It was 3:30 when we were back on the rock knob above the bedded elk. We started our daily guessing of when the elk would get out of their beds. Not sure who won any of those, but it made for some distraction and humor. Matt was glassing the south side. I moved to the north, glassing down into the private where we left the bedded elk this morning. They were still there, slightly re-adjusted in their positions favoring shade.
I came back to Matt’s position. He was watching a coyote scavenge on the carcass of my bull. No elk to be heard. None to be seen. Or, at least not on the public. A couple hours passed. I went back over the ridge to see the elk on private now up and milling around. There were actually two good bulls in this group. I ranged them at 580 yards. Given the boundary was only 200 yards below, my exercise was merely to satisfy my interest in how good I can judge distances (not very good).
With only a half hour of light left, I was back at Matt’s rock. Below, two calves emerged. They stopped and started, at a broadside angle, for the course of four hundred yards. They offered Matt plenty chance to fill his cow tag. Very makeable shot. Matt glassed them, identifying them as a bull calf and a female calf, based on the size difference and the lighter color of the bigger calf. I smiled in thinking how experienced hunters keenly extract the subtle nuances that for non-hunters would go unnoticed.
Back at camp, I was feeling a tightening of the noose. We had scouted for a day and a half, hunted for three more days, and still no sighting of an elk that I thought Matt would be excited to shoot on this long-awaited permit. Matt was still upbeat, laughing and providing humor for all of us. A truly great guy to have in an elk camp. Times like this, when unmet expectations rule the day, are the times when you find out what kind of guys are in camp. Matt was unphased.
With daylight still a couple hours away, the alarm rang. Breakfast was scrounged and gear was loaded. Matt’s plan was to get on the north ridge before daylight and listen for any activity. It would put us equidistant to any spot on the west side of the BLM grounds. All we needed was an elk who wanted to be a TV star.
As the sun rose, the reality of the day lowered our expectations. Nothing heard, nothing spotted. We moved west toward the glassing rock where the two calves emerged last night. Within minutes of having the spotter set up, Matt had found three bulls working out the opposite side of the basin, already on private; and they very well could have been on private all week. One cow followed them a little later and by 9:00am the entire flock was out of sight, having crested the ridge way to our south. Again, my expletives did nothing to improve the elk hunting.
I watched a group of nine cows follow an old bull along the public private boundary, eventually making their way out past the west end of the BLM, all the while staying in the safety of private land. Not much one can do in such situation. The elk have the upper hand. Nolan informed that our early starts and late arrivals were seriously impacting his ability to get batteries charged and media transferred. We told him he would have three hours this afternoon, so he better get enough done to make it through the remainder of the hunt. The bird was coming to get us tomorrow at 2:00pm, so we had this evening and tomorrow morning to get Matt an elk.
Boredom and the nicest weather of the trip drove us back to camp by 11:00 am. Almost too hot to take a nap; almost. My snoring work me up at least twice over the next three hours. A sign of good rest. When I crawled from the tent, Matt was heating water and making a sandwich. I proclaimed that tonight would be the night. Matt concurred. Nolan continued sleeping; at least until we kicked the walls of his tent.
We were out at the chosen location before 3:00pm. Each of us sought some shade. Nolan gave me some PSAs and web clip scripts and told me to have them memorized by the time the flat light of late afternoon arrived. I hate scripts. They are usually written by people who don’t hunt like we do, so I end up using “Randyisms” to make them more relevant.
Matt spotted a group of elk bedded less than 200 yards off the boundary of where I shot my bull. If one dialed the spotter back when looking at them, you could see the carcass of my bull in the same picture. There was water on the public, right below them. All they needed to do is get thirsty in this hot sun and Matt might have some shooting. Only cows were in the open, but a bull could easily be in the cuts and timber.
The sun eventually gave us the filming light we needed. While I did the talking head routine, Matt kept an eye on the elk he had spotted. Unfortunately, they headed SW, up a ridge and further away from public. Crap, Matt can’t catch a break. By dark, they had completely vanished, pretty much following the same trail as the three bulls this morning. Before we departed for camp, I spent some time glassing the big private flats to the north. One nice herd was headed due east, staying about a mile north of the boundary. If only hunters were on the private, it would be a 50/50 chance that the elk would spook south to our position. But, the elk continued undisturbed until I could no longer see them in the dark shadows.
I was at a complete loss of what would be a good morning strategy. Matt broke it down into something very simple – Get out of bed, get dressed, shoot an elk. I liked that. Sounded good to me. I was sleeping before the toothpaste taste had left my mouth.
I came back to Matt’s position. He was watching a coyote scavenge on the carcass of my bull. No elk to be heard. None to be seen. Or, at least not on the public. A couple hours passed. I went back over the ridge to see the elk on private now up and milling around. There were actually two good bulls in this group. I ranged them at 580 yards. Given the boundary was only 200 yards below, my exercise was merely to satisfy my interest in how good I can judge distances (not very good).
With only a half hour of light left, I was back at Matt’s rock. Below, two calves emerged. They stopped and started, at a broadside angle, for the course of four hundred yards. They offered Matt plenty chance to fill his cow tag. Very makeable shot. Matt glassed them, identifying them as a bull calf and a female calf, based on the size difference and the lighter color of the bigger calf. I smiled in thinking how experienced hunters keenly extract the subtle nuances that for non-hunters would go unnoticed.
Back at camp, I was feeling a tightening of the noose. We had scouted for a day and a half, hunted for three more days, and still no sighting of an elk that I thought Matt would be excited to shoot on this long-awaited permit. Matt was still upbeat, laughing and providing humor for all of us. A truly great guy to have in an elk camp. Times like this, when unmet expectations rule the day, are the times when you find out what kind of guys are in camp. Matt was unphased.
With daylight still a couple hours away, the alarm rang. Breakfast was scrounged and gear was loaded. Matt’s plan was to get on the north ridge before daylight and listen for any activity. It would put us equidistant to any spot on the west side of the BLM grounds. All we needed was an elk who wanted to be a TV star.
As the sun rose, the reality of the day lowered our expectations. Nothing heard, nothing spotted. We moved west toward the glassing rock where the two calves emerged last night. Within minutes of having the spotter set up, Matt had found three bulls working out the opposite side of the basin, already on private; and they very well could have been on private all week. One cow followed them a little later and by 9:00am the entire flock was out of sight, having crested the ridge way to our south. Again, my expletives did nothing to improve the elk hunting.
I watched a group of nine cows follow an old bull along the public private boundary, eventually making their way out past the west end of the BLM, all the while staying in the safety of private land. Not much one can do in such situation. The elk have the upper hand. Nolan informed that our early starts and late arrivals were seriously impacting his ability to get batteries charged and media transferred. We told him he would have three hours this afternoon, so he better get enough done to make it through the remainder of the hunt. The bird was coming to get us tomorrow at 2:00pm, so we had this evening and tomorrow morning to get Matt an elk.
Boredom and the nicest weather of the trip drove us back to camp by 11:00 am. Almost too hot to take a nap; almost. My snoring work me up at least twice over the next three hours. A sign of good rest. When I crawled from the tent, Matt was heating water and making a sandwich. I proclaimed that tonight would be the night. Matt concurred. Nolan continued sleeping; at least until we kicked the walls of his tent.
We were out at the chosen location before 3:00pm. Each of us sought some shade. Nolan gave me some PSAs and web clip scripts and told me to have them memorized by the time the flat light of late afternoon arrived. I hate scripts. They are usually written by people who don’t hunt like we do, so I end up using “Randyisms” to make them more relevant.
Matt spotted a group of elk bedded less than 200 yards off the boundary of where I shot my bull. If one dialed the spotter back when looking at them, you could see the carcass of my bull in the same picture. There was water on the public, right below them. All they needed to do is get thirsty in this hot sun and Matt might have some shooting. Only cows were in the open, but a bull could easily be in the cuts and timber.
The sun eventually gave us the filming light we needed. While I did the talking head routine, Matt kept an eye on the elk he had spotted. Unfortunately, they headed SW, up a ridge and further away from public. Crap, Matt can’t catch a break. By dark, they had completely vanished, pretty much following the same trail as the three bulls this morning. Before we departed for camp, I spent some time glassing the big private flats to the north. One nice herd was headed due east, staying about a mile north of the boundary. If only hunters were on the private, it would be a 50/50 chance that the elk would spook south to our position. But, the elk continued undisturbed until I could no longer see them in the dark shadows.
I was at a complete loss of what would be a good morning strategy. Matt broke it down into something very simple – Get out of bed, get dressed, shoot an elk. I liked that. Sounded good to me. I was sleeping before the toothpaste taste had left my mouth.
