After several long weekends of walking all over the mountains during the MT rifle season, I managed to get hit with dumb luck.
With all my hunting companions out at TWS in spokane, I drove down to a buddies place to fill a mule deer doe tag for a SW MT unit (yes please eviscerate me), which I figured could be handled with little trouble.
At my buddies place, over a heartwarming chili dinner, he said "you know, we have the most snow in town I have seen in a long time this time of year, why arent you going elk hunting?". The thought had not occured to me whatsoever. I had to be back at work that afternoon, and the thought of getting much of any elk hunting in the short period between legal light and work seemed more than unlikely. Additionally, this unit was brow tined bulls only. So I brushed it off with a polite "oh sure, sounds good" but without any seriosness behind it.
That night, in a fever dream like state that was induced by eating way too much before bedtime, I couldnt stop dreaming about getting my very first bull. I woke up the next day pretty exhausted and headed out.
Driving about 15 minutes outside of town about 30 minutes before legal shooting light, I stood at the spot that my buddy told me to glass at. Trucks were whizzing by right by me. I glassed them whizzing off into other drainages deeper in. And I thought.... am I a $*)Q!#@$ idiot?? It only took about another 10 minutes before I glassed 2 cows, and then elk antlers!
I threw the spotting scope in the truck, and drove closer to where I saw the bull. Thinking how dumb it would be to drive up and spook him, and the limited amount of roadside parking spaces without blocking the road, I left the truck on the side of the road in a pullout and continued on foot with my backpack. Walking down the road I ran into... another truck hunter!! Shit! And the bull dropped below a hill, out of sight.
I walked up to the side of the truck and without any idea of what came over me I asked "hey, did you see that bull just over there??". "Nope, theres a bull?" "Yeah I thought I just saw one". So we stood there (me outside and him in his truck) and continued to glass. Pointed out some deer to each other, listening to the elk massacre happening just nearby, just shooting the shit and talking about how we each lived in the same place across the border at one point. Generally just being not cagy and enjoying being outside.
Suddenly, my new found buddy said "Hey, theres that bull!" and points out across the sage hills at him. We both stand there for a second and I say "so, you want to go hunt him?" and he responds "I dont have an elk tag....". So it was up to me. After a short stalk a couple hundered yards through the hills and sage, and a single perfect vital shot, and he was mine.
The warden drove over to check tags, and he said "man you did the exact opposite of what the rest of the world decided to do", apparently there were about 40 rigs parked up another nearby road.
With all my hunting companions out at TWS in spokane, I drove down to a buddies place to fill a mule deer doe tag for a SW MT unit (yes please eviscerate me), which I figured could be handled with little trouble.
At my buddies place, over a heartwarming chili dinner, he said "you know, we have the most snow in town I have seen in a long time this time of year, why arent you going elk hunting?". The thought had not occured to me whatsoever. I had to be back at work that afternoon, and the thought of getting much of any elk hunting in the short period between legal light and work seemed more than unlikely. Additionally, this unit was brow tined bulls only. So I brushed it off with a polite "oh sure, sounds good" but without any seriosness behind it.
That night, in a fever dream like state that was induced by eating way too much before bedtime, I couldnt stop dreaming about getting my very first bull. I woke up the next day pretty exhausted and headed out.
Driving about 15 minutes outside of town about 30 minutes before legal shooting light, I stood at the spot that my buddy told me to glass at. Trucks were whizzing by right by me. I glassed them whizzing off into other drainages deeper in. And I thought.... am I a $*)Q!#@$ idiot?? It only took about another 10 minutes before I glassed 2 cows, and then elk antlers!
I threw the spotting scope in the truck, and drove closer to where I saw the bull. Thinking how dumb it would be to drive up and spook him, and the limited amount of roadside parking spaces without blocking the road, I left the truck on the side of the road in a pullout and continued on foot with my backpack. Walking down the road I ran into... another truck hunter!! Shit! And the bull dropped below a hill, out of sight.
I walked up to the side of the truck and without any idea of what came over me I asked "hey, did you see that bull just over there??". "Nope, theres a bull?" "Yeah I thought I just saw one". So we stood there (me outside and him in his truck) and continued to glass. Pointed out some deer to each other, listening to the elk massacre happening just nearby, just shooting the shit and talking about how we each lived in the same place across the border at one point. Generally just being not cagy and enjoying being outside.
Suddenly, my new found buddy said "Hey, theres that bull!" and points out across the sage hills at him. We both stand there for a second and I say "so, you want to go hunt him?" and he responds "I dont have an elk tag....". So it was up to me. After a short stalk a couple hundered yards through the hills and sage, and a single perfect vital shot, and he was mine.
The warden drove over to check tags, and he said "man you did the exact opposite of what the rest of the world decided to do", apparently there were about 40 rigs parked up another nearby road.
