My First Elk

Oregon Elk Hunt 2021

After last years archery elk hunt and getting so close to harvesting my first bull I knew I wanted to hunt elk again this year. I spent hours on hours using go hunt finding a unit to hunt elk in Wyoming. Since I had 3 points as a nonresident it was supposed to be 100% draw odds in the unit I found. Months later I found out the results and I was not selected for the draw in Wyoming. This was something I had spent a lot of time e-scouting and was really looking forward to.

At this point, Austin had a tag for elk in Idaho and they had sold out so there was no way I could get a tag there. We went back to the drawing board and it wasn’t looking favorable for me to hunt elk this year. That’s when Austin’s dad, Mike, mentioned he was hunting bull elk in Oregon. The unit is composed of all private and in order to hunt with the tag you have to be able to get permission from a landowner. It just so happened that Oregon also has a antlerless elk damage tag over the counter. After making some phone calls we spoke with the same landowner and he allowed me to come along.

Austin and I have never hunted private land. This was definitely going to be different for us and we were hunting with 4 other people. In total there were 2 of us with cow elk tags and 3 with bull elk tags. Not only were we hunting private but also in terrain we had never hunted elk in before. This unit is part of the blue mountains and there was not a tree in sight. The season opens 8/1/2021 and goes all the way through 3/31/2022.

On Our Way

We had just finished up a successful and long blacktail season in California and after a week or two off we packed up and headed to Oregon for my elk hunt. I had heard there are great success rates on this ranch we were hunting and had high hopes for filling my tag! We loaded the trailer and hit the road. We decided to take a longer route to get there by going up towards Portland before cutting over so we could see some friends along the way. We ended up stopping at our friend Pro’s house and Adam met us over there for a great dinner and we all enjoyed catching up. We met Pro and Adam on our sitka blacktail hunt in Alaska last November. Austin ended up doing some spring bear hunting with them and we have all kept in contact. It was great seeing them and meeting Pro’s family.

The next day we made the rest of the drive to Heppner, Oregon and were able to meet the landowner, get the rules, and lay of the land from him. After that, we decided to check out one of the ranches and started a hike up to the top to glass the ranch.

The nice thing about this area is you can see for miles from the top. The bald hills roll on and on and we spotted elk over a mile away in some cases. We ended up seeing a ton of mule deer and some great bucks. However, no elk were spotted on this trip.

We headed back to town to get our camper situated and stopped in for great pizza at Two Old Hags.

Day 1

Since there were 5 of us with tags (6 people total) we decided we would split up. Since there were two ranches 3 of us stayed on the smaller one and the other 3 went to the bigger one that we hadn’t seen yet. Austin, Mike, and I headed out in the morning on the smaller ranch.

We had made a good game plan based on the wind of a good vantage point for glassing into multiple canyons. We were almost to the top when we spotted elk feeding in a field. They quickly fed towards the fence line and were very close to crossing. We also spotted two elk walking up a hillside and vanished off the back where we could no longer see them. While glassing the hillside across from us I spotted a shed horn that appeared to be a fork. I knew the wind wasn’t right for me to go get it at this point but I marked the location on my onX for another trip. After a good hour of glassing Austin and I looked at each other and I knew we were thinking the same thing. We needed to go all the way around the ridge line to get to the top of the other side and being able to slowly walk down the back side where we saw the two elk. Mike gave us some grief since he wasn’t too interested in long hikes but he finally agreed. We continued watching the bigger group of elk and they crossed over the fence and bedded down feeding. We continued to watch them as we made our way around hoping they would come back onto the ranch. Out of all the elk we didn’t see any bulls. Mike had a bull tag and if we saw a bull or spike I was going to let him have the first opportunity since mine was just for a cow elk. As we made our way around Austin found a great shed that appears to be quite a few years old up on top. We found lots of fresh sign but no other elk in sight.

After we made it across the ridge on the other side we started very slowly walking down and glassing every few feet to make sure we didn’t miss the elk if they were still on the hillside. We got about a quarter of the way down when we spotted 3 deer in the pasture below us. I glassed up the deer and looked around nearby and then was about to take a few more steps when Austin spoke out, “Elk!”. I stopped and he explained the elk was bedded down below some bushes just above one of the deer. We all three spotted the elk and confirmed it was a cow elk. Knowing that the other elk were on the other side of the fence and feeding away with no bull we were all in agreement that I should shoot!

A few minutes before this the rain and wind had started and at this point it had started to hail. The wind was blowing uphill in my face about 20 mph throwing hail right in my eyes. I crawled up to a little saddle that allowed for me to have a prone shot and got in position.

Austin and Mike stayed up behind me so there would be less movement since the deer and the elk were staring right at us. Luckily, they didn’t move. I got the cow elk perfectly in the scope and ranged him. From where I was he was about 290 yards. My turret was zeroed at 300 yards so I left it right where it was. Then I racked a bullet, got her back in the scope, made sure I was leveled, zoomed in on the scope and before I knew it I was ready to pull the trigger. Having no one around me to be talking in my ear I was able to focus and actually feel more relaxed. The hail was getting stronger and when it would hit my eyes I’d have to blink to clear them. That’s when I took my glove off and set it over the scope and my head for protection. After that I was able to get ready and in second I was ready to shoot. Moments later I shot at the cow elk. Everything seemed to be going too well for my first elk. From spotting her hours prior, to stalking in with the wind right and finding the elk, to executing the shot without her getting up and running off, it seemed too good to be true. However, after the shot went off I got her back in the scope and saw her fall into the bushes below her. I looked back at the boys with disbelief and a huge smile swept across my face as I realized what I just accomplished.

This might not be a trophy bull elk but this is my trophy. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to harvest my first cow elk; this will be an experience I will always have with me. After the shot I knew my work was cut out for me with the hail and high winds. We hiked over and recovered her. Fortunately, at about the time we started pulling out the knives the sun came out and the rain went away and that’s when I got to work quartering it out and placing the meat in game bags.

I ended up carrying the back legs, Austin carried the front legs, and Mike carried the backstraps, tenderloins, heart and the rest of the game meat. The pack outs aren’t easy but they feel a lot easier than when I first started doing this. Of course we made a stop on the way back to sit and. watch the deer and enjoy some lunch!

Continuing to stay in shape and getting stronger makes this process a whole lot easier. We made a long hike back continuing to look for more elk for Mike. After not seeing any elk we got back to camp and hung our meat in the tree.

Day 2:

We decided to all head out to the big ranch and keep in our groups of three. Austin, Mike, and I stayed towards the beginning of the ranch and hiked up high and started glassing. On our way up the mountain we spotted about 9 elk coming up a draw. They ended up feeding right up on top and jumped over the fence onto our property and fed down the next drainage. We were up the hill across from them and it was about 1500 yards away. To make a stock we needed to start heading towards them and get down the mountain and make it to a road below us. We only spotted one spike and the rest were cows. At the time, Mike didn’t seem too excited about the spike and decided he wanted to watch them for a while since we had just made it to the top. He was convinced we would see more elk.

Well, more elk were spotted, but miles away. These bald hills are amazing for glassing long distances but it makes it very frustrating when its all private and you can’t hunt towards them. We watched two herds of elk on different ranches and the elk that had made it onto our ranch didn’t stay there long.

They were feeding in the drainage and something spooked them from below. We have no idea what it was but they looked downhill for a while and then ran up and jumped over the fence and sat in a drainage just on the other side of the property. We kept an eye on them all day along with the other two herds and they never came back over. One of the other herds we were watching ended up bombing down the hillside and since they were so far away we have no idea where they went after that. The other large herd ended up being ran off their hillside by someone in a jeep. All of a sudden we saw the elk disappear and then saw a jeep drive up right where they were. We watched the herd of elk cover over a mile in a matter of minutes. It was a beautiful site to be seen but unfortunately they didn’t run onto our ranch. At this point all we had left was the small herd of 9 with the small spike sitting about 150 yards off of the ranch we were hunting on.

After watching this small herd and not seeing any more elk we decided it was time to head back down the hill since it was almost dark. Austin found a great dead head buck on the way back. After making it down the hill we met up with the rest of the group and they reported they didn’t see any elk at all. We headed back to camp and enjoyed a fire and some wine!

Day 3:

Austin and I had a good feeling about the smaller ranch and we convinced his dad to give it one more try. Fred, another hunter decided to join us this day. Austin and Fred went one way and Mike and I went the other way. We hunted up a canyon and got on a good glassing point. We spotted a lot of deer but no elk. All day we sat up there, eventually Austin and Fred met up with us and we shared stories and naps while hoping for elk. On the way back Austin and I went to retrieve the shed horn I had marked since we were close to it. Austin ended up hiking a little bit up the opposite hillside to try to find it in his binoculars and direct me to it. I was so close to where I had marked it and couldn’t find it yet.

That’s when I heard a whistle and his arm pointing. I headed straight up at this point and with the sun I saw the white! I started running towards it and that’s when I realized it was an elk shed. It was much bigger than I had thought because of the way it was positioned. I was so excited on my find!

While I had been up there looking for the shed I had spotted one on the other hillside. I brought the shed horn down to my backpack and then headed towards the other one. It was a little four point buck shed. At this point I am all smiles and stoked on my finds. Austin was walking just in front of me, as usual, and as I am looking at the ground where I am walking I spotted another shed horn just barely sticking up. Another elk shed! I yell at Austin holding it up and he was in such disbelief that I found a third one.

Once we got back to camp we started a little fire and cooked up some tenderloin from my elk. We sat around drinking wine and beer, sharing food, and telling stories. It was a great way to end the night at hunting camp.

Day 4:

We all headed for the big ranch and split off again. Austin, Mike and I headed up to the top a few ridges over. Another hunter hunted the drainage before us, and the other two headed towards the back of the property. There were high wind warnings and the wind was howling. We got up top and with no cover we luckily found a rock wall about waist high and used it for some protection from the wind.

With how strong the winds were we knew we wouldn’t be seeing elk on hillsides that were facing into the wind. Which in our position that limited what we could see. We did end up seeing a group of about 20 elk just over the property line that then went the other direction. After that we spotted another herd moving. We got notice from the hunters at the back of the property that they could see these elk. We watched the elk and they kept looking in the direction we thought the hunters were trying to stock the elk in. After a few minutes those elk were zig zagging up and down the hillside and eventually went up and over into the next ranch and no one had a shot. If the elk had kept traveling away from them they were getting closer to us and at one point were about 900 yards away. However, instead of continuing in our direction they went uphill and crested never to be seen again. This was again a frustrating moment of the reality of hunting private. That herd had a nice bull with 3 spikes and probably 20 or more cows in it.

After this happened the wind didn’t let up and the rain made its way. We put our rain gear on to try to stay dry. Austin had a great spot on a cow elk bedded down in a drainage all by itself. We walked out the ridge to get closer to confirm it was an elk and to make sure it was on the ranch. After getting closer we knew it was for sure a cow elk but it was one drainage over from the property line. We were feeling discouraged at this point and after glassing it a bit longer we didn’t see any other elk. After a while we saw the other hunters making their way back towards the truck. We took that as our cue to start heading back too. At this point with the high winds and rain we figured the elk were bedded down and probably weren’t going to be moving much at this point.

Everyone made it back to the truck and we came up with a game plan to head into town for some food. We ended up eating dinner at Bucknum's Tavern and enjoyed conversation over a hot meal.

Day 5:

Austin headed out to the big ranch and hunted with his dad. I, unfortunately, had a zoom class for work that I had to attend so I drove the truck camper to a RV park/campground in town called Willow Creek and paid a daily fee so I could hook up to their utilities, use the wifi, and take a hot shower!

Since there is no service on the ranch I didn't hear from Austin. After my class I met him back at the ranch and he reported no such luck...

We planned to head back to the small ranch, pack up camp and start our trek home since we had our meat that was still hanging in trees and we wanted to get it taken care of.

After cleaning up and loading the truck we took a few minutes to enjoy the beautiful ranch and give our thanks to the land that just provided us with food to feed us for the next six months!