still chasin them,

[twodot]

Well after several days off of the elk trail, my little darling and I are back after them. Went out yesterday evening and found a big herd of 100 plus way back off the beaten path. We watched and slipped out before dark with a plan. This morning at daybreak found us back in there in the general area again. About 8 am here they come, all strung out down below us by a mile or so. Cool let's go set up on them. Several hills later after running just below the ridgelines for about an hour, we take a peek over the ridge where we think they should be. Nothing there, down the ridge a bit more, hey is that wind changing up? Oh, crap there they are! So far so good but we are way too close for this kind of wind change. Now they are starting to stand up, we back off and run cross wind trying to get some distance between our sweaty selves and this bunch of elk. Peek over again and things are good they have gone to feeding and relaxed. Spent the next couple hours trying to get in position for a final stalk. Got to see several really good bulls in easy rifle range, but we are bow hunting. Finally got busted by some cows and off they all went out across the drainage and into the timber. What was really funny was a bunch of them crossed the drainage and ran straight to a pond and began drinking. This was at at 1:30 this afternoon. Guess we did'nt scare them as bad as i thought. I'm gonna start back after them at the water hole. A few photos from today.

 

[elk_hunter]

Nice! Great pics; stay with it!

 

[Duck-Slayer]

outstanding....:hump:
Matt

 

[EasternMTHunter]

Cool pics!

 

[buck23]

Very neat pics.Thanks for them and keep huntin hard,looking forward to more.

 

[highmountian]

Good job, keep it up!

 

[JoseCuervo]

Uhhhh...... I am not an expert, but the pictures of the hunters look like they are not in the same kind of areas as the pictures of the Elk....

Just a suggestion, but maybe you are too high?

 

[JCS]

Great. I will be taking my 73 year old dad in that country in a week and a half to try to fill his bull tag.

 

[twodot]

Thanks guys, this has been a really fun season just in the amount of nice bulls that we have been able to see. Took the day off monday to go to town and get fuel for the jeep and do a bit of bird hunting with my boys.
The night before a really nice young guy from Helena had stopped by the house to compare notes on the local elk and where they were. We had gotten to know him a while back when he spent a week camped by himself above the house and hunted hard eack day. I knew that he was serious about getting a bull and willing to stick his neck out and go for it. We showed him some pictures and shared some thoughts on where they were going during the day then showed him on Google Earth where we would go if we were him. We also stressed that if a guy had the balls to hunt a good bit deeper than what most of the other hunters will, you should have no trouble finding plenty of bulls. Killing one,would of course be the result of a whole bunch of things coming together, but finding shooter bulls should not be a problem. He had killed quite a few elk over the years but never had killed any animal with his archery gear, had only been bow hunting two seasons now.
Well, by the time I got home yesterday afternoon, the wife was packing stuff in the jeep and had supper set aside in the oven and was jabbering that he had arrowed a big 6x7 right where we had discussed the night before and had gone back in to start cutting him up. We had told him" to go deep and kill something! We'll help you get it out, just get one down and let us know." That's just what he did. We went after him at about 5pm and got to our friend and the bull just as it was getting dark. I helped him finish the cutting and quartering in the dark, Sarah took photos then loaded her pack with backstraps and some hide while he and I loaded the rest of the meat and head and out we came. Many sudden falls and straned backs latter we got to the jeep and his 4 wheeler about 1 am. Beautifull night to be haulling meat!! Had a ball!
Here are the results of a young guy who hunted hard and got it to all come together. Congrats go out to our friend Joe. I am wiped out and need a good snooze and some Icy Hot before I go out again.

 

[twodot]

Jose, the white rocks above me in the picture are the highest point around and offer an outrageous vantage point. We start most mornings from there and spot the elk then make our move from there. It is a bitch getting there but you will see anything that moves for a looong way. Funny thing, that knife ridge in the picture of the wife is very well traveled by the elk and they go right up in those white rocks also from time to time. We watched a lone bull cross that knife ridge last week, it was one of the cooler sites I have seen. The herd in the above photos was spotted from there and we spent the next couple hours working down to them. As dramatic as the elevation changes may appear in the pictures, none of it is really very high. It is only about 10-12 miles to the UL bend from here.

 

[noharleyyet]

Helping out your friend was a very stand-up thing to do. Good on you.

 

[thecrittergitter]

Congrats to joe on a fine bull.

Nice work twodot on the help!

 

[arffdog875]

Nice job on a great bull!

 

[kmf]

Great job to both of you, thanks for the story, it keeps everyone motivated!

 

[twodot]

kmf, was that you parked in Drag creek this past week? I wrote TWODOT in the dirt on my back window all week long. (the grey jeep cherokee) thinking you would stop by. Were you camped at top of the hill above the Br-----g ranch? You gotta just pull in when you are around. Everybody else does. We like hunters stopping by. (nobody drove by from december thru april last winter) Hope you got a big un. twodot

 

[elk_hunter]

Wow that's a really nice bull! Great browtines too! Congrats and very cool to help him out.

 

[kmf]

Twodot, I was up north. I sent you a PM. Close many times, no magic this time. Time to find a rifle spot.

 

[IdahoBugler]

Congrats to the hunter. Great bull.

 

[Duck-Slayer]

great bull with archery gear, so does this mean if I put a bull down in the Frank Church Wilderness area you'll come and help me pack it out.....?
Matt