Little Big Man MT Chris
Well-known member
After the the last 4 years of spending hundreds of hours out exploring the elk woods where I live and posting lots of the adventures, I’ve had a different schedule this year and neither me or my scouting and hunting partner have been out much this season , till this week. But after all the time in the past years exploring we know some spots that elk are always hanging out at , We had a break from the heat for a few days this week and we went for 2, hikes after work , we did just short of 12 miles .
the 1st hike we saw 3 Blacktails a coyote and 11-12 elk , this was the best pic from that trip
My buddy John In the lead walking out
the second hike we took was in an area we hunted last in 2019 , just never got in there last season, the main reason I picked this spot was because they logged in there in 2019 and I wanted to see how it’s changed, I went back and dug up old pics to show the transition of logging country, the landscape here is constantly changing from year to year .
walking in on an old logging road
The 1st part of or 6 mile loop this day was to see how the meadow area is growing back since the cut that area in 2019
John hanging the meadow camera in early may 2019
the best pic we got off the meadow camera June 2019
last week of august 2019 I went to pull the meadow camera before archery season and check it and found …….
no meadow, no woods no camera
We were hunting in that area in mid September 2019 and they had got most of the logs out now and John still had the location marked on onX so we went out in the cut and I still can’t believe we found that camera, The tree was so small it just got drove over and never cut ….
John took a pic of me with one of the rigs the day we found the camera
John digging in the debris and finding the camera September 2019
Still can’t believe we found that camera it still works I’ve used it since then and that we were able to pull all the pictures off it , I do regret deleting the pictures of the logging equipment as it was working towards the tree with the camera, I should’ve save those….
the meadow area now almost 2 years to the day since that herd of elk was photographed in the meadow..
Happy to see the new food plot coming in quite nicely, and thinking during rifle season how nice would it be to catch an elk out there feeding at sunrise with not a tree in 300 yards in any direction.
we went on and hiked into a more mature clear cut to see how it’s growing in and cut an elk trail and followed in back into some timber , seeing it was a main trail the elk use to feed in and out of the cut we hung a camera, And we joked these trees Ain’t big enough they’re not gonna log them this year.
John hanging the camera on a strait way part of the trail
the view from the tree back towards the cut
as we continued on our journey, John took a pic of me walking with his dogs and sent it to me the following day
as the hike continues We went to another newer clear-cut that we knew was in the area but hadn’t really spent much time in and around it and of course there was elk there . And we saw them before they saw us.
John finally gave a soft whistle to get the bull to look our way , so we could get a good head shot because he was to busy stuffin his face
They were close so they all heard the John whistle
they grouped up and then slowly over the hill to go have dinner somewhere else in peace and quiet… without us people staring at them
one the way out we saw 3 more elk after this a lone cow and then 200 yds from the truck at the gate we parked at my was another cow and a calf feeding. I have really come to enjoy and appreciate these summer elk experiences when the woods are quiet and no one else is around, the elk are really relaxed because they haven’t been chased all over the mountain yet.
also almost sat on this thing during the hike , freaked me out for a second. don’t know what it is , anyone know what kinda bug this is
hope you all enjoyed my adventures this week , me getting out in the woods was long overdue. In the busyness of life it’s easy to forget good laughs with a friend and hiking the woods is healthy for the soul and a much needed break .
Happy 4th of JULY everyone
the 1st hike we saw 3 Blacktails a coyote and 11-12 elk , this was the best pic from that trip
My buddy John In the lead walking out
the second hike we took was in an area we hunted last in 2019 , just never got in there last season, the main reason I picked this spot was because they logged in there in 2019 and I wanted to see how it’s changed, I went back and dug up old pics to show the transition of logging country, the landscape here is constantly changing from year to year .
walking in on an old logging road
The 1st part of or 6 mile loop this day was to see how the meadow area is growing back since the cut that area in 2019
John hanging the meadow camera in early may 2019
the best pic we got off the meadow camera June 2019
last week of august 2019 I went to pull the meadow camera before archery season and check it and found …….
no meadow, no woods no cameraWe were hunting in that area in mid September 2019 and they had got most of the logs out now and John still had the location marked on onX so we went out in the cut and I still can’t believe we found that camera, The tree was so small it just got drove over and never cut ….
John took a pic of me with one of the rigs the day we found the camera
John digging in the debris and finding the camera September 2019
Still can’t believe we found that camera it still works I’ve used it since then and that we were able to pull all the pictures off it , I do regret deleting the pictures of the logging equipment as it was working towards the tree with the camera, I should’ve save those….
the meadow area now almost 2 years to the day since that herd of elk was photographed in the meadow..
Happy to see the new food plot coming in quite nicely, and thinking during rifle season how nice would it be to catch an elk out there feeding at sunrise with not a tree in 300 yards in any direction.
we went on and hiked into a more mature clear cut to see how it’s growing in and cut an elk trail and followed in back into some timber , seeing it was a main trail the elk use to feed in and out of the cut we hung a camera, And we joked these trees Ain’t big enough they’re not gonna log them this year.
John hanging the camera on a strait way part of the trail
the view from the tree back towards the cut
as we continued on our journey, John took a pic of me walking with his dogs and sent it to me the following day
as the hike continues We went to another newer clear-cut that we knew was in the area but hadn’t really spent much time in and around it and of course there was elk there . And we saw them before they saw us.
John finally gave a soft whistle to get the bull to look our way , so we could get a good head shot because he was to busy stuffin his face
They were close so they all heard the John whistle
they grouped up and then slowly over the hill to go have dinner somewhere else in peace and quiet… without us people staring at them
one the way out we saw 3 more elk after this a lone cow and then 200 yds from the truck at the gate we parked at my was another cow and a calf feeding. I have really come to enjoy and appreciate these summer elk experiences when the woods are quiet and no one else is around, the elk are really relaxed because they haven’t been chased all over the mountain yet.
also almost sat on this thing during the hike , freaked me out for a second. don’t know what it is , anyone know what kinda bug this is
hope you all enjoyed my adventures this week , me getting out in the woods was long overdue. In the busyness of life it’s easy to forget good laughs with a friend and hiking the woods is healthy for the soul and a much needed break .
Happy 4th of JULY everyone
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