Sounds like you ran into a couple of guys high on something other than elevation.
"Rich," the Old Man said dreamily, "is a little whiskey to drink and some food to eat and a roof over your head and a fish pole and a boat and a gun and a dollar for a box of shells." Robert Ruark
Perhaps he was loaded with some old "accelerators"..... We all know how accurate they were. 😏🙄
"... And miles to go before I sleep".
I am in elk camp tonight, and we have a bit of a problem — we are surrounded by about 300 elk. Had a nice 6x6 with his harem of cows walk up on us while glassing just before dark.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
I wish I had that sort of problem. I put on about 30 miles in 4 or 5 days worth of hiking the last two weeks, and saw one bull in the dark timber for about a second before he ghosted me. Got big blisters on both heels that day, but it was worth it to at least see that one. I did see about 25 running out in the open sage hills... on a unit I didn't have a tag for. Season is over here. Tag soup.
We hiked up high yesterday, for 13 hours. Ironically came onto a great bull down low but ran out of light. Could see him at 298 yards through the binocs but not well enough thru the VX6 to shoot.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Here are some equipment notes from the elk hunt I just finished up.
Since I didn’t have a retention holster for the G5 23 MOS, I brought a G45 with an Acro and a TLR-7. I started off with a new Safariland holster, but the Acro cover rattled and generally was clumsy.
I reverted to a JM George, and it was less weight, didn’t catch on trees and rocks, and kept the optic protected from rain and snow. As posted in another thread, with cold less pliable hands, the G5 was more secure in my hands because the Gen 4 finger grooves are not textured. Starting out and ending each day in an hour or more of darkness, it was great to have the TLR-7.
I generally use a Kuiu pack, but on a lark brought along a second pack, a 1,600 sized Hill People Gear Connor V2. I had used it happily hiking this past summer, but thought it too small for a full on elk hunt in cold weather. Since I planned a big overland on day one, I tried it, and it was so comfortable and flexible, in the ways you can secure extra kit to the outside, I used it the entire hunt and never touched the Kuiu. Here it is in the field, and a picture from the HPG website.
For a rifle, I used a Seekins Havak Element in .300WM with a VX6 2-12, a Magpul RLS sling,and a Magpul bipod. Everybody loved the rifle, and I suspect more will be ordered by others who handled it. It starts at 6 pounds bare. Here it is in a cold rain. The bipod helped, even though I only got one leg grounded, when I shot my elk at 288 yards across a ravine, from an angled slope.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, a lightweight bivvy sack can be a game changer when you are out all day in lousy weather.
Last year it was -20F, before wind chill, and I was in survival mode. This year, I bought the new Kuiu heater jacket, and it successfully warded off frigid temps. How nice to not be post holing in knee deep snow.
Kuiu, Sitka and Stone Glacier seem to be the go to brands for clothing and gear. Interestingly, it seems like people are wearing more solids in the field, which is nice when you are out of the field, and don’t look so much like a clown running to town.
I had a heavy duty jumper pack along, which made it easy to keep my iPhone charged. I used the Earthmate app for navigation, and had a Delorme, which I never needed to use as T Mobile has a tower nearby.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
That is a good looking rifle 😎
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-