An elk story from the NW...

[Gamblin Guy]

Well here it is, my tale of woe... It's kinda long but what do you expect for almost 3 weeks. :D I hope the pictures work.

Well I came home late Saturday night, still trying to catch up on sleep from the long days, up at 3:30 am, to bed by 9:30 or 10.

I always go over early to set up camp and spend some time by myself before our elk season opens. Deer opens on the 1st and elk opens on the 8th so we went over to set up camp on Friday the 1st. I took my son and my neighbor brought his boy too. Our wives and daughters came over Saturday and spent the weekend with us. Even though deer was open, the almost 90 degree temps kept us from doing too much walking around. The moon was full and the deer just weren’t moving so we spent the weekend messing around in camp. I bought my daughter a Chipmunk .22 rifle for Christmas last year when she was 5 and we finally got a chance to let her shoot it. She was very excited about that.

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We took the kids and wives for a walk into a mineral lick that has been there for many years, we aren’t sure if it's natural or a leftover from when they used to graze cattle and sheep in this area but this thing gets bigger and deeper every year. It's just a big crater now.

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Our wives and daughters left on Sunday the 3rd and my partner and I stayed one more night then went home early on Labor Day. I had to be home until Tuesday night then went back over by myself. With the temps still in the high 80's I didn’t feel like hiking around a whole lot stinking up the woods. The few walks I took led me to believe it was going to be a really tough year with the weather we were having. It was impossible to walk around and be quiet, the woods were just too dry. This area hasn’t seen any rain since June.

I spent my time hanging around in camp in my shorts, getting to know the very bold little chipmunks that were sharing my space, or should I say I was sharing theirs. One little guy was pretty bold and would just about take peanuts from my hand. After a couple of days they were all drinking out of the pan I put down to catch the water dripping from my water jugs.

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[Gamblin Guy]

I spent Wednesday and Thursday before elk opened hanging around camp and getting things ready so we could concentrate on elk once it opened. No one has ever been able to tell me that spending 10 days chasing elk meant I had to be uncomfortable in camp so I did my best to have things prepared.

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Unlike some guys, I like to be comfortable so we hunt out of a pretty nice set up every day. The wall tent is used as a cooking/eating/gathering place but we all have our own sleeping quarters. My regular partner was unable to join us this year due to health problems, the first season we haven't hunted together in 10 years.

There is a place up there that is very special to me, I make a point of going there once a year to watch the sunrise and reflect on how fortunate I am for all the Good Lord has given me and how fortunate we are as a country to do these kinds of things. This place is very spiritual to me...

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Over the Labor Day weekend a dry thunderstorm rolled through and started another fire to the north, smoke filled the valley every evening when the wind laid down but it made for some spectacular pictures.

[img]http://www.hunt101.com/img/435610.jpg

[Gamblin Guy]

Over the Labor Day weekend a dry thunderstorm rolled through and started another fire to the north, smoke filled the valley every evening when the wind laid down but it made for some spectacular pictures.

http://www.hunt101.com/img/435609.jpg


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Friday morning I headed out to my treestand at 4:30am, it was 60 degrees and the moon was so bright I didn't have to use a flashlight to walk through the woods. Not much was moving. Friday evening and Saturday morning were pretty much the same.

I came home for my wife's birthday this year which was Saturday, first year in many that I have. I have a very understanding wife...

I returned to camp on Sunday afternoon to find my neighbor and partner just about ready to pack up and go home. He was suffering from a sinus infection he had been fighting for two weeks. This was his first year chasing elk with a bow and he had drawn a any elk tag for this area which meant he could shoot a branched antler bull while I was limited to spikes or antlerless. I talked him into running to Ellensburg, a small town not to far away, and getting into a doctor there to get some antibiotics. Monday morning he left for town and when he returned in the afternoon he told me he was "sick." I looked at him and said no kidding, i thought thats why he went to see the doctor. Then he said no, I just missed a bull standing along the road. On his way back up to camp a 2pt bull was standing just off the road, he grabbed his bow and jumped out of the truck leaving his range finder on the seat. He estimated the yardage a 30 and pulled the trigger as the elk stood broadside and promptley shot under him. He discovered the elk was 40 yards away when he went to look for his arrow and took his rangefinder with him...

Tuesday morning we decided to go for a long walk as my treestand was not producing anything. We headed out and hunted along the top of a deep canyon, cutting fresh tracks as we went. We circled through a small valley and came to the end of another ridge that looks down into a canyon that we normally hang treestands in. As we stood there looking at the canyon and I was explaining to him where things were in relation to camp we could hear something kicking rocks and breaking sticks in the bottom. A few minutes later we heard splashing and I knew elk were in the spring we normally hang a treestand over. We stood listening a few more minutes and then they started moving up the opposite hill, 3 nice cows and a 6 point bull. He wasn't a huge bull, but he was still nice size. We watched them for a few minutes then decided we needed to move treestands around and get one hung over that spring. With the temps still in the 80's, water was going to be important the rest of the week.......

At noon on Tuesday we hiked the 1 1/2 miles into the canyon with the treestands to hang them over the waterhole the elk were using that morning. We wanted to get in and out as quickly and quietly as possible so instead of screw in steps I packed my 20 pounds worth of climbing sticks into the stand site. This is a site we have used the last several years but the canyon gets hammered with people the first few days of the season so we don’t usually hang it right away. We usually prep our sites in August and cut out the shooting lanes that we need so we don’t have to do that when the season is open. Well we get in there as quickly as possible, hang the stand and get out. The way this sits is the waterhole is about 13 yards from the treestand, there is an alder brush choked creek bottom just beyond that and a small opening on the other side of the creek, not more than 15 yards wide, then the base of the hill and the timber which is a north facing slope. The alder brush is what we NORMALLY prune out....

We kept watching the weather and they kept promising us it was going to cool off and maybe rain. Tuesday night my neighbor sat over the wallow but didn't see anything. Wednesday morning the weather cooled off a little and temps only reached about 75 during the day but you could tell a change was coming. I told my neighbor he needed to be in the stand early as we often see elk moving about 4:30, not sure why but we see a lot of elk at that time even when it's hot. He headed out at 3 and climbed into his stand over the wallow. I left for mine at 4 and the temp had dropped to 58. I had an uneventful evening but the temp had dropped to 38 by the time I returned to camp at 8:15. My neighbor came back to camp shaking his head, the bull we had seen came down the hill out of the timber but went to the creek about 60 yards down the canyon and never showed himself, he could here him in the creek though. When he looked at his watch, it was 4:30. The bull went back into the timber but never came back out.

Thursday morning we woke to cloudy skies, and a rain/snow mix, the thermometer read 34. What a difference 2 days make. Back to the treestands we go in the morning but nothing showed. We walked around some in the afternoon then headed back to the treestands about 4 again. When I met up with my partner, he said the bull came down and showed himself. He was in the little meadow on the other side of the creek, standing broadside at 35 yards eating salmonberry bushes. But, remember the alder brush mentioned above....well, he did the right thing and didn’t try to thread an arrow throw the spider web of branches. If we only.....

I was kicking myself for not thinking about the alder brush and clearing it out when we were in there. We were pretty bummed out. Knowing that bull was still in the bottom though helped our spirits. We were getting closer.

Friday morning my partner left early and I decided to sit my stand one more time. The morning was pretty uneventful. Friday afternoon he went back to the wallow and I headed out on foot for a hike and would eventually meet him in the bottom of the canyon after dark. I started out a trail and jumped a couple of deer, we still had to wait until Saturday morning before I could shoot doe so there were safe. A few feet further up the trail I saw a calf walking right towards me. I stepped off the trail and waited. Pretty soon this calf came around the tree I was behind, he looked at me and kept right on walking past me. I later paced it off at less than 6 feet. I could hear more elk coming so I waited and passed on shooting the little guy. He would have been good eating and is legal for us, but knowing more elk were coming I waited to try to shoot the cow he should have been with.

After a minute or two of him standing about 10 yards from me on the open hillside, he mewed and went trotting back from the direction he came. I waited a little longer but it sounded like the elk were moving away from me so I went into stealth mode. I made my way from tree to tree and finally saw movement down the hillside from me about 40 yards through the trees. I waited to try to determine which direction they were moving and hoping the wind held. The elk were moving from my left to right and I could see the calf, a cow, and right behind them was the largest bull I have ever seen in that area. I only got a good look at his right side, but I counted 7 points. The tips of his antlers almost reached his flanks when he laid his head back. They were feeding and moving slowly but I had to move back to my right to get a shooting lane. I slowly picked up my foot to move the half step I needed and that little calf that walked right up to me minutes earlier saw my foot moved and went into high alert. As I stood there on one foot not wanting to move as I had 4 eyes glued on me, I'm thinking I should have shot him anyway cause he is going to screw me up.

They started looking around nervously but enough to give me the chance to get to my knees and into a clear lane. If the cow takes three steps and stops I've got a chance, she is 40 plus so I know it all has to be perfect before I can pull the trigger. After a few more seconds she starts to move but is moving too quickly and passes through my window. But wouldn't you know it, that 7x bull steps right in there and stops... Not having a bull tag in my pocket all I can do is watch him. He stands there long enough for me to contemplate the fact that my neighbor and good friend is about 350 yards away straight over the very steep hill in the bottom of the canyon with a tag in his pocket. But it's not the right thing to do and all I can do is marvel at his size and watch him walk off.

As they start moving I'm thinking to myself maybe I can get in front of them and turn them back down the canyon so my neighbor might get a chance at this bull. Well if any of you have ever tried to catch up to elk once they start moving out, you know how futile that attempt was. After a 300 yard sprint, back towards camp mind you, it dawned on me too.

I was cow calling all the way but to no avail. After seeing them top out on the hill on the other side of canyon 400 yards away I came to my senses. I turned and headed back in the direction I was headed when I found them. I dropped down the hill a little way to see if I could back trail them a little to see where they came from. I was just past the spot the bull was standing when out of the timber in front of me popped another bull. I could see the 6 ivory points on top of the almost black antlers and a very dark mane. At first I was a little confused, thinking the first bull I had seen had somehow turned around and gone the opposite direction but I quickly realized this was a second bull. He was 80 yards in front of me but more importantly he was almost directly up hill from my partner and several trails lead over the hill and go right past that treestand. He didn't stick around long and quickly broke over the hill. All I could do is keep my fingers crossed...

When I finally caught up with my partner and told him my story all he could do is shake his head. The second bull came down the hill, sounding like a freight train, and crossed the bottom of the canyon about 70 yards upstream from where he sat. He said he was a very nice bull and was bigger than the other two we saw in the bottom.

We stumbled back to camp trying to figure out what to do next. We had talked about heading home on Saturday as we both had to work on Monday and it had been a long week. We hunted Saturday morning but couldn't find any elk, I blew two opportunities to shoot a doe then headed back to break camp. We hunted Saturday night, pulled the treestand out at dark and headed back to camp for the long ride home all the while talking about what we'll do different next year.

Until then, I'll hope I finally draw that bull tag next year and get the opportunity again next year to take that bull the right way..

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[TexHunter]

Excellent play by play and pictures Dan. Sorry you guys weren't able to score but it sounds like a great time spent in the wild. Seems this area holds a lot of promise for you next time around. Is season closed now or do you get another shot at 'em this year?

[Tejas Raz]

Great story! You are indeed a lucky man to be able to enjoy such experiences! Good luck next year with the draw.

[bowcross]

Cool story, thanks for sharing with us.

[lil_shed]

Guy,
Great story and pictures! Nice to see the family involved in the sport! I wish you the best of luck for a major bull trophy with hunting comforts!

[Gamblin Guy]

Thanks for the comments guys, sorry it's been a while since I have had time to get back on here, seems like a bunch of things went wrong as soon as I got home.

Tex, I have hunted the same area for 18 years so I have a pretty good idea of where the elk go and where the like to hang out but unlike the deer you chase they tend to move around a lot, kind of a here today gone tomorrow kind of thing. The weather really hurt us this year. We do have a late season which will open the wednesday before Thanksgiving but I haven't hunted it for 10 years as I am usually chasing birds by then. We'll see what happens this year, we might give it a try if the weather looks right and we can sneak away for a few days.

Elk hunting is one of those things that is incredibly addictive, I am always amazed at how noisy these animals can be one minute and the next they move in total silence.

[lil_shed]

Elk hunting is one of those things that is incredibly addictive, I am always amazed at how noisy these animals can be one minute and the next they move in total silence.


Gamblin Guy,
Sorry to hear about the challenges at home! Hope all is resolved.

Do you use any elk calls?