WomenShooters

Autumnlovr · Joined: 28 May 2011 Posts: 16 Location: Macomb County, MI

This magnificent creature is by FAR my hunt of a lifetime (so far)! I wrote this recap when I got back from the trip in Oct. 2008.
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After MANY years of playing the elk lottery in Michigan and losing year after year, my husband booked an elk hunt for me in Saskatchewan....What an adventure!!! We took 3 days to drive out there (about 1600 miles) and cursed all the way through Chicago traffic & toll roads. We got to Saskatchewan Sunday afternoon in a miserable drizzle with winds gusting around 35-40 mph. We went out and sighted in the guns which was no easy task in those winds. The guide asked if we wanted to go out that evening, but I was beat and opted to go out the following morning. It rained through the night and was pretty wet and cool out so we all put on our rain gear and some layers and hit the woods. We set out to walk, stalk & hopefully shoot an elk. Since the guide fee was based on antler score, we were looking for something that was 350" or under. The first elk was spotted within 15 minutes and was BIG, probably around 380" or so. We watched him for a bit and kept walking; through the woods, tall grasses (with logs hidden down in them!), marshy areas and around open fields. When we stopped for a break, I picked a short stump & tried to sit on it and it promptly collapsed, sending me half on the stump & half on the ground. I just sat there for the break & when I got up, my knee had twisted and something had slipped out of place. After messing with it for a couple minutes, it went "pop" and felt fine. So, we continued on, checking on a wallow-hole, the edges of the willows & a natural funnel area. Elk are active during the night & bed down during the day so we were trying to get between them and their beds. While working to one of the bedding areas, we saw about 6-7 more elk but they were either way too big, or on the small side. The guide said we should wait, that we'd find one close to my 350" goal. We followed a bugle, all the while working our way to a small cedar thicket and started calling using both cow calls & bugles. After about 15 minutes, we heard something coming in from the opposite direction from the original bull we were following and....WOW! A beautiful 7-by-8 bull but again, way over my allowance! He kept coming in to where he heard that cow call and got within 12 yards of me. It took all I had to just hold still, look and not smile; showing him my pearly whites. What a thrill to see a 7x8 at that distance giving me a perfect broadside shot. All I could think of was "If I only had my bow in my hands!" He picked me out as being something he didn't recognize and we had a stare-down for about a minute then he heard movement in the opposite direction. It was 4 more bulls! So now, we were surrounded by the original bull we followed, the 7x8 and these four! I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be in the middle of 6 bull elk, all within 50 yards! As we stood there, one of the smaller bulls approached the big guy, he gave a minor charge and the smaller bull decided he was not up to the challenge, whirled around and trotted off. The rest continued to size each other up, then decided to wander off to their beds. We continued on our trek, and it was getting warm. We walked & walked, gathering moisture from the grasses and sweating, making our legs feel like they weighed 500 lbs each. Then, I popped my knee out again & had to work it back in place. We continued on, seeing one more bull out of range. After over 5 hours of hard hunting, we went back to camp for food & rest. That afternoon, with my knee still being questionable; the game plan was to go back to the funnel (about a mile back) and sit and call. We set out through 1/4 mile of woods and were skirting around a grassy field. We came over a small draw and the guide stopped dead. Out in the field was a beautiful 6x6 bull that he felt was right in my 340-350 inch range. We backed a little into the woods and got into shooting position. My guide inched in on him so the bull would stand to see what he was....and when he stood....BOOM! I took him with my 50-cal muzzleloader. The bull kind of hunched up and stood there for a few minutes, lowered his head, then started to walk towards the woods. We had brought along my 30-06 as a back-up in case we needed a quick follow-up shot, so I threw a moving shot at him which broke his upper front leg. He went about 30 yards into the treeline & toppled. It was history...I got my first elk and he turned out to be a beauty!!! He was well over my 350" mark so my guide fee was higher, but he was well worth it! He scored at 374-1/2 inches with a 46" spread. And the best part was we could drive the truck through the field and retrieve him...and I didn't have to walk back with my screwed up knee. As he was being butchered, the skinner found an old bullet in his neck. It looked to be a 30-caliber and had scar tissue grown around it so apparently, he had escaped a hunter in past years. The following day was spent freezing the meat, boiling the antler skull-cap and prepping for the drive home. Leaving Wednesday morning, we pushed it hard driving from Archerwill SK to the middle of Wisconsin the first night...13 hours. We stayed in some burg called Brule River or something like that. Got up the following morning & hit the road through the UP during peak color...Beautiful! Saw a bald eagle sitting on a hay bale, just watching his world. After +/- 12 hours, we made it home Thursday evening. Seven days....5 driving, 1 hunting & 1 resting & prepping for the trip home. All in all, a whirlwind vacation but a memory of a lifetime! Now, it's off to the taxidermist, then the doc to check out my knee and hopefully on to those dinky Michigan whitetail!

(The knee turned out to be a torn meniscus but not bad enough to operate.... and I did get a small 8 point during the Michigan deer season.)

Here's the mount, I'm no little chickie.... I'm 5'9" so you get an idea of how big he is!

And a side view to see the symmetry:

For you spec freaks
Length of main beam:
L=51-4/8 R=52-4/8
Length of Typical tines:
L,T1= 17-0/8 R,T1= 17-0/8
L,T2= 19-4/8 R,T2= 19-5/8
L,T3= 20-4/8 R,T3= 18-6/8
L,T4= 15-0/8 R,T4= 15-2/8
L,T5= 12-0/8 R,T5= 11-3/8
Circumference of Main Beam:
L,C1= 8-6/8 R,C1= 9-3/8
L,C2= 6-6/8 R,C2= 7-1/8
L,C3= 6-4/8 R,C3= 6-6/8
L,C4= 6-4/8 R,C4= 6-4/8
Inside span of Main beams = 46-0/8
Total score = 374-2/8
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Lauren

Muleskinner · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 2 Location: Lee's Summit, MO

Beautiful! What a great adventure.