Heres the Story;
Day 1 was a bummer. 11 miles on the boots and nothing...no sightings, no bugles, nothing.
Day 2 we found the elk right away in the morning. from that point on for the rest of the week we felt like we were in some sort of high tier unit. Elk everywhere and bulls screaming everywhere we went. the hunting pressure was nonexistent. saw a few hunters on the main trail a couple times and that was it.
Day 3 I was in a valley waiting for the action to pick up towards dark and I spotted a cow about 80 yds away. I snuck into a little thicket and tried coaxing her into the open a little closer but she wouldn't cooperate. I stuck with my spot and kept cow calling infrequently. 10 min before end of shooting light I heard something in the valley behind me. I slowly turned and saw a bull slowly working towards me. he was about 90 yds away and sure enough when he was directly below me he started angling up the hill my way. I didn't have time to range anything or see how big he was. I just drew back...guessed him at 40 and let it fly. I couldn't see where i hit because it was about dark, but i knew i got him. he walked about 300 yds into the mountainside and then i couldn't hear him anymore. I checked for blood and found some but it was dark red and there wasn't much so i backed out. the next morning we found him laying right where I last heard him. 1 lung and liver shot. We were ecstatic to say the least. He's only a ~250 bull but he's heavy and his teeth were worn almost down to the gums so I think he was an old warrior.
Day 4 we spent all day getting the meat taken care of so we didn't hunt.
Day 5 was pretty hot so the elk were really quiet mid day, but right before dark we had 5 bulls surrounding us going nuts. we ran out of light and had to back out
Day 6 we tried a new spot and right when we arrived in the dark I could hear a bull with a hot cow up on a ridge with several satellite bulls within a 1/4 mile. we waited until daylight to make a move when we felt the wind was right and started to put the sneak on. We got about 100 yds from the trail and all of the sudden a truck with 2 barking dogs in the back goes driving right into the area where the elk were. we were disappointed, but the truck left after about 5 minutes so we just sat quietly. after 20 minutes we went towards where we thought he had spooked the elk to, and tried a location bugle. boom, immediate response and really close. we then spotted a small satellite bull on the hill. we set up and i started doing a breeding sequence about 30 yds behind my brother. the herd bull was going nuts but wouldn't leave his hot cow, but after about 20 minutes a small bull came right in to 25yds. my brother shot but hit a small twig. The bull ran back up the hill towards the herd so I immediately challenge bugled to make the other bulls think that a big bull chased him off. 10 minutes later a really nice 6x5 came right down to us. my brother drew and nailed him. he ran 50 yds and piled up.
Day 1 was a bummer. 11 miles on the boots and nothing...no sightings, no bugles, nothing.
Day 2 we found the elk right away in the morning. from that point on for the rest of the week we felt like we were in some sort of high tier unit. Elk everywhere and bulls screaming everywhere we went. the hunting pressure was nonexistent. saw a few hunters on the main trail a couple times and that was it.
Day 3 I was in a valley waiting for the action to pick up towards dark and I spotted a cow about 80 yds away. I snuck into a little thicket and tried coaxing her into the open a little closer but she wouldn't cooperate. I stuck with my spot and kept cow calling infrequently. 10 min before end of shooting light I heard something in the valley behind me. I slowly turned and saw a bull slowly working towards me. he was about 90 yds away and sure enough when he was directly below me he started angling up the hill my way. I didn't have time to range anything or see how big he was. I just drew back...guessed him at 40 and let it fly. I couldn't see where i hit because it was about dark, but i knew i got him. he walked about 300 yds into the mountainside and then i couldn't hear him anymore. I checked for blood and found some but it was dark red and there wasn't much so i backed out. the next morning we found him laying right where I last heard him. 1 lung and liver shot. We were ecstatic to say the least. He's only a ~250 bull but he's heavy and his teeth were worn almost down to the gums so I think he was an old warrior.
Day 4 we spent all day getting the meat taken care of so we didn't hunt.
Day 5 was pretty hot so the elk were really quiet mid day, but right before dark we had 5 bulls surrounding us going nuts. we ran out of light and had to back out
Day 6 we tried a new spot and right when we arrived in the dark I could hear a bull with a hot cow up on a ridge with several satellite bulls within a 1/4 mile. we waited until daylight to make a move when we felt the wind was right and started to put the sneak on. We got about 100 yds from the trail and all of the sudden a truck with 2 barking dogs in the back goes driving right into the area where the elk were. we were disappointed, but the truck left after about 5 minutes so we just sat quietly. after 20 minutes we went towards where we thought he had spooked the elk to, and tried a location bugle. boom, immediate response and really close. we then spotted a small satellite bull on the hill. we set up and i started doing a breeding sequence about 30 yds behind my brother. the herd bull was going nuts but wouldn't leave his hot cow, but after about 20 minutes a small bull came right in to 25yds. my brother shot but hit a small twig. The bull ran back up the hill towards the herd so I immediately challenge bugled to make the other bulls think that a big bull chased him off. 10 minutes later a really nice 6x5 came right down to us. my brother drew and nailed him. he ran 50 yds and piled up.
