Nov 18 (Saturday): The last day of the hunt and we are both needing an elk. Actually, I tell our guide, Zane Petrich, let's focus on getting Jordan his first ever elk. Our flight on Sunday is a 7am departure, so we'll be up at 3am and leave the cabin to head for the airport at 4 am. We don't need a late Saturday night, trying to pack out two elk.
Our morning hunt is fruitless, so it is coming down to the last afternoon hunt. I remind Zane and Jordan that my very first hunt with Rising Son Outfitters in 2001 resulted in me getting an elk in the last 10 minutes of legal shooting time on the last day. Zane was 5 years old then and now 16 years later, he is expertly guiding us.
Zane points out we need the stars to align to make it happen: the elk need to appear early enough so we have enough daylight to go after them. Then the wind needs to be right and lastly, a legal bull needs to be in the herd.
We head out about 2pm for our last hunt. After about 30 minutes of glassing, we start to see a few elk filtering out from the thick timber in the higher elevations and move into the more open areas of the south facing slopes, where the snow had melted, exposing some grass for feeding on. We see a few bulls, but Zane is a bit concerned about the wind. Looking at the way the clouds are moving, the winds aloft look perfect for an approach from the ideal direction, from the east. However, where we are currently located, about a mile from the elk and 1,000 ft lower elevation, the wind is in the opposite direction. The wind does funny things in the Paradise Valley and the many canyons adjoining it. Being able to read and predict the wind is where a master guide really earns his pay. Zane puts a plan together where we'll head east on the horses and get to a knob about the same elevation as the elk. We'll have to wait and see what the wind is doing when we get there.
The photo above gives you and idea of our last afternoon spot and stalk. We spotted multiple elk where the red X is. The red line is the general route we rode the horses. The last ~200 yards we slowly hiked to the point of the blue X. We actually waited downslope for about 30 minutes, as the sun was going down, as Zane predicted the wind would change a bit and it did. Jordan was able to get into a rock steady prone position, rifle over his pack and watch the elk for a short time. Zane ranged the 5x4 elk at 294 yards and we had about 15 minutes of legal shooting time left. With both Zane and I watching through binoculars, Jordan squeezed off a round from his 300 win mag and made a good hit, the elk took a few steps and went down. We watched it for a few minutes in the fading light and it looked like the bull was laying down, with it's head up. Jordan fired an insurance round and the bull was down. Zane made a call to his dad, Randy Petrich, that we had a bull down and needed a couple of pack mules. The three of us slowly hiked towards the downed elk, with Zane peering through his binos every so often. It was a relief to get to the bull and see it was down for the count. Jordan pulled out his elk tag and Zane quickly cut out the month and day of the harvest and taped the tag to a hind leg. We took several photos in the dark and then Jordan and I assisted Zane with the field dressing and quartering. I offered Zane the use of my
@Von Gruff custom knife and Zane made fast work with it, remarking that it was the sharpest knife he had ever used, including his replacable blade Havalon. Zane also complemented the shape and feel of the handle. Since Zane appeared to really like the knife, I told him if he had enough room in his pack, he could have it. Zane replied that he thought he could squeeze it in. (Garry, aka
@Von Gruff , I will be ordering a replacement soon!) Quartering an elk in the field involves the used of an axe to chop down through the spine, from the inside of the animal. Having two guys hold the ribs open and keeping the elk from sliding down the slope is essential. Before we had finished the job, Randy arrived with the two pack mules. It's nice to know the calvary has your back! We loaded a quarter into a saddle bag and hooked it onto the side of the mule, repeated the operation 3 more times and it was an easy 30 minute ride back to the cabins. A great end to another great week of hunting with Rising Son Outfitters!
As I write the last part of this report on the morning of Thanksgiving, I am reminded that I have much to be thankful for. Within a few a hours, all four of my daughters will be joining us for Thanksgiving. I have a new grandson and I am sure he will be getting a lot of attention! I get to go on great hunts and have a loving , non-hunting wife that supports this passion. And I get to share the story with other like minded friends on AH. The Lord has blessed me and my family and I am indeed very thankful!
Dave
