the elk) for his sacrifice. Doug just shrugged it off saying "My wife can't stand the smell of it when I cook it anyway."

If I remember right, Friday we tore down camp and went home instead of hunting the last day. After a few more months go by, I'll post the stories of the "powderless" gun, the "spooked elk", and "the one that got away." These were the stories that were told on Thursday night when I had finally broke away from the office to join the hunt. (June 19th, 2002). Photos are forthcoming, as well as details in preparation for elk hunt 2002.

Doug and I have made some jerky from the elk and Nora loves it! Seeing her eat and like it so much made the efforts of the hunt worth it. I am still not sure I have the guts to shoot such a large, magnificent, animal...it's still so strange that I'm a "hunter". Just call me Nimrod.