bobbydean
Well-known member
You are in elk. Good hunt. Hope you get one.
Good story.
Good story.
Vanish and FireTiger's Journal - Season 6
- Thread starter vanish
- Start date
duckhunt
Well-known member
Whats the chances that the only tree you put your hand on falls over? That sucks. Hopefully this will be your weekend.
As I stood there contemplating what to do, I caught movement over my left shoulder. There's a cow elk sneaking along. Now, that step I had taken to the right, has me out of position once again! I can see her around the tree, but the tree I had behind me to break my outline is now between us. As I watch her, another elk appears following. Its a bull. It might be the smallest antlered legal bull I have ever seen, but he IS legal. I can count 4 points on my side through the rangefinder, which is reading 42 yards, within my range.
The cow steps behind a large pine and stops, and the bull stops with his head behind the pine and the rest of his body showing. I draw back, but that darn tree I was standing next to is right in my line of fire. I could see the elk when looking around it, but not once my bow is drawn! There's two options: 1.) take two steps to the left, where I may have a clear shot, or 2.) wait for them to walk out from behind the pine and give me another angle.
With option 1, they may catch me moving or I might even knock over another tree with my luck.
With option 2, they're getting close to winding me, as they are SSW of my position and the wind is blowing to the SE.
I decide to go with option 2, as I didn't feel like they were on to me.
Finally, they started to move...
The cow steps behind a large pine and stops, and the bull stops with his head behind the pine and the rest of his body showing. I draw back, but that darn tree I was standing next to is right in my line of fire. I could see the elk when looking around it, but not once my bow is drawn! There's two options: 1.) take two steps to the left, where I may have a clear shot, or 2.) wait for them to walk out from behind the pine and give me another angle.
With option 1, they may catch me moving or I might even knock over another tree with my luck.
With option 2, they're getting close to winding me, as they are SSW of my position and the wind is blowing to the SE.
I decide to go with option 2, as I didn't feel like they were on to me.
Finally, they started to move...
The suspense is killing me!
Well, unfortunately they moved straight out and down the other side of the ridge. Dang! Its easy to second guess myself on that one. Maybe I should have moved, maybe I should have done Y, Z.
I felt I was in a good area, and started to reposition myself. I could hear what sounded like someone yelling, but couldn't make out any words over the wind. I didn't want to leave a good spot just to find out it was some other yahoos. Decoy out and try a cold call sequence. Sure enough, the wind dies down and I hear my dad calling my name. Woo! I wonder if he got that little bull?!
I make my way over to the ridge where he was sitting and ask where it is. I can tell he got one as he makes up some baloney story. He's got a cow down, and she is laying under the tree where I had been set up earlier that morning! Apparently, a herd of ~30 came through, and even though he was prepared, half a dozen made it by him before he could even pick one to aim at. Finally, his nice cow passed by at 15 yards and he let it rip. She walked a few more steps and he put a second one in her. Finally, she went to lay under that tree.
Remember that bull and cow I had at 42 yards? They ran straight from me to him, and stopped next to him at 5 yards, minutes after he got his cow. Talk about taunting him!
He was plenty happy with his cow and just enjoyed the experience of seeing a bull that close.
I felt I was in a good area, and started to reposition myself. I could hear what sounded like someone yelling, but couldn't make out any words over the wind. I didn't want to leave a good spot just to find out it was some other yahoos. Decoy out and try a cold call sequence. Sure enough, the wind dies down and I hear my dad calling my name. Woo! I wonder if he got that little bull?!
I make my way over to the ridge where he was sitting and ask where it is. I can tell he got one as he makes up some baloney story. He's got a cow down, and she is laying under the tree where I had been set up earlier that morning! Apparently, a herd of ~30 came through, and even though he was prepared, half a dozen made it by him before he could even pick one to aim at. Finally, his nice cow passed by at 15 yards and he let it rip. She walked a few more steps and he put a second one in her. Finally, she went to lay under that tree.
Remember that bull and cow I had at 42 yards? They ran straight from me to him, and stopped next to him at 5 yards, minutes after he got his cow. Talk about taunting him!
He was plenty happy with his cow and just enjoyed the experience of seeing a bull that close.Forgot mention, it was 29 degrees in the morning, and 77 when we packed her out. Colorado amazes me sometimes!
-========-
Truck is just about packed. I'll be heading out solo tonight until probably mid-day Monday, unless I am successful sooner. Not sure I have a USB charger in the truck, they might both be in the RAV4 (and my wife is out...), so I'll have to be judicious with my updates.
-========-
Truck is just about packed. I'll be heading out solo tonight until probably mid-day Monday, unless I am successful sooner. Not sure I have a USB charger in the truck, they might both be in the RAV4 (and my wife is out...), so I'll have to be judicious with my updates.
duckhunt
Well-known member
Congrats to your dad. Im loving this adventure.
Sorry guys, really wanted to do a live hunt, but there was no sign down low and I had to move deeper. No signal farther in. To top it off, something zapped my cell battery and I had to turn it off to have a minimum charge in case of emergency. My car radio charges my ipod just fine, but my samsung doesn't like it. I'll put the charger in the car next time!
You'll have to wait for the full recap, but I will tell you now it includes elk!
You'll have to wait for the full recap, but I will tell you now it includes elk!
duckhunt
Well-known member
Dont be sorry. This has been an awesome thread.
Currently on a shuttle to the airport while I write this. Would have loved to hunt last night, but not when I had to get up at 4:30am just to head to the airport! Trying to pack out an elk would have been playing with fire.
-=============-
The weather could have been a bit more cooperative. I was glad I had my decoy as I spent several hours hiding under it throughout the day. But the real issue was the wind. The prevailing was a west wind, the thermals were coming from the east and the storm gusted both north and south. Perhaps I should have just bagged it for most of the day, but that's no fun.
I sat over a trail until about 11am with no elk, just some mule deer does and a pine marten, so I decided to work my way west...
( made a bunch of carnitas chimichangas before the hunt ... a little heavy but a heck of a brunch! )
-=============-
The weather could have been a bit more cooperative. I was glad I had my decoy as I spent several hours hiding under it throughout the day. But the real issue was the wind. The prevailing was a west wind, the thermals were coming from the east and the storm gusted both north and south. Perhaps I should have just bagged it for most of the day, but that's no fun.
I sat over a trail until about 11am with no elk, just some mule deer does and a pine marten, so I decided to work my way west...
( made a bunch of carnitas chimichangas before the hunt ... a little heavy but a heck of a brunch! )
Dixiedawg80
New member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
- Messages
- 15
Wow, such a great hunt and story, thanks a ton for sharing!
At a pinch point, I bumped into a couple other hunters. Having met these guys before, even joining their camp for an after-hunt brew, we shared the little intel we had. They also had not seen any elk or sign that morning. I took this to be my cue that it was time to stop pussy footing around and start looking for fresh sign. I would head back in towards a water hole I had discovered the year before, about 2 miles away, uphill.
While quickly covering some less-than-ideal ground, I spotted a buck pronghorn watching me from a few hundred yards away. I thought if I slipped a bit lower and came around a rise, I would be able to get a decent photo of him, but by the time I got over there, he had vanished.
...
While quickly covering some less-than-ideal ground, I spotted a buck pronghorn watching me from a few hundred yards away. I thought if I slipped a bit lower and came around a rise, I would be able to get a decent photo of him, but by the time I got over there, he had vanished.
...
As I pressed uphill into the aspens, I spotted a couple of nice mule deer slip through the timber. This would be a theme for the rest of the day, and has me excited for my buck tag later this year. At one point, I came over a small ridge and bumped into a bachelor group of at least 5. One of the smaller ones came over to hang out by me for a few minutes.
...
...
Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments. I know I am drawing this out, but I'm away from home, at the office, and they keep me busy while I am here.
