Elk97
WKR
My sons and I were hunting in serious griz country (MT) and had an interesting experience. Younger son and I hiked in the 5 miles or so to a camp they had set up before I got there. Did some hunting/scouting along the way, heard a few bugles but they were far off and we wanted to get to camp and be ready for an evening hunt so didn't go too far off the trail. The plan was to spend 2-3 nights at camp.
Mid afternoon we were getting close when we spotted two moose on the logging road we were on up ahead. Two bulls, one had an enormous rack on him, and they didn't act like they were going to move so we detoured up into the timber to go around them. They'd gone down a creek by the time we got to where they'd been standing and camp was only about 100 yds beyond. I was pretty tired by the time we got there, cool place, good glassing nearby. I was taking in the scenery and my son went into the A frame log and Tyvek shelter they'd made. He came out in a minute with a piece of paper and said that someone had left a note. It said that there was an elk carcass about a quarter mile north of our camp, watch out for bears, etc. Damn nice of the guy.
So about a minute after reading the note the loudest, most terrifying roaring came out of the timber, and it was close! It was the kind of sound that nightmares are made of, and it went on and on. It was so loud it seemed like it was coming from right behind the A frame! We both jumped up and I grabbed my revolver and had it at the ready, son ran in the shelter and grabbed a shotgun they'd stashed there (he had a 44 on his hip) and we both just stood there not knowing what was going to happen but ready for the worst. The roaring stopped (probably didn't go on for as long as it seemed but it was a good long time) and we just stood there on high alert for long enough to let our pulse rates come down from the stratosphere. We guessed bears (not much doubt in our minds that's what it was) were fighting over the carcass, or part of it, and that they were at most 100-150 yds or so in the timber behind our shelter.
After a very brief discussion about whether we were going to stay the night (not), we decided to gain some distance and elevation away from the bears while we waited for my other son. He was coming in later and we didn't want him arriving not knowing the score. Got ahold of him via Inreach and he was about a mile or so away watching a six point and some cows (he wasn't hunting because of a shoulder injury). So we high tailed it back to where he was but of course the elk were gone when we got there. All of us hiked back to camp and grabbed as much stuff as we could carry and headed back to the truck in the dark. Got out at 1AM. Didn't go back for a full week.
Never got an elk (sons are still hunting) but came very close several times.
Mid afternoon we were getting close when we spotted two moose on the logging road we were on up ahead. Two bulls, one had an enormous rack on him, and they didn't act like they were going to move so we detoured up into the timber to go around them. They'd gone down a creek by the time we got to where they'd been standing and camp was only about 100 yds beyond. I was pretty tired by the time we got there, cool place, good glassing nearby. I was taking in the scenery and my son went into the A frame log and Tyvek shelter they'd made. He came out in a minute with a piece of paper and said that someone had left a note. It said that there was an elk carcass about a quarter mile north of our camp, watch out for bears, etc. Damn nice of the guy.
So about a minute after reading the note the loudest, most terrifying roaring came out of the timber, and it was close! It was the kind of sound that nightmares are made of, and it went on and on. It was so loud it seemed like it was coming from right behind the A frame! We both jumped up and I grabbed my revolver and had it at the ready, son ran in the shelter and grabbed a shotgun they'd stashed there (he had a 44 on his hip) and we both just stood there not knowing what was going to happen but ready for the worst. The roaring stopped (probably didn't go on for as long as it seemed but it was a good long time) and we just stood there on high alert for long enough to let our pulse rates come down from the stratosphere. We guessed bears (not much doubt in our minds that's what it was) were fighting over the carcass, or part of it, and that they were at most 100-150 yds or so in the timber behind our shelter.
After a very brief discussion about whether we were going to stay the night (not), we decided to gain some distance and elevation away from the bears while we waited for my other son. He was coming in later and we didn't want him arriving not knowing the score. Got ahold of him via Inreach and he was about a mile or so away watching a six point and some cows (he wasn't hunting because of a shoulder injury). So we high tailed it back to where he was but of course the elk were gone when we got there. All of us hiked back to camp and grabbed as much stuff as we could carry and headed back to the truck in the dark. Got out at 1AM. Didn't go back for a full week.
Never got an elk (sons are still hunting) but came very close several times.
thankfully the guests didn’t shoot out any other windows.
