I was given a heads up about an area and at the last minute, changed my mind on where to go. A friend from work told me that his father had been seeing elk in an area that was much closer than the area that I had planned to hunt. So last Friday night, we headed out. We hunted all three of the next days with only seeing 1 track. Yes, only one track!
There were other hunters in the area and we talked to quite a few of them. None of them had seen any elk and no one had gotten one either. I was getting quite discouraged and knew that I had made a mistake by not sticking to my original plans. In fact, during the middle of the day on Monday, we even discussed making the 5 hour trip to our original spot for the last day of the hunt. But, with the time and expense involved, we just decided to stick it out.
That night, we met a rancher that had been running cattle in the area most of the year. He told us that he had seen a few elk throughout the year, but most of them had been cows and calves. He had seen a few spikes but only one branch-antlered bull, a 5-point rag horn. I knew then that we were in the wrong place.
We had been staking out water holes for the last two nights but decided to cruise around instead, hoping to see something moving around at dusk. As we entered the meadow where our trailer was parked, we noticed a cow and calf in the middle. We watched them for a couple of minutes as we got out of the truck.
Then my son suggested blowing the bugle and cow call just to see what would happen. I resisted a little telling him that it was pointless since we could see that there was no bull in the meadow and we were at the camper for heaven's sakes. "We certainly could not call anything into our camp!"
Well, he handed me the bugle anyway and I let out a couple of cow calls. But as soon as I bugled, I got an answer! I was surprised to say the least but thought, "OK, lets play with him a little." I kept cow calling but every time I would bugle, he would bugle back. And with every bugle, he would sound closer. All three of us (my dad, my son and I) were having the time of our lives. We had never been able to bugle in a bull before. My son was particularly excited as this was the first bugle he had ever heard in the wild.
Then about five or so minutes later with the light quickly fading, my father spotted an elk at the edge of the trees, about 140 yards away. I could not believe it! It was a little 4x5 rag horn facing directly toward us, trying to figure out what he was looking at. And Rick, you got it right! I was shooting my .270 WSM with Barnes 130 gr. TSX bullets. I have never taken a shot on an animal that was facing directly toward me but I had confidence in my loads. At the shot, he whirled and ran into the trees. We listened closely as we heard the beating of his hooves slowly fade into the distance. "Dang it," I thought. "I was hoping to hear him crash" but that sound never came.
As we made our way over to where we had last seen him, my son mentioned the other elk. My father and I looked at him and asked, "What other elk?" He explained that there was another smaller elk closer to the trees. I had been so focused on the bull that I had never seen the other elk.
We soon found a set of prints but could see no blood. By this time, it was getting dark enough that we needed to get the flashlights to help us. A sinking feeling came over me as I thought about the prospects. "Did I simply miss or did I wound him? Are we going to find him tonight? What condition will the meat be in if we find him tomorrow...if we ever find him."
About that time, my son (whom I was very proud of), says, "Hey, here's some more tracks." As I made my way closer to him, he also blurted out "And here's some blood!" Sure enough, another set of tracks and blood! As Tarrin and I had our noses to the ground looking, my dad looked up and shined his flashlight ahead. "Uh, he's right here." He had only made it about 25 yards from where he had been shot. A single tree had obscured our view of him falling. And all this happened only 140 yards from our trailer. We were all relieved and elated!
Tarrin:
As we field dressed him, I was struck with how little damage there was to his vitals. The bullet definitely hit his lungs and he had massive internal bleeding, but not near the devastation that I expected from an elk that only made it 25 yards. Tarrin also wanted to find the bullet to see what happened to it. We could see the entrance hole but no clear exit hole. So the next morning, Tarrin set out to find the bullet. We could vaguely make out the bullet's path and it ended at a hole in the front of the stomach. My curiosity ended with the statement, "Well, I bet it is still inside the stomach." However, this did not damper his curious nature. I slit the stomach wide open for him, he donned the latex gloves and dove in. After about 15 minutes of playing in the soup, he comes running over to us with a big grin in his face! "I found it!", he said as my dad and I just laughed and shook our heads.
The 130 gr bullet had shed one petel and weighed 122 grains after traveling nearly the entire length of the inner cavity. It came to rest in the very rear portion of the stomach. I really like the new bonded bullets because that are cheaper than the Barnes and I feel that they are just as effective. But after trying all summer to come up with a good load, I was resigned to the fact that the Barnes TSX bullets are the only bullet that my gun will shoot accurately and consistently. These bullets do not have the explosive, jelly making effect of a traditional bullet, but so far, I can't fault their effectiveness.
Sounds like you guys had a good time. Someday I will venture out west and go Elk hunting. It looks like alot of fun.
Now if you woulda sat there for a month you would have not seen 1 Elk. Congratulations all the way around on your hunt & to Tarrin for finding that bullet. I bet Barnes would be interested in seeing a pic of it's expansion as well as the weight retention on the head on shot. Did you by chance weigh it?? Inquiring minds want to know these things man!! 
