Just got back from Wichita Mtns cow elk hunt. Been putting in for 35 years. First 30 years for bull last 5 for cow. With the warm weather and alot of work to be done after shooting one .82 mile as the crow flies from the road taking alot of pics wasnt on the list. Got dropped off in the morning waited for light to get moving to a spot that had 3 passages that met at the bottom of a valley that I researched on google the night before. On the way I ran into at least a 10 nice bulls scattered to my right , I slipped by and continued search for a cow. Got about halfway to the spot and ran into 5 or 6 more bulls with 2 groups of does feeding. Took an hour or so to get by them without spooking them. Got over to my spot setup behind a rock and glassed the area. Watched 5 bucks go into the bottom with last one being a pretty nice one. After glassing the mountain side to my right I see about 6 more bulls. Around 10:30 I was getting a little disappointed about my decision of putting in for cow tag rather than the bull tag. Right in the middle of lunch 4 or 5 cows come out of the bottom on my left and I needed to close the distance 100 yds for a shot, I decided to stay put and watched them bed down at 522 yds, Then another group of cows move in from the right and bedded down about 650 yds away. While moving for a stalk entered my mind more times than I can count I decided again to stay put. The mountain side to my left has another 10-12 bulls on it so im having a pretty good time. Almost got done with lunch and a shot rings out close enough to get most of the elk standing, couple minutes later another shot and that one got all the cows gathering up in one big group slowly moving down into the draw with a spike being the last one to dissappear, While making a break to another rock about 75 yds. to my left, all at once about 20 cows came out of the draw up on my side 100 yds away. I spotted a decent sized cow in the group at a fast walk and sent a round at the front shoulder with my Remington 700 7 Rem Mag handloaded with a Berger 168 Classic Hunter @ 3020 fps. The cow dropped instantly like it was electrocuted and never moved once. Hit it above lungs and 4-5 inches below spine. Bullet went in about 1 inch then open to quarter sized entrance and quarter sized exit. FUNS OVER NOW. Sent a text to my son got the cow gutted and met him at the road with 2 packs, got the hind quarters, front shoulders, back strap, tenderloins, neck meat, and head for the ODWC study back by dark. It was a great fun hunt.
