GABowhunter
FNG
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2020
I have not posted my elk hunting experiences for the last four years anywhere. Here it is. Sorry very long.
I have been hunting in Colorado in the same area for the past four seasons. I will be back again this year.Assuming I draw my tag again. Five years ago, I e-scouted and chose this area. After talking with the outfitter, he recommend this area because it is the same place he takes clients who do it themselves with their own drop camps. So he has packed my camp in every year.
For me, I wanted to do a horseback ride in as part of the hunt experience. I also wanted to be in the wilderness away from trails and roand as many other hunters as possible. This area is right in the middle of elk every year.
Before going my first year I did the elk 101 course as well as the elk calling academy. I felt like the elk calling academy was probably the best resource I had. Each year I have adjusted and tweaked the gear I carried. Every year I stay for ten days of hunting.
1st Year
During the summer before the season I hiked the area and placed three cameras on some water holes. I hunted the first ten days of the season. The first day of the hunt I retrieved those cameras and decided where I wanted to hunt. I had my first encounter the very first opening morning. I had him bugle on one of the water holes as i was approaching. I set up in what I thought was a good area and began my calling and raking sequence. He bugled a time or two and was headed my way. I was expecting him to come down the trail in the draw to my left. Instead , he came in to my right and barked at me at 18yds. I did not know he was there until he barked. Needless to say , I was pinned down and he moved away before I could get a shot opportunity.
The next day I busted a nice 6 with a spike and a few cows just south of camp about a half a mile. I set up and tried to call them back in. After about ten minutes I turned my head to the left slightly. I was staring eye to eye with the six at 20 yards. That slight movement made him leave.
The next 4 days had me chasing a big 6 on that same water hole from the first day. I had four encounters with him under forty yards. I drew on him one day but did not have a clear shot. One of those days I called him in and he bugled at me at 30 yds. Then he left and went back up the ridge. I called him back down again to the same area but I made the mistake of moving over slightly to a different spot for a better view to try to cut him off. He instead went back to that previous spot and I had no shot.
One of those days, I watched him for twenty minutes as I was pinned down and no clear line to him. He sat there wallowing in Is that water raking his horns, slinging mud and bugling. It was an awesome display.
I ended up that nine day hunt with seven encounters with 6x6 bulls all under forty yards.
I learned a lot on set ups.And calling during that hunt.
2nd Year
I had a group of friends with me on this hunt. We also hunted the first ten days again. We got into camp a day before the season opened. That morning, before the season opened, we watched two big 6s Feeding on the sad of a meadow and working their way down into the timber. We were excited. Opening morning, inpassed on a cow. Day three, a storm rolled in and the whole mountain went silent for the rest of the hunt. We only saw a few cows and heard very few bugles.
3rd Year
This was my first solo hunt. This year, I went the last two weeks of the season, during the rut. Elk were bugling as I arrived and set up camp. After setting camp, I quickly took off to one of my spots overlooking a large meadow. As I sat waiting, Dark clouds and heavy thunder and lightning started rolling in over the horizon. At that time, a very large 6 moved in to a water hole at the bottom of the meadow over a quarter mile away. I had to turn and head for camp to try to beat the heavy storm as the bull exited the meadow. I did not make it back and had to seek shelter under a tarp in thick cover.
The second morning I had a bugle in that same Meadow.Wow getting ready at camp. At first light as I got to the meadow I saw a small five Is moving across. Trying to call him, he was somewhat interested but finally left.
That evening, as I got into camp about thirty minutes after dark, I heard a bull bugling, coming across the meadow near camp. He got to within less than one hundred yards of camp. He then barked a couple of times, i'm guessing from seeing the light of my camp. He then turned and continued to bugle back across the meadow from where he came. Believe it or not, he did the exact same thing the next two days, all about 1 hour after dark.
On day five, I found myself overlooking a large basin. Clouds rolled in and within an hour, the ground was covered in about two inches of snow. I was listening to a herd bull and lots of cows talking in the timber beyond the meadow in the bottom of the basin. Another big bull and cows were to my right at the far reaches of the basin on some rock shelfs.
i decided to make my play on the heard bull in front of me. As I circled to my left to get down wind of the herd, two more bulls began to bugle from the far side of the timber. They pushed the herd bull and his cows across the meadow and up on the ridge I had just left. I then began to watch two more 6s from the far herd move down toward this herd. As I skirted the edge of the meadow working toward the herd, The two 6s trotted in towards the herd. The herd bull bugled and ran his cows across the meadow back into the timber. Now I was between the herd and the other two bulls. At that moment I heard something behind me. As I turned quickly , two cows stopped, looked at me and turned and ran off. They had not seen me and was about to run over me. As darkness was approaching , I used along the edge Of the meadow toward the closest of the two 6s. I closed to seventy yards, But the wind and blowing snow did not give me a calm, comfortable shot opportunity. After dark I headed back to camp leaving all of the bulls bugling in the meadow.
That storm brought in heavy winds for the next 4 days. elk were bedded. i heard no bugles and saw one cow.
When the weather broke on the next to the last day of the hunt, i headed back to the meadow from day one where i had seen the large 6 and also the 5. I knew what my game plan would be when I heard him bugle. I knew he would be over the cliffs in the timber and would work his way up to the meadow. When he bugled, i would quickly make my way down the side of the meadow towards the water hole and setup with the wind in favor.
Sure.Enough about 30 minutes before dark, he bugled exactly where I thought he would be. I quickly work my way down the ridge to the water and set up. Has I got set up I immediately cow called. He then bugled bright back. He was just two hundred yards up wind coming into the meadow. it was raghorn 4, but it was getting to the end of my hunt and i wanted an elk. I quickly started working along the rocks and small clump of trees, closing the distance, calling each time i stopped. He would bugle and walk into the edge of the meadow, look my way for the cows, and then circle back. I continued this sequence, closing the distance each time, until I was finally at the spot where I had first seen him. I could see him through the edge of the meadow where it turned around the edge of the timber. He was just beyond the corner about seventy yards out. I called one last time. Hey bugled, and then walkes out into the meadow broadside and stopped. It was a long shot , but I felt comfortable. As the release fired, I knew my pin was a little low. At the last moment the lighted knock dropped low on the shoulder. As he whirled and ran, I could tell the arrow did not get good penetration and I hit the bone. After about thirty yards I saw the arrow fall out. A few minutes later, I went to retrieve the arrow. It was broke off and it appeared about 5-6 inches was missing. I could not see any blood. I decided to come back and look the next morning.
The next morning I arrived back in the meadow to my arrow. As I worked toward the timber where I saw him enter I still could not find any blood. After about thirty minutes of grids searching a small patch of timber, I picked up blood along the edge of the ridge on a trail. i followed it, faint most of the time, for about 200yds. I did find several spots where he had laid down with blood pressed around the bushes on about a three foot circle. Finally I lost blood and began another grid search. After searching for an hour, I decided to head back to the last spot.I had found blood. I looked for the nearest trail headed in that direction. Immediately upon getting on the trail, I spotted blood on a bush. it was 130yds from where my last blood was. i followed the trail, as it crossed a rock chute and into the timber on the other side. he was headed into the really steep timber and cliffs. As I searhed for blood, I noticed two brown patches about 100 yds down the steep timber. As i moved for a better view, i spotted two cows. at that moment, a bulled bugled to their right and they all bolted. it was that 4. He had survived with only a flesh wound. I never gave up trailing him. I was five hundred and thirty yards from where I shot him the evening before.
continued in next comment...
I have been hunting in Colorado in the same area for the past four seasons. I will be back again this year.Assuming I draw my tag again. Five years ago, I e-scouted and chose this area. After talking with the outfitter, he recommend this area because it is the same place he takes clients who do it themselves with their own drop camps. So he has packed my camp in every year.
For me, I wanted to do a horseback ride in as part of the hunt experience. I also wanted to be in the wilderness away from trails and roand as many other hunters as possible. This area is right in the middle of elk every year.
Before going my first year I did the elk 101 course as well as the elk calling academy. I felt like the elk calling academy was probably the best resource I had. Each year I have adjusted and tweaked the gear I carried. Every year I stay for ten days of hunting.
1st Year
During the summer before the season I hiked the area and placed three cameras on some water holes. I hunted the first ten days of the season. The first day of the hunt I retrieved those cameras and decided where I wanted to hunt. I had my first encounter the very first opening morning. I had him bugle on one of the water holes as i was approaching. I set up in what I thought was a good area and began my calling and raking sequence. He bugled a time or two and was headed my way. I was expecting him to come down the trail in the draw to my left. Instead , he came in to my right and barked at me at 18yds. I did not know he was there until he barked. Needless to say , I was pinned down and he moved away before I could get a shot opportunity.
The next day I busted a nice 6 with a spike and a few cows just south of camp about a half a mile. I set up and tried to call them back in. After about ten minutes I turned my head to the left slightly. I was staring eye to eye with the six at 20 yards. That slight movement made him leave.
The next 4 days had me chasing a big 6 on that same water hole from the first day. I had four encounters with him under forty yards. I drew on him one day but did not have a clear shot. One of those days I called him in and he bugled at me at 30 yds. Then he left and went back up the ridge. I called him back down again to the same area but I made the mistake of moving over slightly to a different spot for a better view to try to cut him off. He instead went back to that previous spot and I had no shot.
One of those days, I watched him for twenty minutes as I was pinned down and no clear line to him. He sat there wallowing in Is that water raking his horns, slinging mud and bugling. It was an awesome display.
I ended up that nine day hunt with seven encounters with 6x6 bulls all under forty yards.
I learned a lot on set ups.And calling during that hunt.
2nd Year
I had a group of friends with me on this hunt. We also hunted the first ten days again. We got into camp a day before the season opened. That morning, before the season opened, we watched two big 6s Feeding on the sad of a meadow and working their way down into the timber. We were excited. Opening morning, inpassed on a cow. Day three, a storm rolled in and the whole mountain went silent for the rest of the hunt. We only saw a few cows and heard very few bugles.
3rd Year
This was my first solo hunt. This year, I went the last two weeks of the season, during the rut. Elk were bugling as I arrived and set up camp. After setting camp, I quickly took off to one of my spots overlooking a large meadow. As I sat waiting, Dark clouds and heavy thunder and lightning started rolling in over the horizon. At that time, a very large 6 moved in to a water hole at the bottom of the meadow over a quarter mile away. I had to turn and head for camp to try to beat the heavy storm as the bull exited the meadow. I did not make it back and had to seek shelter under a tarp in thick cover.
The second morning I had a bugle in that same Meadow.Wow getting ready at camp. At first light as I got to the meadow I saw a small five Is moving across. Trying to call him, he was somewhat interested but finally left.
That evening, as I got into camp about thirty minutes after dark, I heard a bull bugling, coming across the meadow near camp. He got to within less than one hundred yards of camp. He then barked a couple of times, i'm guessing from seeing the light of my camp. He then turned and continued to bugle back across the meadow from where he came. Believe it or not, he did the exact same thing the next two days, all about 1 hour after dark.
On day five, I found myself overlooking a large basin. Clouds rolled in and within an hour, the ground was covered in about two inches of snow. I was listening to a herd bull and lots of cows talking in the timber beyond the meadow in the bottom of the basin. Another big bull and cows were to my right at the far reaches of the basin on some rock shelfs.
i decided to make my play on the heard bull in front of me. As I circled to my left to get down wind of the herd, two more bulls began to bugle from the far side of the timber. They pushed the herd bull and his cows across the meadow and up on the ridge I had just left. I then began to watch two more 6s from the far herd move down toward this herd. As I skirted the edge of the meadow working toward the herd, The two 6s trotted in towards the herd. The herd bull bugled and ran his cows across the meadow back into the timber. Now I was between the herd and the other two bulls. At that moment I heard something behind me. As I turned quickly , two cows stopped, looked at me and turned and ran off. They had not seen me and was about to run over me. As darkness was approaching , I used along the edge Of the meadow toward the closest of the two 6s. I closed to seventy yards, But the wind and blowing snow did not give me a calm, comfortable shot opportunity. After dark I headed back to camp leaving all of the bulls bugling in the meadow.
That storm brought in heavy winds for the next 4 days. elk were bedded. i heard no bugles and saw one cow.
When the weather broke on the next to the last day of the hunt, i headed back to the meadow from day one where i had seen the large 6 and also the 5. I knew what my game plan would be when I heard him bugle. I knew he would be over the cliffs in the timber and would work his way up to the meadow. When he bugled, i would quickly make my way down the side of the meadow towards the water hole and setup with the wind in favor.
Sure.Enough about 30 minutes before dark, he bugled exactly where I thought he would be. I quickly work my way down the ridge to the water and set up. Has I got set up I immediately cow called. He then bugled bright back. He was just two hundred yards up wind coming into the meadow. it was raghorn 4, but it was getting to the end of my hunt and i wanted an elk. I quickly started working along the rocks and small clump of trees, closing the distance, calling each time i stopped. He would bugle and walk into the edge of the meadow, look my way for the cows, and then circle back. I continued this sequence, closing the distance each time, until I was finally at the spot where I had first seen him. I could see him through the edge of the meadow where it turned around the edge of the timber. He was just beyond the corner about seventy yards out. I called one last time. Hey bugled, and then walkes out into the meadow broadside and stopped. It was a long shot , but I felt comfortable. As the release fired, I knew my pin was a little low. At the last moment the lighted knock dropped low on the shoulder. As he whirled and ran, I could tell the arrow did not get good penetration and I hit the bone. After about thirty yards I saw the arrow fall out. A few minutes later, I went to retrieve the arrow. It was broke off and it appeared about 5-6 inches was missing. I could not see any blood. I decided to come back and look the next morning.
The next morning I arrived back in the meadow to my arrow. As I worked toward the timber where I saw him enter I still could not find any blood. After about thirty minutes of grids searching a small patch of timber, I picked up blood along the edge of the ridge on a trail. i followed it, faint most of the time, for about 200yds. I did find several spots where he had laid down with blood pressed around the bushes on about a three foot circle. Finally I lost blood and began another grid search. After searching for an hour, I decided to head back to the last spot.I had found blood. I looked for the nearest trail headed in that direction. Immediately upon getting on the trail, I spotted blood on a bush. it was 130yds from where my last blood was. i followed the trail, as it crossed a rock chute and into the timber on the other side. he was headed into the really steep timber and cliffs. As I searhed for blood, I noticed two brown patches about 100 yds down the steep timber. As i moved for a better view, i spotted two cows. at that moment, a bulled bugled to their right and they all bolted. it was that 4. He had survived with only a flesh wound. I never gave up trailing him. I was five hundred and thirty yards from where I shot him the evening before.
continued in next comment...
