MUZZLELOADER ELK HUNT

Warm Hawaii vacation is over. Rene heads back to Alaska, while I opt to fly to Idaho for some hunting with my family. I have a couple nephews just reaching hunting age for big game in Idaho. It is always nice to be able to help on their hunts.

My brother, Gary, informed me that his middle son, Nick, was wanting to try to bag his first elk on a late season muzzle loader hunt.
Anyone who has hunted elk knows it is not an easy animal to puruse. Those big animals can cover miles of ground with seemingly no effort. The terrain they live in for the late season muzzle loader hunt can be nothing short of intimidating.
 The area we will be hunting opens to snowmobiles after Dec. 1, so that is our target time. We load the sleds, pack the camp trailers, and head for the high country.
 Arriving in our camping area we are greeted by very warm temperatures and rain, not a good sign for a 10 day hunt.
“Maybe it is snowing on top of the mountains,” we say consoling ourselves.
The first day we head up the mountain towing our snowmobiles to find heavy driving rain. Not a drop of snow.
That’s alright, we reason, maybe the elk are high. We spend the drippy day scouting for any elk sign. Nothing at all.
At camp that night, we learn from hunters who have been hunting for a week  that the elk are down low on the mountains even though there is no snow. These guys are packing elk on their backs nearly  four miles, after harvesting them. That does not sound fun at all.
When the rain clears, we decide we have to go down after the elk. Five of us split up and head down the steep mountains.
 My brother is hunting with his son, Nick. They take the middle, I take one edge and a friend, Jimmy takes the other edge.
About half way down the steep mountains we get into a good herd of elk. Muzzle loader range is just a bit more than a bow and arrow, so you have to get close in order to line up a good shot.
 Idaho muzzle loader hunting requires you have an exposed cap (the primer the hammer hits to fire the load of powder stuffed down the barrel with a ramrod) and an all lead bullet. Not ideal in rainy conditions.
I run into an elk at close range, about fifty yards and try for a shot. My gun misfires. The hammer hits the cap but it fails to fire. Too wet.
The elk take off running towards the guys in the middle, but like the crafty animals they are, they dodge everyone without being seen.
Jimmy gets into elk on his side and manages a shot, but has a clean miss. He is struggling with misfires as well.
This time the elk run right to Gary and Nick.  A big cow (this is a cow only hunt) breaks over the ridge and Gary whispers to Nick to take the shot. “Click!” Nick’s gun fails to fire the cap.  Gary also clicks on a cap. The elk are moving up the ridge but still in good range. Nick cocks the gun and fires a great shot.The  big cow falls and rolls down the ridge till she stops against a tree.
Gary radios to us that Nick has an elk down and gives us directions how to get to them. It takes us an hour to reach Nick. We congratulate him on his first elk, take lots of pictures, then get to the real work.
 We bone the meat out and stuff our pack frames. Each of us takes more than we really want to carry but that is how it divides an elk into five packs.
We continue down the steep mountains working the rest of the day to get to a truck we had dropped in the morning. At dark we break out of the mountain and to the truck parked on a lower road. We are all exhausted but very happy to have one elk in camp. Thanks to Nick.