Journal of a New Elk Hunters First Season
- Thread starter hobbes
- Start date
Setup Info
Isaac has been practicing shooting his bow almost daily throughout the summer. Last season I would not have allowed him to bowhunt because he was not consistent enough and could not shoot a draw weight that I was comfortable with for hunting. At the beginning of the summer, I wasn’t sure I would allow him to hunt elk with his bow, but his shooting has improved. I’ve had to increase his draw length twice this year.
Isaac is shooting a 2009 Diamond Edge, Carbon Express Arrows, and three blade Muzzy 100 grain broadheads. His arrow/broadhead combination weighs approximately 340 grains. He is at the bottom edge of an elk hunting set up. I’m sure some will disagree with my conclusions, but it’s a call that falls on me and no other. His set up produces good penetration into the few dense portions of target I have left. (I have a better target but I’m trying to squeeze all the life I can out of this one.) The set up provides better penetration than the 65 lb. Hoyt Easton Rambo compound I would have hunted with in the 80’s had I hunted elk then. Isaac practices out to 30, but I believe 25 yards is a safe shot for him and will produce more than enough penetration. Shot placement will be the key, so we intend to be very selective and limit shot distance to 25 yards.
One of my jobs will be to determine if he is able to keep it together well enough to allow him to shoot. I’d really like for him to get a shot at a small to medium sized cow to start, but a big cow or young bull will be fair game. I’ll admit that I’m concerned about him shooting at a big bull. I don’t’ think his equipment will be a problem provided shot placement is good. I am however concerned about a first year bowhunter keeping it together when a big bull approaches. I’ll have to determine how rattled he is if we get close to a large animal. And……it’s already been decided between the two of us that a legal bull is fair game for me if a shot presents itself. I’ll have enough to deal with keeping myself from getting rattled.
As a side note, I am shooting a 2007 Bowtech Allegiance, Gold Tip Arrows, and three blade Rocky Mountain 125 gr. Ironhead broadheads. My shots will be limited to 40 yards.
Isaac has been practicing shooting his bow almost daily throughout the summer. Last season I would not have allowed him to bowhunt because he was not consistent enough and could not shoot a draw weight that I was comfortable with for hunting. At the beginning of the summer, I wasn’t sure I would allow him to hunt elk with his bow, but his shooting has improved. I’ve had to increase his draw length twice this year.
Isaac is shooting a 2009 Diamond Edge, Carbon Express Arrows, and three blade Muzzy 100 grain broadheads. His arrow/broadhead combination weighs approximately 340 grains. He is at the bottom edge of an elk hunting set up. I’m sure some will disagree with my conclusions, but it’s a call that falls on me and no other. His set up produces good penetration into the few dense portions of target I have left. (I have a better target but I’m trying to squeeze all the life I can out of this one.) The set up provides better penetration than the 65 lb. Hoyt Easton Rambo compound I would have hunted with in the 80’s had I hunted elk then. Isaac practices out to 30, but I believe 25 yards is a safe shot for him and will produce more than enough penetration. Shot placement will be the key, so we intend to be very selective and limit shot distance to 25 yards.
One of my jobs will be to determine if he is able to keep it together well enough to allow him to shoot. I’d really like for him to get a shot at a small to medium sized cow to start, but a big cow or young bull will be fair game. I’ll admit that I’m concerned about him shooting at a big bull. I don’t’ think his equipment will be a problem provided shot placement is good. I am however concerned about a first year bowhunter keeping it together when a big bull approaches. I’ll have to determine how rattled he is if we get close to a large animal. And……it’s already been decided between the two of us that a legal bull is fair game for me if a shot presents itself. I’ll have enough to deal with keeping myself from getting rattled.
As a side note, I am shooting a 2007 Bowtech Allegiance, Gold Tip Arrows, and three blade Rocky Mountain 125 gr. Ironhead broadheads. My shots will be limited to 40 yards.
September 4-6, 2012
We were unable to hunt Tuesday the 4th through Thursday the 5th. I had to work the rest of the week which included an overnight trip to St. Regis then Polson. Isaac needed to stay caught up with his school work.
On Tuesday evening we got the bows out to practice shooting and found a deer working on our bales. At the start of the summer we were just shooting the target set against the hillside. However, the target is on its last leg and I blew up two arrows that I shot through it into the rocks behind it. I decided I needed to go back to using straw for a backstop. I purchased five bales of “moldy” hay for $1 per bale to use as a backstop since I couldn’t find a good source for straw. I can’t see any mold just poor quality hay and baling. I knew the deer would eventually tear into it but didn’t expect them to get to it until the snow starts to fly. I was wrong. Our backstop is quickly disappearing.
August 19th
The August 19th photo shows a doe pushing the target over to munch on the hay. The September 4th photo shows a doe directly behind the target. The top bale has been broken apart and eaten and the second bale is down to half the original size. They have scattered it all around the target. There are two small 4 points that show up sometimes that I haven’t seen yet. We could both get an over the counter Deer B License that would allow us to shoot an antlerless mule deer, but shooting a doe in the yard just doesn’t do anything for me. Also, a short run would put them in the road or in a neighbor’s yard.
September 4th
Isaac was finally able to shoot the first arrow after pushing the deer away from the target and herding the chickens back up to the house. Chicken herding is easier than herding cats.
Herding Chickens
His first arrow at 20 yards was 8” high. “Come on Isaac, get it together.” His second arrow was 8” high and almost touching the first. “What has happened, he was dead on all weekend?” I watched him draw and anchor. Something didn’t look right about how he was looking through the peep. Then I remembered. I had checked the rubber tubing on both of our peep sights before we left to hunt on Monday evening. They were both questionable, so I replaced the tubing to avoid a mishap at the worst possible moment. Apparently I had put too much pressure on his and moved his peep. I made adjustments to his peep and he was back on target.
I know better than to tinker with the bow and not shoot before we go out, but I had been in a hurry on Monday and failed to have him shoot a couple arrows before we left. Maybe missing our chance at one of the elk on Monday evening was a good thing. Eight inches high may still place an arrow in the kill zone of an elk, but what if the shot was raised 4” high and the arrow ended up 12” from point of aim.
I left Wednesday morning with instructions for him to shoot a few arrows morning and evening that day and morning on Thursday before I returned. I believe he followed through with Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. We both shot Thursday evening and he was doing well out to 25 yards.
We were unable to hunt Tuesday the 4th through Thursday the 5th. I had to work the rest of the week which included an overnight trip to St. Regis then Polson. Isaac needed to stay caught up with his school work.
On Tuesday evening we got the bows out to practice shooting and found a deer working on our bales. At the start of the summer we were just shooting the target set against the hillside. However, the target is on its last leg and I blew up two arrows that I shot through it into the rocks behind it. I decided I needed to go back to using straw for a backstop. I purchased five bales of “moldy” hay for $1 per bale to use as a backstop since I couldn’t find a good source for straw. I can’t see any mold just poor quality hay and baling. I knew the deer would eventually tear into it but didn’t expect them to get to it until the snow starts to fly. I was wrong. Our backstop is quickly disappearing.
August 19th
The August 19th photo shows a doe pushing the target over to munch on the hay. The September 4th photo shows a doe directly behind the target. The top bale has been broken apart and eaten and the second bale is down to half the original size. They have scattered it all around the target. There are two small 4 points that show up sometimes that I haven’t seen yet. We could both get an over the counter Deer B License that would allow us to shoot an antlerless mule deer, but shooting a doe in the yard just doesn’t do anything for me. Also, a short run would put them in the road or in a neighbor’s yard.
September 4th
Isaac was finally able to shoot the first arrow after pushing the deer away from the target and herding the chickens back up to the house. Chicken herding is easier than herding cats.
Herding Chickens
His first arrow at 20 yards was 8” high. “Come on Isaac, get it together.” His second arrow was 8” high and almost touching the first. “What has happened, he was dead on all weekend?” I watched him draw and anchor. Something didn’t look right about how he was looking through the peep. Then I remembered. I had checked the rubber tubing on both of our peep sights before we left to hunt on Monday evening. They were both questionable, so I replaced the tubing to avoid a mishap at the worst possible moment. Apparently I had put too much pressure on his and moved his peep. I made adjustments to his peep and he was back on target.
I know better than to tinker with the bow and not shoot before we go out, but I had been in a hurry on Monday and failed to have him shoot a couple arrows before we left. Maybe missing our chance at one of the elk on Monday evening was a good thing. Eight inches high may still place an arrow in the kill zone of an elk, but what if the shot was raised 4” high and the arrow ended up 12” from point of aim.
I left Wednesday morning with instructions for him to shoot a few arrows morning and evening that day and morning on Thursday before I returned. I believe he followed through with Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. We both shot Thursday evening and he was doing well out to 25 yards.
I've never had a lesson on proper form. I've read a few articles here and there and am fairly proficient at tinkering with a bow, but I'm probably not much of an instructor. I've added a photo of Isaac shooting. I'm not sure what he's done with his feet here and it appears his right elbow may be too high, but other than that.......... , feel free to comment on Isaac's form.
Sept. 7
Isaac and I were able to get out Friday evening for a short hunt. I had seen a few small mule deer bucks a few weeks earlier in an area of new growth pines. The area was close to the road, so it would be an easy hunt. A young mule deer buck would be perfect for a first bow kill and to help get rid of some of the jitters.
We were unable to find anything other than does. We don't have a doe tag, so the evening was just a hike.
A couple of the small bucks from a few weeks ago:
We were unable to hunt this weekend because of commitments I had made to help with a building project at our church. Next Friday I will start a 10 day break. I'm looking forward to the time in the woods.
As another sidenote, I finally got to see a photo of the "300 ish" bull that my budy killed on the first day and got more of the story. He had hiked in at 1:30 and at some point found a bull that he began a stalk on. He ended up bumping a group of raghorns and thought he had blown out the whole lot of them, but as he continued to creep forward he noticed his bull bedded. The bull stood but he was already at full draw at 30 yards. The "300 ish" bull has an unofficial gross score of 341 (beautiful 6 pt). So much for wondering if my wife had the "over 300" score right.
Isaac and I were able to get out Friday evening for a short hunt. I had seen a few small mule deer bucks a few weeks earlier in an area of new growth pines. The area was close to the road, so it would be an easy hunt. A young mule deer buck would be perfect for a first bow kill and to help get rid of some of the jitters.
We were unable to find anything other than does. We don't have a doe tag, so the evening was just a hike.
A couple of the small bucks from a few weeks ago:
We were unable to hunt this weekend because of commitments I had made to help with a building project at our church. Next Friday I will start a 10 day break. I'm looking forward to the time in the woods.
As another sidenote, I finally got to see a photo of the "300 ish" bull that my budy killed on the first day and got more of the story. He had hiked in at 1:30 and at some point found a bull that he began a stalk on. He ended up bumping a group of raghorns and thought he had blown out the whole lot of them, but as he continued to creep forward he noticed his bull bedded. The bull stood but he was already at full draw at 30 yards. The "300 ish" bull has an unofficial gross score of 341 (beautiful 6 pt). So much for wondering if my wife had the "over 300" score right.
BigAntlerGetter
WKR
iv really enjoyed your story thus far thanks so much for posting it. as far as ur son Isaac's form to tell you the honest truth as far as my shooting and everything. as long as he is comfortable can keep the same form in different situations i say let them shoot how they please. consistancy is a huge part of bowhunting and shooting so if thats how he shoots now its gonna be hard for him to break that habit and change. i shoot pretty oddly also with how my peep sight is set because when i shoot i actually put the fletching of my arrow in the crook of my mouth. its the most comfortable way for me to shoot, and having the fletching like that i shoot the exact same way every time. it would be one thing if his arrows were here and there all the time but if he can group and feels comfortable id say let him shoot how hes comfortable
Sept. 8 - 13
We were unable to hunt last weekend due to comitments I had made to help with starting a building project at our church. I worked four 10 hour shifts Monday through Thursday. This allowed me to start my vacation on Friday the 14th. We were unable to hunt any of those days while I worked 10 hour days, but we have spent some time preparing for the next ten days. I purchased our food, gloves for Isaac, Qwikclot for our emergency kit, a fuel canister for my stove, fuel tablets for the Esbit stove, and a solar shower bag. The shower bag will be used to pack a supply of water to our camp site instead of resupplying our water bladders every day.
My supervisor killed a 5 point bull on Tuesday. He’s killed several elk, but this was his first elk with a bow. He found the bull bedded and waited for him to stand. The shot was 40 yards through the back of the lungs and the liver. The bull stood after the shot and then slowly walked over the ridge. While waiting to begin tracking, he could hear something coming over the ridge. His bull came back over the ridge and bedded in the same location as the shot facing him. He had to sit tight for 1 hour until the bull died. If the bull had not come back over the ridge and had only been given the usual ½ hour wait, the bull could have been jumped making tracking difficult. He packed the elk 4 miles by himself. He still showed up for work early Wednesday morning…………He’s an animal!
The bulls should be bugling well during my vacation. The area we are hunting had several bulls and cows in it before season and we found several elk during the first weekend that we weren’t able to connect on. The area has several wallows as well as new and old rubs alike that I think indicates they can usually be found here or close by during the rut. Isaac and I are both excited to get after them.
We'll need all the luck we can get (make)!
We were unable to hunt last weekend due to comitments I had made to help with starting a building project at our church. I worked four 10 hour shifts Monday through Thursday. This allowed me to start my vacation on Friday the 14th. We were unable to hunt any of those days while I worked 10 hour days, but we have spent some time preparing for the next ten days. I purchased our food, gloves for Isaac, Qwikclot for our emergency kit, a fuel canister for my stove, fuel tablets for the Esbit stove, and a solar shower bag. The shower bag will be used to pack a supply of water to our camp site instead of resupplying our water bladders every day.
My supervisor killed a 5 point bull on Tuesday. He’s killed several elk, but this was his first elk with a bow. He found the bull bedded and waited for him to stand. The shot was 40 yards through the back of the lungs and the liver. The bull stood after the shot and then slowly walked over the ridge. While waiting to begin tracking, he could hear something coming over the ridge. His bull came back over the ridge and bedded in the same location as the shot facing him. He had to sit tight for 1 hour until the bull died. If the bull had not come back over the ridge and had only been given the usual ½ hour wait, the bull could have been jumped making tracking difficult. He packed the elk 4 miles by himself. He still showed up for work early Wednesday morning…………He’s an animal!
The bulls should be bugling well during my vacation. The area we are hunting had several bulls and cows in it before season and we found several elk during the first weekend that we weren’t able to connect on. The area has several wallows as well as new and old rubs alike that I think indicates they can usually be found here or close by during the rut. Isaac and I are both excited to get after them.
We'll need all the luck we can get (make)!
Titaniumman
Lil-Rokslider
Loving your story so far. Isaac's form looks good to me. A lot of guys forget that the standing shot, while possible, is not always what you end up with and forget to practice other shots. If I had to guess with what I've read so far you have had him shooting from his knees and other possible situational positions. Good luck fellas!
September 14, 2012
We were at the trailhead with loaded packs and hiking by 5 AM. We had everything we needed for four to five days of hunting. The tent and sleeping bags had been chached when we left after the first weekend, so our packs weren't quite as heavy. The plan was to hunt our way up the nasty timbered slope that lead to our camp site. Slowing down once daylight arrived wouldn't be a problem with the heavy packs.
We did not hear a single bugle, but did a couple blind calling sets on our way up. These were done in locations based off the info from two weeks ago. We had no luck and found very little fresh sign. The vast majority of the elk sign looked like it was from two weeks ago and we were encountering more cattle than we had on the previous hunt. We finished our climb and set up camp once the midday winds started to swirl.
Home for the next few days
Isaac out cold after setting up camp
Midday is a particularly long drawn out affair of trying to nap and pass the time before the evening hunt. It is during this time that I struggle the most with the mental toughness required to push on. It had only been the first morning, but we were disappointed with the lack of action and lack of fresh sign. Still, there was plenty of area to cover to find where the elk may have relocated to.
That evening we decided to hunt in a direction we had not hunted before. The plan was to loop west and hunt up a canyon against the evening thermals. We had heard a bull in this canyon the weekend before season. The country looked good, but the sign was similar to the morning sign...........at least a week old, and there appeared to be a lot more cattle in the area than during the first weekend. We wondered if the cattle had pushed the elk out. The warm weather combined with the lack of bugling and old sign was discouraging even if it was only our first day of hunting. There was talk of how we would proceed if the second day produced the same results. I don't have to sleep in a tent and eat freeze dried meals to find old sign, hear no bugling, and smell cattle. I can do that from the comforts of home. We tried to put that out of our heads and discussed how to proceed with the next morning's hunt while we ate garlic and herb instant potatoes with Mountain House macaroni and cheese.
Smokey skies of Montana - courtesy of Western Montana and Idaho Wildfires
We were at the trailhead with loaded packs and hiking by 5 AM. We had everything we needed for four to five days of hunting. The tent and sleeping bags had been chached when we left after the first weekend, so our packs weren't quite as heavy. The plan was to hunt our way up the nasty timbered slope that lead to our camp site. Slowing down once daylight arrived wouldn't be a problem with the heavy packs.
We did not hear a single bugle, but did a couple blind calling sets on our way up. These were done in locations based off the info from two weeks ago. We had no luck and found very little fresh sign. The vast majority of the elk sign looked like it was from two weeks ago and we were encountering more cattle than we had on the previous hunt. We finished our climb and set up camp once the midday winds started to swirl.
Home for the next few days
Isaac out cold after setting up camp
Midday is a particularly long drawn out affair of trying to nap and pass the time before the evening hunt. It is during this time that I struggle the most with the mental toughness required to push on. It had only been the first morning, but we were disappointed with the lack of action and lack of fresh sign. Still, there was plenty of area to cover to find where the elk may have relocated to.
That evening we decided to hunt in a direction we had not hunted before. The plan was to loop west and hunt up a canyon against the evening thermals. We had heard a bull in this canyon the weekend before season. The country looked good, but the sign was similar to the morning sign...........at least a week old, and there appeared to be a lot more cattle in the area than during the first weekend. We wondered if the cattle had pushed the elk out. The warm weather combined with the lack of bugling and old sign was discouraging even if it was only our first day of hunting. There was talk of how we would proceed if the second day produced the same results. I don't have to sleep in a tent and eat freeze dried meals to find old sign, hear no bugling, and smell cattle. I can do that from the comforts of home. We tried to put that out of our heads and discussed how to proceed with the next morning's hunt while we ate garlic and herb instant potatoes with Mountain House macaroni and cheese.
Smokey skies of Montana - courtesy of Western Montana and Idaho Wildfires
September 15, 2012
I was hoping for bugles during the night, but heard nothing. I had slept fairly well, but the soundest sleep always seems to come just before the alarm. Isaac sounds like he's sleeping soundly every time I wake up, but he says the same about me. However, he's the one that needs a nudge from me each morning to get out of a warm sleeping bag.
We retrieved the days food rations from our food bag hanging in a tree below our camp. Breakfast was maple and brown sugar flavored instant oatmeal with coffee and hot chocolate. Isaac immediately took a gulp of hot chocolate that was made from boiling water. The result doesn't need an explanation, but somehow he seemed surprised.
We hiked south along the trail in the dark. I bugled from the ridge hoping for a response that we could work towards. I thought I heard a grunt immediately after my bugle, but wasn't sure and Isaac didn't hear it. Isaac can hear things that I can't. He's my "bionic ear" during spring turkey season. He hears birds that I couldn't hear on the best of days, but he hasn't learned everything to listen for while elk hunting. We moved forward to the edge of a big park to continue listening for elk. It was still too early to shoot and light seemed to be extra slow to arrive due to a light cloud cover combined with the smoke that has enveloped Western Montana for the last month.
Isaac's eyes lit up and he said "I know you had to have heard that!". I hadn't, and I'm not sure why because according to him it was a full clear bugle. I believed him, so we started in that direction on a cattle/elk trail. We hadn't gone very far when I heard the next bugle. The bull was ahead and below us which isn't particularly good for the early morning thermals. However, insead of the normal thermals steadily moving down, the wind had picked up and was moving uphill where we were. I suspected that lower on the slope the thermals would prevail and would be more consistent, so we hurried to take advantage of the wind and get past the bull before dropping down to his level where we should have a good wind.
We hadn't gone very far when we heard the sound of limbs cracking ahead and slightly below us. That wasn't as low on the slope as we thought the bugle had come from, but we were sure it was elk. Legal shooting hours had just arrived so I felt safe in cow calling to try and identify them as elk. An immediate low whistle into a moaning bugle from 100 yards was the response. Oh yeah.......thats elk. What to do? The wind is still moving up, but it can't last. The timber is too open to risk moving much with a herd now ahead and sounding like its spread out and moving below us. I wanted to move down 50 yards, but we were stuck. We nocked arrows and waited. Isaac's response at his first close encounter with a bugle..........."I don't know about you but my heart rate sure is faster". My response...."Mine is too......just calm down and pick a spot", the instruction as much for me as him. The wind switched downhill and I really wanted to get lower, but there was no chance to move without being busted. I could hear an elk walking almost directly downwind and thought I heard sudden footfalls like we had been busted. I decided to risk it now, if the lower elk had busted maybe we could beat the elk ahead of us without detection. I had no sooner than said "lets move to those thicker trees just below us" than Isaac said "there he is". The bull was coming in below us, so maybe we hadn't been busted. I could see the big body, but couldn't see his head gear. Isaac had a better angle at the headgear and whispered that it was a bull. The bull stopped just below us and what appeared to be directly downwind. The bull was broadside and appeared to be 60 yards or so in the low light. I need to keep my shots to 40 yards and there was'nt a shot opening anyway. I knew this wouldn't last long. He whirled and crashed down the slope. Ahhhhhhhh, so close. After using my rangefinder the bull had been between 45 and 50 yards, closer than I thought, and not more than 20 to 25 yards from the thicker trees I so desperately wanted to be next to.
Encounters such as those aren't discouraging, exciting and disappointing at the same time, but not discouraging. They are just part of hunting. We did everything we could to close the deal and the elk beat us with help from his greatest allies, his nose and the wind. We stayed in that location for 10 minutes or so and listened. I felt certain the small herd had blown out but decided we should move down to where the bull had been and hope for stragglers to move through. We hadn't moved more than 10 feet when more elk blew out from where the first bugle had come from. Hindsight says that the bull that came in was likely a satelite bull and the herd bull was still ahead where he had originally bugled from, but that is speculation since the only elk I could identify was a cow. The remaining elk had beat me because of poor judgement. That is discouraging. Its still part of hunting, but discouraging none the less.
We discussed options and decided to move farther along the slope at this same elevation and look and listen for elk that may be coming out of the parks we had approached earlier. We weren't hearing anymore bugling, so decided to do a blind set while it was still early. We had been cow calling off and on for 20 minutes when breaking limbs and footfalls where suddenly directly behind us. Isaac said "there's an elk", then "no its a cow" (as in cattle) as soon as I noticed dark legs, then "no, wait, its a moose". I didn't think my cow calling was that bad, but it appeared we had called in a small bull moose. He was standing 30 feet behind and to the left of us. I could see dark legs and Isaac could see big ears and some antler. I don't know if he got a whiff of us with that oversized nose or could hear us with his big ears, but he bolted back down the slope. He had no sooner bolted than I could hear additional animals running. I'm expecting more running moose when two elk run below us parallel to the slope. The first elk was a spike the second a legal bull. The legal bull stopped broadside in the open when he heard my cow calls, but 70 yards or so and out of range. They never acted like they smelled us when they continued on. We speculated that they had been coming into the cow calls when they were unexpectedly ran over by a frantic bull moose. That would be enough to make anyone clear out. I don't know how many folks have had a bull moose run over a bull elk that was coming in, but it involves several exciting minutes followed with laughter that doesn't usually accompany a blown set up.
Near moose encounter
We finished out the morning hunting farther away from camp without any action. We had lunch, assorted snacks with peanut butter and tortillas, and took a nap. It was still early in the afternoon, so we hiked the unexpected trail we found the first weekend and I bugled a few times hoping to locate a bull that would respond from his bed. I've mentioned before that this area is supposed to be closed to motor vehicle traffic throurghout the year, but sure enough we could hear a loud four stroke on the trail. It didn't soudn like a hunter, but more of a joy ride. It passed and then went quiet. Twenty minutes later, while filtering water to fill our bladders, we heard it start back up. This time we were close enough to the trail to see a lone motorcycle pass back through on the trail. I guessed a young kid out for a joy ride on his dirt bike, but I still wasn't happy about the noise.
Reading the peanut butter label
Ready to march after lunch and a nap
The evening hunt was uneventful as we hunted the other side of the drainage back toward camp. The elk sign was all old and the cattle were plentiful. Our only action was when a few of the cattle ran and acted as if we had branding irons. That night we had a meal of instant potatoes and Moutnain House beef stroganoff with noodles. Isaac commented, as he did each night, "I'm sure glad you thought of the potatoes". I had a cup of coffee and Isaac some hot chocolate before we piled back into the tent. Isaac learned from breakfast and waited a while before sipping the hot chocolate.
Practicing at camp
Before going to sleep, I reminiced an old September teal hunting story at Isaac's insistence. We were both just about to fall asleep when a bugle rang out to the north. "We've not hunted there, but its definitely an option." So much for sleep. We waited for another. Several minutes passed before we heard another, then a few more minutes and another. A responding bugle from the northwest. The responder a much deeper growling bugle. The first bull went silent, apparently recognizing his place. The growler proceeded to bugle another ten times or so over the next twenty minutes. We made a plan to hunt him in the morning before Isaac fell asleep. Sleep wasn't easy for me since I couldn't keep from listening for more bugles.
I was hoping for bugles during the night, but heard nothing. I had slept fairly well, but the soundest sleep always seems to come just before the alarm. Isaac sounds like he's sleeping soundly every time I wake up, but he says the same about me. However, he's the one that needs a nudge from me each morning to get out of a warm sleeping bag.
We retrieved the days food rations from our food bag hanging in a tree below our camp. Breakfast was maple and brown sugar flavored instant oatmeal with coffee and hot chocolate. Isaac immediately took a gulp of hot chocolate that was made from boiling water. The result doesn't need an explanation, but somehow he seemed surprised.
We hiked south along the trail in the dark. I bugled from the ridge hoping for a response that we could work towards. I thought I heard a grunt immediately after my bugle, but wasn't sure and Isaac didn't hear it. Isaac can hear things that I can't. He's my "bionic ear" during spring turkey season. He hears birds that I couldn't hear on the best of days, but he hasn't learned everything to listen for while elk hunting. We moved forward to the edge of a big park to continue listening for elk. It was still too early to shoot and light seemed to be extra slow to arrive due to a light cloud cover combined with the smoke that has enveloped Western Montana for the last month.
Isaac's eyes lit up and he said "I know you had to have heard that!". I hadn't, and I'm not sure why because according to him it was a full clear bugle. I believed him, so we started in that direction on a cattle/elk trail. We hadn't gone very far when I heard the next bugle. The bull was ahead and below us which isn't particularly good for the early morning thermals. However, insead of the normal thermals steadily moving down, the wind had picked up and was moving uphill where we were. I suspected that lower on the slope the thermals would prevail and would be more consistent, so we hurried to take advantage of the wind and get past the bull before dropping down to his level where we should have a good wind.
We hadn't gone very far when we heard the sound of limbs cracking ahead and slightly below us. That wasn't as low on the slope as we thought the bugle had come from, but we were sure it was elk. Legal shooting hours had just arrived so I felt safe in cow calling to try and identify them as elk. An immediate low whistle into a moaning bugle from 100 yards was the response. Oh yeah.......thats elk. What to do? The wind is still moving up, but it can't last. The timber is too open to risk moving much with a herd now ahead and sounding like its spread out and moving below us. I wanted to move down 50 yards, but we were stuck. We nocked arrows and waited. Isaac's response at his first close encounter with a bugle..........."I don't know about you but my heart rate sure is faster". My response...."Mine is too......just calm down and pick a spot", the instruction as much for me as him. The wind switched downhill and I really wanted to get lower, but there was no chance to move without being busted. I could hear an elk walking almost directly downwind and thought I heard sudden footfalls like we had been busted. I decided to risk it now, if the lower elk had busted maybe we could beat the elk ahead of us without detection. I had no sooner than said "lets move to those thicker trees just below us" than Isaac said "there he is". The bull was coming in below us, so maybe we hadn't been busted. I could see the big body, but couldn't see his head gear. Isaac had a better angle at the headgear and whispered that it was a bull. The bull stopped just below us and what appeared to be directly downwind. The bull was broadside and appeared to be 60 yards or so in the low light. I need to keep my shots to 40 yards and there was'nt a shot opening anyway. I knew this wouldn't last long. He whirled and crashed down the slope. Ahhhhhhhh, so close. After using my rangefinder the bull had been between 45 and 50 yards, closer than I thought, and not more than 20 to 25 yards from the thicker trees I so desperately wanted to be next to.
Encounters such as those aren't discouraging, exciting and disappointing at the same time, but not discouraging. They are just part of hunting. We did everything we could to close the deal and the elk beat us with help from his greatest allies, his nose and the wind. We stayed in that location for 10 minutes or so and listened. I felt certain the small herd had blown out but decided we should move down to where the bull had been and hope for stragglers to move through. We hadn't moved more than 10 feet when more elk blew out from where the first bugle had come from. Hindsight says that the bull that came in was likely a satelite bull and the herd bull was still ahead where he had originally bugled from, but that is speculation since the only elk I could identify was a cow. The remaining elk had beat me because of poor judgement. That is discouraging. Its still part of hunting, but discouraging none the less.
We discussed options and decided to move farther along the slope at this same elevation and look and listen for elk that may be coming out of the parks we had approached earlier. We weren't hearing anymore bugling, so decided to do a blind set while it was still early. We had been cow calling off and on for 20 minutes when breaking limbs and footfalls where suddenly directly behind us. Isaac said "there's an elk", then "no its a cow" (as in cattle) as soon as I noticed dark legs, then "no, wait, its a moose". I didn't think my cow calling was that bad, but it appeared we had called in a small bull moose. He was standing 30 feet behind and to the left of us. I could see dark legs and Isaac could see big ears and some antler. I don't know if he got a whiff of us with that oversized nose or could hear us with his big ears, but he bolted back down the slope. He had no sooner bolted than I could hear additional animals running. I'm expecting more running moose when two elk run below us parallel to the slope. The first elk was a spike the second a legal bull. The legal bull stopped broadside in the open when he heard my cow calls, but 70 yards or so and out of range. They never acted like they smelled us when they continued on. We speculated that they had been coming into the cow calls when they were unexpectedly ran over by a frantic bull moose. That would be enough to make anyone clear out. I don't know how many folks have had a bull moose run over a bull elk that was coming in, but it involves several exciting minutes followed with laughter that doesn't usually accompany a blown set up.
Near moose encounter
We finished out the morning hunting farther away from camp without any action. We had lunch, assorted snacks with peanut butter and tortillas, and took a nap. It was still early in the afternoon, so we hiked the unexpected trail we found the first weekend and I bugled a few times hoping to locate a bull that would respond from his bed. I've mentioned before that this area is supposed to be closed to motor vehicle traffic throurghout the year, but sure enough we could hear a loud four stroke on the trail. It didn't soudn like a hunter, but more of a joy ride. It passed and then went quiet. Twenty minutes later, while filtering water to fill our bladders, we heard it start back up. This time we were close enough to the trail to see a lone motorcycle pass back through on the trail. I guessed a young kid out for a joy ride on his dirt bike, but I still wasn't happy about the noise.
Reading the peanut butter label
Ready to march after lunch and a nap
The evening hunt was uneventful as we hunted the other side of the drainage back toward camp. The elk sign was all old and the cattle were plentiful. Our only action was when a few of the cattle ran and acted as if we had branding irons. That night we had a meal of instant potatoes and Moutnain House beef stroganoff with noodles. Isaac commented, as he did each night, "I'm sure glad you thought of the potatoes". I had a cup of coffee and Isaac some hot chocolate before we piled back into the tent. Isaac learned from breakfast and waited a while before sipping the hot chocolate.
Practicing at camp
Before going to sleep, I reminiced an old September teal hunting story at Isaac's insistence. We were both just about to fall asleep when a bugle rang out to the north. "We've not hunted there, but its definitely an option." So much for sleep. We waited for another. Several minutes passed before we heard another, then a few more minutes and another. A responding bugle from the northwest. The responder a much deeper growling bugle. The first bull went silent, apparently recognizing his place. The growler proceeded to bugle another ten times or so over the next twenty minutes. We made a plan to hunt him in the morning before Isaac fell asleep. Sleep wasn't easy for me since I couldn't keep from listening for more bugles.
I've been writing out a lot of detail and saving on my computer, so I can easily compile them for Isaac at the end of the season. These may be longer than some of you care to read, but "copy and paste" is the easiest way for me to post.
September 16, 2012 (Sunday)
Morning
I was awake before my alarm, but laid in my sleeping bag listening to Isaac sleep and listening for bugling. I wasn't hearing any bugling, but was hearing light rain on the tent. The rain didn't last long and the alarm finally signaled time to get up. I had to give Isaac a nudge to get him up. We went through our normal routine of putting on two layers. We added a vest for warmth while cooking breakfast. My "two man" tent is tight quarters for the two of us, but it works.
We went through our normal routine of retrieving breakfast and the day's food, stored in ziplock bags, from the food bag. We had cereal, Grape Nuts with dried fruit for me and Raisin Bran for Isaac, with powdered milk for breakfast. Coffee and hot chocolate helped heat us up. Isaac allowed the hot chocolate to cool a little longer this morning.
We started towards the larger sounding bull as soon as breakfast was finished and our packs were on. I wanted to try and locate him in order to stay down wind, so I bugled once in hopes of a response while it was still dark. Our only response was wind and the return of the rain. It was still forty five minutes before shooting hours began and neither of us wanted to start the day wet. It wasn't heavy rain, but wind driven rain. We made the decision to get back in the tent and see if the rain would quickly pass. The rain was gone in thirty minutes and I had to wake Isaac with the news that we needed to get going regardless if the rain continued or not.
We started in the direction of last night's growler again. We weren't sure where he would be, so we dropped low on that side of the mountain as we moved forward to try and keep the wind in our favor and hoping he'd give himself away with a bugle. We had traveled a quarter mile or so and he responded with his low growling bugle to some cow calls. He sounded several hundred yards ahead and still lower. We quickly dropped lower and moved forward to cut the distance in half. We weren't certain where he was, if he was still moving lower and away or moving our direction, so we played it safe, held up and nocked arrows. A few more cow calls and a bull to our left started bugling. He definitely wasn't the growler, but instead had a high pitch squeally bugle. However, he continued to bugle, the growler wasn't making a peep. I don't know that the sound of a bugle really is a reliable indication, but "low growly" conjures visions of massive brutes and "squeally" just the opposite..........wimpy raghorns . After waiting for twenty minutes we made the decision to go after the bull that sounded hot and return for the growler if that didn't work out. Big sounding bulls are great, but dumb lonely sounding, hopefully legal, bulls are better. At least that was our reasoning.
We moved in downwind of the bull and he shut up as soon as I started cow calling. So much for dumb and lonely. We waited for at least half an hour. I half expected him to sneak in anyway since he didn't sound like a brute. He finally bugled once more farther up the canyon. We moved foward and called some more with the same results. We finally started hearing heavy footsteps and limbs breaking behind us across the creek. We anticipated a bull and some cows crossing the creek behind us, so we turned to wait. I began to get suspicious after 20 minutes or so of waiting for an elk to appear. The footsteps were sounding really heavy and lazy............cattle. Good grief! We decided to backtrack and try to locate the growler. That was probably what we should have done in the first place.
We stopped for a short breather, a snack, and to listen for the bull after getting back to the approximate elevation we thought the growler had last bugled from. This area was somewhat of a bench with larger timber than the lodgepoles above. We didn't hear a peep during the 20 minutes we sat there. The wind was still stable, so I suggested we move through the larger timber toward the last place we heard him and try to locate him. We moved uphill approximately 25 yards when Isaac asked me to tighten his shoe laces, which took just a moment. We moved 10 more yards and elk started to scramble just above us. I could see two or three elk. The front two appeared to be the only elk that had seen us because it took some pacing for them to convince the rest of the herd that something was amiss. They finally bolted up the hill. There appeared to be eight to ten elk. Isaac thought he saw a flash of antlers, but all I saw were cows. I really wanted to scream when I thought about us taking a break and tightening Isaac's laces while elk were just above us.
Break Time
Me looking serious, but unaware that there are elk jsut uphill from us
I didn't know if the herd we busted was the herd with the growler bull or not. We knew they didn't smell us, and I was pretty sure there wasn't a big bull with them. I wondered.........maybe he's stil out ahead of us and behind them. I screamed a bugle. The growler responded, but he wasn't anywhere near these elk. He was still several hundred yards away, likely in the same area as earlier. The elk we busted were a different herd altogether. We moved forward towards the bugle and he bugled once more while we were moving. We set up and started calling. The bull never made a peep during the 20 minutes we were set up. It was late morning, so I knew the wind was liable to squirrely at any moment. Sure enough, the wind started to change so we decided to back out and make a plan to hunt the growler that evening or the next morning.
September 16, 2012 (Sunday)
Morning
I was awake before my alarm, but laid in my sleeping bag listening to Isaac sleep and listening for bugling. I wasn't hearing any bugling, but was hearing light rain on the tent. The rain didn't last long and the alarm finally signaled time to get up. I had to give Isaac a nudge to get him up. We went through our normal routine of putting on two layers. We added a vest for warmth while cooking breakfast. My "two man" tent is tight quarters for the two of us, but it works.
We went through our normal routine of retrieving breakfast and the day's food, stored in ziplock bags, from the food bag. We had cereal, Grape Nuts with dried fruit for me and Raisin Bran for Isaac, with powdered milk for breakfast. Coffee and hot chocolate helped heat us up. Isaac allowed the hot chocolate to cool a little longer this morning.
We started towards the larger sounding bull as soon as breakfast was finished and our packs were on. I wanted to try and locate him in order to stay down wind, so I bugled once in hopes of a response while it was still dark. Our only response was wind and the return of the rain. It was still forty five minutes before shooting hours began and neither of us wanted to start the day wet. It wasn't heavy rain, but wind driven rain. We made the decision to get back in the tent and see if the rain would quickly pass. The rain was gone in thirty minutes and I had to wake Isaac with the news that we needed to get going regardless if the rain continued or not.
We started in the direction of last night's growler again. We weren't sure where he would be, so we dropped low on that side of the mountain as we moved forward to try and keep the wind in our favor and hoping he'd give himself away with a bugle. We had traveled a quarter mile or so and he responded with his low growling bugle to some cow calls. He sounded several hundred yards ahead and still lower. We quickly dropped lower and moved forward to cut the distance in half. We weren't certain where he was, if he was still moving lower and away or moving our direction, so we played it safe, held up and nocked arrows. A few more cow calls and a bull to our left started bugling. He definitely wasn't the growler, but instead had a high pitch squeally bugle. However, he continued to bugle, the growler wasn't making a peep. I don't know that the sound of a bugle really is a reliable indication, but "low growly" conjures visions of massive brutes and "squeally" just the opposite..........wimpy raghorns . After waiting for twenty minutes we made the decision to go after the bull that sounded hot and return for the growler if that didn't work out. Big sounding bulls are great, but dumb lonely sounding, hopefully legal, bulls are better. At least that was our reasoning.
We moved in downwind of the bull and he shut up as soon as I started cow calling. So much for dumb and lonely. We waited for at least half an hour. I half expected him to sneak in anyway since he didn't sound like a brute. He finally bugled once more farther up the canyon. We moved foward and called some more with the same results. We finally started hearing heavy footsteps and limbs breaking behind us across the creek. We anticipated a bull and some cows crossing the creek behind us, so we turned to wait. I began to get suspicious after 20 minutes or so of waiting for an elk to appear. The footsteps were sounding really heavy and lazy............cattle. Good grief! We decided to backtrack and try to locate the growler. That was probably what we should have done in the first place.
We stopped for a short breather, a snack, and to listen for the bull after getting back to the approximate elevation we thought the growler had last bugled from. This area was somewhat of a bench with larger timber than the lodgepoles above. We didn't hear a peep during the 20 minutes we sat there. The wind was still stable, so I suggested we move through the larger timber toward the last place we heard him and try to locate him. We moved uphill approximately 25 yards when Isaac asked me to tighten his shoe laces, which took just a moment. We moved 10 more yards and elk started to scramble just above us. I could see two or three elk. The front two appeared to be the only elk that had seen us because it took some pacing for them to convince the rest of the herd that something was amiss. They finally bolted up the hill. There appeared to be eight to ten elk. Isaac thought he saw a flash of antlers, but all I saw were cows. I really wanted to scream when I thought about us taking a break and tightening Isaac's laces while elk were just above us.
Break Time
Me looking serious, but unaware that there are elk jsut uphill from us
I didn't know if the herd we busted was the herd with the growler bull or not. We knew they didn't smell us, and I was pretty sure there wasn't a big bull with them. I wondered.........maybe he's stil out ahead of us and behind them. I screamed a bugle. The growler responded, but he wasn't anywhere near these elk. He was still several hundred yards away, likely in the same area as earlier. The elk we busted were a different herd altogether. We moved forward towards the bugle and he bugled once more while we were moving. We set up and started calling. The bull never made a peep during the 20 minutes we were set up. It was late morning, so I knew the wind was liable to squirrely at any moment. Sure enough, the wind started to change so we decided to back out and make a plan to hunt the growler that evening or the next morning.
September 16
Afternoon/Evening
We had lunch, shot a few arrows, and napped during the middle of the day. We discussed how we could hunt the morning area that evening. We had hunted near there on the first evening and the wind was uncooperative. In fact, the evening winds were unstable everywhere until the last half hour of light, and only well below the tops of the ridges. This made it difficult to have a productive evening hunt because we couldn't approach the area while the wind was constantly changing direction and to wait until the last half hour to approach wouldn't get us near the bull until dark.
We decided to leave the bull until the morning and hunt below camp where we had called in the cows and bumped the raghorn during the first weekend. We needed to fill our water bladders anyway. After filling our bladders and an unproductive set of cold calling near a wallow, we moved toward some parks where the elk had came from on Saturday morning. The wind still wasn't stable, but it only came from our right to blow downhill, our left to blow uphill, and our face. It never did come over our back. We had approximately one hour and a half of daylight left when Isaac heard a bugle below us..........really far below us. I reasoned it was too far and I didn't hear it. Thirty minutes later I heard the bull. He was a lot lower than us. He sounded like he was near the bottom........800 feet below.
I thought about him for a moment. He bugled again. The chance of making it to him and killing him seemed slim. But..............he was near the trail. If we could kill him there, we would cut out the terrible downhill decent from a pack out. The thought of descending that far to turn around and climb the terribly steep slope back to camp made me cringe, but the possibility of killing a bull that close to the trail.............. Isaac said "lets do it", I agreed and we started down as fast as we could without hurting ourselves. We'd move down a couple hundred feet, stop and bugle. The bull would respond with more aggression as we descended. He was bugling on his own now and was really worked up, adding lots of grunts to the end of each bugle. We could see one last break in the slope that was still well above the bottom. He sounded like he was over that break. I thought if we could get in close, he'd lose it and come charging in. We approached the break and caught our breath. I bugled........nothing. I bugled again.......an immediate response. A dreadful reality hit us. The bull was not over the break. He was across the bottom and on the steep slope of the opposite side. We were so far above him that the bugles had been echoing up the slope, fooling us. There was no way the half hour of shooting light that remained was going to give us time to cross to the bull. I won't repeat what I was thinking.
We debated dropping down to the trail and hiking out to the truck, then hiking back in the following afternoon. We were only planning on one more day anyway before taking a break. Isaac was willing to do whatever I decided. We finally decided that hiking out that night to turn around and hike back in to retrieve the camp sounded worse than hiking back up tonight. We started back up. We hadn't gone 100 feet back up when an elk bolted to our left. I feared we had blown out another bull, but it turned out to be a spike that had came in to investigate all the bugling. The crazy bull grunted at us and followed us part way up the mountain. I guess he just wanted to convince himself that he should run. I commented that I wouldn't hurt him a bit if he'd offer me a ride to the top of the mountain. The bull across the canyon continued to bugle almost nonstop as we climbed up. I believe he was laughing at us the whole way.
We actually made it back up in record time for us, but I was starting to feel light headed once we neared the location we had originally heard the bull from. I told Isaac we needed to find elk to hunt on flat ground, but I don't think it exists short of a "high fence" stock yard "hunt". I assured Isaac that there would be elk standing where we had been set up, but I was wrong. We were just about to make the final climb when Isaac heard a bull just below us. I was convinced it wasn't an elk, but one of the cattle bellowing. We waited to hear it again, and I'll be darned if an elk didn't bugle just below us. He wasn't more than 100 yards below us and sounded like a dragon. Where the heck was he at while we were up here earlier. He bugled again just over a break in the slope and sounded like he couldn't be much farther than 75 yards. We scrambled up the hill hoping the cross wind would hold and he would still be an option for the next morning. We were convinced he hadn't winded us because he bugled again when we were on top.
We were beat, but both quite proud of our record breaking ascent immediately after a knee pounding descent. We had another round of instant potatoes and a Mountain House beef stew for supper and piled into the bed. Isaac wanted to hear more stories of my past hunts, but we both fell asleep after discussing the next morning's plans and listening for bugles. We hadn't heard a single bugle from the direction of the growler from that morning. The dragon sounding bull was too much to take, so we decided to hunt him unless the growler was heard during the night or the next morning. We also planned to pack up camp during mid day and hike out for a break unless the elk changed our mind. The bull across the canyon was another option but another hike to the bottom and back up to pack up camp wasn't on the top of our list. Also, he was close to the trail and I couldn't imagine there not being at least one if not multiple hunters charging after him in the morning.
Isaac checking out the stars while supper cooks
I've never been much into naming animals that I'm hunting, but at this point it was probably safe to say that we had named the morning bull Growler and the bull just below camp Dragon. I won't repeat what I think the bull that we descended the mountain for should be called.
Afternoon/Evening
We had lunch, shot a few arrows, and napped during the middle of the day. We discussed how we could hunt the morning area that evening. We had hunted near there on the first evening and the wind was uncooperative. In fact, the evening winds were unstable everywhere until the last half hour of light, and only well below the tops of the ridges. This made it difficult to have a productive evening hunt because we couldn't approach the area while the wind was constantly changing direction and to wait until the last half hour to approach wouldn't get us near the bull until dark.
We decided to leave the bull until the morning and hunt below camp where we had called in the cows and bumped the raghorn during the first weekend. We needed to fill our water bladders anyway. After filling our bladders and an unproductive set of cold calling near a wallow, we moved toward some parks where the elk had came from on Saturday morning. The wind still wasn't stable, but it only came from our right to blow downhill, our left to blow uphill, and our face. It never did come over our back. We had approximately one hour and a half of daylight left when Isaac heard a bugle below us..........really far below us. I reasoned it was too far and I didn't hear it. Thirty minutes later I heard the bull. He was a lot lower than us. He sounded like he was near the bottom........800 feet below.
I thought about him for a moment. He bugled again. The chance of making it to him and killing him seemed slim. But..............he was near the trail. If we could kill him there, we would cut out the terrible downhill decent from a pack out. The thought of descending that far to turn around and climb the terribly steep slope back to camp made me cringe, but the possibility of killing a bull that close to the trail.............. Isaac said "lets do it", I agreed and we started down as fast as we could without hurting ourselves. We'd move down a couple hundred feet, stop and bugle. The bull would respond with more aggression as we descended. He was bugling on his own now and was really worked up, adding lots of grunts to the end of each bugle. We could see one last break in the slope that was still well above the bottom. He sounded like he was over that break. I thought if we could get in close, he'd lose it and come charging in. We approached the break and caught our breath. I bugled........nothing. I bugled again.......an immediate response. A dreadful reality hit us. The bull was not over the break. He was across the bottom and on the steep slope of the opposite side. We were so far above him that the bugles had been echoing up the slope, fooling us. There was no way the half hour of shooting light that remained was going to give us time to cross to the bull. I won't repeat what I was thinking.
We debated dropping down to the trail and hiking out to the truck, then hiking back in the following afternoon. We were only planning on one more day anyway before taking a break. Isaac was willing to do whatever I decided. We finally decided that hiking out that night to turn around and hike back in to retrieve the camp sounded worse than hiking back up tonight. We started back up. We hadn't gone 100 feet back up when an elk bolted to our left. I feared we had blown out another bull, but it turned out to be a spike that had came in to investigate all the bugling. The crazy bull grunted at us and followed us part way up the mountain. I guess he just wanted to convince himself that he should run. I commented that I wouldn't hurt him a bit if he'd offer me a ride to the top of the mountain. The bull across the canyon continued to bugle almost nonstop as we climbed up. I believe he was laughing at us the whole way.
We actually made it back up in record time for us, but I was starting to feel light headed once we neared the location we had originally heard the bull from. I told Isaac we needed to find elk to hunt on flat ground, but I don't think it exists short of a "high fence" stock yard "hunt". I assured Isaac that there would be elk standing where we had been set up, but I was wrong. We were just about to make the final climb when Isaac heard a bull just below us. I was convinced it wasn't an elk, but one of the cattle bellowing. We waited to hear it again, and I'll be darned if an elk didn't bugle just below us. He wasn't more than 100 yards below us and sounded like a dragon. Where the heck was he at while we were up here earlier. He bugled again just over a break in the slope and sounded like he couldn't be much farther than 75 yards. We scrambled up the hill hoping the cross wind would hold and he would still be an option for the next morning. We were convinced he hadn't winded us because he bugled again when we were on top.
We were beat, but both quite proud of our record breaking ascent immediately after a knee pounding descent. We had another round of instant potatoes and a Mountain House beef stew for supper and piled into the bed. Isaac wanted to hear more stories of my past hunts, but we both fell asleep after discussing the next morning's plans and listening for bugles. We hadn't heard a single bugle from the direction of the growler from that morning. The dragon sounding bull was too much to take, so we decided to hunt him unless the growler was heard during the night or the next morning. We also planned to pack up camp during mid day and hike out for a break unless the elk changed our mind. The bull across the canyon was another option but another hike to the bottom and back up to pack up camp wasn't on the top of our list. Also, he was close to the trail and I couldn't imagine there not being at least one if not multiple hunters charging after him in the morning.
Isaac checking out the stars while supper cooks
I've never been much into naming animals that I'm hunting, but at this point it was probably safe to say that we had named the morning bull Growler and the bull just below camp Dragon. I won't repeat what I think the bull that we descended the mountain for should be called.
horseshoe
FNG
great stuff!
September 17, 2012 (Monday)
It was at least 10 degrees cooler than the previous nights. We were warm, but I struggled with sleep again and woke several times from 2 AM until 5 AM when the alarm was set to sound off. I never did hear a bugle during that time, but wasn't confident that I was conscious enough to recognize a bugle. I woke Isaac and warned him to stay off the sides of the tent. We had the tent vented on both ends, but two of us in such tight quarters and colder temps had resulted in condensation on the sides of the tent. We had our breakfast of cereal, coffee, and hot chocolate and prepared to hunt similar to the Saturday (14th).
We hiked to the same location where Isaac heard the bull on Friday morning and waited. I had developed a theory that the elk were feeding at night to the north where we heard the Dragon, and then working their way south, cross slope, to bed. This theory worked with our interception of the herd on Saturday. We didn't have to wait long before we heard a bugle well below us. We waited because we hadn't heard it well enough to have a good sense of where it had come from. He sounded off again a few minutes later. We started down but held up on one of the benches a couple hundred yards below us to listen. The bull across the canyon from the night before started bugling. He hadn't moved much and was still just above the trail. We weren't dropping that far, at least not yet, because we knew there were elk somewhere close by on our side. I still couldn't imagine that there weren't hunters approaching the bull from all directions.
We set up and did some calling and waited for a response. We weren't getting anything and the bull across the canyon was attempting to call in every hunter within the region. I finally heard another bugle near the bull across the canyon. Although a good sounding bugle, it didn't have the "nasal quality" that most bulls have. I could have been mistaken, but was guessing a hunter had finally arrived. The next bugle from the bull was farther up the canyon. I believe we heard one or two more bugles from the "hunter". The unmistakable bugle of the original bull across the canyon continued to get farther and farther away. I was satisfied that we made the right choice staying on our side.
We finally heard a bull that was closer but still below us. We dropped lower to another bench and listened. We hadn't heard any bugles in twenty minutes or so and were discussing our options. We were leaning toward moving back up to one of the benches and patiently waiting for elk to move cross slope to bed. Although terrible timing, our breakfast was working on us. Isaac took the first shift of keeping watch while I took care of business. I was soon back on watch while Isaac hid in the bushes. I hadn't been on watch more than a few minutes when I heard elk moving just above us. I nocked an arrow and waited, I spotted the first elk, a spike, above us on a trail 60 to 70 yards away. I could hear a second elk that turned out to be a spike also. They were going to walk just above where Isaac was hiding. I was trying not to laugh while thinking about one of Isaac's many questions, "Do you think anyone has ever killed an elk while.............?” The two spikes eventually noticed Isaac putting his pack back on and moved uphill. They must not have seen him because it didn't sound like they went far.
Isaac heard them when they bolted, but didn't know what to do other than slip back over to me. We decided to quietly move uphill and hope they were part of a herd that was dragging behind. We made it just above where the spikes had crossed the slope and waited there because we were sure we could still hear them just ahead and didn't want them to alarm any other elk in the area. We had been standing there with arrows nocked for twenty minutes when I spotted something approximately 100 yards away uphill and to the right that I hadn't seen before. I took a closer look with my binos and confirmed that the “something” had elk hair growing from it. The elk moved its head into view and I saw a flash of antler that I thought was one of the spikes. He moved into the opening more and I could see more tines. I wasn't getting a great look, but I could see long frontsand a long tine on the left side that looked like a third, but nothing significant on top. He was legal, and that was all we cared about.
I cow called while watching him through the binos. He looked interested and stared in our direction. He moved around a tree and appeared to start our way. I had no sooner than told Isaac that he was coming when I could see him broadside moving cross slope at 75 yards. I wasn't sure what he was doing. I cow called and waited. We started hearing more elk moving above us. I thought I saw elk moving just above me at 50 yards. I whispered "here he comes", but nothing ever appeared. Isaac noticed several elk moving through the timber above us well out of range.
I'm not sure what happened to the elk I was convinced I glimpsed at 50 yards, but it never showed. We waited until we were sure they were gone and moved uphill. We realized the elk had moved through the exact location we had been set up in to start with that morning. It’s unlikely that we would have had the patience to wait for two hours, but it was still exciting and difficult to not think about what ifs.
If we had just stayed here......
....the bull was right there.
We sat and waited another thirty minutes to ensure there weren't any stragglers following the initial wave of elk, but the wind finally got squirrely and we decided to hike back to camp. We ate lunch, packed up camp, and then beat our knees to death hiking/sliding down the mountain to the trail. I questioned the sanity of leaving after learning so much, but we had resolved to hunt another mountain range at least a day or two. The other range gets a lot of pressure on the weekends, so I wanted the opportunity to hunt it during the week. We would take Tuesday off, hunt Wednesday and Thursday, then hike back into this location over the weekend if we weren't finding elk.
It was at least 10 degrees cooler than the previous nights. We were warm, but I struggled with sleep again and woke several times from 2 AM until 5 AM when the alarm was set to sound off. I never did hear a bugle during that time, but wasn't confident that I was conscious enough to recognize a bugle. I woke Isaac and warned him to stay off the sides of the tent. We had the tent vented on both ends, but two of us in such tight quarters and colder temps had resulted in condensation on the sides of the tent. We had our breakfast of cereal, coffee, and hot chocolate and prepared to hunt similar to the Saturday (14th).
We hiked to the same location where Isaac heard the bull on Friday morning and waited. I had developed a theory that the elk were feeding at night to the north where we heard the Dragon, and then working their way south, cross slope, to bed. This theory worked with our interception of the herd on Saturday. We didn't have to wait long before we heard a bugle well below us. We waited because we hadn't heard it well enough to have a good sense of where it had come from. He sounded off again a few minutes later. We started down but held up on one of the benches a couple hundred yards below us to listen. The bull across the canyon from the night before started bugling. He hadn't moved much and was still just above the trail. We weren't dropping that far, at least not yet, because we knew there were elk somewhere close by on our side. I still couldn't imagine that there weren't hunters approaching the bull from all directions.
We set up and did some calling and waited for a response. We weren't getting anything and the bull across the canyon was attempting to call in every hunter within the region. I finally heard another bugle near the bull across the canyon. Although a good sounding bugle, it didn't have the "nasal quality" that most bulls have. I could have been mistaken, but was guessing a hunter had finally arrived. The next bugle from the bull was farther up the canyon. I believe we heard one or two more bugles from the "hunter". The unmistakable bugle of the original bull across the canyon continued to get farther and farther away. I was satisfied that we made the right choice staying on our side.
We finally heard a bull that was closer but still below us. We dropped lower to another bench and listened. We hadn't heard any bugles in twenty minutes or so and were discussing our options. We were leaning toward moving back up to one of the benches and patiently waiting for elk to move cross slope to bed. Although terrible timing, our breakfast was working on us. Isaac took the first shift of keeping watch while I took care of business. I was soon back on watch while Isaac hid in the bushes. I hadn't been on watch more than a few minutes when I heard elk moving just above us. I nocked an arrow and waited, I spotted the first elk, a spike, above us on a trail 60 to 70 yards away. I could hear a second elk that turned out to be a spike also. They were going to walk just above where Isaac was hiding. I was trying not to laugh while thinking about one of Isaac's many questions, "Do you think anyone has ever killed an elk while.............?” The two spikes eventually noticed Isaac putting his pack back on and moved uphill. They must not have seen him because it didn't sound like they went far.
Isaac heard them when they bolted, but didn't know what to do other than slip back over to me. We decided to quietly move uphill and hope they were part of a herd that was dragging behind. We made it just above where the spikes had crossed the slope and waited there because we were sure we could still hear them just ahead and didn't want them to alarm any other elk in the area. We had been standing there with arrows nocked for twenty minutes when I spotted something approximately 100 yards away uphill and to the right that I hadn't seen before. I took a closer look with my binos and confirmed that the “something” had elk hair growing from it. The elk moved its head into view and I saw a flash of antler that I thought was one of the spikes. He moved into the opening more and I could see more tines. I wasn't getting a great look, but I could see long frontsand a long tine on the left side that looked like a third, but nothing significant on top. He was legal, and that was all we cared about.
I cow called while watching him through the binos. He looked interested and stared in our direction. He moved around a tree and appeared to start our way. I had no sooner than told Isaac that he was coming when I could see him broadside moving cross slope at 75 yards. I wasn't sure what he was doing. I cow called and waited. We started hearing more elk moving above us. I thought I saw elk moving just above me at 50 yards. I whispered "here he comes", but nothing ever appeared. Isaac noticed several elk moving through the timber above us well out of range.
I'm not sure what happened to the elk I was convinced I glimpsed at 50 yards, but it never showed. We waited until we were sure they were gone and moved uphill. We realized the elk had moved through the exact location we had been set up in to start with that morning. It’s unlikely that we would have had the patience to wait for two hours, but it was still exciting and difficult to not think about what ifs.
If we had just stayed here......
....the bull was right there.
We sat and waited another thirty minutes to ensure there weren't any stragglers following the initial wave of elk, but the wind finally got squirrely and we decided to hike back to camp. We ate lunch, packed up camp, and then beat our knees to death hiking/sliding down the mountain to the trail. I questioned the sanity of leaving after learning so much, but we had resolved to hunt another mountain range at least a day or two. The other range gets a lot of pressure on the weekends, so I wanted the opportunity to hunt it during the week. We would take Tuesday off, hunt Wednesday and Thursday, then hike back into this location over the weekend if we weren't finding elk.
We took a break on September 18th. We slept in and took the day off from hunting. Isaac needed to get caught up with some of his studies and I needed to acknowledge that I had a wife and two other children. I was supposed to take the kids fishing that evening but they changed their mind and preferred to spend the day at home. I wanted to fish, but not without them, and wasn’t going to force them to go.
September 19th, 2012 (Wednesday)
I haven’t had a chance to spend much time in this new area. The area is drier and has more motor vehicle access than the area we had been in. Most of it is brutally steep, so I believe that makes up for the easy access. I’ve heard good reports, but hadn’t spent the time necessary to convince myself that it was worth spending time in. I was second guessing my decision to hunt here, but wanted to give the area an opportunity to prove itself during our first season here in Montana. I decided we’d hike a couple miles to one of the few areas that we had scouted in the summer. I didn’t find a lot of sign during the summer, but thought the area looked like it could support some elk and it would give us a reasonable vantage point to glass the surrounding area and listen for bugles. And last but not least, it wasn’t as steep as the two other areas I had scouted.
We hiked in while it was still dark and arrived at the location I wanted to start the morning hunt from just a few minutes after legal shooting hours. I was glassing the open areas and had just mentioned to Isaac how different this area was from where we had been. I believe I said something like “This place is like being on Mars compared to where we’ve been hunting, it’s so dryhere, I’d be happy if we could just hear a bugle.” Those words had barely left my mouth when a bull let out a set of low chuckles just to our left and over the ridge we were on.
The bull sounded like he was within 100 yards of our position. We were lucky that we were far enough on our side of the ridge that we had the wind in our favor. We ducked and moved to some cover to set up while keeping the wind in our favor. We nocked arrows and I cow called. He cut loose with some more low chuckles. It didn’t sound like he moved from the original location over the next 15 minutes, but he continued with the chuckles. The only change was his chuckles got a little more demanding. He really wanted us, the cow, to waltz right in.
We couldhear a cow ahead of us that was still on top in or near the open, so I believe he had cows that he was urging back into the timber with him. He didn’t appear to have any intentions of moving our direction, and the last chuckle we heard sounding like he had moved another 100 yards or more down his side of the mountain. We decided to move along our side of the ridge and circle back trying to approach cross slope/cross wind.
We moved 100 yards or so and were glassing to make sure we were clear to cross the opening on top of the ridge. We heard a cow and a responding bugle over the ridge, but not quite the direction we had last heard the chuckles. However, before we could start in that direction a bugle rang out behind us across the drainage. We turned to listen. The bull bugled again. Did I say I didn’t have much confidence in this place? I meant to say that I always knew it would be an excellent place to find a bull. Maybe I was mistaken, but the bugles sounded like a better possibility than the chuckles that were already moving away and the wind would be in our face since we could go straight at him and approach from below. We took off at a fast pace.
This new bull bugled several times as we crossed the drainage. At one point it sounded like another bull responded to our right. We weren’t sure which of the side drainages our bull was in. The sound seemed to echo from the entire area. We slowly moved up the drainage we believed he was in. I cow called when we were as far as we dared go. The bugle that rang out sounded like it started above us to the left and ended to our right. It was so loud that we weren’t sure where it came from, but we knew it was close. We backed against some cover and nocked arrows.
I expected a bull to show up at any moment, but after 30 minutes and no response to cow calling or bugling, I wasn’t sure what had happened. Isaac was convinced he was above us to the left and I was convinced he was just over a saddle to the right. Before it was over we had convinced each other that two bulls had bugled almost simultaneously. We decided to hike around the ridge to our right and see if we could locate the bull since we thought we could keep the wind in our favor.
It was starting to heat up and the winds were starting to swirl by the time we hiked around the ridge and into the shade. We hadn’t heard a bugle since the one (maybe two) from so close. We sat down for a breather, a quick snack, to listen for bugles, and monitor the wind. The break lasted longer than I planned, but we weren’t hearing any bugling and I wasn’t too sure where to go next. I didn’t want to stumble into the elk and blow them out.
We got our packs back on and I cow called. We got an immediate response from our right and up the drainage. We started in that direction and the bull bugled several more times. I didn’t want to risk bumping him, so we set up and started cow calling. I thought he was coming, but after a while it was clear that he wasn’t budging. We decided to move his direction and had no sooner than covered 30 yards when I saw the flash of an elk and antler. I was sick, but luckily it was a lone spike and he didn’t sound the alarm. We held up and the bull bugled again, still farther than I had thought. We continued to move closer. We were within 100 yards of the bull and as close as I dared with two of us.
I called to the bull for several minutes and had spotted three of his cows well ahead of him that were continuing up the drainage. After looking the cover over, I decided we needed to try to push it and sneak closer. We slipped in another 40 yards. However, his next bugles indicated he was now on the move following the cows. We probably should have been more aggressive and moved in closer to begin with. I asked Isaac if he could hear the nasal sound in the bull’s bugle and Isaac thought we should call him Nash. I’m not sure if that was in reference to Nashville country music or the word nasal, but it sounded fine to me.
The wind was beginning to really swirl now. I was already concerned the herd may have winded us, so we made the decision to back out and hike to the truck. I’ve had very little luck with the wind in the evenings. That combined with the heat during our hike out to the truck sealed our decision to skip the evening hunt and hike back early the following morning. It was nice to take a shower and relax the rest of the day. It also gave Isaac a chance to catch up on some of his studies.
Hiking back to the truck
Isaac suggested this photo........I like it
September 19th, 2012 (Wednesday)
I haven’t had a chance to spend much time in this new area. The area is drier and has more motor vehicle access than the area we had been in. Most of it is brutally steep, so I believe that makes up for the easy access. I’ve heard good reports, but hadn’t spent the time necessary to convince myself that it was worth spending time in. I was second guessing my decision to hunt here, but wanted to give the area an opportunity to prove itself during our first season here in Montana. I decided we’d hike a couple miles to one of the few areas that we had scouted in the summer. I didn’t find a lot of sign during the summer, but thought the area looked like it could support some elk and it would give us a reasonable vantage point to glass the surrounding area and listen for bugles. And last but not least, it wasn’t as steep as the two other areas I had scouted.
We hiked in while it was still dark and arrived at the location I wanted to start the morning hunt from just a few minutes after legal shooting hours. I was glassing the open areas and had just mentioned to Isaac how different this area was from where we had been. I believe I said something like “This place is like being on Mars compared to where we’ve been hunting, it’s so dryhere, I’d be happy if we could just hear a bugle.” Those words had barely left my mouth when a bull let out a set of low chuckles just to our left and over the ridge we were on.
The bull sounded like he was within 100 yards of our position. We were lucky that we were far enough on our side of the ridge that we had the wind in our favor. We ducked and moved to some cover to set up while keeping the wind in our favor. We nocked arrows and I cow called. He cut loose with some more low chuckles. It didn’t sound like he moved from the original location over the next 15 minutes, but he continued with the chuckles. The only change was his chuckles got a little more demanding. He really wanted us, the cow, to waltz right in.
We couldhear a cow ahead of us that was still on top in or near the open, so I believe he had cows that he was urging back into the timber with him. He didn’t appear to have any intentions of moving our direction, and the last chuckle we heard sounding like he had moved another 100 yards or more down his side of the mountain. We decided to move along our side of the ridge and circle back trying to approach cross slope/cross wind.
We moved 100 yards or so and were glassing to make sure we were clear to cross the opening on top of the ridge. We heard a cow and a responding bugle over the ridge, but not quite the direction we had last heard the chuckles. However, before we could start in that direction a bugle rang out behind us across the drainage. We turned to listen. The bull bugled again. Did I say I didn’t have much confidence in this place? I meant to say that I always knew it would be an excellent place to find a bull. Maybe I was mistaken, but the bugles sounded like a better possibility than the chuckles that were already moving away and the wind would be in our face since we could go straight at him and approach from below. We took off at a fast pace.
This new bull bugled several times as we crossed the drainage. At one point it sounded like another bull responded to our right. We weren’t sure which of the side drainages our bull was in. The sound seemed to echo from the entire area. We slowly moved up the drainage we believed he was in. I cow called when we were as far as we dared go. The bugle that rang out sounded like it started above us to the left and ended to our right. It was so loud that we weren’t sure where it came from, but we knew it was close. We backed against some cover and nocked arrows.
I expected a bull to show up at any moment, but after 30 minutes and no response to cow calling or bugling, I wasn’t sure what had happened. Isaac was convinced he was above us to the left and I was convinced he was just over a saddle to the right. Before it was over we had convinced each other that two bulls had bugled almost simultaneously. We decided to hike around the ridge to our right and see if we could locate the bull since we thought we could keep the wind in our favor.
It was starting to heat up and the winds were starting to swirl by the time we hiked around the ridge and into the shade. We hadn’t heard a bugle since the one (maybe two) from so close. We sat down for a breather, a quick snack, to listen for bugles, and monitor the wind. The break lasted longer than I planned, but we weren’t hearing any bugling and I wasn’t too sure where to go next. I didn’t want to stumble into the elk and blow them out.
We got our packs back on and I cow called. We got an immediate response from our right and up the drainage. We started in that direction and the bull bugled several more times. I didn’t want to risk bumping him, so we set up and started cow calling. I thought he was coming, but after a while it was clear that he wasn’t budging. We decided to move his direction and had no sooner than covered 30 yards when I saw the flash of an elk and antler. I was sick, but luckily it was a lone spike and he didn’t sound the alarm. We held up and the bull bugled again, still farther than I had thought. We continued to move closer. We were within 100 yards of the bull and as close as I dared with two of us.
I called to the bull for several minutes and had spotted three of his cows well ahead of him that were continuing up the drainage. After looking the cover over, I decided we needed to try to push it and sneak closer. We slipped in another 40 yards. However, his next bugles indicated he was now on the move following the cows. We probably should have been more aggressive and moved in closer to begin with. I asked Isaac if he could hear the nasal sound in the bull’s bugle and Isaac thought we should call him Nash. I’m not sure if that was in reference to Nashville country music or the word nasal, but it sounded fine to me.
The wind was beginning to really swirl now. I was already concerned the herd may have winded us, so we made the decision to back out and hike to the truck. I’ve had very little luck with the wind in the evenings. That combined with the heat during our hike out to the truck sealed our decision to skip the evening hunt and hike back early the following morning. It was nice to take a shower and relax the rest of the day. It also gave Isaac a chance to catch up on some of his studies.
Hiking back to the truck
Isaac suggested this photo........I like it
September 20, 2012 (Thursday)
We were on the trail 20 minutes earlier than the day before. Isaac commented that he didn’t think he could wake up early another morning. However, the encouragement of Wednesday’s hunt hurried us up the trail. I thought that we may get lucky and catch the bull that was chuckling out in the open and get ahead of him in the timber, so we hiked up the ridge we started from on Wednesday. We had no sooner than made it to ourplanned listening point when a bull bugled on the opposite side of the drainage near where we had chased the bugling bull. It sounded like the same bull, Nash, but I wasn’t sure. I quickly glassed our side for elk, waited for another bugle, and hurried down then back up the opposite side.
We were ahead of Wednesday’s schedule, so we attempted to get ahead of him on the same general route he had taken before. We didn’t hear another bugle while we cautiously hiked into position. When we arrived at the location we had heard the surprisingly close bugle on Wednesday we set up and I cow called to locate him. The bull responded immediately from 150 to 200 yards slightly behind us and just over a hill to our right. We thought we were in a good position to intercept him if he traveled the same route as before. However, he stayed put and eventually drifted farther behind the hill he was bugling from. Apparently we should have gone straight at him.
We circled the hill to keep the wind in our favor and try to locate him. We weren’t having any luck getting another response. We sat down to wait and listen so we didn’t blunder into him. It had been at least an hour since his last bugle. After another half hour he still hadn’t made a sound, so we slipped forward where we thought he had disappeared. We started finding fresh tracks in the hard dirt, fresh droppings, and then beds in the open sage and grass from the night before. We found fourteen beds. It appeared he had a mixture of 13 cows/calves if one of the beds was his. The fresh tracks and droppings led down the slope into a mixture of cedar and pine. We at least knew which direction they had moved.
Where did they go?
It was hot and we supposed they had already bedded. The thermals were already moving uphill and the winds on top were swirling every direction. We eased lower into the cedars where the wind appeared to be stable. I cow called and the bull immediately responded with a lazy bugle from 200 to 250 yards cross slope. We moved 100 yards closer. He responded to the call again. He sounded like he was just over the lip of a small ridge. The wind was moving uphill and I thought we could sneak to the edge of the ridge for a close encounter. We held up to listen when we were within 50 yards of the lip of the ridge. Without any prompting, the bull bugled, but it was obvious that he was already on the move and wasn’t bedded like we had thought.
The wind was starting to swirl again, so we backed out. I thought we were learning more about the bull and didn’t want to push him out. I also discussed with Isaac that if we were going to sleep in a day, we didn’t need to skip Friday, but instead Saturday when the crowd would show up. He agreed, so we planned to be back early Friday morning.
We hiked back out in the heat and relaxed the rest of the day at home. I know..........I’m not sounding very “beastmode”.
We were on the trail 20 minutes earlier than the day before. Isaac commented that he didn’t think he could wake up early another morning. However, the encouragement of Wednesday’s hunt hurried us up the trail. I thought that we may get lucky and catch the bull that was chuckling out in the open and get ahead of him in the timber, so we hiked up the ridge we started from on Wednesday. We had no sooner than made it to ourplanned listening point when a bull bugled on the opposite side of the drainage near where we had chased the bugling bull. It sounded like the same bull, Nash, but I wasn’t sure. I quickly glassed our side for elk, waited for another bugle, and hurried down then back up the opposite side.
We were ahead of Wednesday’s schedule, so we attempted to get ahead of him on the same general route he had taken before. We didn’t hear another bugle while we cautiously hiked into position. When we arrived at the location we had heard the surprisingly close bugle on Wednesday we set up and I cow called to locate him. The bull responded immediately from 150 to 200 yards slightly behind us and just over a hill to our right. We thought we were in a good position to intercept him if he traveled the same route as before. However, he stayed put and eventually drifted farther behind the hill he was bugling from. Apparently we should have gone straight at him.
We circled the hill to keep the wind in our favor and try to locate him. We weren’t having any luck getting another response. We sat down to wait and listen so we didn’t blunder into him. It had been at least an hour since his last bugle. After another half hour he still hadn’t made a sound, so we slipped forward where we thought he had disappeared. We started finding fresh tracks in the hard dirt, fresh droppings, and then beds in the open sage and grass from the night before. We found fourteen beds. It appeared he had a mixture of 13 cows/calves if one of the beds was his. The fresh tracks and droppings led down the slope into a mixture of cedar and pine. We at least knew which direction they had moved.
Where did they go?
It was hot and we supposed they had already bedded. The thermals were already moving uphill and the winds on top were swirling every direction. We eased lower into the cedars where the wind appeared to be stable. I cow called and the bull immediately responded with a lazy bugle from 200 to 250 yards cross slope. We moved 100 yards closer. He responded to the call again. He sounded like he was just over the lip of a small ridge. The wind was moving uphill and I thought we could sneak to the edge of the ridge for a close encounter. We held up to listen when we were within 50 yards of the lip of the ridge. Without any prompting, the bull bugled, but it was obvious that he was already on the move and wasn’t bedded like we had thought.
The wind was starting to swirl again, so we backed out. I thought we were learning more about the bull and didn’t want to push him out. I also discussed with Isaac that if we were going to sleep in a day, we didn’t need to skip Friday, but instead Saturday when the crowd would show up. He agreed, so we planned to be back early Friday morning.
We hiked back out in the heat and relaxed the rest of the day at home. I know..........I’m not sounding very “beastmode”.
September 21, 2012 (Friday)
We were up earlier than Thursday and had Wednesday’s time at the trailhead beat by 30 minutes. The plan was to hike the trail then up the side we hunted on Thursday just enough to get a start on the climb and stay safely beneath the elk. While hiking the trail we heard the bull bugle twice up above us close to the same location we left him in. We hiked up above the trail and waited to get a good location on the bull.
When he bugled next it was obvious he wasn’t as high as Thursday. We backed up some to make sure we stayed down wind. The next time he bugled he had dropped even lower and had moved closer. It sounded like they had made it to the trail we had just hiked. If that was the case, they were watering in the creek. We still had 15 minutes before legal shooting time. They sounded like they were moving back up, but I was concerned they would wind us if they didn’t move higher. The next bugle sounded like he had started back away from us. It was almost legal shooting hours, so we moved forward 50 yards and waited.
When he bugled next, it didn’t sound like he had moved farther as it had before, but instead was almost directly beneath us 100 yards. I was nervous about the wind, so we backed up and dropped lower in the thick cedars. He bugled and sounded less than 100 yards. I decided the thick cedars would allow us to push in close, so I told Isaac we were going for it and I was going to try and challenge him when we got really close.
We stopped when I started hearing him panting just ahead. I would have guessed him to be no farther than 50 yards. I cow called and he bugled from just out of sight over a break in the slope. I bugled at him and he responded with a furious sounding bugle. The cows were immediately talking and limbs were breaking just ahead of us. It sounded like they were in our lap. I told Isaac to get ready they were coming. I thought any second we were going to have a shot at one of them. I wanted the bull, but wasn’t about to hold Isaac back from a good shot at a cow. I didn’t think a shot at a cow would discourage the bull anyway if he didn’t see us.
We were seeing flashes of movement, but weren’t seeing any sort of shot opportunity. The bull and I exchanged several bugles from close range, but I still wasn’t seeing him. We had started the encounter off with the wind directly downhill at our back and the elk slightly to our left and downhill, so I didn’t think the encounter was going to last if we didn’t get a shot fast. The elk were now moving directly below us and I told Isaac the whole set up was about to fall apart. There was suddenly a lot of breaking and popping and hooves, so I assumed the herd had just winded us, but Isaac said “I think that’s the bull rubbing a tree”. Sure enough, the bull bugled again from just over the break and to our right about the same time I saw two cows run through and opening in the bottom. Apparently we had gotten lucky and only a cow or two had picked up our scent as the wind switched to a cross wind from right to left.
We risked it and rushed forward to another stand of cedars. I broke everything in my path on the way and once I stop then bugled again. The bull sounded like I should be able to see him just ahead and slightly to the right and there were still cows moving immediately below us. There was a narrow opening to my left that I knew an elk would be standing in within seconds. The bull was panting, and bugling, and raking, and stomping his hooves, and you name it………he was doing it. There was approximately five minutes that I thought for sure he would step out from behind some cedars and offer a shot any second, but he just wasn’t doing it.
We had reached a point where the cedars broke into open pines and we were unable to move forward anymore. He had bugled at me more times than I bothered counting. Every time he bugled from close range I could see Isaac’s arrow shaking all over the place. He admitted to me that “if the bull comes in, don’t wait on me, I can’t keep from shaking. “ I think he was even shaking when I’d bugle. I have to admit that the encounter was the most intense 15 minutes of elk hunting I’ve had. I’m sure some elk hunters have similar encounters on a regular basis, but I haven’t.
The bull finally moved again following the cows that he had managed to keep together. We made one more move on him when he crossed over a slight rise, but it was obvious he just wanted to get his cows out of there. We circled trying to locate other elk, but only got another bugle or two from the same bull later in the morning. However, the wind was crazy by then, and I decided we’d pushed him enough for today.
I really could not believe that we hadn’t been offered a shot by any of the elk that we were so close to that morning. We hadn’t had any success with cow calls bringing him in, so I thought if we pushed him that close and he felt threatened that he’d charge right in. I believe if he’d have been in the cedars during the whole encounter that I could have pushed him until I walked around a cedar and shot him, but that’s only speculation.
This was our last morning to hunt this bull for the week because Isaac was beat and wanted to sleep in. I didn’t really want to compete for the bull with the weekend warriors, but would have if I could have gotten a buy in from Isaac. We had already agreed to take Sunday off to attend church, and before I could convince Isaac we should give him another shot, I had agreed to take my wife to Great Falls on Saturday. As far as hunting goes, it probably wasn’t the brightest decision, but it was the decision I made in the end. I didn’t want to hunt him without Isaac and wasn’t going to force him to go. We’ll be back after them on the 28th.
The bull had been near the trail during the night
Fall colors finally showing up
We were up earlier than Thursday and had Wednesday’s time at the trailhead beat by 30 minutes. The plan was to hike the trail then up the side we hunted on Thursday just enough to get a start on the climb and stay safely beneath the elk. While hiking the trail we heard the bull bugle twice up above us close to the same location we left him in. We hiked up above the trail and waited to get a good location on the bull.
When he bugled next it was obvious he wasn’t as high as Thursday. We backed up some to make sure we stayed down wind. The next time he bugled he had dropped even lower and had moved closer. It sounded like they had made it to the trail we had just hiked. If that was the case, they were watering in the creek. We still had 15 minutes before legal shooting time. They sounded like they were moving back up, but I was concerned they would wind us if they didn’t move higher. The next bugle sounded like he had started back away from us. It was almost legal shooting hours, so we moved forward 50 yards and waited.
When he bugled next, it didn’t sound like he had moved farther as it had before, but instead was almost directly beneath us 100 yards. I was nervous about the wind, so we backed up and dropped lower in the thick cedars. He bugled and sounded less than 100 yards. I decided the thick cedars would allow us to push in close, so I told Isaac we were going for it and I was going to try and challenge him when we got really close.
We stopped when I started hearing him panting just ahead. I would have guessed him to be no farther than 50 yards. I cow called and he bugled from just out of sight over a break in the slope. I bugled at him and he responded with a furious sounding bugle. The cows were immediately talking and limbs were breaking just ahead of us. It sounded like they were in our lap. I told Isaac to get ready they were coming. I thought any second we were going to have a shot at one of them. I wanted the bull, but wasn’t about to hold Isaac back from a good shot at a cow. I didn’t think a shot at a cow would discourage the bull anyway if he didn’t see us.
We were seeing flashes of movement, but weren’t seeing any sort of shot opportunity. The bull and I exchanged several bugles from close range, but I still wasn’t seeing him. We had started the encounter off with the wind directly downhill at our back and the elk slightly to our left and downhill, so I didn’t think the encounter was going to last if we didn’t get a shot fast. The elk were now moving directly below us and I told Isaac the whole set up was about to fall apart. There was suddenly a lot of breaking and popping and hooves, so I assumed the herd had just winded us, but Isaac said “I think that’s the bull rubbing a tree”. Sure enough, the bull bugled again from just over the break and to our right about the same time I saw two cows run through and opening in the bottom. Apparently we had gotten lucky and only a cow or two had picked up our scent as the wind switched to a cross wind from right to left.
We risked it and rushed forward to another stand of cedars. I broke everything in my path on the way and once I stop then bugled again. The bull sounded like I should be able to see him just ahead and slightly to the right and there were still cows moving immediately below us. There was a narrow opening to my left that I knew an elk would be standing in within seconds. The bull was panting, and bugling, and raking, and stomping his hooves, and you name it………he was doing it. There was approximately five minutes that I thought for sure he would step out from behind some cedars and offer a shot any second, but he just wasn’t doing it.
We had reached a point where the cedars broke into open pines and we were unable to move forward anymore. He had bugled at me more times than I bothered counting. Every time he bugled from close range I could see Isaac’s arrow shaking all over the place. He admitted to me that “if the bull comes in, don’t wait on me, I can’t keep from shaking. “ I think he was even shaking when I’d bugle. I have to admit that the encounter was the most intense 15 minutes of elk hunting I’ve had. I’m sure some elk hunters have similar encounters on a regular basis, but I haven’t.
The bull finally moved again following the cows that he had managed to keep together. We made one more move on him when he crossed over a slight rise, but it was obvious he just wanted to get his cows out of there. We circled trying to locate other elk, but only got another bugle or two from the same bull later in the morning. However, the wind was crazy by then, and I decided we’d pushed him enough for today.
I really could not believe that we hadn’t been offered a shot by any of the elk that we were so close to that morning. We hadn’t had any success with cow calls bringing him in, so I thought if we pushed him that close and he felt threatened that he’d charge right in. I believe if he’d have been in the cedars during the whole encounter that I could have pushed him until I walked around a cedar and shot him, but that’s only speculation.
This was our last morning to hunt this bull for the week because Isaac was beat and wanted to sleep in. I didn’t really want to compete for the bull with the weekend warriors, but would have if I could have gotten a buy in from Isaac. We had already agreed to take Sunday off to attend church, and before I could convince Isaac we should give him another shot, I had agreed to take my wife to Great Falls on Saturday. As far as hunting goes, it probably wasn’t the brightest decision, but it was the decision I made in the end. I didn’t want to hunt him without Isaac and wasn’t going to force him to go. We’ll be back after them on the 28th.
The bull had been near the trail during the night
Fall colors finally showing up
Shrek
WKR
This is a great story. Your son will cherish this writing when all he has is his memories of you. I struggle to remember the great times and would so love to have something like this. Sure hope this western has a happy ending 
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