Elk Season 46

[Ross]

After knee replacement 5/23 this year was looking strong, until my spacer failed in April.

Another surgery loomed and on 6/25/25 I went under the knife for the 14th time on my right knee. As I knew the routine, recovery started once again. A spacer replacement is much quicker and less painful, but I had only 2.5 months before September calling time for friends. Recovery went well and had a great September calling for friends. Got into 2 areas with 5 vocal bulls and saw a couple nice ones. Put on a lot of miles and the knee is doing great.

Photo after surgery and one of the bulls seen in September. The new iPhone 17 zoom is very sweet.
Breaking this up into parts will say the outcome is

 

[Ross]

I go against the grain of most elk hunters, as I use my bugle throughout October. I like to call North Idaho the jungle, as you often have a bull very close, but have zero shot and glassing is very limited in most of the country. Hearing is one of your best assets and thankfully my loud music has not affected it. My last two bulls were called in bugling to 45 and 12 yards.

Day one had a significant windstorm that pissed me off, as a bull was screaming mid morning but I could not pinpoint until around 10am. Once I did off I went to the top of the mountain. He was on a 2nd estrus cow and hot on her tail. I heard them just over a ridge and got ready. She ran through the timber at 110 yards, he screamed, stepped out broadside only showing his 6pt rack and very little of his high chest to make a shot. Though I had the uphill thermal, the wind was swirling and they caught my scent. He last screamed around noon.

Day 2 offered a fogged in jungle with nothing more than a long hike.

So far zero hunters seen or heard in the woods, but many seen riding side by sides and walking the road.

As a side note, a young hunter heard 5 bulls screaming opening morning and shot a nice 6 pt that fell 5 ft off a forest service trail two miles in.

 

[Ross]

Day 3 offered better visibility above the fog line. Fog line was about 4k after big rain event. At the trailhead at 5 no one. 2k up at daybreak 6:50. Snow line was around 4500. Fresh beds at this line. Small herd was there two days prior. This was 10/15. Followed tracks and beds for a couple hours. Hit large bench around 10. Bugled and cow called. Got 3 bulls to answer across the drainage. Bugled a few more times, with several answers. Sat down to make coffee. Heard elk running to me, cow and calf run to within 5 yards. They stayed within sight, about 3 minutes later hear more elk running to me, gun up another cow and calf set to 5 yards. They are in post one. Three bulls continue to bugle off and on for two hours. I move around the basin, attempting to glass as they are about 3/4 of a mile away. I mark the one aggressive bugler on my map, as he bugles at 4pm. North Idaho at its finest in October. I hate sitting in the fog till 11

 

[Ross]

Day 4 offered a decision. Go to the side where the bulls were, heavy dark timber and new country or go to the same hillside which offers better visibility and where I had been run over by the cows. One of the 3 bulls had moved below me the day before. I chose the easier hunt back up the ridge I knew, which resulted in only some new tracks.

Day 5 was after a big rain event and day 10 of the 14 day season.
90% of the hunting camps had pulled out and I had yet to see anyone off the road and only heard one gun shot that was not near a road.
I made the assumption the 3 bulls had not been messed with and were still in this pocket, staying back in the heavy dark north slope. Due to the rain event and heavy fog that formed once again, I gave the fog time to lift leaving my house at 8am. I was hiking at 10:30 and proceeded to the mark location of where the one bull I had marked bugling late in the day a few days prior. About 1:30 and 1.5 miles in, I got to where he had been. You guessed it, I bugled Two of the three bulls answered about 500 yards away, one above, the other below and into the next pocket. Any shots in this area will be 10-30 yards.

 

[Ross]

Over the next hour both bulls continued to bugle, as I moved further up canyon. I got into some Heavily used elk trails that I had not encountered in several years. You literally could ride a mountain bike on portions of them. The scent of elk hung in the air and fresh tracks were literally all over. There was a series of three small ridges to the back end of the canyon that offered some small openings to shoot on to. Both bulls went quiet over the next hour, so I bugled no response. I checked the wind and as is often the case there was no constant pattern. I started moving quicker on the elk trails and into the next pocket. I heard cow mews, brush breaking and one bugle. I caught movement as they moved around the next pocket. My pace picked up and I rounded the last ridge to look into the last pocket. I was into some vertical cliffs, but had good visibility for once. I sat down at 3:30 and started glassing. I picked up two cows left, one bedded. These were not from the group I was pushing. Right several hundred yards away I picked up three cows that came out of the creek bed and ranged them at 340. The balance of the herd would likely follow their line. I got my pack ready and waited. About 20 minutes later a few more cows filtered out of the creek and followed the others line.

 

[Ross]

I will digress for a second. I like many of us followed the Outdoor Vitals new product gear posts. I have everything I need and if it works I tend to keep gear a long time. Something like my tikka and leupold scope

I bought the hoodie and took it for several walk abouts, wore it this rainy sponge bob day and wore it while butchering my bull in the dark and pinned in a bad location. Sure it has a few pills and expect wear when I abuse something. It gets a 10 rating. It dries very quickly, is super soft, decently resilient to abuse and cleaned up well after a little bit of blood got on it. It will be with me on most any hunt below 60 degrees.

 

[Ross]

About 10 minutes after the last cows showed, two more bodies started up the hill and the last one was white. A Quick Look verified a solid bull.

Took an hour to get to him, as I slid down the cliff.

He was pinned against two trees and in a circle of muddy black dirt from the rain. If I rolled him, there was a steep ravine and his position could get much worse.

Experience said get out the knife and do the chore on the spot.
Piece by piece and slow and steady in the dark. As with the prior year it would be a late night

I started out at 9:30 and hit the truck at 1:15 am.

One young packer showed up at 8 and the other at 1 and at 6:30 he was out. That is my 38k step total above.

Take always. I never want this to end. Sadly the body says these kind of hunts at 62 will end by 70.

Spare headlamps and or batteries are a requirement, if you plan an evening hunt.

Get comfortable in the dark, it will maximize your opportunities. There is a recent thread on this.

Have all your gear dialed, but don’t over pack for fear factor.

Once again the iPhone satellite and zoleo oh so helpful, along with Gaia. Gaia helped me on one section of ridge that was a disaster if I did not stay on the ridge top.

Young friends are the bomb for old dudes.

Butchering and hanging a bull in the dark is fun, you just go slow.

Most rifle guys in this country don’t venture far from the road. Over the last 5 seasons totaling about 30 days hunting elk, I have seen Zero people. Everyone wants to hunt in September. The weather is much nicer and the elk bugle more. For an old grey beard, rifle bugling works for me just fine

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

That was a great read thanks for sharing and congrats, hope you prove yourself wrong and are still doing this beyond 70.


Edit: forgot to add, some of the best rifles hunters on the coast in Oregon I know hunt timber. It’s not the only way, but like you mentioned they never see other hunters just elk and other critters

 

[Toneloc]

Awesome! Great write up.

 

[Alpineelk]

Great bull and awesome story. October weather can be hard to hunt but it's a great time to be in the woods

 

[Atao]

Nice work! that is a awesome bull