2WaterMatt
FNG
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2020
- Messages
- 14
Had a few days left after a successful Muley hunt in MT this year and a combo tag in my pocket so I found myself in the NW corner of the state in search of elk. I’m a rookie elk hunter, it was a DIY hunt, and a solo at that, and it was late November. From what I understand, those aren’t ideal conditions for a successful hunt, but I’m not a stranger to the outdoors and I loved every minute of it. Based on rough estimates from OnX I probably covered 40+ miles in four days in snow ranging from 3” -24” depending on elevation. I was halfway through day 3 before I found any elk, in an odd sequence of events.
I was several miles from the truck, at around 4500’, working my way around the inside of a basin. It was wooded, steep, and rough. Logs were down everywhere, and the snow was over a foot deep. I had just cut a set of elk tracks, headed the same direction I was. They didn’t look to be that old, but it was hard to tell because it had snowed a bit that morning and all the tracks had snow in them. I figured I would stay close to the tracks as long as they were going the general direction I wanted to go, just in case they were fresh and the elk would be bedded ahead somewhere. There was a crust on top of the snow so it was impossible to walk quietly, but I tried to take my time, walk carefully, and stopped to glass a bit every few minutes. I was about 50-60 yards uphill from the tracks, and it wasn’t long before I heard something big crash off through the brush. I couldn’t see a thing but there was little doubt in my mind what it was. As I panned the timber with my binoculars, something caught my eye. I turned and focused, and there, not 60 yards away, was a big elk bed. What really stood out about it tho, is that the bed and snow around it was blood red. About that time I noticed another one just beyond it. That bed was even worse, wallowed out all the way to bare dirt, almost pooled in blood, and droppings all over the place.
I hadn’t expected that. A bit stunned, I dropped down the hill to investigate, pausing occasionally to scan the timber ahead with my binoculars. Based on the amount of blood I had observed, I couldn’t believe (he??) was going very far. I got to the elk beds, and it was as bad as it had looked. There was bloody snow all over and the beds were wallowed out, with droppings and tracks scattered about. One set of fresh tracks, minus any snow in them, led off down the hill, with a big splotch of red every couple feet. Again I scanned the timber ahead and below me, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement, but everything was silent.
I immediately set off following the tracks. I followed for a hundred yards or so, and by then the animal had slowed to a walk. On the slope above me were some rocky bare areas interspersed with thick young growth firs. Below me was thick timber. He had been staying near the transition so far, just inside the timber. I decided to go up and circle around for several hundred yards, then ease back down and cut for tracks. If I didn’t cut, that meant he hadn’t gone far and I could stillhunt back the direction I had come, hoping to intercept it. If I did spook it then, at least it would be going toward the truck, not away from it. Well, no such luck. The tracks were still purposefully headed north, and I followed them over the next hill, and down into the thick timber on the other side. I hadn’t gone far into the timber when I heard something move ahead. I saw movement and made out part of a neck, and a section of antler. Then he was gone. I moved forward and found another blood stained elk bed, so I knew he had been bedded again. Expecting him to repeat the pattern and run for half a mile before bedding down again, I took off at a brisk pace, moving uphill to intercept his course around the side of the mountain. That didn’t go as planned. 100 yards later I burst out onto a logging road and he was standing there 50 yards in the timber on the other side. He took off, crashing off down the side of the mountain. Well shucks. This time I knew he wasn’t stopping right away. It was getting late in the day, and we were moving ever farther from the truck, so I abandoned chase, deciding to come back with a buddy and hopefully seal the deal.
It never happened. It was two days before I could return to the same spot with a buddy and it had snowed again. We picked up the tracks but there had been so much traffic by other deer and elk and the snow had covered up any blood that it was almost impossible to know for sure if we were on the right trail or not. I will never know exactly what happened or if he ever made it. He seemed to be in much better health than I had anticipated when I found those first beds, so maybe he made it. I did not expect that based on the amount of blood he seemed to be losing.
Any thoughts? What could have happened or caused the injury?
1. I didn’t see any blood in the trail leading up to the beds, and he hadn’t been running.
2 I am pretty confident I spooked him out of that bed. He had been there awhile, and that’s where the blood started.
3 It could have been a Hunter inflicted wound, but in two days of hunting I saw no other human tracks in that immediate area
3. I did see both lion and wolf tracks in that area
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I was several miles from the truck, at around 4500’, working my way around the inside of a basin. It was wooded, steep, and rough. Logs were down everywhere, and the snow was over a foot deep. I had just cut a set of elk tracks, headed the same direction I was. They didn’t look to be that old, but it was hard to tell because it had snowed a bit that morning and all the tracks had snow in them. I figured I would stay close to the tracks as long as they were going the general direction I wanted to go, just in case they were fresh and the elk would be bedded ahead somewhere. There was a crust on top of the snow so it was impossible to walk quietly, but I tried to take my time, walk carefully, and stopped to glass a bit every few minutes. I was about 50-60 yards uphill from the tracks, and it wasn’t long before I heard something big crash off through the brush. I couldn’t see a thing but there was little doubt in my mind what it was. As I panned the timber with my binoculars, something caught my eye. I turned and focused, and there, not 60 yards away, was a big elk bed. What really stood out about it tho, is that the bed and snow around it was blood red. About that time I noticed another one just beyond it. That bed was even worse, wallowed out all the way to bare dirt, almost pooled in blood, and droppings all over the place.
I hadn’t expected that. A bit stunned, I dropped down the hill to investigate, pausing occasionally to scan the timber ahead with my binoculars. Based on the amount of blood I had observed, I couldn’t believe (he??) was going very far. I got to the elk beds, and it was as bad as it had looked. There was bloody snow all over and the beds were wallowed out, with droppings and tracks scattered about. One set of fresh tracks, minus any snow in them, led off down the hill, with a big splotch of red every couple feet. Again I scanned the timber ahead and below me, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement, but everything was silent.
I immediately set off following the tracks. I followed for a hundred yards or so, and by then the animal had slowed to a walk. On the slope above me were some rocky bare areas interspersed with thick young growth firs. Below me was thick timber. He had been staying near the transition so far, just inside the timber. I decided to go up and circle around for several hundred yards, then ease back down and cut for tracks. If I didn’t cut, that meant he hadn’t gone far and I could stillhunt back the direction I had come, hoping to intercept it. If I did spook it then, at least it would be going toward the truck, not away from it. Well, no such luck. The tracks were still purposefully headed north, and I followed them over the next hill, and down into the thick timber on the other side. I hadn’t gone far into the timber when I heard something move ahead. I saw movement and made out part of a neck, and a section of antler. Then he was gone. I moved forward and found another blood stained elk bed, so I knew he had been bedded again. Expecting him to repeat the pattern and run for half a mile before bedding down again, I took off at a brisk pace, moving uphill to intercept his course around the side of the mountain. That didn’t go as planned. 100 yards later I burst out onto a logging road and he was standing there 50 yards in the timber on the other side. He took off, crashing off down the side of the mountain. Well shucks. This time I knew he wasn’t stopping right away. It was getting late in the day, and we were moving ever farther from the truck, so I abandoned chase, deciding to come back with a buddy and hopefully seal the deal.
It never happened. It was two days before I could return to the same spot with a buddy and it had snowed again. We picked up the tracks but there had been so much traffic by other deer and elk and the snow had covered up any blood that it was almost impossible to know for sure if we were on the right trail or not. I will never know exactly what happened or if he ever made it. He seemed to be in much better health than I had anticipated when I found those first beds, so maybe he made it. I did not expect that based on the amount of blood he seemed to be losing.
Any thoughts? What could have happened or caused the injury?
1. I didn’t see any blood in the trail leading up to the beds, and he hadn’t been running.
2 I am pretty confident I spooked him out of that bed. He had been there awhile, and that’s where the blood started.
3 It could have been a Hunter inflicted wound, but in two days of hunting I saw no other human tracks in that immediate area
3. I did see both lion and wolf tracks in that area
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