I just got back from my 2022 hunting adventure, and wanted to share the story with the Rokslide community. I hope everybody is enjoying the hunting season and is getting out there. Good luck to everybody!
This year, I went to Northern British Columbia with my hunting buddy specifically to chase Elk with rifles during the rut. Since we are both new hunters and are not residents of BC we went with a guide who taught us a ton about hunting elk, reading sign, bugling, cow calling, raking, wind checking, picking spots and how to close the distance in thickly wooded areas.
The trip started out with mixed results. Firstly, it took a tremendous logistical effort to get to camp. We had to take 3 flights over a 20 hour period to get to Fort St. John and then an hour and a half drive to camp just outside Good Hope, BC. From there, we went another hour from base camp to our spike out camp. By the time we got to the spike camp location, we were exhausted but mustered up the energy to head into the woods for an evening hunt. We went with our guide, Donny Zenner (he runs a youtube channel called Living 4 the Rut, for those who want to check out his content) to our first spot.
A big part of this trip for me and my hunting partner was the desire to learn. Neither of us grew up hunting, or grew up in the woods. This was our second back country hunt. Last year we both ate tag soup but had an amazing trip to the Frank Church Wilderness in Idaho. This year, we were armed with some knowledge we took from last years hunt, but we were determined to learn more and hopefully come home with at least one elk.
Donny was the perfect guide for us - very generous with his time and more than happy to make the effort to teach us. Anyway, back to the hunt. We got into a spot almost immediately that had all kinds of elk sign. Fresh footprints, nipped off trees/buds, fresh droppings and some rubs that were a day or two old at most. We got to high ground with a small clearing in the brush and hit a cow call followed by a bugle. Then we waited. It felt like minutes, but within a few seconds we got a response. There was a bull, slightly down the hill a few hundred yards away. We responded with a follow-up bugle and got an immediate response.
We backed out of our area and started to close the distance towards where we heard the elk bugle. Donny was in front, I followed with my gun at the ready and my hunting buddy was behind me with his camera ready to catch whatever came next. I had my wind checker out and was constantly checking the wind, or so I thought. With the wind in our face and a relatively well worn game trail to walk on, we closed down the distance to the bull quickly. Donny hit the bull with another cow call and then a bugle. Almost immediately we heard a big bugle response and some serious raking. We stopped where we were, and got set up. Donny started to rake with a small 5 point shed he carries, mixed in with bugles.
At this point we were quickly losing shooting light (technically the local laws let you shoot 1 hour after sundown, but in the thick woods we were in it was nearly impossible). It felt like we had 10 minutes or less to make something happen. As the minutes ticked down, the elk came in to us and was probably 20 yards away. He had a big body, but in the dwindling light I could not make out the antlers and was not comfortable taking a shot (we were in a 6 point zone). As we were standing there trying to get him to turn his head, the wind swirled, he got our scent and took off crashing through the woods.
My heart was racing, I had just had my first ever elk encounter, heard my first ever bugle and came within a split second of having a big bull elk down on the first night. My adrenaline was pumping and I knew already I was hooked on elk hunting during the rut. We backed out and made a plan to go back the next morning.
This year, I went to Northern British Columbia with my hunting buddy specifically to chase Elk with rifles during the rut. Since we are both new hunters and are not residents of BC we went with a guide who taught us a ton about hunting elk, reading sign, bugling, cow calling, raking, wind checking, picking spots and how to close the distance in thickly wooded areas.
The trip started out with mixed results. Firstly, it took a tremendous logistical effort to get to camp. We had to take 3 flights over a 20 hour period to get to Fort St. John and then an hour and a half drive to camp just outside Good Hope, BC. From there, we went another hour from base camp to our spike out camp. By the time we got to the spike camp location, we were exhausted but mustered up the energy to head into the woods for an evening hunt. We went with our guide, Donny Zenner (he runs a youtube channel called Living 4 the Rut, for those who want to check out his content) to our first spot.
A big part of this trip for me and my hunting partner was the desire to learn. Neither of us grew up hunting, or grew up in the woods. This was our second back country hunt. Last year we both ate tag soup but had an amazing trip to the Frank Church Wilderness in Idaho. This year, we were armed with some knowledge we took from last years hunt, but we were determined to learn more and hopefully come home with at least one elk.
Donny was the perfect guide for us - very generous with his time and more than happy to make the effort to teach us. Anyway, back to the hunt. We got into a spot almost immediately that had all kinds of elk sign. Fresh footprints, nipped off trees/buds, fresh droppings and some rubs that were a day or two old at most. We got to high ground with a small clearing in the brush and hit a cow call followed by a bugle. Then we waited. It felt like minutes, but within a few seconds we got a response. There was a bull, slightly down the hill a few hundred yards away. We responded with a follow-up bugle and got an immediate response.
We backed out of our area and started to close the distance towards where we heard the elk bugle. Donny was in front, I followed with my gun at the ready and my hunting buddy was behind me with his camera ready to catch whatever came next. I had my wind checker out and was constantly checking the wind, or so I thought. With the wind in our face and a relatively well worn game trail to walk on, we closed down the distance to the bull quickly. Donny hit the bull with another cow call and then a bugle. Almost immediately we heard a big bugle response and some serious raking. We stopped where we were, and got set up. Donny started to rake with a small 5 point shed he carries, mixed in with bugles.
At this point we were quickly losing shooting light (technically the local laws let you shoot 1 hour after sundown, but in the thick woods we were in it was nearly impossible). It felt like we had 10 minutes or less to make something happen. As the minutes ticked down, the elk came in to us and was probably 20 yards away. He had a big body, but in the dwindling light I could not make out the antlers and was not comfortable taking a shot (we were in a 6 point zone). As we were standing there trying to get him to turn his head, the wind swirled, he got our scent and took off crashing through the woods.
My heart was racing, I had just had my first ever elk encounter, heard my first ever bugle and came within a split second of having a big bull elk down on the first night. My adrenaline was pumping and I knew already I was hooked on elk hunting during the rut. We backed out and made a plan to go back the next morning.
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