Norm is not a sissy!

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Boo
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Norm is not a sissy!

Post by Boo »

I am posting this on Norm's/Hi5's behalf.

“I am not a sissy.” I said that to myself as I made my way the couple of hundred yards from where I had parked my quad to my elevated stand. I was using one of three-legged metal stands with a rotating seat mounted about 15 feet above ground.

It was at least one hour before daybreak and there wasn’t even a glow starting to the East. I was refusing to use my flashlight, not wanting to cause any disturbance in the neighbourhood. I had to pick where I placed my foot down, guided by feel and a faint, dim, dark outline on the ground.

I am not afraid of the dark but I was mindful of what I had seen in daylight on this trail. There was no shortage of bear scat. Some of it was amazing. Some of it was utterly filled with kernels of oats. That bear had no doubt been feeding in an oats field some distance away. One thing that was surprising to me was how the oat kernels seemed absolutely intact. There was no indication, that I could see, of any digestion that had even begun to take place. Was it the flavour that prompted the bear to pack his guts with oats or did it simply feel good to have a packed full gut?

As much as these thoughts occupied my mind during daylight, in pitch dark, I was not very much concerned about digestive processes. I was instead thinking about the dimensions of that “scat log” laying on the trail where I was now picking my way. The opening which shaped that log had to be, let’s just say, very “not small”. That would also mean that the critter which surrounded that opening would be very much “not small”, either.

From my stand, while calling and watching for elk, I had seen seven bears in my immediate neighbourhood. I saw a momma bear with two cubs and a big single bear, likely a boar. The rest were adolescent bears. I enjoyed watching them. Momma liked to walk up to a utility power pole, stand on her back legs, and rub her face on the pole. I don’t know if she was marking her territory with her scent or scenting herself with creosote. One of the adolescent bears had developed his own access trail to the oats field by passing right under my stand. Lots of bears in the neighborhood.

As I walked….from my quad, it was my earnest hope that all of the bears, especially Momma and her cubs and the big boar, were all a considerable distance away, sleeping after their oats banquet. A similar exercise took place after the evening hunt on the return trip from my stand to my quad. I might not be a sissy but my Momma didn’t raise a fool, either. Walt Disney doesn’t tell us the whole truth about bears or anything about Mother Nature. She sure isn’t some sweet old Granny. Sometimes, she actually is a bitch.

Anyway, from time to time, I heard elk bugling. One time, I heard elk “chuckle” quite nearby. Cow calls from me produced no response. However, I did afterwards see fresh elk tracks on my access trail. Maybe he caught my scent or maybe he simply didn’t think that I sounded sexy enough. He didn’t show himself, at any rate.



I think that the early morning hunt was the more interesting. In the full darkness, it was interesting to watch even darker blobs that didn’t have any particular form or shape suddenly appear out front. Then they soundlessly would glide away and disappear. Was it bear, wolf, deer, coyote? As a glow in the East developed, those shapes sometimes became deer, moving from feeding in farmers’ nearby fields to heavy bush where they bedded for the day.

On the fifth day, in the morning hunt, there was the usual procession of a dozen or so deer, returning in front of me to their bedding places. There were no big bucks, only does, fawns and some small bucks. The early morning shift of bears, Momma and her two cubs and a couple of adolescent bears, made their ways towards the oats field some distance away.

I let out a couple of cow elk calls. For the first time in several days, the wind had abated and the sun had come out to a beautiful, sunny, quiet, morning. I took a glance around and off to the North, about 350 yards away, I saw an elk walking directly towards me. It had antlers! I’ve taken eight elk before with a bow…cows or spike bulls but never a mature bull.

Also, I’ve never had this much time to time about what was coming and what was supposed to happen.
My bow was resting on the rail in front of me. I pulled up my face mask. I pushed the safety to “off” and settled the butt against my shoulder. I refused to look toward the elk. I didn’t want to be distracted by antlers – if he were a rag horn, that would be fine with me. He was clearly bigger than any other elk that I had shot and that, alone, was good enough for me.

The bow that I was using was a Matrix 405. The sight speed ring was dialed in at 400 fps, which sets the magnification, I think, at 6 power. When that big guy walked in front of me, I would estimate that he was about eight yards away. He wasn’t running or trotting. Let’s just say that his gait was purposeful – like a sailor on shore leave after six months at sea.

I recall waiting until he was directly in front of me before trying to bring the sights to bear on him. No hurry, I thought. First mistake. I recall seeing only a brown wall moving from my left to my right in my scope. I recall my bow firing and the bull wheeling and galloping about 20 yards back to the North. He stopped there and stood for about 15 – 20 seconds, then walked slowly another 20 yards, stopped again, and stood awhile, then turned and walked slowly into some bush. I was confident that I had made a good shot. I fully expected that he would lay down once he was out of sight and that would be where we would find him.

I will pause here to say that mistake number two was leaving my sight set so that I could use the hashmarks on the reticle. The kill zone on an elk does not need precise aiming points for pre-determined distances. At least, that is the case for a bow with the relatively flat trajectory of the Matrix 405. I should have set the speed ring at its lowest speed setting—the lowest magnification.. I would have been spared a hurried search on a brown moving wall for the proper aim point. Big mistake. As it turned out, my arrow hit too far back. Memory and wishful thinking make a happy marriage, but I honestly don’t think I would have made such a poor shot if the magnification had been as low as possible.

Rather than begin tracking, I returned to my host’s place. He called a friend and about an hour later the friend and I began tracking. There was a steady blood trail – not a huge amount but clear enough to be encouraging. For the first half mile, we tracked him across small fields and bluffs. Then he got to the heavy timber. That is where the fun began. Most of the heavy timber had been blown over a few years ago by a wind that must have been approaching tornado force. Although the bark was gone, the branches were still sound enough to support the weight of the trees, holding the trunks up horizontally. To crawl under, we would be blocked, either by the size of the trunks or the density of the branches. Stepping up and over was generally not possible. The solution was to clamber up onto the trunks, and if luck was with us, step over onto the next blow down. To make things interesting, new growth added a dense tangle.

Our GPS told us that we had entered heavy timber one mile from where we had found him. With all the zigzagging, I would guess that we had actually tracked him for something like 1 ½ miles in that miserable stuff. My eyesight is poor, so my friend discovered most of the blood sign. I marked blood sign wherever there was a change of direction.

By the time that we finished gutting him and flipping him over to drain, it was mid-afternoon. We had to be heading back and out of the bush before dark. Also, we wanted to find a more direct route, if possible, and flag it. It was soon apparent that there was no miracle short cut. It was also apparent that it would take probably two days with chain saws to make a quad trail to where the carcass was located. The meat would have to stay in the bush at least over night; that was obvious. The concern was that more than one night in the bush could easily turn my elk into bear, wolf or coyote scat.

I don’t think that there is anything more practical for trail marking than toilet paper. It is cheap and, best of all, it is resoundingly easy to see in the dark. Brightly coloured plastic tape is good in daylight but not at night. Toilet paper simply works in any light. I used a full roll and when that was gone, I resorted to orange surveyor’s tape, and used a full roll of it too.

Early next morning, six of us set out to the carcass site, wearing back packs and carrying a chainsaw to deal with the worst blockages. Knowing that my elk had left a blood trail some 1 ½ miles long, there was a concern about how much meat we would have to pack out. When we got to my elk, it was a relief to see that although the gut pile had been partially eaten and scattered and the liver that we had intended to save was gone, the carcass was otherwise undisturbed.

A couple of husky young guys each took a hind quarter. Another husky young guy took a bag of trimmings, a heavy load; and a fit young woman carried a front quarter as did a less fit young guy. I, the geezer, packed gear, water and the antlers. The antlers were not terribly heavy but I pretty much had to walk sideways on our exit trail or they would get caught up in the tangle. I understand that elk were once a plains animal before they were forced to relocate to mountain and forest. That makes sense, or evolution would have awarded them a dainty set of antlers.

To remember my hunt, I now have 63 roasts and about 100 pounds of trimmings that I will have made into sausage. Oh! and a set of antlers. I have never before shot an elk this big but my friend, who is more experienced with elk, told me that mine would have been 1000 pounds on the hoof.



Boo was kind enough to post this story and the photo for me. Thanks, Boo! Xcaliber Dan, I hope it bring you a smile or two and some moments of pleasure. Get well.


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xcaliber
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by xcaliber »

Nice job, and I agree you ain't no sissy! Congrats! :thumbup:
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by Hatchet »

Excellent story! What an adventure! You Sir are definitely not a sissy.
Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by AJ01 »

Nice 6 x 6 and a fine story too!! Congrats!! :thumbup:
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by robertyb »

Very nice Elk Norm. Congrats.
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by flinthead »

Awesome!!
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by Normous »

Norm , I think you could not ask for a better retirement gift of fine Elk.
You might want to buy yourself a decent hot tub gift also to soak your aching muscles and joints will the extra hunting time allowed when retired.

Thats a fine Elk is you don't mind me saying so. May your family and friends enjoy celebrating your retirement with a feast fit for Kings!
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by Boonechaser »

What a great story and congrats on a terrific Elk!
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by mr meat »

Great story and elk Congrats
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by elkaholic »

:thumbup:
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by IronNoggin »

Congratulations on a fine hunt and a very fine bull!! :thumbup:

Going to be some fine dining at your place this winter!

Cheers!
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by XB I GO »

Wow - that is fantastic! Looks like everything worked out ok. The sissy is the person who only carried one front quarter and not too...Lol. Nice going, Sir!
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by DuckHunt »

Wow, congratulations on the successful hunt! I've always wondered just what I would do once I got an animal that large on the ground. To me a 200+lb whitetail is a handful and three of them will consume an entire weekend. But something that large takes many extra hands. You're now in an elite club that have taken a 6x6 with archery equipment. Great job!
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by vixenmaster »

Oh yeah that is a nice Elk, you sure earned him with the hard recovery you made. Congrats
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Re: Norm is not a sissy!

Post by flightattendant100 »

Congrats and thanks for the story.!
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