OpenCountry
Well-known member
With plenty of scouting done prior to season and enough vacation days on the books I knew it was going to be a fun season no matter how it turned out. I managed to take from September 15 – 23 off to bowhunt elk during what I hoped would be the prime time with the rut. My two buddies weren’t going to make it in until late on the night of the 14th to get camp set up. I managed to squeak out of work a little early on the 14th and made a rush for elk country, hoping to get an evening hunt in. I decided to hunt a section of state land that the majority of hunters seem to drive right by. I had scouted it before season and the amount of elk sign ensured I would be back once season kicked off. I hiked in that night but didn’t have any encounters during the day light. As I was hiking out I could hear a few bulls bugling in the nearby fields and I knew they would be in the area the next morning. Shortly after dark the three of us linked up and headed for where we would set up camp.
The next morning we loaded up and headed back to the state land section in hopes the elk were still hanging tight. As soon as we got out of the vehicle one of the bulls ripped off a bugle and I knew we were in for some early morning action. After getting set up we could see the elk start filtering off of the private and up through the public land to bed up for the day. The bulls were responding but with the amount of cows they had it seemed like they were pretty content. We slowly stayed ahead of the herd as they fed and tried to pick the best location to try to cut them off. Later that morning my two buddies I was with ended up with a shot a piece, but both failed to connect. This is only their second year elk hunting and the first shots they’ve taken on elk so to say they were excited was an understatement. They were both pretty bummed out after missing the shots on the first day but that’s part of hunting. We headed back to camp to grab some quick lunch since it was in between the area we would go in for a late afternoon/night hunt.
After eating and topping off on water we headed in about 3:00 into a couple drainages where I had filled my cow tag and helped two buddies pack out a bull and cow the year before. One buddy ended up going to sit in the drainage where I had filled my cow tag the prior year while the other two of us headed to the bigger drainage. We started to slow hunt the timber side of the drainage, moving slowly hoping to hear or see any sign of elk. After about an hour into the drainage a bull bugled and we knew we were in business. We kept moving slowly through so we could hopefully catch sight of them first. He bugled a couple more times which ended up letting us locate a few of his cows bedded down. They were in a perfect spot for a stalk so we dropped our packs. We waited for about 20 minutes hoping to catch a look at the bull to see what we were dealing with. He ended up walking passed a couple of his cows and got them on their feet. He started raking the dirt with his antlers and we decided it was time to go at him. There was a trail that led around the face of a knob that would bring us to within 50 yards if they didn’t move out of the area. We took our time walking the trail and when we came around the corner the elk were gone. We backed out so we could swing back around with the wind still in our face. As we did that we actually walked through what was left of the bones of my buddy’s bull from the year before. All I could think was how cool it would be if I ended up shooting my bull that close to where his had fallen the previous year. As we kept pushing through there was no sign of the elk, no bugles. We ended up bumping a couple of spikes at about 30 yards and I knew we had just sealed our fate. The cut the bull and his cows would had to have taken went right near these two spikes. The only thing that would have separated them was another steep gumbo knob. We decided to climb up it in order to take a look on the backside, hoping they had held up in that pocket. As we climbed to the top of it and looked down into the hole there wasn’t any sign of elk. It seemed like the perfect stalk had just been spoiled.
When the two spikes had come out they took a small finger to the top of the ridge to the north of where we were. We took a knee on top of the knob we were on to reflect on what the hell just happened. Where did this bull and cows go without us being able to see them? I looked up near the finger where the spikes had ran when we were sitting there. Sure enough I see a spike working his way down the backside of the finger headed straight below the knob we were sitting on. I tell my buddy I’m going to fill my cow tag if there are any cows that are with him. We range the opening and its 60 yards at a steep angle down. A cow comes out and I get ready to draw. A couple cows, calves and a spike follow. They are all standing broadside at about 50-60 yards now. As I start drawing I hear the bugle of a bull that hasn’t shown his face yet. I let down and a few seconds later the bull we were stalking walks out of the finger and rips off another bugle. I draw in hopes to get a shot on him as he’s slowly walking. I stop him with a mew and a tree branch is going right across his vitals. I tell my buddy to range him again and he’s at 55 yards. He goes to take a few more steps and I mew again which stops him at 49 yards with a slight quartering away shot. The shot ended up double lunging him and he ran about 20 yards before he started to stumble. He ended up crashing back down the cut and the high fives began. I had just taken a nice bull only about 150 yards from my buddies bull the year before and about 100 yards from where the buddy sitting next to me had shot a cow the year before. The work began shortly after but after making quick work with the gutless method the true work began. We ended up finishing packing the bull out shortly after midnight. There has been a lot of memories made in that very small area between a few great friends.
The next morning we loaded up and headed back to the state land section in hopes the elk were still hanging tight. As soon as we got out of the vehicle one of the bulls ripped off a bugle and I knew we were in for some early morning action. After getting set up we could see the elk start filtering off of the private and up through the public land to bed up for the day. The bulls were responding but with the amount of cows they had it seemed like they were pretty content. We slowly stayed ahead of the herd as they fed and tried to pick the best location to try to cut them off. Later that morning my two buddies I was with ended up with a shot a piece, but both failed to connect. This is only their second year elk hunting and the first shots they’ve taken on elk so to say they were excited was an understatement. They were both pretty bummed out after missing the shots on the first day but that’s part of hunting. We headed back to camp to grab some quick lunch since it was in between the area we would go in for a late afternoon/night hunt.
After eating and topping off on water we headed in about 3:00 into a couple drainages where I had filled my cow tag and helped two buddies pack out a bull and cow the year before. One buddy ended up going to sit in the drainage where I had filled my cow tag the prior year while the other two of us headed to the bigger drainage. We started to slow hunt the timber side of the drainage, moving slowly hoping to hear or see any sign of elk. After about an hour into the drainage a bull bugled and we knew we were in business. We kept moving slowly through so we could hopefully catch sight of them first. He bugled a couple more times which ended up letting us locate a few of his cows bedded down. They were in a perfect spot for a stalk so we dropped our packs. We waited for about 20 minutes hoping to catch a look at the bull to see what we were dealing with. He ended up walking passed a couple of his cows and got them on their feet. He started raking the dirt with his antlers and we decided it was time to go at him. There was a trail that led around the face of a knob that would bring us to within 50 yards if they didn’t move out of the area. We took our time walking the trail and when we came around the corner the elk were gone. We backed out so we could swing back around with the wind still in our face. As we did that we actually walked through what was left of the bones of my buddy’s bull from the year before. All I could think was how cool it would be if I ended up shooting my bull that close to where his had fallen the previous year. As we kept pushing through there was no sign of the elk, no bugles. We ended up bumping a couple of spikes at about 30 yards and I knew we had just sealed our fate. The cut the bull and his cows would had to have taken went right near these two spikes. The only thing that would have separated them was another steep gumbo knob. We decided to climb up it in order to take a look on the backside, hoping they had held up in that pocket. As we climbed to the top of it and looked down into the hole there wasn’t any sign of elk. It seemed like the perfect stalk had just been spoiled.
When the two spikes had come out they took a small finger to the top of the ridge to the north of where we were. We took a knee on top of the knob we were on to reflect on what the hell just happened. Where did this bull and cows go without us being able to see them? I looked up near the finger where the spikes had ran when we were sitting there. Sure enough I see a spike working his way down the backside of the finger headed straight below the knob we were sitting on. I tell my buddy I’m going to fill my cow tag if there are any cows that are with him. We range the opening and its 60 yards at a steep angle down. A cow comes out and I get ready to draw. A couple cows, calves and a spike follow. They are all standing broadside at about 50-60 yards now. As I start drawing I hear the bugle of a bull that hasn’t shown his face yet. I let down and a few seconds later the bull we were stalking walks out of the finger and rips off another bugle. I draw in hopes to get a shot on him as he’s slowly walking. I stop him with a mew and a tree branch is going right across his vitals. I tell my buddy to range him again and he’s at 55 yards. He goes to take a few more steps and I mew again which stops him at 49 yards with a slight quartering away shot. The shot ended up double lunging him and he ran about 20 yards before he started to stumble. He ended up crashing back down the cut and the high fives began. I had just taken a nice bull only about 150 yards from my buddies bull the year before and about 100 yards from where the buddy sitting next to me had shot a cow the year before. The work began shortly after but after making quick work with the gutless method the true work began. We ended up finishing packing the bull out shortly after midnight. There has been a lot of memories made in that very small area between a few great friends.
