Story submitted by Jeff M.
I had been a Minnesota deer hunter for over 30 years, but this was my first elk hunting trip. I was hunting in the mountains of NW Colorado with four other guys. Three of us drove out from Minnesota, and met up with the other two guys who had come from California. We arrived two days before the season opened. The first day we setup camp and did some preliminary scouting, and then spent the next day thoroughly scouting the area by ATV and foot. We decided to hunt the dark timber draws along a mountainous ridge that extended several miles. Since we were camped at the base, early the next morning we drove our ATVs about 1.5 hours to get to our hunting areas along the top of the ridge. I spent that first day glassing for elk from different areas along the ridge. The only elk I saw that day were near a creek on some private land at the bottom of the ridge, probably about 2 miles away. I counted at least a dozen elk as they drank from the creek that day. Contrary to what elk are supposed to do (go up the mountain in the morning), these elk chose to spend the entire day within a brushy area along the creek. I was also able to watch a pack of coyotes harass some cattle that day, but they were also on private land over a mile away, so I wasn’t able to discourage the coyotes from their activities. That night, I made a plan with one of the other hunters in our party to setup in an area that would be about a third of the way up the mountain, above the point where I saw the elk that morning. I reasoned that if any of the elk decided to head for the high country, we could intercept them before they could reach the dark timber bedding areas further up the mountain. The next morning we had another member of our party drop us off well before dawn using a pickup truck. The two of us then hiked up adjoining parts of the mountain, and waited for the sun to rise. Shortly after the sun rose, I saw a few of the elk in the same area as I had the day before. They were still on private property, so I waited, hoping they would eventually head up the mountain to find some cool dark timber to bed in. About 9:30am, I heard brush crackle below me, about 200 yards away. I was just above an area of brush mixed with spruce and quacking aspen (quakies as called by the locals). I waited patiently, and was soon rewarded to see a young 4x4 bull bust through some brush about 40 yards away. He wasn’t exactly a huge trophy from a rack perspective, but he was a mature-bodied bull with a legal rack (I had a bull-only tag, and bulls had to have 4 points Western count to qualify). I remembered what the other guys had said “any legal bull is a good bull”, and decided to take him. I shouldered my Ruger 7mm Magnum and quickly shot him within his vitals area. He stood there looking around, trying to determine where the shot came from. Knowing from my research that bull elk are sometimes difficult to bring down with one shot, I quickly dumped two more bullets through his vitals. The bull was visibly shaken, and was standing there bleeding. At this point, I made a HUGE mistake. Even though I knew from years of whitetail hunting that I should just wait for him to drop, I became excited and started walking briskly towards my prize. When the bull saw me, he found his inner super-bull strength, wheeled about and started galloping down the mountainside. At first I couldn’t believe my eyes, and by the time I reloaded my gun the bull was out of sight. He had headed back towards the creek to drink (which is what elk do when they are injured), so I knew that if I tracked the blood trail I would find him soon enough. I marked the spot where I had initially shot him, and then began tracking him. The tracking was very easy, as there was plenty of blood to mark the path. As I was tracking my bull, the other guy in my party hollered to me “There are 2 guys down in that private land, and it looks like they might be gutting your elk”. I got to a clear spot and pulled up my binoculars. Sure enough, I saw 2 hunters working on an elk down near the river. Since there hadn’t been any shots other than mine, I knew that they were trying to “claim-jump” my elk. I started trotting down the mountain, intent on telling these two hunters they were not going to take my elk. As I got closer, they saw me coming down the mountain, and tried dragging the elk into some brush near the creek in an attempt to hide from me. When I was probably about 200 yards away from the hunters, I had to enter a thick brushy area. As I worked my way through the brush, it suddenly dawned on me that any hunters desperate enough to steal an elk from another hunter might be crazy enough to start a gun fight. I quickly realized the right thing to do was to back off and call the cavalry (game warden). I walked back to camp (about 2.5 miles) and got my ATV and cell phone. I then drove my ATV to a spot where I had cell reception and called 911, which connected me to the local DOW office. When I described where I was and what had occurred, they said there would be an officer there within 15 minutes. I then drove my ATV back to where I had shot the elk. The rest of my hunting party had arrived by that time, and we stood on the gravel road that separated the private land (below the road) from the public hunting land (above the road). My hunting partners assumed the other two men would be charged with a crime and were certain that my elk would be confiscated for evidence. When the warden came, I told him what had happened. The other guy in our party who had witnessed the event also gave a similar statement. I then showed the warden the pool of blood where the elk had initially been shot, and the blood trail leading down to where the elk now laid. The warden then followed the blood trail down to where the two men had finished gutting and quartering the elk. He was with them about 20 minutes, while my party waited anxiously on the road. The warden then came back to our group. Before he could speak, I said “Sir, I understand that you will probably take my elk for evidence. Since it was my first elk, would it be OK if I took a couple of pictures first”. The warden smiled at me and assured me that I was going to be able to keep the elk. The other two men had quickly confessed to what they had done, as the evidence against them was overwhelming. The warden would not tell us exactly what would be done to the other men, but I noticed he had two hunting licenses in his hand, so I know their licenses had probably been revoked. The warden had told the men they had ten minutes to get themselves away from my elk, and then we could retrieve it. After we retrieved my elk, we headed back to camp. We drove by a campsite where two men were hastily packing up their campsite. It was the same two men, and you could tell they were in a hurry to get out of there. Later that night in our camp, we were running low on firewood. Two of the guys said that they would go and get another load. They were back in only about 15 minutes, which at first puzzled us, because it normally took a couple of hours to drive up the mountain and gather deadwood. When they told us that the other hunters had left a huge pile of firewood behind, we laughed heartily. Not only had those hunters done us the privilege of gutting and quartering my elk, but they had also provided us with a load of firewood.
Click here to submit your story
Trapped in the woods of Alaska...
“Trapped in the woods of Alaska, Jeff had little time to survive,” read Bill. What would Jeff do, thought Bill. This was the best book bill had read in a long time. In the book, Jeff had crashed in the Alaska bush and now was forced to survive. Just a few days ago Bill started the new book recommended by his teacher. Now Bill couldn’t put the book down. “Time for bed,” Bill’s mom called.
“Okay,” replied Bill.
Bill was off to bed, he would have to read more in the morning…
“Boom!” Thunder crashed and lightning lit up the night sky. Bill sat up. “Where am I?” Bill asked. The raindrops came down all around as he tried to think of what was going on. “What is this?” Bill screamed. He sat in deep thought… “That’s it! Bill exclaimed, “The book.” Jeff was in a similar storm Bill was experiencing. “It must just be a dream,” sighed Bill with relief, “In the morning this will be all over.” So Bill sat, his black long hair soaked from the downpour. But Bill had it all wrong… he was stranded in Alaska, the book had become his reality. Bill was quickly to sleep.
Bill arose, sore from the rocky ground. “Where am I?” Bill said confused once more. It must not have been a dream thought Bill. “I really am stuck out here”. Now Bill must fight to survive the vast Alaskan wilderness.
“First you must get shelter,” Bill recalled from his book. So Bill set off to find shelter. He looked ahead, gray clouds were arising from the ground. “Smoke!” That meant there must have been a fire!
Bill took off. A fire could really help to survive the freezing nights. Using all of his decreasing energy Bill approached the area. Surprisingly the whole area looked familiar. “Why do I know this place?” Bill questioned. Bill slowly continued for the now extinguished fire. As Bill got nearer he spotted a pile of branches. “That’s weird,” said Bill, “Why would they be on this beach?”
Bill stepped closer… it almost looked as if made by man. A shelter of some sort. “That’s it! Bill exclaimed after he realized that it was a crude form of shelter. It all came together now, This was Jeff’s shelter. Bill was in the place of Jeff.
At least Bill now had shelter and some hot coals for the night. Step one success noted Bill. Now onto the next challenge of survival tomorrow. Time for bed.
Bill woke yet again with little sleep. Bill arose to complete todays task. His thirst was controlling him now and water was a must. Sadly Bill had not thought to gather water the night before during the storm. Now he was forced to find fresh water or find a way to purify the salty sea water.
“What would Jeff have done?” asked Bill. Bill tried to recall his survival knowledge on water.
The moisture in the ground will soon evaporate, thought Bill. “Evaporation, thats the key!” Bill said aloud, “I have to get the salt out of the water by evaporation.” Extatic that Bill had a plan he set to work. After searching the camp the only tool he found was one large garbage bag. That would have to do.
First Bill dug a hole and made three bowl like shapes in the hole, lining each “bowl” with a part of the garbage bag. “ The outer two ‘bowls’ I can put the salt water in and the middle ‘bowl’ is where the clean water will fall” stated Bill. Finally Bill added the last touch, a cover. He put the remaining sheet of plastic over the hole and placed a rock on the middle of the cover.
Bill’s idea was brilliant and has been used by many people. The salt water would evaporate and rise up, when the water vapor hits the plastic cover it condenses and turns into water droplets. The water droplets then drain downward towards the center and drop into the center bowl leaving all the salt behind. Now Bill could have water.
It was now day three and Bill woke with a terrible ache coming from his stomach. Bill’s energy was now depleted and he was becoming extremely tired. He must get food.
After collecting the water from his invention Bill set out in search for food. He knew little of the edible plants in the area so unless he remembered more later on he wasn’t going to try many plants.
“How come Jeff didn’t starve?” asked Bill, “What did he eat? Fish and something from a tree,” recalled Bill, “I think he ate a part of the pinecones. Squirrels maybe also, but they caused a challenge to catch.”
Bill needed food so he decided to set off and explore. He picked up some rocks for the way in case he saw any squirrels. Bill started on the unknown journey into the wilderness.
After what Bill estimated to be about two miles, Bill decided to take a rest. Before long his exhaustion got the best of him and he was fast asleep.
“Why is the weather here like this???” Bill cried through the booming thunder. Frustrated Bill went back to sleep though he knew a night of being wet in this environment could be deadly.
When morning finally came Bill couldn’t take it any longer. He had to get back to his camp before nightfall. Another night without shelter could prove fatal. And so the track back began. Hopefully he could get a fire going again, Bill thought as he walked. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he spotted a squirrel. Only thinking of his hunger Bill forgot about everything else and took off chasing the squirrel with a rock. He had to catch it! Bill totally lost direction but paid no attention. All he could think about was food and this squirrel very well could be that food. The chase went on for over a hour with the squirrel stopping many times along the way. Bill had yet to throw his rock. The squirrel disappeared… now Bill was hopeless. “Now what did I do?” cried Bill. He knew he should have just got back to camp. Feeling depressed Bill sat down. As he sat down he spotted something though… something shiny. What could it be, thought Bill. Bill moves around some trees… in the distance Bill could see a landed helicopter. This could be his chance.
Bill took off running. “The helicopter was only a mile away and I can run a mile in 8 minutes,” Bill spoke as he ran, “I can be saved in less than 10 minutes!” Bill was so excited. Bill was determined, he had to get there before the helicopter left. Faster he told himself. The squirrel saved his life. Bill got within half a mile and the pilot spotted him. Great Bill thought, now it won’t leave without me. Bill was saved. As he got within now 100 yards of the plane he started to slow down. He shouted with joy, right as he did so he turned and saw a brown wall of fur right on top of him.
Bill woke up. This time in his bed. “What just happened?” asked Bill. He got out the book and this time read on from a new page… “And with safety so close Jeff still did not survive. The big grizzly mauled Jeff and not even the rescue crew there to save him could get to Jeff in time. The bear just appeared and disappeared again. The mystery of the forest.”
Jim read one last page before he headed to bed, “Trapped in the woods of Alaska, Bill had little time to survive.” What would Bill do, thought Jim...
“Okay,” replied Bill.
Bill was off to bed, he would have to read more in the morning…
“Boom!” Thunder crashed and lightning lit up the night sky. Bill sat up. “Where am I?” Bill asked. The raindrops came down all around as he tried to think of what was going on. “What is this?” Bill screamed. He sat in deep thought… “That’s it! Bill exclaimed, “The book.” Jeff was in a similar storm Bill was experiencing. “It must just be a dream,” sighed Bill with relief, “In the morning this will be all over.” So Bill sat, his black long hair soaked from the downpour. But Bill had it all wrong… he was stranded in Alaska, the book had become his reality. Bill was quickly to sleep.
Bill arose, sore from the rocky ground. “Where am I?” Bill said confused once more. It must not have been a dream thought Bill. “I really am stuck out here”. Now Bill must fight to survive the vast Alaskan wilderness.
“First you must get shelter,” Bill recalled from his book. So Bill set off to find shelter. He looked ahead, gray clouds were arising from the ground. “Smoke!” That meant there must have been a fire!
Bill took off. A fire could really help to survive the freezing nights. Using all of his decreasing energy Bill approached the area. Surprisingly the whole area looked familiar. “Why do I know this place?” Bill questioned. Bill slowly continued for the now extinguished fire. As Bill got nearer he spotted a pile of branches. “That’s weird,” said Bill, “Why would they be on this beach?”
Bill stepped closer… it almost looked as if made by man. A shelter of some sort. “That’s it! Bill exclaimed after he realized that it was a crude form of shelter. It all came together now, This was Jeff’s shelter. Bill was in the place of Jeff.
At least Bill now had shelter and some hot coals for the night. Step one success noted Bill. Now onto the next challenge of survival tomorrow. Time for bed.
Bill woke yet again with little sleep. Bill arose to complete todays task. His thirst was controlling him now and water was a must. Sadly Bill had not thought to gather water the night before during the storm. Now he was forced to find fresh water or find a way to purify the salty sea water.
“What would Jeff have done?” asked Bill. Bill tried to recall his survival knowledge on water.
The moisture in the ground will soon evaporate, thought Bill. “Evaporation, thats the key!” Bill said aloud, “I have to get the salt out of the water by evaporation.” Extatic that Bill had a plan he set to work. After searching the camp the only tool he found was one large garbage bag. That would have to do.
First Bill dug a hole and made three bowl like shapes in the hole, lining each “bowl” with a part of the garbage bag. “ The outer two ‘bowls’ I can put the salt water in and the middle ‘bowl’ is where the clean water will fall” stated Bill. Finally Bill added the last touch, a cover. He put the remaining sheet of plastic over the hole and placed a rock on the middle of the cover.
Bill’s idea was brilliant and has been used by many people. The salt water would evaporate and rise up, when the water vapor hits the plastic cover it condenses and turns into water droplets. The water droplets then drain downward towards the center and drop into the center bowl leaving all the salt behind. Now Bill could have water.
It was now day three and Bill woke with a terrible ache coming from his stomach. Bill’s energy was now depleted and he was becoming extremely tired. He must get food.
After collecting the water from his invention Bill set out in search for food. He knew little of the edible plants in the area so unless he remembered more later on he wasn’t going to try many plants.
“How come Jeff didn’t starve?” asked Bill, “What did he eat? Fish and something from a tree,” recalled Bill, “I think he ate a part of the pinecones. Squirrels maybe also, but they caused a challenge to catch.”
Bill needed food so he decided to set off and explore. He picked up some rocks for the way in case he saw any squirrels. Bill started on the unknown journey into the wilderness.
After what Bill estimated to be about two miles, Bill decided to take a rest. Before long his exhaustion got the best of him and he was fast asleep.
“Why is the weather here like this???” Bill cried through the booming thunder. Frustrated Bill went back to sleep though he knew a night of being wet in this environment could be deadly.
When morning finally came Bill couldn’t take it any longer. He had to get back to his camp before nightfall. Another night without shelter could prove fatal. And so the track back began. Hopefully he could get a fire going again, Bill thought as he walked. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he spotted a squirrel. Only thinking of his hunger Bill forgot about everything else and took off chasing the squirrel with a rock. He had to catch it! Bill totally lost direction but paid no attention. All he could think about was food and this squirrel very well could be that food. The chase went on for over a hour with the squirrel stopping many times along the way. Bill had yet to throw his rock. The squirrel disappeared… now Bill was hopeless. “Now what did I do?” cried Bill. He knew he should have just got back to camp. Feeling depressed Bill sat down. As he sat down he spotted something though… something shiny. What could it be, thought Bill. Bill moves around some trees… in the distance Bill could see a landed helicopter. This could be his chance.
Bill took off running. “The helicopter was only a mile away and I can run a mile in 8 minutes,” Bill spoke as he ran, “I can be saved in less than 10 minutes!” Bill was so excited. Bill was determined, he had to get there before the helicopter left. Faster he told himself. The squirrel saved his life. Bill got within half a mile and the pilot spotted him. Great Bill thought, now it won’t leave without me. Bill was saved. As he got within now 100 yards of the plane he started to slow down. He shouted with joy, right as he did so he turned and saw a brown wall of fur right on top of him.
Bill woke up. This time in his bed. “What just happened?” asked Bill. He got out the book and this time read on from a new page… “And with safety so close Jeff still did not survive. The big grizzly mauled Jeff and not even the rescue crew there to save him could get to Jeff in time. The bear just appeared and disappeared again. The mystery of the forest.”
Jim read one last page before he headed to bed, “Trapped in the woods of Alaska, Bill had little time to survive.” What would Bill do, thought Jim...