15 minute season

Last weekend was the opening of Elk season in my sons region of British Columbia Canada. This year Deereman ( son) was holding out for a freezer full of elk meat for the winter.
Having left the ranch he worked on for twenty years he is lucky enough to to still be able to hunt there. This year he took one of his new bosses along as he had never hunted elk only mule deer.
Four days were booked in for leave and they headed up to Princton on the Friday ready an early start. Prior to my son leaving the property he and his then workmate Bob had made a blind up on one of the elks favourite fields which sheltered them from the weather and lots of elk eyes that are forever search for danger.

They had to carefully and quietly sneak into position before sunup and be ready for the elk to move across the fields as day light came on. As the light gathered elk were spread out in front of them , mostly cows and a few young bulls and rag horns. One bull stood out but at first glance didn't look to have 6 points on one side which is the minimum for a legal bull.
When the bull turned side on Deereman thought hell that bull has a bit of length so he decided to get in behind is rifle and start counting points. At 295 yards in dull light that ain't that easy but after several counts he was sure it was legal .

The bull was walking slowly across to the cows so my son took the shot as it walked, the bullet a 190 gr LRAB out of his new 300 Rum hit him just behind the shoulder taking out both lungs. The bull trotted off a bit so a second shot was fired and he was down for keeps.
All this happened in 15 minutes and his elk season is over. As the hunting takes place on private land retrieval is easy as they drove a tractor down and loaded it into the bucket and took it back up to the sheds and skinned, quartered it and into the chiller.
The bull was in top condition as rutting was just starting and he still had a couple of inches of fat over his rump.
Hopefully when the weather cools a bit my grandson may have a chance at a bull as he has a tag also.
Both my grandsons hunt with their dad so hopefully I will have some more stories to add to this one.Attachment 178893Attachment 178894Attachment 178896

Big dark hefty looking bull, will be good eating I bet.

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Originally Posted by nor-west

Big dark hefty looking bull, will be good eating I bet.

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Son loves it, he marinates the meat then Sears it at a hi temp on BBQ then drops the heat down low for about half an hour. Both his boys are into it to.

Got a message from son he will pick up meat tomorrow , it went 560 pound on hook and cost .75 cents a pound to process.

That was a cool story. Good luck for the Grandson.

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

Got a message from son he will pick up meat tomorrow , it went 560 pound on hook and cost .75 cents a pound to process.

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Shit that's a big bastard. Awesome head too

Solid bastards those Roosevelt's, ask if your son can send some photos of cow elk, they have dark brown almost black necks

Pretty big animal. Neat story.

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Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Solid bastards those Roosevelt's, ask if your son can send some photos of cow elk, they have dark brown almost black necks

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The area my son hunts only has the Rocky Mountain Elk, Roosevelt Elk are only found on Vancouver Island according to a report I just read from the Ministry of the Environment Canada. I have seen them when we have visited years back and the cows are as you described very dark in the neck and creamy bodies.

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

The area my son hunts only has the Rocky Mountain Elk, Roosevelt Elk are only found on Vancouver Island according to a report I just read from the Ministry of the Environment Canada. I have seen them when we have visited years back and the cows are as you described very dark in the neck and creamy bodies.

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The antler form of your sons bull is Roosevelt or Roosevelt / Rocky cross esp. the dagger tine. Same with its coat colour. The fall colour phase for a Rocky is cream with some darker hair through the coat and dark legs. The bull is also stocky solid bastard and not a tall Rocky shape

Not according to the article I read . Also my son puts in for limited entry draws for Roosevelt Elk on Vancouver Island.The area he hunts is about 3-4 hours from Vancouver, he is in theOkanagon region. The information I looked up on google came up under a search for elk species around Princeton were he hunts.

Son has sent me some info about the differences between Rocky Mountain Elk and Roosevelt Elk. As I said it is 100 % Rocky Mountain. In the pictures that follow you can see the different antler structure, RM Elk have the long antlers with throwbacks and the large sticker tine whereas R Elk tend to cluster on the tops like our red deer. The butcher said his bull was about 4 years old and the colouring was influenced by the very hot long summer and he was caked in mud from asshole to head. The two pictures that follow of the RM Elk show different colour phases despite both being RM Elk.Attachment 179106Attachment 179107

Attachment 179108

These are typical Roosevelt heads as can be seen they are more clustered on the tops than the R M Elk

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

Son has sent me some info about the differences between Rocky Mountain Elk and Roosevelt Elk. As I said it is 100 % Rocky Mountain. In the pictures that follow you can see the different antler structure, RM Elk have the long antlers with throwbacks and the large sticker tine whereas R Elk tend to cluster on the tops like our red deer. The butcher said his bull was about 4 years old and the colouring was influenced by the very hot long summer and he was caked in mud from asshole to head. The two pictures that follow of the RM Elk show different colour phases despite both being RM Elk.Attachment 179106Attachment 179107

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is it normal to shoot young bulls in Canada? don't you guys want a 50"x50"? The wap foundation are always encouraging hunters to let young bulls grow until a good 8 years old or so.

4 y/o seems very young although since it is a seasonal tag I can see why you'd shoot one

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

Attachment 179108

These are typical Roosevelt heads as can be seen they are more clustered on the tops than the R M Elk

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As we can see, your sons head doesn't fit with either the Rocky's or Roosevelts. Rockys have longer beams and cleaner tynes. Sons bull has ridging on the beam and the beam is not round. The T5 tynes shape are not typical of Rocky's T5's.
Also the Roosevelt's Elk tend to have proportionately better trey's and often have Double Daggers like many of our Fiordland animals.
I still pick it as a hybrid Rocky / Roosevelt cross. In the '90s I did a big fencing job for a Roosevelt Elk stud on the Washington / Idaho border so got to see plenty

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Originally Posted by Russian 22.

is it normal to shoot young bulls in Canada? don't you guys want a 50"x50"? The wap foundation are always encouraging hunters to let young bulls grow until a good 8 years old or so.

4 y/o seems very young although since it is a seasonal tag I can see why you'd shoot one

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Always nice to shoot the biggest but if a bull has a minimum of six points it's legal, this is the first bull my son has shot in 10 years and was mainly a freezer filler, cow elk are off the menu so no option of meat there.

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Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

As we can see, your sons head doesn't fit with either the Rocky's or Roosevelts. Rockys have longer beams and cleaner tynes. Sons bull has ridging on the beam and the beam is not round. The T5 tynes shape are not typical of Rocky's T5's.
Also the Roosevelt's Elk tend to have proportionately better trey's and often have Double Daggers like many of our Fiordland animals.
I still pick it as a hybrid Rocky / Roosevelt cross. In the '90s I did a big fencing job for a Roosevelt Elk stud on the Washington / Idaho border so got to see plenty

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Once again this is a young bull and as it ages the tines will change, I have seen pictures of Bulls shot on this property with dagger points as long as my forearm and double dagger. The treys in this area are always shorter than others I have seen even on older 50 inch bulls ,as you can see even though it is young it is starting to show the throwback of the RM Elk and not clustering of the tops like the R Elk.
You need to have a read up of the distributation of Roosevelt Elk put out by Environment Canada, I think they would know more than you or I.

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

Once again this is a young bull and as it ages the tines will change, I have seen pictures of Bulls shot on this property with dagger points as long as my forearm and double dagger. The treys in this area are always shorter than others I have seen even on older 50 inch bulls ,as you can see even though it is young it is starting to show the throwback of the RM Elk and not clustering of the tops like the R Elk.
You need to have a read up of the distributation of Roosevelt Elk put out by Environment Canada, I think they would know more than you or I.

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Rockys are not native to the Pacific coast, they are introduced. Given time the Roos will be moving back through their original range - they are adapted to it. Considering the time from when Rockys were introduced into Washington and other areas along the coastal states in the US it is highly probable that there will now be hybrids. If there are bulls with double daggers on the same property that is an almost certain prooof of Roo blood as Double daggers are very rare in Rockys.Attachment 179131Attachment 179132 First photo is a bull of mine as a two year old. Second photo, same bull at nine. This bull has some Fiordland blood and shows the double dagger form but modified with some Red blood in him too.

This discussion is going nowhere, you have your perceived ideas, I and my son will go with the facts and information the Canada government put out regarding the areas these elk live in, as it stands they are RM Elk in this area with about zero chance of hybridisation.
If you want a Roosvelt draw a LE Tag for Vancouver Island.

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Originally Posted by ripped undies

Was the blind they used on the ground or up in a tree?

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It's a ground one, they used an excavator to dig out an area then laid logs around it for cover and good shooting rests.

Wow lots of timber there!!

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

This discussion is going nowhere, you have your perceived ideas, I and my son will go with the facts and information the Canada government put out regarding the areas these elk live in, as it stands they are RM Elk in this area with about zero chance of hybridisation.
If you want a Roosvelt draw a LE Tag for Vancouver Island.

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I did not want to argue about your sons bull and appologise if I have come across that way. Because I farm Elk I and have worked with them in the US and Alberta I have a genuine interest in them. Your Sons recent bull has a very unusual head to my eye and that is what pricked my interest. As well, the body is unusual for a Rocky.
Back to the head, the right antler esp actually reminds me of Manitoban elk blood. The most obvious non Rocky form is the Dagger has some bumps and is flattened.
What area is your son hunting in BC - nearest town ?

Jesus what a big animal.
Even quartering it would be too hravy for mu fucked knees and back.
Love to see a pic of the back straps and the weight

[QUOTE=Moa Hunter;1225001]I did not want to argue about your sons bull and appologise if I have come across that way. Because I farm Elk I and have worked with them in the US and Alberta I have a genuine interest in them. Your Sons recent bull has a very unusual head to my eye and that is what pricked my interest. As well, the body is unusual for a Rocky.
Back to the head, the right antler esp actually reminds me of Manitoban elk blood. The most obvious non Rocky form is the Dagger has some bumps and is flattened.
What area is your son hunting in BC - nearest town ?[/QUOTE

Thanks for that, I can see by your farm animals you have a interest in them. That is one reason my son won't post stuff as a rule on forums as sometimes people get a bit carried away. Anyway when I get my computer back from the shop I can post pics of other Bulls shot on the property, come to think of it there is apicture on this I pad I will post.
The area is Princeton a couple of hours north of the US border.Attachment 179319

The picture of this bull was shot by the sons then neighbour on the same property but about 10 kms from the spot the son shot his. I have on my computer a picture of a nice bull about 50 inch long shot off the same field as the sons , and it from memory has the same colouration and had been wallowing probably in the same wallow. I will post when I can.

Note the daggers on this bull aren't flattened so maybe it was just the way his bull grew this year.

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Originally Posted by Hornady ELDX

Jesus what a big animal.
Even quartering it would be too hravy for mu fucked knees and back.
Love to see a pic of the back straps and the weight

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b

Being on a ranch they picked the animal up with a tractor then skinned and quartered it before going in chiller. He has the meat back now and filled his freezer, it went 560 pounds on the hook, they still work in pounds etc in a lot of things. Not sure but you could add another third onto that for the skin, guts hocks ,head etc so live weight about 850 pounds maybe?

[QUOTE=Mooseman;1225320]

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Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I did not want to argue about your sons bull and appologise if I have come across that way. Because I farm Elk I and have worked with them in the US and Alberta I have a genuine interest in them. Your Sons recent bull has a very unusual head to my eye and that is what pricked my interest. As well, the body is unusual for a Rocky.
Back to the head, the right antler esp actually reminds me of Manitoban elk blood. The most obvious non Rocky form is the Dagger has some bumps and is flattened.
What area is your son hunting in BC - nearest town ?[/QUOTE

Thanks for that, I can see by your farm animals you have a interest in them. That is one reason my son won't post stuff as a rule on forums as sometimes people get a bit carried away. Anyway when I get my computer back from the shop I can post pics of other Bulls shot on the property, come to think of it there is apicture on this I pad I will post.
The area is Princeton a couple of hours north of the US border.Attachment 179319

The picture of this bull was shot by the sons then neighbour on the same property but about 10 kms from the spot the son shot his. I have on my computer a picture of a nice bull about 50 inch long shot off the same field as the sons , and it from memory has the same colouration and had been wallowing probably in the same wallow. I will post when I can.

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Just looked it up and there was a release of Manitoban Elk in 1948 in the Lardeau river. So from Princeton going East on highway 3. all the heads posted are solid beams and good heavy framed animals.

[QUOTE=Moa Hunter;1225467]

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

Just looked it up and there was a release of Manitoban Elk in 1948 in the Lardeau river. So from Princeton going East on highway 3. all the heads posted are solid beams and good heavy framed animals.

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The Lardeau River isn't anywhere near Princeton but in the Kootneys a long way east . I doubt that release would influence the Princton elk.

Very big heads, it was a god read also.

Attachment 179909

This is another bull taken on the same property by son old neighbours son in law, that's a very nice bull.

My son and youngest grandson were out for the end of rifle season for deer this weekend just gone. On the Saturday they seen about a hundred deer, three bears, and a few coyotes. Two whitetail does were seen which were high on the list for meat animals but they gave them the slip. Hunter my grandson had a doe tag so was legal to take one.
This morning I got a message from my son and grandson and pictures of Hunter with his first Mule deer Buck , a nice 4x4.
The buck was shot with a Tikka 243 with 90 gr Accubonds at 250 yards. One shot in the heart and the deer fell over after a 20 yard stagger. The grandson is stoked and has won a bet with is older brother Tyler for $20, Tyler said he wouldn't get a buck bigger than his one last year but has done just that.Attachment 183139Attachment 183140

@Mooseman pass on congrats to the young fella from us, is that the hide in the tree line in the first photo ? :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by bunji

@Mooseman pass on congrats to the young fella from us, is that the hide in the tree line in the first photo ? :thumbsup:

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Thanks for that, he sure is happy with it, he is 14 now and in 2017 when they were over here he shot his first deer a young red stag with my 243 at about 260 yards. Both the boys love there hunting but as you know it is limited over there.
The buck was shot from the bush line you mentioned about directly behind hunter but not in a blind.