I have wanted to hunt for elk for many years. I watched videos, read articles and talked to as many western elk hunters as I had encountered. Lately I’ve been enjoying meateater episodes and had visions of shooting a elk way back in the mountains and packing it out by myself. My youngest brother moved to Montana and I urged him to do some scouting and make some connections but it never really happened, eventually my dad moved out to Montana and began telling me about the shoulder season. The shoulder season or B season is a special hunt designed to cut down the population of cow elk in high density areas where they are damaging winter hay piles. Non-resident tags are only about $300 which is half of a normal tag and the B season goes from mid august to mid february and is walk in access only. Shoulder season hunters have to be on BMA or block management areas owned by private individuals but opened up to the public. Some areas are open all season where other areas you need to contact the local biologist who have been in contact with the local landowners and they set a date on what ranch you can hunt on what date. I’m not a picky hunter and being a novice I was fine with shooting a cow or calf, after all the old bulls can taste kind of gamey from what I’ve heard.
The Backstory My first opportunity came in 2018 when I woke up to call in at 2 am while on vacation in alaska to call for any extra tags not filled in by the lottery, Alaska time and Montana aren’t exactly the same. I got the tag and told my brother who graciously offered up his camper and had a friend who offered to join me. We drove to White Sulphur set up our camper and dined on grilled elk the night before. On day one we hiked into the Caitlynn ranch across a wide expanse of sage brush and up along a bench, there was snow on the ground and elk tracks everywhere. I learned to move slow and not skyline my profile, to make sure my rifle was ready every time we crested a peak or rounded a bend and for that I thank you Brent. We got up high and glassed the valley below and park up above no elk were found. I called the biologist that night and he said that they elk on that ranch are usually smart and will come down to the hay at night and return to the high timber before sunup. Next he gave me permission to the Beaver ranch. Brent and I went north the next morning, we parked in an old corral and walked across a long expanse of sage before working our way up the next bench. Once on top we set up and glassed the next valley back off the road. We didn’t see much so I worked my way along the ridge and found a shed elk antler and a herd of antelope up high but that was all. That night I called the biologist and he didn’t have any ranches for me to hunt but there was a BMA I could hunt. My friend had to work so it was just me. I drove out slightly past sunrise and as I drove along a powerline in what would be described high plains there was a herd of over a hundred elk on a ridge about ¼ mile away, they ran over a hill and disappeared so I quickly parked the truck at a nearby access point and began hiking, it didn’t take long and I spotted the elk, almost all cows and calves in a clump in the wide open. I crouched down behind some sage and glassed them at a distance, probably 600 yards. I’m not sure if they saw me, winded me or got spooked by something else but I looked down to dig a snack out of my pack and they were gone. I headed for some tall grass and as I worked my way along I found them again, this time they were in the tall grass at the base of a ridge, several were on top of the ridge and several cows were bedded down with calves. I got to within several hundred yards but when I tried to circle around get closer they disappeared again. I found them ¼ mile away once again but couldn’t get within shooting range so I sat in a draw at sunset hoping they would work down my way at sunset, the only thing that did was coyote and a lucky one at that, I wasn’t about to blow a shot at an elk for a lowly coyote. I started the day and it was 30 or 40 degrees, by sunset it was 6 above and my feet were frozen, thank goodness for nearby hot springs and a camper with heat to guarantee a good nights sleep. Locating the elk was half the battle, so the following morning my friend suggested I try to get out there before the sun comes up. Once again I didn’t have any special permission because ranchers don’t really want people on their ranches during a holiday so I returned to the BMA and was driving in in the dark on thanksgiving day. There in the middle of the road was big beautiful cow elk, I stopped the truck and got out in time to see a stampede of elk running in the darkness. Once the sun came up and I could tracks it was apparent that the elk had bedded down along the road, apparently a tactic that puts them at the advantage. Once the sun came up I played the same game as the previous day, finding the herd on the wide open plains only to have them run off and I’d have to find them again. I liken it a lot to trying to sneak up on a big flock of geese on a knoll, there’s a lot of eyes watching for predators and they spook easily. By the end of the afternoon I was run ragged and felt like Elmer Fudd. As I came out an old guy was walking in and I told him where they were located the last time I saw them and he already knew, he said they are always there. He next asked me how many miles I had walked and I told him about six, he said I need to double that number and that the only way to get close is to walk up draws to get in range and if the opportunity wasn’t right to back out of the draw and go the long way around to the next draw. As whitetail hunter from the forests of Minnesota this was a humbling experience chasing a herd of cow elk across the high plains of Montana.
Cut to the chase Eli’s Hunt I learned a lot of lessons from that first hunt and the value of my tripod shooting stick, a good pair of binoculars and a range finder because distance is hard to judge in the wide open expanses of big sky country. The following summer I returned to that area and began knocking on doors asking local ranchers for permission. I was pleasantly surprised that I got permission for four different ranches at a total of 30,000 acres which seems like a lot of land but I think it’s a lot like fishing where 90% of the fish are in 10% of the lake. The B season starts August 15th and some of the local landowners weren’t even aware that it opened that early. I talked my buddy Chuck into the mission and we applied for surplus tags online. That week before the hunt we loaded Chuck’s truck and camper. We brought my small chest freezer and about 45 empty bottles of gatorade that we filled with water and froze for ice. We packed a wide selection of tools plenty of food for an adventure. We drove west a day or two before the season opener and parked the camper at a local campground plugged in the freezer full of frozen water bottles, and then drove into Helena to borrow my brother’s side by side ATV. That afternoon we stopped by all the ranchers to let them know we were out in the neighborhood for our hunt and seeing if they had any recent sightings and to do some scouting. One of the smaller ranches mentioned that he had been seeing them in the mornings and evenings in a particular hayfield and that if we wanted to hunt his land we had to watch the sun come up from his horse corral. That seemed like an odd request but I’ll take any advice I can get to give me an advantage. So opening morning Chuck and I show up well before first light and park by the road and walked down to the horse corral. We sat for about 30 minutes when I spotted the first elk heading north crossing a gap in a ridge about ¼ mile away, then another and another and another, I’m guessing 15-20 elk. So I told my hunting partner what I saw and we headed north along the base of the ridge. My partner Chuck is 73 year old diabetic with a rebuilt knee that just got infected the fall before, he’s also a badass bowhunter with many turkeys, whitetails and a couple moose along under his belt as well as a former butcher, machinist , maintenance man and fabricator that can build or fix anything. He was a novice elk hunter as well but his years of experience made for a great partner and he’s cheap like me so there was nobody I’d rather have done this trip with. As we walked along the bench Chuck told me his knee was acting up so I told him to cross the next draw and work up to the top to sit and watch. I then walked north along the bench until I found the next draw, as I crept along I spotted about a dozen elk all cows and calves in a low grassy area along a creek. I laid down along a rocky edge and got out my rangefinder, unfortunately I was so excited and shaking so hard that I couldn’t get a range, they could have been somewhere between 200 and 600 yards but I was in no condition to shoot. Thankfully something spooked them and they took off to the north again so I decided to head north. Elk can cover a lot of ground in a short timespan and it didn’t take long for me to see them running in the timber on a ridge ½ mile north of me, it was the only timber on the 1,500 acre property so I worked my way around downwind of the timber and got up on top of the ridge. I worked my way along the ridgetop making sure to keep the wind in my face, stay within the shadows of the threes and move quietly. I had been practicing shooting my 30.06 at 300 to 350 yards so i felt fairly confident shooting out that far. The next thing you know I here a “mew” and saw a cow elk about 60 yards below me, I lifted the gun and shot pretty much out of reflex. The cow took off and I heard some crashing, at that time my mind was racing, “ I think just shot my first elk!, I think? I hope!” I ran down the slope and looked for blood, found a few drops, and then a few more and saw where she crashed down a short cliff and then I think I smelled her. I heard that elk have a particular scent and I think I was learning that when I found here, a truly beautiful animal I’m guessing at 300-400 pounds.
Then the work began, it was about 9am when I found the elk and probably 75 or 80 degrees. Thankfully there was some trees for shade. I tried to skin the animal along the back to roll out it’s hide and access the backstraps before getting to the quarters and did ok for the first side and but accidentally punctured the paunch while trying to get save the vagina attached as part of a hind quarter for proof of sex, once the guts started expanding out I got in and gutted it just as I would gut a deer. The gut pile was massive, bigger than my dog! And moving the animal was impossible other than the head and neck. I cut off the quarters and hung them in game bags in a tree.
The first load was backstraps, heart and a hind quarter. I trudged it along in the heat and met Chuck about ½ mile back towards the truck, he had heard the shot but wasn’t sure where it came from so he worked north and found me. I think I gave him my pack, took his empty pack and told him to get the truck and bring it as close as he could, and meet me with some frozen water bottles we had in the cooler. He probably got the truck another ¼ mile back in and met me with several bottles of water, they didn’t last long and it was hot, into the 80’s by late morning by the time I got to the truck I was exhausted and needed to sit with the AC on for a while and replenish what I had sweat out. The second trip I returned with Chuck’s pack, a cheesy boy scout frame pack not designed for carrying any weight. I loaded it up and support straps and seams started splitting, Chuck met me half way back and I told him I couldn’t take off for fear of it falling apart, our ice bottles had pretty much melted but Chuck gave me several more which I inhaled, it was well into the 90’s by the time the second load was brought back to the truck and I needed to rest with the AC blasted for a spell. The third and final trip we both hiked in, Chuck had to brilliant idea to bone the meat out and save us the excess weight. The final load took us into the evening, we put everything into the freezer and piled water bottles onto the meat and let it roll. That night we were both shot and agreed to take the following day off. We spent the following day driving around the local mountains in the side by side, we checked out an old ghost town and went down some logging roads.
That evening as we drove back towards the campground Chuck mentioned that we should drive by the horse corral at sunset and so we did low and behold there was about 8 elk out in the hayfield. I told him there was about 25 minutes of shooting light and asked if he wanted to make a play, Chuck was all about it and geared up and took off while I waited in the truck on the ridge above. Chuck got to within 250 yards and the 25.06 barked and the cow went down. I drove the truck down to the field we tied a chain around the cow’s neck and dragged it to the edge of the field where he cut it up in the headlights and I cut it into smaller chunks on the tailgate, it was wonderful, no hauling meat and 20 degrees cooler in the night air. I wanted a hard hunt and I got it, Chuck wanted an easy hunt so we both got what we wanted, although I’m probably OK with an easy hunt in the future but still game for a hard hunt. We placed his elk in several coolers we had and ran to Helena to drop off the ATV and pick up another chest freezer from my dad. The following day we boned out finished cutting up both elk and placed it in the freezer and packed up to head for home.
One of the things we noticed is that the meat holds lots of heat and we had to rotate the stuff from top to bottom to cool it down. We put both freezers in the back of the truck and plugged them into an inverter, it worked pretty well but next year we’ll leave the freezer lids cracked open to let heat escape. After returning home we spent the next two days cutting wrapping and packaging our elk. We figured we got 180 pounds off of mine and close to 200 pounds off of Chuck’s elk, I didn’t get my neck meat because it had gotten so hot I was sure they spoiled by the time we were back for our last haul. We vacuum sealed everything and made about 50 pounds of burger. I made elk jerky, elk brats, oso bucco, elk pastrami, elk heart, and ribs and lots of steaks and ribs.
Every meal was great, I didn’t buy beef for the year and am down to about 3 roasts left which is OK because Chuck and I are heading back to do this again this fall.
I made the journey out in June and talked to a few of the landowners and secured permission for what looks to be good ground.
So looking back I can say that we saved a lot of money by bringing our own camper out and staying in a campground for 30$/ night, we also saved money by getting a B season tag for half of the normal cost at 300$, we split the gas and groceries, processing the meat we saved a bundle as well.
2021 Follow up
I think part of our 2020 success was being out there on opening weekend in mid august before they got educated by other hunters. This year we went back out to the same area but it was a few weeks after the opener around labor day and the elk had gone mostly nocturnal coming down from the mountains to feed in the fields late at night, we tried to get up before the elk but we were seeing them at 3am in the morning and by legal shooting light they were already back in the safety of the high country. I tried again over thanksgiving but it was snowing lightly and they still hadn’t come down out of the mountains because there wasn’t enough snow to push them down off the public ground and down to the private fields. As I’m writing this there are only two days left on my tag, it would be nice to get one more shot but it’ll have to be next year.
2022 Brought on a new adventure. Chuck’s sister had friends with a ranch in NE Wyoming in the Black Hills Unit. Chuck and his sister went out in the summer to meet with the ranchers and help out around the property and get permission to hunt out there. We both put in for tags but I was the only one to successfully draw a leftover cow/calf tag, I agreed to split any elk meat because Chuck set the trip up and offered to drive. Chuck was lucky enough to draw an antelope tag so we were set. On October 1st the three of us left Minnesota on a Friday evening and drove all night through South Dakota and down to Sundance Wyoming. We met up with our generous hosts, got settled in to our accommodations and quickly got out into the hills to chase critters and fill our tags. We could hear elk bugling from the house which was miles from the hunting spot but encouraging none the less. Chuck and our hosts were off to chase antelope and I was dropped off at a deer stand near a watering hole. The woods I was hunting in had caught fire that summer and a majority of the trees were burned.
It rained that day and not much happened until just before dark when I could hear several bulls bugling in the next valley over, I wasn’t sure if they were on the property we had permission for and how easily I could sneak up on them so I stayed put and worked my way out after dark. That day Chuck was successful on his antelope! After my hunt and the landowner told us to get an early start in the morning because they would be down in the fields all night. Boy was he right, there were scores of them running in the headlights scrambling for the hills as we drove in, I was sure we ran them off before the day’s hunt even began. Chuck dropped me off and I hiked up to the archery stand and crawled up the tree, about 20 minutes after getting set up I started to hear bulls bugling in the dark from what seemed like all around me, I’m guessing there was about six and the woods echoed with bugles in the dark, it was absolutely awe inspiring! Shortly after first light I began to see bulls walking off in the distance. Soon I heard footsteps from the ridge above, a cow and a 6×6 bull came down and jumped in the watering hole behind me within 10 yards, they were drinking, splashing and wallowing around right behind me while I stood there frozen trying to control my nerves. Eventually the cow got out of the water and stopped at about 60 yards giving me a perfect broadside shot with my 30.06. The cow ran another 60 yards and keeled over dead. As it lay there another bull walked over to her and was bugling on top of her to get up. I sat there for another 30 minutes just watching and listening to various bulls bugle before crawling out of the stand to inspect my cow and find Chuck.
He was hanging out in his truck when I found him and he said he had heard my shot but wondered why it took so long for me to get out of the woods, I told him I was enjoying the show. As we drove around the corner to where my elk was laying there were about 80 other elk in that valley running away. We drove right up to my beautiful cow and butchered it up boneless on the tailgate. We had successfully filled our tags on day two of a four day hunt and headed for home early to cut and wrap our prize meat.
I’m truly grateful for good hunting partners like Chuck and to the landowners who are generous enough to let us hunt on their property. I think the B season cow tags are a great way to fill the freezer on a budget especially for non resident hunters like myself. My Wyoming tag was $300 and gas was another 140$, I don’t think we could have managed a cheaper out of state elk hunt.
I think Elk is the best wild meat out there and this year I’ve been enjoying steaks, ribs, heart ,roasts, summer sausage, cheddar sticks brats and jerky. I even made elk tongue tacos and they weren’t bad, I’ll be keeping a tongue again.
Who knows what next year’s adventure will bring but I’m always looking forward to new possibilities!
