lowpressure
Lil-Rokslider
Well, I got it done in Idaho! This also completed filling two public land bull tags this year. I’m blessed beyond belief.
I drew a limited entry tag and immediately started the planning. My wife and I took a week long scouting trip the third week of September. It was covered up in hunters but we still got into elk with a bit of hiking. We made multiple notes on onx and felt like we had a handle on the unit……it was 100 percent different with a foot of snow and less pressure.
We got back for the hunt and found 0 animals or even tracks for the first two days. Panic started to set in so we just started from scratch and went to a few glassing spots we located. We found a large herd that had a few decent bulls in it. I made a couple different hunts on them but the number of eyes made it tough to get on a good bull so we pulled back and left them for a few other hunters we met.
Over the next few days We found a few very nice bulls that were in spots that I just could not figure out how to get into without getting busted so we just kept looking. On day 6 we found what we were looking for.
We saw 9 bulls making their way down into a meadow just before dark. We came back at first light and watched them feed back up to dark timber. They stopped right on the edge of it and bedded up in the sun. At 9 they moved out of the sun and into the shade where we couldn’t see em. We left and went back to camp to eat and make a plan.
I had to make 1600 foot of elevation to get even with them and I had to start 4 drainages to the south and then sidehill their direction. The sun stayed on their drainage until sunset so we were worried about how many minutes I would have the wind coming downhill. At 1130 I started the climb.
I got close to the top of the last drainage at 230 with a terrible wind so I ate some snacks and took a nap. At 445 the thermals turned downward. I grabbed my stuff and crested the ridge. I glassed the edge of timber to make sure none were out yet. I hustled across the meadow to a pair of trees right in the middle. The wind was perfect and only 25 minutes of legal light left. Ten minutes later I heard branches breaking so I have two very soft cow calls. Everything went quiet. I hoped I hadn’t screwed it up. Then I saw him. He was slowly making his way towards me and swinging his head both directions trying to find the source of the sound. I saw where he would step out and ranged it. 115 yards….. right on the edge off where I had practiced with these iron sights. He took two more steps and cleared the trees. I took aim and fired. He took two quick steps down hill and turned 180 and headed back for the timber….. he never made it. A dream come true just happened. I completed the double-up on two public land bulls in two states in just over two weeks. And my wife was watching the whole thing through my spotting scope. Here’s some pics.
I drew a limited entry tag and immediately started the planning. My wife and I took a week long scouting trip the third week of September. It was covered up in hunters but we still got into elk with a bit of hiking. We made multiple notes on onx and felt like we had a handle on the unit……it was 100 percent different with a foot of snow and less pressure.
We got back for the hunt and found 0 animals or even tracks for the first two days. Panic started to set in so we just started from scratch and went to a few glassing spots we located. We found a large herd that had a few decent bulls in it. I made a couple different hunts on them but the number of eyes made it tough to get on a good bull so we pulled back and left them for a few other hunters we met.
Over the next few days We found a few very nice bulls that were in spots that I just could not figure out how to get into without getting busted so we just kept looking. On day 6 we found what we were looking for.
We saw 9 bulls making their way down into a meadow just before dark. We came back at first light and watched them feed back up to dark timber. They stopped right on the edge of it and bedded up in the sun. At 9 they moved out of the sun and into the shade where we couldn’t see em. We left and went back to camp to eat and make a plan.
I had to make 1600 foot of elevation to get even with them and I had to start 4 drainages to the south and then sidehill their direction. The sun stayed on their drainage until sunset so we were worried about how many minutes I would have the wind coming downhill. At 1130 I started the climb.
I got close to the top of the last drainage at 230 with a terrible wind so I ate some snacks and took a nap. At 445 the thermals turned downward. I grabbed my stuff and crested the ridge. I glassed the edge of timber to make sure none were out yet. I hustled across the meadow to a pair of trees right in the middle. The wind was perfect and only 25 minutes of legal light left. Ten minutes later I heard branches breaking so I have two very soft cow calls. Everything went quiet. I hoped I hadn’t screwed it up. Then I saw him. He was slowly making his way towards me and swinging his head both directions trying to find the source of the sound. I saw where he would step out and ranged it. 115 yards….. right on the edge off where I had practiced with these iron sights. He took two more steps and cleared the trees. I took aim and fired. He took two quick steps down hill and turned 180 and headed back for the timber….. he never made it. A dream come true just happened. I completed the double-up on two public land bulls in two states in just over two weeks. And my wife was watching the whole thing through my spotting scope. Here’s some pics.
