Jasper lives in the southern part of the Oregon Coast Range of mountains that runs along Oregon’s Pacific Coast and is home to a healthy herd of elk. Jasper grew up on and now owns his family’s rural farm in those mountains.
Having lived in the area all his life, Jasper is very familiar with all the forest service and logging roads that crisscross the various public and private lands above the valley floor. As both a farmer, who managed his own time as he saw fit, and as an avid hunter, he invested many hours, day after day, year after year, scouting those peaks, watching the movement of the elk, trying to anticipate where they would be during hunting season. His time investment paid off, as Jasper always bagged an elk each year.
Jasper believed in using every advantage he could get. As such and having earned his stripes as a big game hunter long before the advent of many of the current magnum cartridges capable of dropping a 900 lb. bull elk, Jasper shot a 300 H&H Magnum. Shooting “digger squirrels” every summer to maintain his proficiency, his marksmanship skills were practiced and sharpened regularly. He didn’t want to miss the chance on a trophy bull, regardless of the range.
One year while hunting with his son, Junior, they glassed a ridgeline about 500 yards across the valley from the logging road where their truck was parked. They spotted several cow elk moving down the hillside followed by a nice bull. As they watched the small herd moved down the grassy slope and into a thick growth of spruce trees, where the herd vanished. No more movement. Nothing exited that stand of trees.
After watching for a few minutes, expecting some movement but seeing nothing, the men drew up a plan. Jasper would move down the hillside in one direction to get closer to where the herd disappeared. Jasper’s son would set off in the opposite direction to try to better identify the exact location of the herd.
Just as Jasper reached his intended location, a nice bull stood up. Without hesitation, Jasper shot the bull, saw the bullet strike, and watched the bull go down. But less than 20 seconds later, Jasper watched that bull stand back up. Somewhat concerned that the shot didn’t anchor the animal as solidly as he thought, he fired again. Again, he watched the animal fall…and after a moment, he stood up a second time.
Jasper couldn’t believe his eyes. He knew he landed two solid hits in the vitals of the bull, but there he stood. Unable to dispute the fact that the animal was standing there, and not wanting to prolong the animal’s suffering, he shot a third time, and for a third time, watched the bull fall.
This time he stayed down.
Meanwhile, Junior tried moving quietly through the thick scrub and brambles towards where he and his dad last saw the herd. Suddenly, Junior heard his father’s first shot. Knowing his dad’s well-earned reputation as a marksman, he thought “dead bull” and mentally prepared himself for the chore of packing out the meat. Hearing the second shot somewhat surprised him. Could his old man be losing his touch? He never needs a second shot.
When Junior heard the third shot, full-on confusion set in. For a moment he wondered if the elk were shooting back.
Jasper began climbing down the hillside and across the valley to the opposite ridge, excited to see this resilient bull and running through the check-list for the hours of work ahead to dress, quarter, and pack the animal back to his truck.
Jasper arrived at the location about the same time as Junior, and discovered that Jasper had not shot one, but three elk bulls, all lying dead beside each other. They never saw the other bulls trailing the herd of cows while glassing earlier.
Not quite sure where he stood legally but knowing that he had not intentionally broken the law, Jasper was pretty sure that a game warden would have a hard time believing his story—hell, he could hardly believe it himself. Jasper and Junior used their tags, as well as his wife’s tag, for each animal killed and the family’s freezer was full of meat for quite a while afterwards.
The details were kept from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, but the story is repeated often amongst family and friends.
