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Hunt of a Lifetime!!!


dukhnt

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Started out last friday, headed to grygla, mn for the cow elk hunt my dad and I were lucky enough to draw one of the six tags for. Did a little scouting before the mandatory hunter orientation and found some tracks and beds. Things were looking good. Went to the orientation and was extremely excited for the next days hunt.

Woke up to snow, snow, and more snow. I think we got 9 inches that day. Sat by a corn food plot the morning and evening. During the day we drove around looking for any sign of the elk. None were found.

Sunday morning found us at the food plot again. Nothing doing. Drove around and found an elk trail. Met up with the other two hunters and decided a stalk was in order. My dad posted by an open field and the other two hunters and I started walking. We must have followed the tracks a couple miles, through thick woods. The tracks were now on a fire break. We decided to post one guy on it. I volunteered and the other two continued. They told me they tracked for another 200 yards and got up 3 bulls about 100 yards away. We all only had cow tags. But I was bummed I didn't get to see those bulls.

Monday my dad and I followed some tracks while the other 2 guys followed some others. Ours resulted in nothing, while the other guys found the herd. They got some long shots off at a cow, but didn't hit it. Needless to say the herd ran out of the hunt zone when they jumped them.

Tuesday, another snow storm. Eight more inches piled up and there were no signs of the herd heading back into the hunt zone. Four days into the hunt and my dad and I have yet to see an elk. We were getting bummed. And the snow and cold wasn't helping matters.

Wednesday morning found us back at the corn field with nothing doing. Met up with another one of the hunters and he said the herd is back in the hunt area. So the three of us found the other hunter to figure out a plan. We decided to post my dad on the north end of the woods that the herd went in and the three of us would follow the tracks to see if we could find them. We followed for over a mile through a foot and a half of snow. Then things started to happen. There was an opening in front of me and this huge brown animal stood up. I put the gun up, cross hairs on it. But couldn't see the head. Finally it moved and I saw the biggest antlers in my life. He was 60 yards broadside but no bull tag. It was one of the most amazing things I have seen while hunting. I was getting pumped up now. We waited there a few minutes to see if any other elk would show themselves. Nothing happened. Started walking again and the guy to my left fired a shot. We all got together after the shot. He had a small window to fire and said the calf hunched up when he shot. We decided to give the elk a few minutes to settle down before we continued on. The guy that shot went over to folllow the tracks of the one he shot at to look for blood. We continued on and another elk popped up in front of me. But was gone before I could get the gun up. Walked a few more yards and there ahead of me and slightly to the left of me were two more elk. The closest being 40 yards and broadside!! Gun up, safety off. Fired the first shot, she started walking away from me. Fired the second shot, she turned around and started walking to me!! Put the cross hairs on her chest and fired the third shot. She fell right in her tracks. I couldn't believe it. I had just shot an elk in Minnesota. My first shot actually went through both lungs, perfect. She was dead and just didn't know it yet.

I then had to contact the DNR guy in charge of the hunt. Told him where it was and he said if I get permission from the farmer he can drive his atv to where we have to go into the woods. This elk was close to a mile and half from any road. Contacted the farmer and was giving permission. This saved alot of work. Met the DNR guy and around 2. We quartered out the elk and had to bring it a quarter mile out to the ATV. As we got the last of the elk out of the woods, the sun was setting. What a perfect day and an amazing hunt to share with my dad. The elk was estimated to weight 450 to 500 pounds. As you can see from the photos, it was cold. When I got back to the truck after I shot it, the thermometer said 17 below zero.

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CONGRATULATIONS DUKHNT!!!!!! Welcome to the addiction! Thanks for sharing your story with all of us and congrats again!

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AWESOME! There is NOTHING I've done in nature that compares to an elk hunt...NOTHING. Congrats!

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Way to go man Congrats on the elk!!

By the way, did you do anything on the MBRB hunts?

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Nice going! As you found out, A Minnesota elk hunt is no gimme. That flat terrain really makes it a challenge to catch up with them.

Where about did you shoot it? East or West of CR 54?

Enjoy that meat, and join the RMEF!

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Josh,

It didn't take me long to find the herd the next day. After we chased them back to the West of 54 I had a feeling they would be in the corn and CRP the next day. As I walked around the hay bails on Norris's road I lifted my binocs to scan the CRP. It was still dark and 20 mins before shooting time but I could make out elk grazing on Norris's land just to the north of the tree line. I stalked up to the edge the corn to where you had been sitting the first couple days. At that point I still needed to get closer to the herd to get a better shot. I slowly moved through the edge of the woods another 50 yards. As I made my way to the edge of the field the elk alarm went out. That high pitched cow noise that lets the other elk know something isn't right. As I came to the edge, the elk ran about 25 yards and stopped. I was lucky enough to have a single cow standing a the edge of the herd in the field. I cranked up the scope to 12X and held a little high. I touched off a single round and the elk scattered across the field. The cow ran about 100 yards in dropped in the middle of the field. I got her in the lungs. The blood trail made for easy tracking. She was an adult cow weighing over 500 pounds. The shot was 223 yards.

As I was writing this Carl called, the other elk hunter in the group. He just got a cow off of Conrads CRP this morning. All the MN Elk hunters filled their tags in 2007, 6 for 6.

Give me a call anytime you are west to the cities Josh. We'll go out for a cold one sometime.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc26b3127cceb1251db0d9cf00000026100RatmjZw3Yi

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Gissert - I shot mine east of 54, inbetween 54 and the next gravel road to the east. And about a quarter mile into the woods from Paul's land.

Powerstroke - I had a huge 10 pointer 50 yards away during the buck hunt, but wouldn't come any closer. Saw that you got some though. Nice work.

Cornfedhogs - My dad and I were really hoping you guys would get your elk. It was great to meet you and your dad. Would be nice to get together for another cold one. If I am ever out that way I will give you a call. Congrats. It sure is a big job butchering it up.

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Great stories guys and congratulations. Boy I hope that I get a tag someday. I can't wait to go out west elk hunting hopefully not too far in the future.

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Nice going guys! Hat's off to Conrad, Norris, and Paul for their help too. It make my heart glad to heat Conrad is still around.

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Congratulations Josh,

That is really cool. I can't think of a better way to spend time with your dad. Nice shooting!

Nice photos too.

Mike

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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