"You sound like a human when you walk," he whispered as we hiked away from camp and onto a snow-covered trail in the predawn darkness. Posted on 12/05/2017 5:47:43 AM PST by w1n1
"You sound like a human when you walk," he whispered as we hiked away from camp and onto a snow-covered trail in the predawn darkness.
“KA-runch, KA-runch – no animal sounds like that.”
It was the first of countless insights Jim Kujala shared when we started hunting together years ago. The Montana native and Spokane Valley resident has well-honed ways about the woods, including walking with a “clop, clop,” like an elk.
Classically clad from head to toe in wool – pants, hat, gloves and plaid shirt and jacket (no camo) – he’s quiet as a cougar slipping through the undergrowth in the timber. At 6-foot-2, Kujala is lean as a herd bull after a tough winter. He seems to sense, breath and think like an elk.
“A lot of what I know about elk hunting is from fouling up,” he said, reflecting on his prowess at a Blue Mountains camp this month.
But lots of success also contributes to his elk hunting IQ.
The sportsman is a master after 65 years of tagging one or more elk a season while hunting in Montana and Washington. Only once in his hunting lifetime has he failed to notch a tag.
The odds of a hunter getting an elk in a single year are more than 10 to one in Washington and roughly five to one even in Montana. Kujala’s consistency speaks of someone with extraordinary skills and passion.
Asked to divulge his ultimate secret for elk hunting success, his answer was quick.
“Luck – sometimes,” he said.
“Also, knowing what habitat the elk prefer,” he continued as I dug for more details. “and studying a hunting area well enough to know what they do, where they feed, where they bed, the routes they travel … it all play into success.”
So does his commitment. Read the rest of the old school elk hunter story here.
I don’t hunt elk, but if I did it would be easiest to get them as they leave their lodges.
Moose, too?
I use the same 7mm mag for elk here in Montana. Anybody who can get a 5 point bull elk out of the mountains by himself is one tough dude. Took three of us to get my 5 point gutted, caped and hauled to the processor last month. Even then it wasn’t easy by any stretch.
At the taxidermist now. Wish I could post pics but that skill is beyond me.
pfl
pinging to a friend
Try a moose in Alaska! Lots of trips back and forth
That’s why God gave us chain saws. :-)
Back when the body was stronger I hunted north west Colorado, near Dinosaur park.
Huge animals would wander out where you could take them...if you were willing to work hard enough.
Funny thing about Elk hunting, the hunting is only good when the weather is terrible.
My last bull was taken 8 miles from the truck...2500-3000 foot elevation higher.
Darn near killed me getting it back home.
Good times.
Thanks! I printed that out for Beau! We just finished up butchering the #700 bull Elk he got in CO a few weeks back. We shared the meat, and kept the GORGEOUS rack, which he’s going to mount. Now to find a place for it! ;)
After we vacuum-sealed the steaks & roasts and tenderloin, we ground up the scraps and got 58 pounds of burger out of it, too!
We had elk steak on the grill the other night; I used a basic marinade; nothing fancy. So delicious and surprisingly tender considering the age of the elk.
Remember that 538# Black Bear he shot LAST fall? We sent a fang/tooth in for analysis with our DNR and he was 15 years old! Also amazingly good meat. Beau estimates that he easily added 60-75 black bear cubs to our forests in his lifetime.
What a life! Eat. Have a lot of sex. Hibernate for half the year, LOL!
you are talking about the bear...right?
LOL! Yes. Now that it’s turned cold, I, too, am ready for HIBERNATION! :)
The days are so short my dog is ready to go in his crate at 7 instead of 9.
“but if I did it would be easiest to get them as they leave their lodges.”
Exactly. They are often confused, inebriated and fumbling for car keys.
Same with Moose hunting.
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