Another Missouri River Breaks thread
- Thread starter Dzlmech
- Start date
Welcome to the Breaks. The elk will get moved around after opening archery. Most of the elk are down along the river (willows), because its cooler. Once the rut starts to pick up, small groups will break off from the river and go into the “breaks”. The fires (one large one on the north side, one large one on the south side, and two smaller fires on the south side) pushed elk away from these areas, but as you observed; the grass is starting to come back already.
The large fire on the south side was (approximate) where Horse Camp trail and Mussellshell trails come together (so, south of Mussellshell trail and mostly west of Horse Camp Trail). The two “smaller” fires were east of the Chain Buttes in areas that had already burned years ago (mostly grass). Hardly any Sweat Clover, so that’s good. I saw about 300 head of elk on the old Weaver Ranch (now private, 5-10-20 acre private property).
I heard the elk are bugling in the Ashland area, already. Well, it’s that time of year the human pre-rut hunt is starting.
The large fire on the south side was (approximate) where Horse Camp trail and Mussellshell trails come together (so, south of Mussellshell trail and mostly west of Horse Camp Trail). The two “smaller” fires were east of the Chain Buttes in areas that had already burned years ago (mostly grass). Hardly any Sweat Clover, so that’s good. I saw about 300 head of elk on the old Weaver Ranch (now private, 5-10-20 acre private property).
I heard the elk are bugling in the Ashland area, already. Well, it’s that time of year the human pre-rut hunt is starting.
teej89
Well-known member
Don’t be discouraged, they’re there. In my opinion getting to know the lay of the land and finding elk are to separate entities and by doing one you’re not going to be entirely successful with the other.
In the breaks since it is very wide open and with the willows, those elk hang in the shade during the day and start creeping out before last light. Last fall I got to my vantage point at 3pm to start glassing and it wasn’t until 4:45 that I started finding the elk; who were bedded in the exact area I was glassing my since I got there. Just the sun casting into the drainage at a different angle really lit em all up and once you find one it’s just connecting the dots to find the rest of the group.
Just chalk up your trip to a successful lay of the land trip and you guys will find em when you’re really focused on trying to find elk, not learning a new area.
In the breaks since it is very wide open and with the willows, those elk hang in the shade during the day and start creeping out before last light. Last fall I got to my vantage point at 3pm to start glassing and it wasn’t until 4:45 that I started finding the elk; who were bedded in the exact area I was glassing my since I got there. Just the sun casting into the drainage at a different angle really lit em all up and once you find one it’s just connecting the dots to find the rest of the group.
Just chalk up your trip to a successful lay of the land trip and you guys will find em when you’re really focused on trying to find elk, not learning a new area.
Dzlmech
Member
My head is still held high, and I knew it was going to be a lot of work to get in on the elk. But I took for granted, what I thought was going to be easy to find them. I’m glad I will be able to spend like 8 days hitting the grindstone. Versus the average weekend I normally get. If I can find them, I have the confidence that I can get them on the ground.
I’m not afraid of the feet Miles that are going to be hiked, in fact I’m still pumped to get back into it. My wife and I have prepped for a year for this and are ready, my hunting partner that is coming I’m not sure is as ready and that scares me more than anything. I never know if I should be selfish if the time comes and get it going or be patient with it and hope it works out.
I am not a patient person. I’ve been known to blow stalks after stalks after stalks just to make it happen.
I’m not afraid of the feet Miles that are going to be hiked, in fact I’m still pumped to get back into it. My wife and I have prepped for a year for this and are ready, my hunting partner that is coming I’m not sure is as ready and that scares me more than anything. I never know if I should be selfish if the time comes and get it going or be patient with it and hope it works out.
I am not a patient person. I’ve been known to blow stalks after stalks after stalks just to make it happen.
Dzlmech
Member
Well... we are home from what I’m defining as a successful hunting trip. We weren’t successful in bringing home any meat. But we had the time of our lives. Our day 1 and 2 was just my wife and I, we put the miles on! Just trying to find a starting point. We cut super fresh bull tracks the first morning and followed them as far as we could until he walked into a juniper patch and we couldn’t figure out where he came out at. That evening we got as high as we could and found some trails to watch through the night but couldn’t spot any movement anywhere. Day 2 we got high again and glassed for a shorter period than we should have, lesson learned. As we cut another set of tracks that were pretty fresh and we just bounced around trying to figure out where they were going and what was heading where, feed, bedding, cover etc. that evening my buddy arrived at camp and we headed to that same area cause we could glass both a basin as well as a large coulee on either side. 30 min before sunset we start spotting animals. Lots of mule deer, and 3 elk from like 2 miles away. But hey they were the animal we went looking for. So we let them be until we couldn’t see them.
First thing day 3 we start hiking into where we spotted the elk (which were on a south face mind you) we get the 3.5 miles in get to about where they were just after sunrise. And we can’t find anything now. We looked over both sides of the coulee any timber, they straight up ghosted us. So that was Monday. It was 98* that day, I can go as hard and long as need be but I can’t do heat. I called the day at 1pm and said let’s go to Malta get a cheeseburger and a beer. I know i wussed out, but I’ll get to that later. So that night we get back to the camper about 7 and my buddy is saying how bad his feet hurt and how that 7 miles in the morning wiped him out. I’m thinking yeah that was a warm hike I was shirtless on our way out. Come to find out his boots are about 10 years old and he now tells us that he has plantar fasciitis.... he brought some other boots but they were brand new not broken in yet. At this point I’m freaking out cause not only can he barely walk he is not in shape for this.
Day 4 he says he feels ok. So we taped up his feet with some mole skin I had get his start of blisters taken care of and trudge on. Two bulls cross the road in front of us on our way to where we were going to sit and glass. We get to the spot early get in we’ll before light, at first crack of light we spot the two bulls walking at the edge of the timber heading our way. All we have to do is intercept and shoot. So we dive off this ridgetop get into where we think they were heading but now there’s only one. That’s fine a single target is much easier to fool. I get my wife and buddy set up on where we could intercept and I let out a cow call or two. He starts breaking branches, but he got ahead of us somehow, we crossed each other without knowing but that’s ok the wind is still good. So we push in his direction cow calling a little (now knowing this was a bad idea) we were within 50 yards of him in the timber but couldn’t see him. He disappeared, we got back up high and looked and looked. Nothing. Damn. By this time it’s about 12:40 and my buddy is out of breath and tired again (we are at foot mile 3.4) so we sit and glass til about 2:30 with no luck. Get to the truck with our heads down and move to a different spot. I thought we’d be able to drive in and do some glassing. Well the road that onx says is there isn’t there. To me I’m thinking perfect that means less human traffic! My buddy is trying to walk on two feet at this point. So it’s a 1.3 mile walk in. And it’s flat it doesn’t get any flatter. Getting up to the first north face slope sure as shit there is 5 cows in the open feeding and bedding down! Finally an elk we can kill! (We were all ok with taking a cow as my wife and I have never shot an elk and my buddy hasn’t killed one in 10 years) so we sit for a minute watch them, they are half mile away from us tops and all we have to do is dive off the ridge come from below based on the wind. And my buddy kind of looks at me and says “that’s a long ways for a cow” like I thought he was joking but then while I was preparing my stalk and routes he tells my wife that at this point he just has to worry about getting himself out. So we watch them for an hour, they finally feed into the timber and we let them go. Who does that!? Well as we start walking to another vantage point we look back over and there is a Bull bedded there too! He was so wallowed up and dirty we couldn’t see him from where we were. We are skylines at this point and he sees us and wanders into the timber. Me being pissed off says. I’m going to blow that timber out, I put my wife and buddy at the top hoping they’ll come up and out. So I go stomping through the worst possible place you could be getting eaten by mosquitoes and cut by junipers and sticker bushes. Huffing and puffing my way back to the top they saw nothing come out and I saw nothing. They must have gone to the bottom when we couldn’t see and snuck out. At this point I’m pretty peeved we took so long. Isnt one of the top 5 elk hunting mistakes Corey and Randy talk about not being aggressive enough? It’s now about 6pm I’m ticked off my wife is ticked off and my buddy is wobbling back to the truck. We get back to the camper we’ll before dark and just sit there and watch the slippery Ann bulls do their dance with each other. It was a quiet night at camp to say the least. Day 5 we go into the same area where we found the 5 cows and bull. My thought was we never heard them blow out so maybe we didn’t put enough pressure on them to make them leave the country. Well we never find them. We did spot one cow about 2 miles away... I knew my buddy wasn’t up for that. So we sit until about 10 and headed back to the truck to find a mid day spot to glass from. When we get back to the truck my buddy finally admits he can’t go anymore. To drop him off at the camper. Part of me is relieved, part of me is pissed. But I did, actually got back to the camper and took a 30 min power nap then headed back out just the wife and I. We then go put the miles on glassing walking glassing walking. Couldn’t find anything other than mule deer. But we were able to cover country and experience the breaks country again. We get back to the camper after dark and my buddy is just sitting there more or less icing his feet. I told him he needs to give his feet a day to heal that’s all there is to it. He agreed, which I was thankful for since the next day (19) was my birthday and I wanted nothing more than to get a birthday bull (or broad) for my first elk..
I’ll let this all digest for now.
First thing day 3 we start hiking into where we spotted the elk (which were on a south face mind you) we get the 3.5 miles in get to about where they were just after sunrise. And we can’t find anything now. We looked over both sides of the coulee any timber, they straight up ghosted us. So that was Monday. It was 98* that day, I can go as hard and long as need be but I can’t do heat. I called the day at 1pm and said let’s go to Malta get a cheeseburger and a beer. I know i wussed out, but I’ll get to that later. So that night we get back to the camper about 7 and my buddy is saying how bad his feet hurt and how that 7 miles in the morning wiped him out. I’m thinking yeah that was a warm hike I was shirtless on our way out. Come to find out his boots are about 10 years old and he now tells us that he has plantar fasciitis.... he brought some other boots but they were brand new not broken in yet. At this point I’m freaking out cause not only can he barely walk he is not in shape for this.
Day 4 he says he feels ok. So we taped up his feet with some mole skin I had get his start of blisters taken care of and trudge on. Two bulls cross the road in front of us on our way to where we were going to sit and glass. We get to the spot early get in we’ll before light, at first crack of light we spot the two bulls walking at the edge of the timber heading our way. All we have to do is intercept and shoot. So we dive off this ridgetop get into where we think they were heading but now there’s only one. That’s fine a single target is much easier to fool. I get my wife and buddy set up on where we could intercept and I let out a cow call or two. He starts breaking branches, but he got ahead of us somehow, we crossed each other without knowing but that’s ok the wind is still good. So we push in his direction cow calling a little (now knowing this was a bad idea) we were within 50 yards of him in the timber but couldn’t see him. He disappeared, we got back up high and looked and looked. Nothing. Damn. By this time it’s about 12:40 and my buddy is out of breath and tired again (we are at foot mile 3.4) so we sit and glass til about 2:30 with no luck. Get to the truck with our heads down and move to a different spot. I thought we’d be able to drive in and do some glassing. Well the road that onx says is there isn’t there. To me I’m thinking perfect that means less human traffic! My buddy is trying to walk on two feet at this point. So it’s a 1.3 mile walk in. And it’s flat it doesn’t get any flatter. Getting up to the first north face slope sure as shit there is 5 cows in the open feeding and bedding down! Finally an elk we can kill! (We were all ok with taking a cow as my wife and I have never shot an elk and my buddy hasn’t killed one in 10 years) so we sit for a minute watch them, they are half mile away from us tops and all we have to do is dive off the ridge come from below based on the wind. And my buddy kind of looks at me and says “that’s a long ways for a cow” like I thought he was joking but then while I was preparing my stalk and routes he tells my wife that at this point he just has to worry about getting himself out. So we watch them for an hour, they finally feed into the timber and we let them go. Who does that!? Well as we start walking to another vantage point we look back over and there is a Bull bedded there too! He was so wallowed up and dirty we couldn’t see him from where we were. We are skylines at this point and he sees us and wanders into the timber. Me being pissed off says. I’m going to blow that timber out, I put my wife and buddy at the top hoping they’ll come up and out. So I go stomping through the worst possible place you could be getting eaten by mosquitoes and cut by junipers and sticker bushes. Huffing and puffing my way back to the top they saw nothing come out and I saw nothing. They must have gone to the bottom when we couldn’t see and snuck out. At this point I’m pretty peeved we took so long. Isnt one of the top 5 elk hunting mistakes Corey and Randy talk about not being aggressive enough? It’s now about 6pm I’m ticked off my wife is ticked off and my buddy is wobbling back to the truck. We get back to the camper we’ll before dark and just sit there and watch the slippery Ann bulls do their dance with each other. It was a quiet night at camp to say the least. Day 5 we go into the same area where we found the 5 cows and bull. My thought was we never heard them blow out so maybe we didn’t put enough pressure on them to make them leave the country. Well we never find them. We did spot one cow about 2 miles away... I knew my buddy wasn’t up for that. So we sit until about 10 and headed back to the truck to find a mid day spot to glass from. When we get back to the truck my buddy finally admits he can’t go anymore. To drop him off at the camper. Part of me is relieved, part of me is pissed. But I did, actually got back to the camper and took a 30 min power nap then headed back out just the wife and I. We then go put the miles on glassing walking glassing walking. Couldn’t find anything other than mule deer. But we were able to cover country and experience the breaks country again. We get back to the camper after dark and my buddy is just sitting there more or less icing his feet. I told him he needs to give his feet a day to heal that’s all there is to it. He agreed, which I was thankful for since the next day (19) was my birthday and I wanted nothing more than to get a birthday bull (or broad) for my first elk..
I’ll let this all digest for now.
Straight Arrow
Well-known member
No offense meant ... but succinct is so much more readily digested.
onpoint
Well-known member
The vast majority, of askers of the question "jagetchyerelk"?, possess the ability to only read about 1/10 of post # 45.
The usual answers are "yup" or "nope".
I think the answer was nope.
The usual answers are "yup" or "nope".
I think the answer was nope.
