Here are a few pics. More to come later

And now... The rest of the Story

Well Ken and I worked our tails off all day Wednesday first to get his bull to the top of the mountain and then to get the front shoulders one hind quarter and the head down the mountain to the truck. It was getting dark and we didn't feel like hiking back up the mountain so we decided to drive to Helena and get a good nights sleep on a soft warm bed, fix his truck tire, and come back up Thursday morning to pack out the last hind quarter and a sack with about 50 lb of meat. Well we weren't able to get out of Helena until about 12:30 or so, and Ken decided he was coming back to Helena once he got his elk out, so I called around and then Dad said he would come up and Thursday night and hunt with me on Friday and Saturday. Kathy decided that since Ken was comming back that evening, and she was curious about Bull Creek (never having been to our "little slice of heaven" before) to come with Ken and I up the mountain. I was really excited for Ken but feeling a twinge of desperation for myself. I left Ken and Kathy at camp and hustled up to Uncle Daves log to see if by chance anything was out in the basin. Well I had only sat at uncle dave's log for a minute or two when I noticed a little tan spot WAY WAY down in the bottom of the basin. So I put the scope on it and sure enough it was an elk! Then sure enough it was a bull elk! I couldn't tell how big the antlers were but I knew that if there was enough there that I could see them flashing from almost a mile away that he was legal to shoot. So I SPRINTED down the trail to ask Ken if he minded if I bailed on packing out his bull and went after another bull I had spotted. Ken of course was awesome and said something to the effect of "Russ I can't believe you even came to ask my permission, Hunting is what we came here to do, go get him!" So I RAN up the mountain to the top, made sure I could still see the bull and then RAN like the last of the mohicans guy down the ridge on the left side of the basin as you look down. I made it to the edge of the trees, right about above where the elk was and dropped down the face of the mountain through the spotty trees and open areas. I slowed way down once I was dropping in on him off the ridge to keep from sending a rock rolling down the hill and scare him. The wind was blowing down the basin so my wind was going at about a 90 degree angle away from him. I got about half way down between the ridge and the bottom to a rotten stump where I could lay down on my belly, and not be totally upside down, and where I could see the bull clearly through an opening in the trees. I judged the distance to be about 200 yards, but then all of the sudden I just knew that I needed to aim about 4 inches below the top of his back. I shot once and couldn't tell if I had hit him, but he was still just standing there so I quickly put in another shell and shot again. This time I could tell that I had hit him, but he still was on his feet and I didn't want to take any chances with a wounded elk getting away so I shot a third time, and with that shot he went down. I was way excited! I said a little prayer of thanks and went down to him. He was a pretty good bull!!! Ken ran down the mountain and we hugged and took some pictures. Then Ken had to get back up to Kathy, and I was left to field dress the elk. (you forget how big they are until you have one down) I got him all cleaned out, and just before I was about to leave I heard a rustling in the bushes a little ways away from where I was. Boy did that put the fear in me! I was just sure that I was going to be toe to toe with a grizzly bear in the dark. I ran up to the elk and grabbed my flashlight and the rifle. I didn't see that pair of beady yellow eyes like I thought I would, but just the same I high-tailed it back up the mountain to camp. Dad came up and spent the night and then Friday morning we packed out camp and then went down to the switchback and went in to my elk from below. Dad and I worked on getting the elk ready to pack out, and we were pretty tired from all the exertion. Then the cavalry came. Jared and Micah Christensen came out of the brush about 200 yards down the hill and helped us pack the bull out. We were stoked! I was sooooo grateful to them for the help. After we got the elk all packed out we all went down to the "Shake 'N Burger" down in Lincoln, and I treated everyone to a hamburger and a milkshake. In the end it was perhaps the best week of hunting of my life. I have a great family and now I have a great elk!

Well here's the story...

OK the week started out a bit rough what with Ken and I meeting in Lincoln eight and a half hours later than originally planned, and then Ken getting a flat tire just before we got to the switchback, and having to go back to Lincoln for a jack and loosing Ken's cell phone. Actually it got kind of funny when neither of us had a watch and the battery on Ken's laptop died. Other than seeing some cool HUGE grizzly bear tracks and some mountain lion tracks, Monday the 27th was a bit of a write-off.
Tuesday morning we woke up a bit late since we didn't have any way to tell time, but we scrambled up to the top of the Rocky Basin as soon as we were concious. We didn't see anything that we couldn't resist so we just chilled at Uncle Dave's log most of the morning. After we went back to camp, Ken had to run in to Lincoln again to call Kathy, and I dropped down to the bottom of the Big Basin to my tree stand by the spring. (which by the way is probably a better bow stand than rifle stand I decided) Anyhow I had only sat in my stand about 40 minutes when I realized that I had lost both of my coats on the way down the mountain. So I decided to hike out and retrace my steps up until I found my coat and I'd just sit the rocky point that evening. Which I did, but only saw one mulie doe. I did hear some elk cow calling, but wasn't able to move on them. So I hiked out of the big basin Tuesday night in the dark, and a bit discouraged. I got to camp and the first thing I said to Ken was "Dude what in the heck are we doing here?" To which Ken replies "well Russ take a look at me." So I shined my flashlight on him and doggonit that stinker was covered in blood from head to toe!! So Ken told me the awesome story of having to drive to Lincoln and then hike his tail off to get up the mountian and just as he peeked his head over to see into the Rocky Basin there.. out in the middle of the basin was a 5-point bull elk! So he backed away took off all his pack and gear etc. and crawled out to Uncle Daves Log. He ranged the bull at 140 yards and with one shot of his lethal 270 short mag Ken had himself a nice bull elk!!

Way to go JAYDEN!

Jared has reported more success from his family! Here is what he said:
Here are some pics of Jayden's 1st hunt. She was a real trooper and shot this buck from about 150 yards. It was a creative effort from the both of us to get her over the tall grass. I'll write more later for the blog.

Well, here are the pics of what appears to be a very successful week at Bull Creek. Ken and Russ were really able to pull it together and make things happen! Congrats to them both. Ken shot his at the top of the rocky basin on Tuesday. Russell shot his at the bottom of the rocky basin on Thursday. I will let them fill in the details later.
Here is some additional info from Russell:
Friday, November 7, 2008
Ryan I haven't had time to write up the story of my bull yet, but here's some other tidbits of info for all concerned Lay family hunters. Just so everyone is aware I put a Mouseproof Mailbox in the cache at Bull Creek so that next year the cache will not be filled with nasty mouse-poop. Dad and I inventoried the cache up at camp, and it contains the following items. (all food items are protected inside the mailbox)
4 cans Tuna, 2 cans Salmon, 4 cans Chili, 2 cans spagetti, 1 can clam chowder, 1 can campbells soup, 1 large can Beef ravioli, 3 cup-0-noodles, 2.5 gallons drinking water (in a store sealed water jug), 2 gallons dishwater (in old gatorade jugs (from 2007 but still drinkable), 1 enamel covered steel plate, 1 plastic plate, about 50 ft of yellow nylon rope. We're kind of a bunch of rednecks aren't we?