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WKR
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2015
First archery Elk hunt Idaho - Updated w/Pics
Last August I got into podcasts on my family vacation. I quickly learned the good detailed podcasts were archery based. Being an avid waterfowl hunter and salmon fisherman who is borderline ocd with some easy private land deer hunting experience mixed in one could say I have the instinct to kill. But with no elk knowledge and little experience I became a podcast fiend.
This spring I finally decided to purchase a bow. Not to hunt just to shoot and get some archery experience. I had a deep seeded interest in hunting with a bow but had no clue how. The words of Brian Call about hunting Idaho "just buy a tag and go" for an archery elk hunt stuck with me. I also learned from the podcasts about Kifaru and from Rokslide the Ben Greenfield discount which made my Kifaru pack purchase a touch easier. The old Eblerstock I had used for years was tossed aside as I made up a duct tape pea gravel 50 lb weight and loaded it into my Kifaru. I had evening summer pack sessions every day with no plan to hunt. There was smoke but no fire.
My wife had been working on her masters the last two and half years and with a completion date in late August of this year. I knew some of my obligations to my family would be freed up and I would have some precious time to myself. The only one thing I wanted to do was get on a mountain with my bow and see if I had what it takes. If I didn’t succeed I wanted to fail so hard it would break me and start the molding process to a new level of toughness. When you listen to Cameron Hanes speak he is in a different place mentally than any person I know. His words about discipline and pushing himself to the limit repeated through my brain.
With summer winding down I had to figure out how to break the news to my wife I was headed to Idaho solo with my bow. There is no great way to let her know that I will be gone for 9 days and be spending well over a $1000. We give each other as much respect and rope as possible to let the other person accomplish what they feel they can. She wasn't happy but knew she was being told and not asked, it was just one of those times in a relationship when you let go. She had just finished her masters and I needed to go finish something I had started. The last thing she said to me as I walked out the door was “you’ll get one, I know you will”
As a professional fishing guide I was limited to the dates I could hunt. With daily salmon trips starting Sept. 23 I was forced to head out mid September, well before the advised last two weeks of the season. This time also happened to be centered around the full moon.
A huge thanks to IdahoElk and Rokslide for providing a research platform and sounding board. IdahoElk was super cool, letting me call and ask countless question. He now probably knows my questions were always loaded and I often asked a question that led into the next question. The continued feedback I received was the elk are in every part of the unit, they don’t like roads and they don’t like people. And they are where you find them. At this point I was ready go.
Sunday-Travel day. I rolled in Sunday afternoon and my per my google earth I was going to scale a ridge and head up into the backcountry into an area that would be very difficult. Upon my ascent the ridge was much steeper and rocky than what google earth showed. I climbed and it was difficult to make progress. The sheer steepness and weight of my pack pulling me back and forth I could visualize tumbling down the hill and breaking a leg or being maimed. Then huge rocks jetting out of the ridge with sheer cliffs and timber I would have to turn back this was impassible.
I got back to my truck in the fading light and began to drive. There is an unexplainable feeling I get when in the woods or on the water, I can sense where animals and fish are and it works most of the time. As I drove all the good looking spots had trucks and camps and the steep or sterile burned areas were vacant. Plan A, B and C where going quick. I headed for a different part of the unit spending the night in my truck.
Monday- I found a less used road and even better trail. It was morning and I headed up the ridge calling and bugling as I went. I didn’t make it a half mile when I looked straight ahead and a small raghorn was looking right at me. I had called in my first elk. He was about 30 yards. I was sweating and shaking and still wearing my pack, I nocked an arrow and came to full draw. The elk stared at me broad side. I watched as my arrow sailed over his back. I couldn’t believe it. I cow called to calm him down and it worked. I dropped my pack, ranged him again this time 50 yards and nocked an arrow. This one I sent and crack deflected into a branch and he took off. What thrill!
free screenshot software
Tuesday- My hearing isn’t great, I have shooters ear from years of shotgunning and I had yet to hear a bugle or cow call. The place I called in the raghorn is silent and I’m getting that feeling he was traveling picking up cows, he had 2 with him. I was getting discouraged with the amount of camps and hunters I was seeing in the unit. I put a call into IdahoElk and asked for some advice, he suggested some new areas. I ascended a steep hill Tuesday night looking for a secluded pocket of timber undisturbed by humans. As I climbed and climbed I found mule deer, old elk sign but found nothing to get excited about. I climbed for hours trying to reach the top of the ridge and I just couldn’t make it. As the sun was setting I was out of gas and I just had to stop. I looked across the valley with my binoculars and spotting scope which I religiously packed and saw elk almost immediately on two hill sides across from me. What a turn around in luck!
upload images free
Wednesday- The elk happening. As I cautiously made my way up the ridge I scouted the night before it happened, my first bugle right below me. Than another above me and another on the opposite drainage. My heart and emotions started to run, my dream was unfolding before my eyes. I started to call and had some cows and a calf come in to range. I passed on them waiting for a bull to appear. As they drifted out of a range a small 6 or 5 point caught up with them at 80 yards and walked up the ridge. So close!
image hosting 10mb limit
Thursday-The weather had changed and it was full on rain and wind. The elk stopped talking. The combination of sweat from hiking in and the rain I became cold. I relied on my puffy jacket to stay in the field. As my boots became damp I could no longer take it. I had to return to my truck, pull out my in soles and warm up. I couldn’t believe I was having an equipment failure and it was costing me precious hunting time.
screenshot windows
Friday- Elk Exodus. Was much like Thursday, wet cold and nasty. I could only hunt the morning before having to hike off the mountain and dry out my boots. I was loosing hours of hunting and gaining hours of hiking, By Friday night the weather broke and things were shaping up. I was ready to arrow any elk at this point, as luck would have it as the sun dropped and a line of cows made their way out of the timber up the hill side towards me. I moved into position and knocked an arrow. The lead cow caught me off guard, staring. She had me busted even though I never moved. As this show down was going on I heard the deepest, loudest, harrowing bugle of my life. It sounded like Lord of the Rings met Corey Jacobson. It shook the hillside. As I looked down to see the massive 6 point bull, cows came running out of the timber of the opposite draw. He was assembling his herd! The cows ran at full sprint to this bull! As the cows came out of the timber the lead cow barked, then a cow below me saw slight movement and barked. The entire herd ran off the hill and I watched my bull lumber behind his cows. Ouch, lesson learned don’t mess with the lead cow!
image upload no compression
Saturday- Was tough day. I had spooked nearly every elk in my area, there was a few distant bugles early then nothing. I started noticing the trail systems the elk were using and I would hang out in patches of timber catching cows moving through silently during the day, I knew they were still around.
image hosting no registration
Sunday-My wife started asking me when I was coming home. I felt so close to being successful yet the pressures to return where building. I had 2 more days but I knew my time was limited. The elk Sunday morning would not talk, no bugles, no cow talk. I was reflecting on the week and trying to justifying staying for two more days and trying to talk myself into going home when it happened. How the animals use the forest is a mystery. I was headed off the hill between decisions and I saw small aspen grove and a spring I had never noticed. I had the feeling elk were close. I saw foot prints leading to small box canyon, I followed them. As I crept over the edge movement caught my eye. An elk rack swaying side by side feeding, with his cows out in front of him. They didn’t see me! I dropped my pack and tucked against a tree. I ranged him at 45 yards and nocked an arrow. He stood behind a small tree 45 degrees below me. He stepped out and paused and looking right at me. I froze solid as he put his head down went back to feeding. He starting walking uphill towards me at 38 yards. I came to full draw buried my pin behind his should and let my arrow go. The Black eagle Spartan arrow flew nearly silent as it left my bow. I could see the neon green fletching spin as if in slow motion. I watched as the arrow climb it sailed over his back and landed in the timber behind him. I immediately cow called and he looked at me and jumped fast running down into the timber. I stood there in disbelief.
Every part of my plan, all the training, all the shooting and I failed. My mind ran circles of what could have happened. The disappointment was real. As I walked off the hill, I headed for my truck. I was done. It was over. I texted my wife I was coming home and had 7 hours of driving to let everything soak in. As I made it to my truck I could hear the words of Corey Jacobson “you will leave the hunt but the hunt will never leave you”
The emotional highs and lows of that week, were amazing. Early in the week I made excuses why I should go home, later I was making excuses to stay longer. All in all, archery is an amazing sport and I have never had a rifle hunt that compared. I’m planning on a new bow build, more shooting (up and down hills) and constantly find myself asking, is it September yet?
Last August I got into podcasts on my family vacation. I quickly learned the good detailed podcasts were archery based. Being an avid waterfowl hunter and salmon fisherman who is borderline ocd with some easy private land deer hunting experience mixed in one could say I have the instinct to kill. But with no elk knowledge and little experience I became a podcast fiend.
This spring I finally decided to purchase a bow. Not to hunt just to shoot and get some archery experience. I had a deep seeded interest in hunting with a bow but had no clue how. The words of Brian Call about hunting Idaho "just buy a tag and go" for an archery elk hunt stuck with me. I also learned from the podcasts about Kifaru and from Rokslide the Ben Greenfield discount which made my Kifaru pack purchase a touch easier. The old Eblerstock I had used for years was tossed aside as I made up a duct tape pea gravel 50 lb weight and loaded it into my Kifaru. I had evening summer pack sessions every day with no plan to hunt. There was smoke but no fire.
My wife had been working on her masters the last two and half years and with a completion date in late August of this year. I knew some of my obligations to my family would be freed up and I would have some precious time to myself. The only one thing I wanted to do was get on a mountain with my bow and see if I had what it takes. If I didn’t succeed I wanted to fail so hard it would break me and start the molding process to a new level of toughness. When you listen to Cameron Hanes speak he is in a different place mentally than any person I know. His words about discipline and pushing himself to the limit repeated through my brain.
With summer winding down I had to figure out how to break the news to my wife I was headed to Idaho solo with my bow. There is no great way to let her know that I will be gone for 9 days and be spending well over a $1000. We give each other as much respect and rope as possible to let the other person accomplish what they feel they can. She wasn't happy but knew she was being told and not asked, it was just one of those times in a relationship when you let go. She had just finished her masters and I needed to go finish something I had started. The last thing she said to me as I walked out the door was “you’ll get one, I know you will”
As a professional fishing guide I was limited to the dates I could hunt. With daily salmon trips starting Sept. 23 I was forced to head out mid September, well before the advised last two weeks of the season. This time also happened to be centered around the full moon.
A huge thanks to IdahoElk and Rokslide for providing a research platform and sounding board. IdahoElk was super cool, letting me call and ask countless question. He now probably knows my questions were always loaded and I often asked a question that led into the next question. The continued feedback I received was the elk are in every part of the unit, they don’t like roads and they don’t like people. And they are where you find them. At this point I was ready go.
Sunday-Travel day. I rolled in Sunday afternoon and my per my google earth I was going to scale a ridge and head up into the backcountry into an area that would be very difficult. Upon my ascent the ridge was much steeper and rocky than what google earth showed. I climbed and it was difficult to make progress. The sheer steepness and weight of my pack pulling me back and forth I could visualize tumbling down the hill and breaking a leg or being maimed. Then huge rocks jetting out of the ridge with sheer cliffs and timber I would have to turn back this was impassible.
I got back to my truck in the fading light and began to drive. There is an unexplainable feeling I get when in the woods or on the water, I can sense where animals and fish are and it works most of the time. As I drove all the good looking spots had trucks and camps and the steep or sterile burned areas were vacant. Plan A, B and C where going quick. I headed for a different part of the unit spending the night in my truck.
Monday- I found a less used road and even better trail. It was morning and I headed up the ridge calling and bugling as I went. I didn’t make it a half mile when I looked straight ahead and a small raghorn was looking right at me. I had called in my first elk. He was about 30 yards. I was sweating and shaking and still wearing my pack, I nocked an arrow and came to full draw. The elk stared at me broad side. I watched as my arrow sailed over his back. I couldn’t believe it. I cow called to calm him down and it worked. I dropped my pack, ranged him again this time 50 yards and nocked an arrow. This one I sent and crack deflected into a branch and he took off. What thrill!
free screenshot softwareTuesday- My hearing isn’t great, I have shooters ear from years of shotgunning and I had yet to hear a bugle or cow call. The place I called in the raghorn is silent and I’m getting that feeling he was traveling picking up cows, he had 2 with him. I was getting discouraged with the amount of camps and hunters I was seeing in the unit. I put a call into IdahoElk and asked for some advice, he suggested some new areas. I ascended a steep hill Tuesday night looking for a secluded pocket of timber undisturbed by humans. As I climbed and climbed I found mule deer, old elk sign but found nothing to get excited about. I climbed for hours trying to reach the top of the ridge and I just couldn’t make it. As the sun was setting I was out of gas and I just had to stop. I looked across the valley with my binoculars and spotting scope which I religiously packed and saw elk almost immediately on two hill sides across from me. What a turn around in luck!
upload images freeWednesday- The elk happening. As I cautiously made my way up the ridge I scouted the night before it happened, my first bugle right below me. Than another above me and another on the opposite drainage. My heart and emotions started to run, my dream was unfolding before my eyes. I started to call and had some cows and a calf come in to range. I passed on them waiting for a bull to appear. As they drifted out of a range a small 6 or 5 point caught up with them at 80 yards and walked up the ridge. So close!
image hosting 10mb limitThursday-The weather had changed and it was full on rain and wind. The elk stopped talking. The combination of sweat from hiking in and the rain I became cold. I relied on my puffy jacket to stay in the field. As my boots became damp I could no longer take it. I had to return to my truck, pull out my in soles and warm up. I couldn’t believe I was having an equipment failure and it was costing me precious hunting time.
screenshot windowsFriday- Elk Exodus. Was much like Thursday, wet cold and nasty. I could only hunt the morning before having to hike off the mountain and dry out my boots. I was loosing hours of hunting and gaining hours of hiking, By Friday night the weather broke and things were shaping up. I was ready to arrow any elk at this point, as luck would have it as the sun dropped and a line of cows made their way out of the timber up the hill side towards me. I moved into position and knocked an arrow. The lead cow caught me off guard, staring. She had me busted even though I never moved. As this show down was going on I heard the deepest, loudest, harrowing bugle of my life. It sounded like Lord of the Rings met Corey Jacobson. It shook the hillside. As I looked down to see the massive 6 point bull, cows came running out of the timber of the opposite draw. He was assembling his herd! The cows ran at full sprint to this bull! As the cows came out of the timber the lead cow barked, then a cow below me saw slight movement and barked. The entire herd ran off the hill and I watched my bull lumber behind his cows. Ouch, lesson learned don’t mess with the lead cow!
image upload no compressionSaturday- Was tough day. I had spooked nearly every elk in my area, there was a few distant bugles early then nothing. I started noticing the trail systems the elk were using and I would hang out in patches of timber catching cows moving through silently during the day, I knew they were still around.
image hosting no registrationSunday-My wife started asking me when I was coming home. I felt so close to being successful yet the pressures to return where building. I had 2 more days but I knew my time was limited. The elk Sunday morning would not talk, no bugles, no cow talk. I was reflecting on the week and trying to justifying staying for two more days and trying to talk myself into going home when it happened. How the animals use the forest is a mystery. I was headed off the hill between decisions and I saw small aspen grove and a spring I had never noticed. I had the feeling elk were close. I saw foot prints leading to small box canyon, I followed them. As I crept over the edge movement caught my eye. An elk rack swaying side by side feeding, with his cows out in front of him. They didn’t see me! I dropped my pack and tucked against a tree. I ranged him at 45 yards and nocked an arrow. He stood behind a small tree 45 degrees below me. He stepped out and paused and looking right at me. I froze solid as he put his head down went back to feeding. He starting walking uphill towards me at 38 yards. I came to full draw buried my pin behind his should and let my arrow go. The Black eagle Spartan arrow flew nearly silent as it left my bow. I could see the neon green fletching spin as if in slow motion. I watched as the arrow climb it sailed over his back and landed in the timber behind him. I immediately cow called and he looked at me and jumped fast running down into the timber. I stood there in disbelief.
Every part of my plan, all the training, all the shooting and I failed. My mind ran circles of what could have happened. The disappointment was real. As I walked off the hill, I headed for my truck. I was done. It was over. I texted my wife I was coming home and had 7 hours of driving to let everything soak in. As I made it to my truck I could hear the words of Corey Jacobson “you will leave the hunt but the hunt will never leave you”
The emotional highs and lows of that week, were amazing. Early in the week I made excuses why I should go home, later I was making excuses to stay longer. All in all, archery is an amazing sport and I have never had a rifle hunt that compared. I’m planning on a new bow build, more shooting (up and down hills) and constantly find myself asking, is it September yet?
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