This is my first year hunting elk around the rut... after severally weeks of hunting, we finally found the herd! We thought that we'd missed them, because the rut is usually strongest here during the last two weeks of Sept. and we never heard a single bugle. My neigbour heard his first bugle and dropped one yesterday morning...I was out that night and finally got a response...yeeeaaah!
We headed out this morning back to the drainage...around 5:30am I let out a cow chirp in case they were close, and I nearly fell over when a bull immediately bugled 100 yards up the clearcut above us!! The hunt was ON... we silently made our way up the edge of the cut as they continued to bugle...we could just see as we topped the rise, but they had moved into the forest on the far edge...with my partners on a rise in the middle of the cut, I started bugling from the edge...10 min. later a silouette appeared and was coming fast...
It was a dumb little raghorn...he stomped up to within 30 yards of them...he was acting drunk an' horney as a teenager at a highschool dance...screamin' and pissin' all over hell's half acre...I tried to divert him with cow calls...but he was in LOOOVE with my buddy...I was trying to video but was laughin' so hard as C watched through his scope, as his dreaded blind date stumbled towards him...after about 10 min. he left, only to return when I started bugling...the big bulls were going nuts in the background, but we couldnt get around this little sh*t without spooking him... I told C to bend over and get it over with...
He finally left us, when the herd started moving up the mountain towards their bedroom...we followed for two hours, exchanging bugles all the way, but never saw hair again...they headed up to a ridge for the day... Our adrenaline was pounding for 3 hours straight...knowing they were right there and we may get a shot any minute... I'm addicted already!...back out tonight...
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 10-09-2002 12:09: Message edited by: mtnboy ]</font>
We headed out this morning back to the drainage...around 5:30am I let out a cow chirp in case they were close, and I nearly fell over when a bull immediately bugled 100 yards up the clearcut above us!! The hunt was ON... we silently made our way up the edge of the cut as they continued to bugle...we could just see as we topped the rise, but they had moved into the forest on the far edge...with my partners on a rise in the middle of the cut, I started bugling from the edge...10 min. later a silouette appeared and was coming fast...
It was a dumb little raghorn...he stomped up to within 30 yards of them...he was acting drunk an' horney as a teenager at a highschool dance...screamin' and pissin' all over hell's half acre...I tried to divert him with cow calls...but he was in LOOOVE with my buddy...I was trying to video but was laughin' so hard as C watched through his scope, as his dreaded blind date stumbled towards him...after about 10 min. he left, only to return when I started bugling...the big bulls were going nuts in the background, but we couldnt get around this little sh*t without spooking him... I told C to bend over and get it over with...
He finally left us, when the herd started moving up the mountain towards their bedroom...we followed for two hours, exchanging bugles all the way, but never saw hair again...they headed up to a ridge for the day... Our adrenaline was pounding for 3 hours straight...knowing they were right there and we may get a shot any minute... I'm addicted already!...back out tonight...
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 10-09-2002 12:09: Message edited by: mtnboy ]</font>
