SouthernHunter
FNG
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2016
- Messages
- 21
I just returned from my first ever elk hunt, and feel my hunting partners and I had a pretty good trip even though none of us filled our tag. None of the guys in our group(4 but only 3 hunting) have ever hunted elk or out west before. We are all from Louisiana and dove into this trip head first and started planning and researching for a Colorado hunt. We went through a few OTC units before we decided to apply for a archery draw hunt(we drew our tags).
All the research and talking to Biologist, and forest service lead us to our initial base camp at 11,500ft. We soon found out that we were too high when none of us could get a good sleep. We did spot some elk on our second day, and actually got into some bugling and within 200 yards on the 3rd day but could never catch up to them. The closest we got was to a cow at 150 yards. We decided to go back and try to get a response from the same area the next morning, but if we didn't we would move to the other end of the unit. So after the morning hike to the bugling and glassing point, with no response, we headed back to camp to pack up and move.
While passing through town we decided to stop and eat at a BBQ place and talked up a couple locals. One gentleman was kind enough to let us know that the elk were much lower this year because a lot of the natural springs kicked off at a lower elevation this year. He had actually tagged out at the beginning of the month at 9800ft. This made us feel a lot better of our decision to move to the other side of the unit where we would set up base camp at 8800ft and be hunting between 9000- 10000ft. On our way in to the new camp we saw a herd of 20 cows on a hillside on private land with a huge 6x7 bull.
On our first day we mostly hiked and scouted, finding tons of old and fresh tracks, scat, and rubs. In our minds old and fresh mean that not only they were there recently, but that its a place they return to frequently. That evening we split up and hunted the two areas that had the most sign.
The area that my friend and I sat that evening was old water hole with lots of fresh tracks and scat around it. Right after the sun went down behind the mountains we heard of the ugliest bugles due west to us at about 400 yards. I thought that it had to be an elk because no hunter would sound that bad. Within a couple of minutes we heard another bugle, this one sounding much better and I decided to bugle back. I immediately got a response bugle with a chuckle at the end. For some reason the chuckle made me think it was another hunter and I didn't want to call another hunter into the water hole so I stopped bugling. About 20 minutes later my hunting partner tapped my shoulder and said, " it wasn't another hunter". When I looked past him I saw a rag horn 4x4 about 80 yards away. We decided to let him hopefully feed right past us without me calling. He did not cooperate with our plan however and turned to walk back into the woods that he came from. That's when I started cow calling and he began to circle behind us. My partner had already scooted down the ridge 20 yards in front of me by this point and was able to draw back on the bull at 20 yards, but never had a clear shot. It was not until he let down that he noticed the second bull that was still in the field 10 yards away from him. This was a much bigger 5x5 bull. However, the bull was directly behind a fir tree and he was waiting for him to clear it. I still had never seen the 5x5 and tried to get a clear 40 yard shot at the 4x4 by taking 2 steps up and spooked both bulls. I was very happy to have both bulls so close but still mad at myself for ruining my partner's chance at a nice 5x5. After a couple of minutes of talking and celebrating what we considered a pretty good encounter I decided to bugle again. One of the bulls immediately responded and was still within 100-200 yards of us. My friend moved up the hill to position for a shot as I continued to call. The 4x4 ended up working his way directly behind me to within 25 yards, and let out a bugle and chuckle. That definitely got my blood pumping. I could see his head perfectly, but that was all. He needed to take one more step to give me about a 20 yard frontal shot. It never happened, he ended up spinning around and trotting off.
After telling our story at camp and our other friends having a rather uneventful evening we decided all to hunt the same hole the following evening. We were able to get the same 4x4 bugling that evening and he came in to about 20-30 yard of us again. This time however he was way more cautious and never really stopped moving. We could see him just cruising back and forth through the brush, and he never stopped to give anyone a shot.
As eventful as our last two days of hunting was, I definitely learned some things. The biggest is we needed to be more patient in some situations. I feel that we outran the first bugle that we had gotten on the mountain on our third day of hunting. We had a horrible wind and were trying to position ourselves better. But I think the bull actually came straight to where we had bugled from and we were no longer there. As for as our close encounters, I definitely could have shown a little more patience on the 4x4 and maybe my friend could have had a chance at the 5x5. Also, we should have pushed a shooter further up the hill and deeper onto the ridge top once we started getting responses. But I will chalk all these up to rookie mistakes and hopefully not repeat them next year.
Overall we all had a blast and are definitely hooked, and already planning next year's trip.
All the research and talking to Biologist, and forest service lead us to our initial base camp at 11,500ft. We soon found out that we were too high when none of us could get a good sleep. We did spot some elk on our second day, and actually got into some bugling and within 200 yards on the 3rd day but could never catch up to them. The closest we got was to a cow at 150 yards. We decided to go back and try to get a response from the same area the next morning, but if we didn't we would move to the other end of the unit. So after the morning hike to the bugling and glassing point, with no response, we headed back to camp to pack up and move.
While passing through town we decided to stop and eat at a BBQ place and talked up a couple locals. One gentleman was kind enough to let us know that the elk were much lower this year because a lot of the natural springs kicked off at a lower elevation this year. He had actually tagged out at the beginning of the month at 9800ft. This made us feel a lot better of our decision to move to the other side of the unit where we would set up base camp at 8800ft and be hunting between 9000- 10000ft. On our way in to the new camp we saw a herd of 20 cows on a hillside on private land with a huge 6x7 bull.
On our first day we mostly hiked and scouted, finding tons of old and fresh tracks, scat, and rubs. In our minds old and fresh mean that not only they were there recently, but that its a place they return to frequently. That evening we split up and hunted the two areas that had the most sign.
The area that my friend and I sat that evening was old water hole with lots of fresh tracks and scat around it. Right after the sun went down behind the mountains we heard of the ugliest bugles due west to us at about 400 yards. I thought that it had to be an elk because no hunter would sound that bad. Within a couple of minutes we heard another bugle, this one sounding much better and I decided to bugle back. I immediately got a response bugle with a chuckle at the end. For some reason the chuckle made me think it was another hunter and I didn't want to call another hunter into the water hole so I stopped bugling. About 20 minutes later my hunting partner tapped my shoulder and said, " it wasn't another hunter". When I looked past him I saw a rag horn 4x4 about 80 yards away. We decided to let him hopefully feed right past us without me calling. He did not cooperate with our plan however and turned to walk back into the woods that he came from. That's when I started cow calling and he began to circle behind us. My partner had already scooted down the ridge 20 yards in front of me by this point and was able to draw back on the bull at 20 yards, but never had a clear shot. It was not until he let down that he noticed the second bull that was still in the field 10 yards away from him. This was a much bigger 5x5 bull. However, the bull was directly behind a fir tree and he was waiting for him to clear it. I still had never seen the 5x5 and tried to get a clear 40 yard shot at the 4x4 by taking 2 steps up and spooked both bulls. I was very happy to have both bulls so close but still mad at myself for ruining my partner's chance at a nice 5x5. After a couple of minutes of talking and celebrating what we considered a pretty good encounter I decided to bugle again. One of the bulls immediately responded and was still within 100-200 yards of us. My friend moved up the hill to position for a shot as I continued to call. The 4x4 ended up working his way directly behind me to within 25 yards, and let out a bugle and chuckle. That definitely got my blood pumping. I could see his head perfectly, but that was all. He needed to take one more step to give me about a 20 yard frontal shot. It never happened, he ended up spinning around and trotting off.
After telling our story at camp and our other friends having a rather uneventful evening we decided all to hunt the same hole the following evening. We were able to get the same 4x4 bugling that evening and he came in to about 20-30 yard of us again. This time however he was way more cautious and never really stopped moving. We could see him just cruising back and forth through the brush, and he never stopped to give anyone a shot.
As eventful as our last two days of hunting was, I definitely learned some things. The biggest is we needed to be more patient in some situations. I feel that we outran the first bugle that we had gotten on the mountain on our third day of hunting. We had a horrible wind and were trying to position ourselves better. But I think the bull actually came straight to where we had bugled from and we were no longer there. As for as our close encounters, I definitely could have shown a little more patience on the 4x4 and maybe my friend could have had a chance at the 5x5. Also, we should have pushed a shooter further up the hill and deeper onto the ridge top once we started getting responses. But I will chalk all these up to rookie mistakes and hopefully not repeat them next year.
Overall we all had a blast and are definitely hooked, and already planning next year's trip.
