I am proud to report that my 12 year old son just harvested his first elk.

Nevada has elk hunts that begin as early as August 1. This was a depredation hunt, designed to help landowners put pressure on elk that spend a little too much time doing things like eating alfalfa. He was lucky enough to draw one of these tags the very first year he was old enough to apply.

The hunt was in a remote corner of Nevada and a LONG way from home.

Day 1.

Some friends came in from out of state, and we left home around noon. We had some trailer tire issues along the way, so we didn't make it to the unit before dark like we'd hoped.

My son had told me he wanted to set up a wall tent camp, but once we got there he quickly changed his mind and decided to cowboy camp with his friend under the stars. The other dad and I got the wall tent set up in the dark and finally went to bed around 11.

Day 2.

We slept in a bit. By that I mean we got up at 5 a.m. Legal shooting light was just a few minutes later. We took a long way around to access some harder to reach parts of the unit. We found two bull elk that morning. He couldn't shoot a bull, but it's always good to see elk on the first morning of an elk hunt. We also found elk on private property. We asked permission to pursue them and were politely told no. That evening, my son and I bumped a big bull walking into our spot and got to about 50 yards from him. He was pretty excited.

"I've never been that close to an elk."

On the drive back to camp in the dark, we watched a group of even bigger bulls jumping a fence. A little later, we slammed on the brakes when an animal came flying toward the road not far from camp. It was a mountain lion killing a coyote. The lion bit the back of the coyote's neck about 15 yards in front of our truck. It looked up and stared at us for several seconds, then headed back up the hill, coyote in mouth. And yes, mountain lions do eat coyotes.

Day 3.

At first light we found elk. A LOT of elk. A very large herd. We pursued them as they were leaving private property. That stalk didn't work out, but it did push the herd a long way from the private land. They eventually went somewhere his tag wasn't valid. We followed their tracks for a while just to see where they'd gone.

Answer: far.

We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon looking for fresh elk sign in other places. That evening, we went back to see if the big herd had returned. They had. They were right back near the private land, ready to head into the alfalfa fields. My son and I tried to intercept them before they made it to the fields. Another stalk. Another close call. No elk.

Day 4.

We found a few elk, but once again they were on private property. Most of the big herd had headed into the mountains sometime before first light, so we decided to give that group a break. That evening we headed farther into the mountains and sat on some springs. Daytime temperatures were exceeding 100 degrees. All animals need a drink when they leave their day beds in temps like this. Right at last light, two spike elk came into the spring. Unfortunately, they saw us before we saw them.

Before the hunt, my son had practiced and gotten really good with a cow call. He started calling, and instead of continuing to run away, the two spikes stopped and hung around for several moments. He couldn't shoot them, but it was really cool watching a 12 year old use a call well enough to change what two wild elk were doing.

Day 5. The day we leave.

We decided to check one area near the private property one last time before packing up and heading home. Lucky for us, the big herd had bedded near the public/private boundary, with a handful of cow elk on the public side. For the next 3.5 hours, we low walked, duck walked, crawled on our hands and knees, and slowly worked our way closer. A lot of that stalk was spent staring at the ground immediately in front of us, trying to move without being seen. At one point I looked down and found an obsidian arrowhead. I'd never found one before. Finding an arrowhead in the middle of a stalk on my son's first elk hunt seemed like a pretty good omen.

We kept getting closer. And it kept getting hotter. We'd glass the elk and make sure every one of them was bedded. Then we'd move another 10 to 30 yards.

Stop.

Glass again.

Wait.

Move again.

After 3.5 hours of this, we had made it to 312 yards when I noticed one cow with her nose in the air. The wind had been at our backs the entire stalk, and she was finally starting to smell us. Not good. I told my son we weren't getting any closer. He was going to have to shoot from there. Thankfully, we'd practiced a lot leading up to this hunt. With the help of some great shooting sticks, he settled in and made the shot. His first elk.

It was probably 93 degrees when he pulled the trigger and pushing 100 by the time we had her quartered up. Thankfully, I'd brought a small chest freezer powered by solar panels, so we were able to get all of the meat cooling down quickly. Then we got to break camp and pack everything up in the middle of the afternoon heat. It was so hot that, for the first time I've ever seen, my iPhone started giving me warnings that it needed to cool down.

Not exactly the cool mountain elk hunt most people picture.

Five days. Temperatures over 100 degrees. Elk that seemed to know exactly where the private-property lines were. Several blown stalks. Bulls he couldn't shoot. A mountain lion killing a coyote 15 yards in front of us. An obsidian arrowhead found while crawling toward bedded elk. And finally, after a 3.5-hour stalk, a 312-yard shot and his first elk. He stayed patient through long days, blown stalks, heat, and plenty of elk we couldn't hunt. He kept going, kept learning, and when his opportunity finally came, he was ready.

That's a pretty good first elk hunt.

Top Tier! I haven't hunted much in the last 5 years but having a 4 year old means I'm only 8 years away from doing things like this and that is inspiring.

Seems like some first class parenting, congrats to both of you.

Congratulations!

Good deal!! Those will be lasting memories.

… Good shootin young hand !

Atta boy!!!
Way to go Dad. Thanks for sharing your adventure and raising him right.

Sounds like you guys had a great experience. Congratulations to you both, and thank you much for sharing this with us.

Pretty awesome hunt by my standards

My son shot his first deer when he was seven in Texas. My daughter shot her first year when she was seven in Missouri. Many states in the Midwest and south allow kids kids to deer hunt as early as six with immediate supervision. You may not have to wait quite as long as you think.

… down here they got daddy linin up the rifle and letting babies with a pacifier in their mouth pull the trigger lol

Congratulations!

Awesome !!!

Congrats...

Great story congrats young fella

Thats fantastic...memories that young fella will never forget!

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Exciting hunt. Saw a mountain lion take a coyote super excellent and that is a dandy arrow head, better than any I have ever found......jk

Great hunt good for your boy. But we gotta hear about that solar panel freezer thing you got going??!

Congratulations to you and your son. I laughed when I saw the picture of him sleeping. I'm glad he got a well deserved rest after a hot hard hunt.

Keith

That's a great story with a great ending!