Last year a buddy and I ventured out to Montana for our first DIY elk hunt. Prior to the hunt a high profile member of this board was kind enough to give us some much needed direction. Thanks again!!
Upon arrival at the trail head around 2pm we sighted in our rifles and loaded up the packs. The opener was 1.5 days out.
I learned a lot of valuable lessons on the trip…the first was always get a current arial/sat photo of the area you plan on hunting.
The path we chose to ascend to our spike camp via google earth looked manageable…however it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. The path we chose showed up as a burn on google…yet ended up being a pile of logs and new growth pine…this resulted in a 3hr hump to gain 1000ft and a little over a mile.
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After a tough trek we reached the bench were we planned on camping and watered up. We were impressed/concerned with the amount of grizzly sign present…fortunately it was mostly old.
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There was also some elk sign of varying age and we encountered some whitetail doe’s. The weather was mild…bordering on hot. We made camp on the leeward side of a ridge which afforded us some protection from the very strong winds.
The following day we scouted the area pretty hard and glassed quite a bit. The weather was excellent, sunny and mild. That evening I spotted a large group of elk across the river valley at last light. There was one very nice bull in the bunch and they were making their way toward private property at a steady clip.
My buddy and I vigorously debated wether to chase those animals. They were only about a mile away as the crow flies…but a 2k ft elevation loss and 2k ft of elevation gain stood between us. Plus, the difficult ascent we encountered the day before and the darknes made us decide to stay put.
Keep in mind, we suspected…but weren't sure if an alternate route was available off the mountain…there was some cliff faces on the alternate route that may have posed potential problems and scrambling through the blowdown in the dark wasn't an option.
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For a visual idea of the terrain where I saw the elk (sorry no actual photo), see the top picture above. The elk were moving through the open area with a rocky band at the top left portion of the ridge. The second picture is from a different angle...same terrain...lower on the mountain. As you can see they were at the same elevation as us initially…just a major trek and a large river away!
Of course after we decided not to go after those animals the weather took on a schizophrenic personality. Sun, wind, rain and snow in variable patterns would mark the next 5 days of hunting.
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We hunted hard but didn't see any more elk. Eventually we dropped to a lower elevation and saw lots of sign but no elk…there were a good amount of whitetails…nothing we wanted to shoot however.
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One of my concerns committing to this area was that there was a piece of private property above our camp. We didn't see a soul for 6 days…however one afternoon…in a pretty wretched snow storm…some folks on horseback dropped in and took a water bladder and about 4 gallons of purified water (which was a bit of a hassle pumping through a sweetwater filter). I never saw them but the tracks in the snow clearly showed a two legged thief…it really sucked making water that night.
It's possible that the area we primarily hunted was used regularly by these folks. That may have played a role in the animals behavior? We saw lots of sign...just no real sightings on this side of the valley.
All-in-all, it was a great trip and I learned a lot.
When the reports came out the following week it showed that very few (like 3) elk were killed in this drainage the week we hunted. I’m not sure if that was a symptom of the weather and/or wolves, etc. Regardless, I think we did a serviceable job...considering we’re flatlander's and hadn't hunted elk before.
With that said, I’m open to constructive criticism regarding what I did or didn't do correctly. At the end of the day…I’m here to learn. Thanks in advance.
P.S. I wish we chased those elk!
Upon arrival at the trail head around 2pm we sighted in our rifles and loaded up the packs. The opener was 1.5 days out.
I learned a lot of valuable lessons on the trip…the first was always get a current arial/sat photo of the area you plan on hunting.
The path we chose to ascend to our spike camp via google earth looked manageable…however it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. The path we chose showed up as a burn on google…yet ended up being a pile of logs and new growth pine…this resulted in a 3hr hump to gain 1000ft and a little over a mile.
After a tough trek we reached the bench were we planned on camping and watered up. We were impressed/concerned with the amount of grizzly sign present…fortunately it was mostly old.
There was also some elk sign of varying age and we encountered some whitetail doe’s. The weather was mild…bordering on hot. We made camp on the leeward side of a ridge which afforded us some protection from the very strong winds.
The following day we scouted the area pretty hard and glassed quite a bit. The weather was excellent, sunny and mild. That evening I spotted a large group of elk across the river valley at last light. There was one very nice bull in the bunch and they were making their way toward private property at a steady clip.
My buddy and I vigorously debated wether to chase those animals. They were only about a mile away as the crow flies…but a 2k ft elevation loss and 2k ft of elevation gain stood between us. Plus, the difficult ascent we encountered the day before and the darknes made us decide to stay put.
Keep in mind, we suspected…but weren't sure if an alternate route was available off the mountain…there was some cliff faces on the alternate route that may have posed potential problems and scrambling through the blowdown in the dark wasn't an option.
For a visual idea of the terrain where I saw the elk (sorry no actual photo), see the top picture above. The elk were moving through the open area with a rocky band at the top left portion of the ridge. The second picture is from a different angle...same terrain...lower on the mountain. As you can see they were at the same elevation as us initially…just a major trek and a large river away!
Of course after we decided not to go after those animals the weather took on a schizophrenic personality. Sun, wind, rain and snow in variable patterns would mark the next 5 days of hunting.
We hunted hard but didn't see any more elk. Eventually we dropped to a lower elevation and saw lots of sign but no elk…there were a good amount of whitetails…nothing we wanted to shoot however.
One of my concerns committing to this area was that there was a piece of private property above our camp. We didn't see a soul for 6 days…however one afternoon…in a pretty wretched snow storm…some folks on horseback dropped in and took a water bladder and about 4 gallons of purified water (which was a bit of a hassle pumping through a sweetwater filter). I never saw them but the tracks in the snow clearly showed a two legged thief…it really sucked making water that night.
It's possible that the area we primarily hunted was used regularly by these folks. That may have played a role in the animals behavior? We saw lots of sign...just no real sightings on this side of the valley.
All-in-all, it was a great trip and I learned a lot.
When the reports came out the following week it showed that very few (like 3) elk were killed in this drainage the week we hunted. I’m not sure if that was a symptom of the weather and/or wolves, etc. Regardless, I think we did a serviceable job...considering we’re flatlander's and hadn't hunted elk before.
With that said, I’m open to constructive criticism regarding what I did or didn't do correctly. At the end of the day…I’m here to learn. Thanks in advance.
P.S. I wish we chased those elk!