The trip took place in the early 90s when the elk population in the west Kooteney was at its finest. The hunt began on a beautiful crisp fall day. The beginning of October if I remember right. I was a young teen and My dad, uncle Harv in there 40’s we headed out to try and harvest an elk. We made our way up, winding narrow logging roads, typical of Kooteneys with potholes and bumps bouncing us around. When we finally arrrived we unloaded our ATV, as well as a couple of dirt bikes and headed as far into the mountains as we could go. We had a special place in mind that allowed you to get an area where there were perfect open slides with Alpine above. “Oh, this is Elky country” I said as we parked the bikes and started hiking up an old skid trail.
We had an elk bugle but back in those days elk bugles looked a lot different than they do now. Now there are all sorts of different brands and styles. There are reeds that can mimic young and old bulls, as well as cows and calves. Back then there were reeds, but they were very hard to get a constant sound. My dad had an old call that looked like a, small wind instrument kinda like a mini tuba without the bell and it sounded like a cheap recorder we used to get in music class back in elementary school. It didn’t get the deep sound but you could get a really good top end squeal through it. If the elk was heavy in the rut then it usually worked. We hiked our way along keeping track of the wind and looking for the perfect spot to bugle from. We made it up to a vantage point that we could see across some open areas toward the slides. This country is absolutely amazing and hard to express its beauty in words. We were probably up around 8000 feet in the Selkirk mountains that are just slightly smaller, but completely resemble the Rocky Mountains. At that elevation, the trees are smaller and open up to some Meadows and fresh growing avalanche snow slide areas. The first bugle was let out and we sat and patiently waited.
When you are up in the high country, it’s amazing how sound travels. We let out a few more bugles and sure enough way off in the distance we heard a faint, faint bugle. I was getting excited there’s nothing that beats the sound of an elk bugle. Moose and Deer sure didn’t develop a very majestic sound and don’t even compare “It’s on its way.” I said to my dad and uncle. Over the next half hour that elk worked its way down the mountain and all the while getting more and more riled up. It was so exciting to hear that bugle get louder and louder as it made its way in. We were all set up, hunkered down with a nice gun rest but sure enough like a lot of bulls do, this one hung up just out of our sight. It started raking the trees with its antlers. You could see the trees moving, but couldn’t see the elk. At that point my dad moved slowly down below us and grabbed a big stick and started scratching and hitting a tree with it. Well, I was thinking what the heck is he doing? Shouldn’t we be as quiet as we can to not spook the elk? But my dad knew that cagey elk needed more encouragement and more proof that there was a rival bull elk in his area. The bugle wasn’t enough he wanted to see and hear the bush and trees being raked by antlers. Well, my dad didn’t have any antlers, but he knew a stick would do and sure enough that got the elk to step out, give a big bugle and then come straight for us.
One of the most majestic things I have ever witnessed. Now this was a nice mature bull with a lot of tines. Uncle Harv was ready. With a perfect rest I heard him let out his breath and squeeze the trigger. Boom!! One shot is all it took as uncle Harv put a really good shot into that elk. It ran only a few metres and went down. Well that was pretty darn exciting. This was a nice bull. We waited awhile for him to pass peacefully and made our way over to where he lay. Wouldn’t you know it but he had somehow managed to roll down into a big depression. A big stump hole as we were in a previously logged area. It was going to be very awkward and difficult spot to field dress him.
So you might be saying not a bad story, but hey, lots of guys bugel in an elk, what’s the big deal? but this next part was a very rare occurrence, and started to get scary.
Now I only had my trusted 30-30 with me because I was pretty young back then and it was a perfect deer gun for me in the thick bush of the Kooteneys. Since the bull was down in this hole, my job was to be our lookout in case we had any visitors that we didn’t want a.k.a. grizzly bears. And sure enough a few minutes later there was a mighty crashing at the nearby bush line. Maybe this was another bull coming in? Nope, out of that crashing bush came a bear. He stood up on his hind legs, sniffing the air and it was easy to see it was a large silver tip Grizzly. It had a giant head on it and it’s looking and it’s sniffing the air. I let the guys know we had a visitor and he did not look happy. In fact, I think he looked hungry. My dad came up and switched guns with me saying his seven MM magnum was a better fit “Watch our backs” he told me and that is what I did although I was feeling a little nervous, but not as nervous as I was about to feel. For believe it or not suddenly there was more crashing in the bush on the other side. Maybe this is an elk coming in from the calls we made earlier, But once again, no, it was another silver tip Grizzly, coming in from the smell of the dead elk and or the sound of the rifle shot?
It is debated that if a grizzly hears a boom and then comes across an elk carcass how many times does that need to happen before he puts two and two together and hears a gunshot as a dinner bell? Anyways, back to our story the second Grizzly was even bigger than the first, a real brute. Let me tell you I’ve seen a lot of grizzlies, and this thing was massive. His nose told him exactly where we were and he was staring straight at us. Both Bears started to walk back and forth not coming closer, but pacing and clicking their teeth. If you’ve ever had two big grizzlies, staring at you chomping their teeth together. Well, that’s a nerve racking experience, let me tell you. So that’s when we said there’s no way we can stay here. So uncle Harvey headed back down to get his quad. We figured if we could get his quad close. We could hook onto the elk and skid it out of there and hopefully speed up this process. So while he was gone, we guarded that elk. Those Grizzly bears had a natural fear of us humans but the smell of elk blood was making them braver and braver. They came closer, continuing with their scare tactics of chomping their teeth together and that worked really well, I was starting to get very scared. We blasted a few shots off with our rifles into the air, and that kept them from coming any closer but we knew we didn’t have long.
In Canada it is the law that you are not allowed to use any harmful means to protect your meat from from a bear. If the bear runs you off the carcass, then you run off the carcass. You are not allowed to shoot or injure the bear.
Back to the story: When the quad arrived, with very considerable effort, we got it in close to the Moose just as the Bears were starting to circle around and act even more aggressive. We threw a winch cable Down the hole and hooked onto the elk. I don’t know if it was willpower, prayer or a miracle, but that little quad yanked that elk right out of the hole. without even stopping for a second my dad and I jumped on the quad and said just go,go go,go so in one swift movement, we pulled that elk right out of the hole and all the way down to the truck as the grizzlies came in to eat the guts.
it was a real good example of why you have to be so careful when hunting and how amazing it is to have two mountain men with you. As nervous as I was, I knew I had two of the best most experienced hunters in the Kooteneys with me that elk ended up being a 7 x 8 it was an older elk no longer in his prime and his antlers were on the smaller side. But the meat of that big elk filled both our freezers. That rack is still hanging in my uncles shop. It’s another reminder of how your antlers or the hides of an animal may appear to others to just be a “trophy” hanging there, but in fact, when I look at that rack, I remember what it represents, the time we had together and the reminder of a shared adventure. A reminder of how strong my now elderly Dad used to be. How my Uncle Harv was was such a great and knowledgeable guy, may he rest in peace and I’ll never forget our adventures and how hunting brought us together.
