Fishing For Elk on the Fly
They say that “The tug is the drug” when it comes to catching steelhead on a fly. I think a big ol bull elk on a fly is even more impressive! This showed up in my email the other day.
Jeff is a flying / hunting buddy and he also happens to enjoy fly fishing with his wife Mimi. This weekend he and his wife decided to head up to the White Mountains for a little trout fishing. Jeff heard the crashing and creaking sounds of an animal coming to water in the afternoon. To Jeff’s surprise, less than a hundred yards away a bull elk appeared and walked out into the water to cool off and drink. The bull had a nice rack but appeared emaciated. The farther the bull went in to the water the closer he got to Jeff in his tube. The bull would stick his head under water and surface again and didn’t seem to mind Jeff’s presence. Odd behavior for this time of year for sure! Jeff was enjoying this site and relishing the moment, until one of the bull’s dunks seemed to take too long. Curious, Jeff paddled over to the bull which had now been submerged for a very long time. He could see the bulls head and his eyes were open, but he was not moving. Jeff got close enough to hit it on the back several times with his fly rod. Convinced that something had gone wrong Jeff grabbed the bull by the horns (no pun intended) and sure enough, the bull had drowned!
Amazed at the whole ordeal Jeff grabbed an antler and paddled for the shore. After pulling the bull on to the shore Jeff called the game and fish and waited for an officer to arrive. turns out the bull had an old compound fracture between the right ankle and knee. Infection had set in and was rampant throughout the bulls body. The game officer said that under these conditions the animal runs a high fever and stays close to water all day to go in and cool off. Unfortunately during this ‘cooling session’ he had finally ran out of energy to swim and drowned. Jeff was allowed to keep the rack and was issued a tag for it. The meat however was full of bacteria and was a loss.
Although the bull has yet to be measured yet I estimate it will be in the 320 – 330 range… just goes to show those big magnums are not always necessary!
OMG that is both bizarre and sad. Very sad that the old elk had to suffer like that. But that is life, I guess.
Awesome!
That was sad.
What Fly did he use? A Nozler Freight Train? or was it a Muzzy Pink Elephant Streamer? Quite a story- definitely in the right place at the right time, when things happen.
That is a great story. He sure is lookin rough in that beached photo.
What a story! It’s too bad that the Elk was injured and all his meat was wasted though, at least he’s got a great story and a nice rack to show for the fishing trip!
That is something!! Just goes to show that you never know what you might encounter while enjoying your favorite pastime in the great outdoors.
Paddled TOWARDS those horns in a FLOAT TUBE?!
He’s a braver man than me…
Tom you just reminded me of as photo my uncle took on a float trip on the Snake in Wyoming!
[...] Sorensen wrote of a similar incident in his post “Elk on a Fly”. I guess that goes to show that elk are where you find [...]
This is a pretty cool story. Definitely the first elk I have ever seen taken with a fly rod and probably the last. I am wondering how long it took to get the elk to the bank. Even a sick elk would have been quite the drag in a float tube. It makes you wonder what the elk was doing out in the water in the first place.
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