Elk hunt Recap thread

[Felix40]

I had a couple days to kill so I decided to try to find some elk OTC in CO. I saw some country that looked good from the hwy so I turned around and drove up the forest road a few miles. Picked up a bull with the spotter that evening. The next day I moved closer and got lucky to see the bull and 8 cows across canyon in the timber. I crossed over and got inside bow range but ran out of light before the bull would show himself. With a couple minutes of light left I decided to shoot a cow. It was a fun trip and that bull is still out there for all of you. I still have a tag here in NM to try for a bull.

 

[canthitbombz]

Huntin buddy tagged out Saturday night.

Still nothing talking where we are at so it has been a frustrating few weeks.
Anyway, on to the story. We ( 3 of us ) hiked into a place that we had never been to but we figured we could get away from the wind ( 20-30 MPH winds). We hiked up the side of the ridge, 300 vertical climb, got up on top and found a forest service road that wasnt on the maps. We hiked down it for about half a mile and found that the forest service had been in there for about the last week cutting down trees and clearing the road. So we turned around figuring that they had pushed the elk the other way. we came to a nice open sagebrush flat with trees bordering it on 3 sides and some nice aspen cuts to the east.

My buddy says " you guys go ahead i need to take care of some business". So the other guy and i hike up to the flat and take a look. He is inexperienced so he just starts to go cruising through the sagebrush and i called him over to a couple of pine trees near the edge so we could do a little calling from cover. By this time i am a little frustrated and to be completely honest pissed off that we havent heard any elk this year. So i let that emotion take hold when i pulled the bugle tube out and just let one rip, like hey F**k you Tony, RIP. no answer. wait about 1 minute and let another, I'm the baddest MFer in this valley, bugle go. grab a stick and start beating the hell outta the tree next to me. My buddy who is taking care of "business" bugles back while he has his pants down, lol. so i cut him off with my own bugle. Me and the inexperienced guy start laughing under our breath.

My buddy comes out of the trees and starts across the sagebrush to take a look over the edge. Just then 2 bulls come walking out of the trees to our right about 200 yards away. Inexperience and I couldnt see them but my buddy could. he drops to his knees in the middle of the sagebrush and gives a cow call to get our attention, Signals that there are elk coming and we got ready. unfortunately they came walking right through the middle of the darn brush at about 75 yards away, A small 5 point and a 3 point raghorn boadside to me. No way was i comfortable with that long of a shot. so the bulls walked right at my buddy, they got to 60 yards and the larger one turns looking for the cow. Buddy makes a 62 yard shot, from his knees with no cover. Hits the bull hard and he spins and runs back the way they came from. goes approx 60 yards and piles up in the middle of a nice grassy area. Buddy took the top of the heart right off, it was just laying in the sack. it was one hell of a shot for sure!

We got him gutted and we debating about quartering him out and coming back in the morning to get him. Just as we were getting him opened up coyotes started talking a ridge away. They made up our mind for us. I grabbed the first hind quarter and threw it on the Icon Pro ( Love this Pack! ). hauled it back to the RZR ( 1.4 miles through the trees, creek, and about 40 yards of thick willows ). got back to the RZR unloaded that quarter, strapped my buddies pack to mine and back up i went.

I just want to say, if you dont have OnX...get it. that app saved our asses. as i was going back i found a nice big trail and opening by looking at the app. Saved at least 45 minutes of heavy pack time and who knows how many broken ankles, haha.

Got back to the kill as they were finishing up and the rain started. we loaded the rest up in the 2 packs and back out we went. by the time we reached the Rzr we were soaked completely through...i mean even my undies were wet. half hour ride in the rzr to camp and then it was drinks and elk heart for dinner.

I have to say it was one hell of a night.
first trip back to the rzr. 1 hind quarter and my bow

Second trip out, 1 hind quarter, the other bag has the heart, liver, back straps, loins, neck meat and misc hamburger meat.

this one was a heavy SOB.

 

[Shawn_Guinn]

Night before opening day we were making plans on who was hunting where and with who. 7 guys in camp needs coordinating. I said "I'm going solo and kill my elk opening morning just not sure if it will be the big 5 point I had scouted during early deer." I left early as the saddle I wanted to sit was a uphill climb. Ran into a couple old boys at the end of the road we talked out our plans.They weren't ambitious so I know we would be over a mile plus apart. I set up between two dead falls where my wind would do the least damage as the animals got pushed from one drainage to the other. At 730 I glassed the biggest buck I chased earlier across the saddle working his velvet off in the buck brush and I worked out a theoretically possible stock. Only because I settled on a nice 4 point at 25 yards on the 19th. I heard crashing coming over the mountain not from either spot I expected. The nice 5 was running down the mountain pushing the buck's out. He only stopped for a brief second as I tried to cow call him in. Thought about chasing after down the drainage when I heard more crashing coming down the mountain. I glassed up to see a tall spike, good enough for me. Some light bugles with lonely cow calls got him to slow down and change paths . I kept trying to throw my calls but he had me fairly pinpointed. But my hide and wind were solid. I ranged him at 63 spun my dial and went to full draw when he stepped behind a burned up tree gave him a chirp with the pink phelps he stopped sent into his front shoulder he fell over got up ran 40 yards hit a tree knocked himself silly, where I finished him quickly. Called my buddies sitting in the stands on the far side of the opposite drainage they climbed down and back up the mountain the 5 of us made quick work of him after they tried to shoot another couple bulls that interrupted our calls trying to locate each other as they came up the mountain to me. Pretty dang good opening morning in a uncapped otc Idaho unit. I will say heavy arrows helped 250 spine black eagle renegades with 125 grain ATAC heads taw 530 grains 73lb rx3 30 inch draw makes a big impact and hole.

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[srichter]

Awesome stories, thank y’all for sharing. Gets me pumped up for my trip next month.

 

[yoopshoot]

MT recap:

Initially I hadn’t drawn the tags I had desired, however earlier this month I had been notified I could purchase a MT general tag through the alternate list process. I had posted a couple weeks ago as I debated switching from OTC CO to MT.

Long story short- I switched to MT and was very pleased with the hunt. This was my first hunt in MT so a completely new area to me. I had talked to a few people who had been in the general area, however no specific intel. My plan was to base camp and do day hunts to cover as much ground as possible and find elk. A big plus of this hunt was my dad, who is retired, was able to come along and be camp cook, fish, and soak up the mountain scenery. He is limited by bad ankles so hunting wasn’t possible, but it was nice to have this time with him.

I ended up hunting a total of 7 days, having encounters with 4 bulls ( 3 of which were nice 5/6pts, and one legit 330” stud). On day 5 I ended up having a bugle fest with 3 different bulls right off the bat in the morning, however no close encounters or shot opportunities. Later that day, on my way hiking back to the

original drainage, I heard a lazy bed bugle across the very steep canyon. I believed this was one of the same bulls from the morning who had went quiet. Anyways, I gave a quick bugle and he answered, with the same intensity as his first bed bugle. To get on the same contour as him, I descended 700’ and then had to climb up approx. 300’ on the other side of the canyon. Once on the same contour- I was approx 300 yards from his location, I started bugling/raking. He replied and with each bugle, his attitude change was palpable. I continued to work within about 100 yards of where I believed he was bedded and at this point , the bull was full on screaming. I hammered back with the meanest bugle I could muster and heavily raked a spruce. Within 15 seconds I could hear him crashing towards me, he closed to 20 yards frontal behind a large spruce where he proceeded to lip bawl right in my face. He then angled uphill right to left and I had one small lane at 18 yards. At this point I fully see how big he is- given his frame/ length, he appeared like a legit 330” class bull. He stopped hard quartered to and I settled the pin , trying to sneak it in front of the shoulder. ( bad idea).

The shot broke cleanly and I watched the lighted nock find its mark, however I didn’t like the penetration I saw. He ran off downhill but I never heard any crash. Fast forward one hour and I found my arrow a few yards from the shot, missing 4” and the broadhead- a sign of a shoulder impact. I followed his tracks which showed no blood at all. Additionally within 10 minutes of my shot, I was able to glass the bull with his cows up on the opposite ridge( he appeared unphased as he rounded up his cows and even gave a bugle).

Hindsight is always 20/20, and I should have probably passed on the shot angle, however I had confidence my setup could have gotten through. I was shooting 80lb/31.5” draw with 570 grain arrows and a premium fixed blade. I would have imagined that I could breach that bone, but was mistaken. At the impact I had to of hit knuckle, especially at that angle. I do believe the bull will be ok, and it was obviously a non fatal wound.

Overall a fantastic trip and I was very pleased to switch. I had great encounters, spent valuable time with my dad, and made some great memories including a cinnamon phase black bear wandering through camp at 6 yards from us while we were eating lunch . Sometimes a punched tag isn’t the definition of success.


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[Next Ridge]

The first time I found this hidden water hole, the water was covering the entire grassy area in the pic. Haven't seen more water than what's in this pic since.

View attachment 210107

5MilesBack, we had the exact same issue, a lot of wallows and normal water sources were dry. We finally found a few new ones up high and had an encounter near one and tagged out near another. Otherwise the elk seemed to be staying low in the actual creeks that still had water in them. Not on slopes or ridges nearby where we expect them but staying down in the creek bed all day.