John and Chris’s 2019 Roosevelt Adventures

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Up in the woods on a break , waiting for a pick up , no elk in the canyon John and I waked this morning, next road over the other 2 in our crew are chasing. A spike and a cow ,
Here’s a pic of camp and John before he bugled the canyon, we did see 7 cows this morning in 3 small groups , before this last hike




This trail cam pic is from last night , John and big Chris got into a herd of cows and spikes , they got winded and then went behind the clear cut to check the last camera we hung before season and had one bull on it , after close examination the bull walked past the camera 3 minutes before John and Chris got to it , ha ha ha ha , they never saw the bull he was inside the trees shadowing the herd . We’re gonna go in there this after noon and see if we can relocate the elk , here the pic of the 4 point bull , there’s 2 four point bulls in this area

 

[LousyResident]

Man I love this thread

 

[tzone]

Great thread. Thanks for posting all the pics!

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Back in town for a supply run , no one has had a shot opportunity yet, no elk encounters today , but got on elk last night , had a baby bull walk in front of me at 40 yds while John and I were watching the rest of the herd at 170 yds away , he took a pic of me and the elk together, last nights sunset was epic and the sunrise today was just as beautiful, checked a trail cam today had a lot of bull activity, we’re gonna hint that canyon next week , headed back up the mountain gonna hunt a creek area this evening

Last nights herd , they split from the night before this was half of them


Watching the elk walk


Sunset


Today’s sunrise


Trail cam pics


2 bulls in this pic




This is the earliest Oregon’s archery season has ever opened by 5 days , the bulls are silent , we herd from a friend hunting Rockies in eastern Oregon the bulls were bugling , not so much here yet

 

[Elkhunter24]

Great thread. Good luck Fella's!! Getting me excited. We leave for Wyoming in 3 weeks

 

[Oregon_Ryan]

Chris- Great thread and good luck out there!

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Today we got into some cows on the morning hunt , cam and tony the next ridge over walked into a monster 6x6 , cam got to 60 yds no shot , were gonna go back in tomorrow to try to relocate him , stupid hot to 90 , headed out for a late evening road hunt / scout , save the legs for the morning hunt , found this old can in a clear cut , how can a 40 year old beer can be in the woods all these years and not rust away

 

[CTELK83]

Good luck buddy!

 

[rtraverdavis]

Good luck Chris. The weather sucks right now, but looks like it’ll get better in a few days. I’ll be out this weekend with my cow tag. Hopefully we’ll have pictures to send each other.

 

[LopeHunter]

Aluminum never rusts, never sleeps. Cheers old beer can with a pull tab perfect for using to propel pull ring like a hollow frisbee.

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Fun adventure so far, hope you guys score 1. Good luck
Matt

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Last nights road hunt was epic ! We were in laid back mode just glassing clearcuts looking for something to spot and stock ,just moving from point to point , when we’re driving down the logging road to check the last cut when John slows down looks out the window and says there was a herd on the road tracks are super fresh , he says there’s a herd right here , turns off the truck , and we just listen , silence..... John grabs my bugle sticks it out the window and lets one rip while sitting in the truck ..

We listen ..... Cam says I think i here a cow call .... John bugles again from the truck ....... we listen ....... cam says I thought I herd a faint bugle .......... we wait a few ...... John bugles again from the truck...... insanity we all here a Bull torch off, he’s coming to us , Well maybe we should start this truck Park it since we’re in the middle of the road, get our releases and get our bows out of the case and get ready . So we get out look at a map there’s a road that goes down below where the bull is so John just takes the bugle and CAM they go down below where the herd is and John starts bugle and I stay on the upper road in case they come back.

As John and the bull go back-and-forth you could hear the bull getting farther away and going down the mountain , then I can’t hear anything and I’m sitting in a ditch on the logging road checkin wind and ranging trees then all sudden I hear elk in front of me and the bull rips off a bugle about 200 yards from my left and then I knew the got tired of John and didn’t wanna fight and was taking his cows and running the other way the herd was headed right to me, they were 50 yds or so from me

The elk ended up not fully coming out into the road the end of the herd was right across from me I think one or two of the cows might’ve smelt me the wind shifted just a second and blew there way , but the bull is still far to the left and I could hear him bugle again farther away I knew the rest of the herd never winded me , then the whole herd just started shadowing the road so I got up and started shadowing them staying on the edge of the tree line right down the road . eventually got too dark to shoot but not too dark to see and then Elk started popping out right in front of me between 30 to 100 yards looking at me going where do you come from some ran back in the bushes some didn’t none of us ever got a shot but there was a spike that we got a glimpse of for second and we never got to see the ball but one hell of a fun night first good bugle session of the season !

This is John and cam headed off to the next spur to get below the elk , you can see elk tracks in the road behind John


This morning we never found the 6x6, all we were able to turn up was 2 cows and a calf . Today is afternoon break from the heat we all went home , shower and laundry, Johns gonna work the next 2 days since the bulls still aren’t really rutting yet , and use those days later in season , it Cam and me in the woods tomorrow morning, As for tonight is still yet to be determined I might be hunting solo or with CAM.

This is how we ruff it it the coast range , Big Chris is only hunting weekends right now but left his RV up at elk camp
for the season so when people in our crew come out to hunt they have a place to crash , watching a movie after a hard day chasing elk , this weekend we will be back at a 6 man camp

 

[jvanhoy]

Good luck buddy! There is nothing like a good elk camp. I leave for mine in 14 days.

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Cam and I relocated the herd from Tuesday evening, and got in on them , had a 16-20 inch spike walk out on us at 125 yd and the rest of the herd was walking down the ridge behind him , we set up for an ambush and the rest never feed out , we were in and around them for 2 hours under 100 yds but to thick to see them , we backed out and let them settle , on the way home we had 2 fawns in the road at 15 yds staring at a house cat in the ditch , they ignored our Tacoma Tundra idling in-front of them and never looked at us as they crossed



Last night went south , John and cam spotted 2 herds Wednesday evening, so we went there for our evening hunt , tony made it back to camp yesterday afternoon, so we split up to try to locate the 2 herds , tony got on elk and had a all black 4x5 rag horn bugling and we went to help , cam and tony miss communicated and 2.5 hours later and a 3 mile walk we ended up 15 minutes away from our original starting point across the ridge . The elk were gone .
This is cam and I at the start before things went way south


Taking a break right now , I’m 3 hours in to the morning hunt , so far in 6 days of hunting this is the only day I haven’t seen elk. But the day is still young , here’s the view from where I’m posting this


Time to go it’s at least 3 hours back to the rig , I’ve still got 16 days on this hunt . JUST KEEP GRINDING ! Good luck to everyone else on there elk adventures!

 

[gouch]

Keep it up you'll get it done. I went out for four days this week, kinda hot and didn't see an elk but did spook a small buck as I drew back on him. good luck

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Out on the evening hunt the Tacoma got another flat , my 2nd in under 3 months, which sucks, but was able to make town and get real tires . Got a 10 ply all terrain now , the Tacoma stock tires are no match or the Roosevelt Kingdom. Logging roads have 3 types of gravel and the last type that I was one when I blew this last tire I don’t think you can call it gravel , it’s more just large rocks , I will take a pic to share with everyone who is not familiar with the roads we use to hunt from , but on a positive, Big Chris was able to relocate the herd we lost last night and got eyes on the all black 4x5 , last intel was they winded him . Camp will be back at full strength tonight with 6 guys and we have 3 more who live local and hunt from home most days , someone’s gonna fling and arrow soon. Took the tire ordeal to swing by the house and catch a shower before getting back up the mountain, hopefully we will have a bull down soon to share

The new 10 ply , I’m so freaking over the stock tires , John told me the roads would chew them up , I tried to get by on them and it cost me an evening hunt, all smiles now

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Lots has happened since last post , Saturday morning the crown bull was relocated,

he was standing on the 2 lane black top with 12 cows , he crossed into private , but we have access to the logging property behind it where we got this pic last year , so we went around in 2 man teams and dropped in , cam and tony got into a herd with with a bull bugling and cow called in 2 small spikes , John and I dropped in from the other side no luck , we hunted through to the trail cam , a herd had been on the camera 2 hours before us , it also had 2 different bulls in the last week , we felt like the crown bull never left private and the bugling bull was a different bull , since no one saw spikes in the crown bull herd.

Cam had to pass on the spikes , in this unit you can’t shoot spikes , we’ve hunted 3 different units , the other 2 spikes are allowed, we’ve found elk in all 3 units we’ve hunted

John and I dropping in looking for the Crown Bull


We made the bottom


Some of the pics from the camera as we hunted through






Sunday John and I did a long hike in looking for the big 6 point cam and tony saw a week earlier, during the 11 mile hike we stopped by the new clear cut that I lost my camera in , the logs were gone now so we walked out just to see if it was in the debris leftover, John had the pin drop location on his onX. And holy crap we found it !!!! Unbelievable really, it has 492 pics on it , John has the camera at his house we still haven’t seen all the pics , I will post a few off the card in the future, John sent me 2 pics he took off his computer screen so resolution in bad

Logging machines by the cut





Finding the camera




When we loosened the strap the camera was not attached, but John dug down about 6 inches through debris and it was under the tree


1 pic from the camera


John and I going cross country through the Coastal Jungle back to the truck


At this point my morale was low, it was going on 8 day of hunting without seeing a branch bull , we’ve seen elk , deer , coyotes, a bobcat , but no branchers . It’s the longest John and I have spent in the woods without seeing one even from long range and John told me it’s the longest he’s ever hunted in an archery season without turning one up.

Last night we were down to 3 in camp so we teamed up and went to where we found a herd opening weekend, my 1st trip out with big Chris



Big Chris split from John and I to cover more ground, John and I went to where we last saw that herd a week last Sunday night , remembering where they went in the woods , we took the logging road down from that location, one we’ve never walked and walked right into a 5 point branch bull at 63 yds ! He was in a hole with most of his body covered and no shot , but he was feeding too us , he had a cow to his right some distance, then another cow appeared and went right also , the bull then turned and began to feed away from us , John stood up to take a pic then we slipped down the road and moved in

2 cows to our right and the bull to the left , all were out of sight in the small ravine, we moved onto a flat spot with 3 wood piles left by the loggers, if the bull came up and crossed our flat to the cows it was 32 yd shot , but he feed through the ravine behind the wood pile , then the wind changed the cows smelled us and game over , they disappeared back into the jungle, bummed at 1st thought it was gonna happen, then walking out I felt a renewed drive to keep pushing on again, we finally found a bull got on it , the drought was over. Maybe next time

This is the bull at about 80 yds feeding away from us , John was standing up on the road when he took the pic , hard to believe that elk is walking but he was , lucky for him he was in a small nasty hole , or he would have come home with us in the back of our pickup

Last night after the hunt driving into camp with big Chris we drove into a herd of elk 1000 yds from camp , elk were flying and the timber was crashing.
John went home last night so big Chris and I went out this morning to try to find him again, since the elk just smelled us and we didn’t push them we knew they would stay close , it was way foggy this morning




That other herd from last week came back , there tracks were everywhere and they peed all over the road there where wet spots from last night very noticeable, this is one, you can see the elk peed so hard it blew the gravel out the way



Never found the bull again, but I have an idea where the new herd went and maybe by now they’ve picked up a bull, I will be back in there soon

Also found my 1st blacktail shed after 5 years of hunting the coast range , this is it after I pulled from the grass


Also came across this hive a bear or something dug up and ate


The biggest bull rub I’ve found so far this season

There were several other real fresh rubs close to this one , I did a few bugles , but nothing came in

Everyone is gone now till later in the week, I’m hunting solo till Thursday, John will be back out then for another 5 days , we might try to do an evening hunt closer to his place tomorrow or Wednesday if his schedule works , I have seen elk 8 out of the 9 days I’ve been hunting today is 10 maybe see some elk tonight and keep the streak going , time to start getting ready for an evening hunt , be blessed everyone

 

[LousyResident]

I'm dying for you guys to get one! Every time I get a notification that this thread has new posts I hope it's finally the time lol

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

Taking a break big rain storm came in yesterday evening and poured through today and is supposed to rain till tomorrow afternoon, lame



Tony and Cam each got a shot at the same bull right before the big rain , Cams was clean miss and Tony was sure he hit the bull , then with the big rain it washed all trace away.

This morning we all went to the location and combed the woods for 2 hours , coming back to the rigs soaking wet and wondering about the bull while getting ready to start another sweep down in , John asks why cam never picked up his arrow ? I did , he replied. It was Tony’s 15 yds from the rigs , no one saw it last night or this morning, well glad we found it before we hiked through rain and brush for 2 hours! We all laughed , Tony was bummed he missed but we were all relieved it was a clean miss . And there wasn’t a wounded or dead bull lost in the woods. From the location of the arrow and where the shot was taken we knew there’s know way it could have went that far and ended up the way it did had he made contact with the bull .

Earlier in the week I was solo hunting on my 50th birthday last Tuesday I found a herd with a large 5 point bull and 20 cows and 2 spikes in with him.they were in a new clear cut and could see 300 yds in every direction, I had no way to get to him so I backed out . This is the best pic I got of the bull



This is the flat they were on and my hiding spot where I watched them , there is some of the herd in this pic but the close branches made distant images blurry , I got to watch this herd from 300 yds for a half hour on my birthday was pretty cool


I was able to keep an eye on this herd for 2 days looking for the chance, then John came back out Thursday and we found the herd that morning, in the valley below on the next road system over good OL’ Doug Flutie piped off and the whole herd ran into the woods , John felt it was to our advantage that the elk were no longer in the open , we sat on the ridge and watched below to see if an elk appeared while Doug Flutie played his bugle.

After an hour John says we’re not leaving this herd , so up we went , after seeing there movements for the last 2 days prior , I said they should go right towards the back of the cut . So went 200 yds in the big timber and went that direction. Cow calling from time to time , we eventually walked right into them. And had cows within 50 yds around us , picking the biggest opening around us we set up , John felt this bull would act differently now we’re in with his cows , John did a few cow calls then let a bugle rip ! Silence....... we do this for awhile, i then walk to John , we can still see cows feeding and looking our direction, they think we’re elk , John bugles again , a cow looks out direction and goes back to her breakfast , then I hear a branch break to my left , John smiles that bull is probably standing in the opening you just left , I sneak back that direction, all is silent ......

We move forward a little on the herd, then John gets a lucky break out of the 23 elk in the woods in front of us he see’s the bull feeding about 60 yds , brush to thick to shoot , John gives that bull a full blast bugle to the face ! The bull lifts its head , looks towards John then right back to eating, he could care less about us , John try’s to close the distance and gets busted and the herd goes crashing by me just out of sight so I follow hoping in the confusion they might run my way but they don’t and stay low and out of ear sight they go !

After it was over we talked and John said he had never been in a herd with a bulls cows and the bull not come in or do something. John took this pic of the bull before he let the last bugle rip at 60 yds from the bull , he’s in the middle of the pic



And that sums up the 1st two weeks of Roosevelt season , the elk are quite and not talking, all the hunters we talk to are communicating the same , it’s been the hardest I’ve ever hunted in my life , I’ve lost track of the miles walked, I’ve seen a lot of elk , in the 15 and half days I’ve hunted I’ve only gone 3 days without seeing elk , but with them being so quiet and not really much rutting , it feels like a rifle hunt with bows , just spot and stalk , John made the comment this is the slowest archery season he’s ever seen, in terms of elk behavior

Last Friday we saw 3 bulls still running together with now cows , I put a stalk on them and was 127 yds before they left the clear cut and went on to the only piece of private around where I couldn’t give chase

Here’s a few more coast pic

Another sunset


Elk beds on the side of a logging road


A morning glass before splitting into 2 man teams to cover more country


Crossing a clear cut to the next road system


Almost stepped on this guy


Woodpeckers gone wild


Big Chris in Big Timber


Cow and calf


Bobcat walking in the middle of the road


Mountain grown snacks


Top of the mountain



I’m gearing back up and headed out for an evening scout to look for elk , I will be hunting alone again till the weekend,
But with rain forecast all this upcoming weekend, Johns tryin to switch days off so we can get out of town and go to eastern Oregon and hunt Rockies for the last 3 days of my vacation since things are not looking great here at the moment. I’ve got 6 and a half days left and it fells like I’m in the middle of the 4th qtr down a couple TDs , but I’ve also hunted long enough to know that the fortunes of this elk hunt could turn in a second, Till next time , be blessed everyone

 

[jvanhoy]

Good luck buddy! Hang in there. I killed my first bull with a bow on my last morning of a 12 day hunt. You will get it done.