Herb
54 Cal.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2004
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My friend Larry took the .58 Hawken fullstock flint rifle I built for him on a guided elk/mule deer hunt in a Montana Wilderness. Temperatures were about 85 degrees most days, last week of September, I think it was. Four people did not get a shot. Eleven hunters in another party got four animals. Good outfitters and hunting area, but that is luck.
I took my .58 fullstock flint TOW Hawken on a spike bull elk hunt in the Book Cliffs of eastern Utah. This is about 710 square miles of hills, valleys and canyons covered in pinyon, juniper, some pines, scrub oak and some sagebrush. There are clearings made by wildfires or mechanical clearing machinery, seeded to grasses. There is little water except after rains. There are good roads for limited energy development and some trails. The state offered 17,000 spike bull permits in limited entry draw areas for $45 each.
Three of us went, lived in a trailer and had a cook tent, and hunted six days. We'd get up about 6:00 AM, drive to our hunt area and get out and walk, or go on stand. About 9:30 we'd meet back at the Jeep and go back to the tent to cook breakfast- and what cooks those two are! We'd nap from about noon to 2:00 PM and then go for the afternoon hunt, ending about 7:00 PM. Home for supper and usually in bed by 9:00 or 9:30.
The first morning I saw a six-point bull and about 10 cows, about 500 yards away, with a 4-point prowling around in the brush. Later that day I saw five cows about 150 yards away. Next morning I sat on a waterhole and heard a bull bugling to the west. Soon, another one closer. Then one in the gully, coming to water! That was a thrill! I've hunted elk maybe 15 years on Utah, Colorado and Oregon and never had that happen. Here came nine cows trotting by with that six-point bull on their heels. In tucking my rain tarp under me to keep it from blowing, they heard me and back they came! They scared a cottontail rabbit out of the brush. I paced their tracks at 32 yards from me! But I couldn't shoot cows or six-point bulls.
Upon scouting a new area, we saw a 5 or 6 point bull with 4 cows, another 5 point joined them and we scared a third 5 point out of trees close to us. Drove up the trail to where they went into the trees, then past them. There were about 15 or 20 cows running across the open field, with a 4 point in the middle. I did not see a spike, but Roger with better binocs said there was one. All this time there were 2 or 3 more big bulls bugling about half a mile west of us. Another day, they saw 5 big bulls in a bunch there while I was out prowling the meadow edges. Roger saw more bulls than I did, maybe 16 five point bulls, two or three sixes, and two fours. Some of these were the same on successive days. We saw about 40 to 50 cows and no (or one) spike bulls. We saw four times as many bull elk as cottontail rabbits. That is hunting. We did not see any other hunters who killed spikes either.
I never tired of carrying that 9 1/2 pound rifle. I did find it hard to see the sights in dim light, so I took a white gummed lable from a package of buns and stuck in on the back of the front and rear sights. That worked good, and I was able to pracice holding on several mule deer bucks. It rained Sunday the 4th and my 4F prime caked up. I cleaned it out and replaced it with 2F from my horn, but that also caked. That afternoon I reprimed in camp and fired the rifle so I could clean and dry it. It fired as it should. I cleaned it and reloaded it that night, leaving it out in the Jeep. I fired it on Thursday afternoon on the way home, and it went as it should.
I did not tire of carrying it the many miles I crept through the woods and burns. There were times when I thought a 32" barrel would be handier. The 36" barrel is too short to rest my binocs on, so I carried shooting sticks one hunt. They were too long, made too much extra movement, and just one more thing to sneak through the brush with. And I never did use them to rest my binocs on.
But one thing about that .58- when I came on fresh manure and bull buffalo tracks as big as horse hoofs in the edges of the trees where I was hunting, I kept it ready to go. I've been around bison and sure did not want to come up on some big bull on the fight.
Although I did not see a spike bull, this was a successful hunt for me. I found the elk in their habitat and could have killed any of about 15 animals had they been legal. Once I was easing through the woods and saw the black legs of an elk walking about 40 yards away. I stopped and it did too, behind some brush so I couldn't see its head. It soon whirled and thump-thump-thumped back the way it came from. Another time I saw five cows feeding and walking about 150 yards away. I made tens of thousands of decisions in walking and stalking, frequently each footstep was a decision, almost all good ones. Like, where to put my foot down, do I go through this brush or over there, do I got up this hill or cross that canyon. A bad decision might only mean I made more noise that could alert elk.
After six days of hunting, I could out-walk a mountain goat. My legs were strong and spirit good. I never tired of carrying that Hawken. I did learn to check my priming and replace it when it was raining or damp. My load was 140 grains of Moosic, PA Goex 2F, with wool overpowder wad and pillow ticking-patched round ball, which gives about 1820 fps in this rifle. With the sights I made and a rest or seated position and no wind, I could have hit a milk jug-sized target to 200 yards. I guess I could have shot that cottontail, but they were rarer than five and six point bull elk, so I'm glad I let him go!
I took my .58 fullstock flint TOW Hawken on a spike bull elk hunt in the Book Cliffs of eastern Utah. This is about 710 square miles of hills, valleys and canyons covered in pinyon, juniper, some pines, scrub oak and some sagebrush. There are clearings made by wildfires or mechanical clearing machinery, seeded to grasses. There is little water except after rains. There are good roads for limited energy development and some trails. The state offered 17,000 spike bull permits in limited entry draw areas for $45 each.
Three of us went, lived in a trailer and had a cook tent, and hunted six days. We'd get up about 6:00 AM, drive to our hunt area and get out and walk, or go on stand. About 9:30 we'd meet back at the Jeep and go back to the tent to cook breakfast- and what cooks those two are! We'd nap from about noon to 2:00 PM and then go for the afternoon hunt, ending about 7:00 PM. Home for supper and usually in bed by 9:00 or 9:30.
The first morning I saw a six-point bull and about 10 cows, about 500 yards away, with a 4-point prowling around in the brush. Later that day I saw five cows about 150 yards away. Next morning I sat on a waterhole and heard a bull bugling to the west. Soon, another one closer. Then one in the gully, coming to water! That was a thrill! I've hunted elk maybe 15 years on Utah, Colorado and Oregon and never had that happen. Here came nine cows trotting by with that six-point bull on their heels. In tucking my rain tarp under me to keep it from blowing, they heard me and back they came! They scared a cottontail rabbit out of the brush. I paced their tracks at 32 yards from me! But I couldn't shoot cows or six-point bulls.
Upon scouting a new area, we saw a 5 or 6 point bull with 4 cows, another 5 point joined them and we scared a third 5 point out of trees close to us. Drove up the trail to where they went into the trees, then past them. There were about 15 or 20 cows running across the open field, with a 4 point in the middle. I did not see a spike, but Roger with better binocs said there was one. All this time there were 2 or 3 more big bulls bugling about half a mile west of us. Another day, they saw 5 big bulls in a bunch there while I was out prowling the meadow edges. Roger saw more bulls than I did, maybe 16 five point bulls, two or three sixes, and two fours. Some of these were the same on successive days. We saw about 40 to 50 cows and no (or one) spike bulls. We saw four times as many bull elk as cottontail rabbits. That is hunting. We did not see any other hunters who killed spikes either.
I never tired of carrying that 9 1/2 pound rifle. I did find it hard to see the sights in dim light, so I took a white gummed lable from a package of buns and stuck in on the back of the front and rear sights. That worked good, and I was able to pracice holding on several mule deer bucks. It rained Sunday the 4th and my 4F prime caked up. I cleaned it out and replaced it with 2F from my horn, but that also caked. That afternoon I reprimed in camp and fired the rifle so I could clean and dry it. It fired as it should. I cleaned it and reloaded it that night, leaving it out in the Jeep. I fired it on Thursday afternoon on the way home, and it went as it should.
I did not tire of carrying it the many miles I crept through the woods and burns. There were times when I thought a 32" barrel would be handier. The 36" barrel is too short to rest my binocs on, so I carried shooting sticks one hunt. They were too long, made too much extra movement, and just one more thing to sneak through the brush with. And I never did use them to rest my binocs on.
But one thing about that .58- when I came on fresh manure and bull buffalo tracks as big as horse hoofs in the edges of the trees where I was hunting, I kept it ready to go. I've been around bison and sure did not want to come up on some big bull on the fight.
Although I did not see a spike bull, this was a successful hunt for me. I found the elk in their habitat and could have killed any of about 15 animals had they been legal. Once I was easing through the woods and saw the black legs of an elk walking about 40 yards away. I stopped and it did too, behind some brush so I couldn't see its head. It soon whirled and thump-thump-thumped back the way it came from. Another time I saw five cows feeding and walking about 150 yards away. I made tens of thousands of decisions in walking and stalking, frequently each footstep was a decision, almost all good ones. Like, where to put my foot down, do I go through this brush or over there, do I got up this hill or cross that canyon. A bad decision might only mean I made more noise that could alert elk.
After six days of hunting, I could out-walk a mountain goat. My legs were strong and spirit good. I never tired of carrying that Hawken. I did learn to check my priming and replace it when it was raining or damp. My load was 140 grains of Moosic, PA Goex 2F, with wool overpowder wad and pillow ticking-patched round ball, which gives about 1820 fps in this rifle. With the sights I made and a rest or seated position and no wind, I could have hit a milk jug-sized target to 200 yards. I guess I could have shot that cottontail, but they were rarer than five and six point bull elk, so I'm glad I let him go!
