drthornton
Member
Got back this weekend from my first DIY Elk hunt. WVHunter and a friend of ours(Mike) met me in Wyoming from West Virginia and Virginia respectively. We were all pretty much green Elk hunters but had put in the time over the past year to do everything we could to prepare. The best thing about our crew was everyone's passion for this Elk hunt. That passion got us through a lot of the downs which a lot of you know are common.
We started off with an add on, leftover Pronghorn hunt which was near our Elk area. I did poorly on that hunt so I'll let WVHunter fill in that part of the story.
We got to our truck camping spot the evening of 9/11. On the way in we met a guy who had just killed a bull over the top of one of the mountains. He glassed him from the road and took off after them. He obviously did not plan to go in that far as his first pack out was a rear quarter inside a make shift backpack made from his King's Camo Jacket. He claimed it was his 17th Bull and 3rd in 3 years from this area. We were all pretty pumped to hear a good story and see some blood. None of us caught his name so we just referred to him as "Home Slice" the rest of the trip.
Got camp set up in a couple hours and got all our gear ready for our first hunt the next morning. In retrospect we should have brought an entirely different set of camping accommodations for truck camping and saved our Bivey gear for a dive in.
First morning we got into a bull almost immediately and worked him for a couple hours but we just could not seal the deal. That first encounter made it obvious that our calling was not quite "Sweet" enough to pull a bull to us...we were going to have to get the wind right and get into their living room to get opportunities. We heard a couple other bulls in the distance that morning and were confident we were going to get into more Elk.
First Evening we got into a small 4x4 on a bench. He came quiet to a bugle but none of us were ready. Funny thing is, since we had the wind he never boogered. We got back on him feeding by simply soft cow calling and walking up on him. I finally got a lane and range at 38.6 yards. I drew when I thought his head was behind a tree and waited for him to make up the last 8 ft for a shot. I held for what seemed like forever and finally had to let down. As I let down I saw him starring at me. He obviously saw me draw and now had enough. I still had the wind so he didn't booger...just trotted off.
After the first day we were all pretty much in awe that 3 greenhorns could get into Elk and have 2 great opportunities. Still no Elk down but our spirits were pretty high.
Second Morning we went back into the same area. We called in a small bull, probably the same 4x4 from the previous day. He came in quiet until he was right on top of us and barked at us twice. Mike just could not get maneuvered to get a shot at him and he bolted.
After an uneventful 2nd evening we decided try another spot way up over the mountain and check out several drainages. Since this was in the general vicinity where "Home Slice" killed his bull we thought it would be good. After hiking in a good ways and a very exciting encounter with a squirrel that seemed to sound and move through the timber exactly like an elk, we hit the head of a drainage. Lots of sign but it was 3-4 weeks old. After checking out more of the area all we found was more of the same. The lack of rubs lead us to believe the bulls had likely moved to the lower ends of the drainages to commence the rut. We spent the rest of the day circling back to camp. We came across a couple wallows and a big bedding area which was likely cows and calves.
The 3rd evening Mike and WVHunter went to town to fill our water, get trash bags and a couple other things. I stayed back and scouted new areas. I studied the maps and tried to identify areas which were similar to where we had located Elk previously. Found a good spot and it even had fresh Elk poop on the road. I ran my findings by the crew and we decided to head in there.
The 4th morning we no more than got out of the truck and got our packs on, threw out a bugle and got an immediate response. It had rained all night and it was cooler that morning. We again had great wind so we just walked a little, bugled to re-locate the bull and kept after him. I think at some point we lost the original bull and picked up another one as after about a half mile we finally got on top of him and the original bugle seemed very close to the truck. In any case we were now above a bull whose bugles seemed more and more agitated. He was down at the bottom of a pretty steep drainage but it was not too thick and not a lot of dead fall. It was evident he was not going to come out of that hole so we dove in after him. Downhill a little, Bugle, get an answer back was what we did until we got on the same level as him. It was thick enough we could not see each other and we still had great wind. By this time the bull was downright pissed we had walked in on him. He started raking, so Mike raked right back at him. I had taken point and made it to the bottom, WVHunter was 10 yards behind me and Mike was up another 20. I finally laid eyes on him raking a tree. There was a trail leading up to him but I thought he would spot me. I decided to move up the hill a little, Noc, set up behind 3 trees and pray he came down that trail. He ended his raking and turned uphill, I thought he was gone but he ended up doing a 270 and headed down the trail. As he lumbered down that trail I could not believe this was really happening. His head disappeared behind the first tree so I drew and anchored. Once his chest was clear I let fly. While still in my follow through I saw the entry triangle right in the middle of his chest. My next move should have been toward a cow call or bugle but a very excited fist pump won out. Luckily WV and Mike had the frame of mind to let out a call. I heard him crash through some brush and then another crash and then nothing. He had gone over a small rise so we could not see him. WV and Mike came down and we all whisper yelled some "Hell Yeah"s along with several high fives. I knew there was no way I did not double lung him but I still tried to calm down and wait a while. Mike found the arrow which had the tell tale "Bubble Blood" over the entire length of the arrow. We waited just about 15 minutes and Mike could not wait any longer...he found the blood trail and peaked over the rise and saw him laying dead only 80 yards away.
After the pics we got to work on him. I decided to "Gutless" him and also debone him right there. The decisions were mostly facilitated by my gaze up that steep hill where I could not see the top. Took me 2 hours to whittle him down and get him in game bags. I used WV's Havalon on the entire thing aside from getting his head tendons and ligaments cut from his spine. I am very impressed with that knife and will be ordering one from Schmalts very soon. All 3 of us loaded up a game bag which I conservatively estimate at 50 pounds each. The trip to the top was 1/3-1/2 mile with another similar distance on a closed Forest Rd to the truck. Mike and I dropped our loads at the top and WV started the relay back to the truck with his load. Mike and I went back down to get the last meat bag and the head. By the time we got back to the top on the second load WV had 2 loads back at the truck so we gathered all our gear for the last push. It took right at 5 hours from the time I shot to the time we were back in camp. We quickly went to town to ice the meat, ate a hamburger and a beer then headed back up to get an evening hunt in.
On the way back to camp we came across a guy with a nice set of 6x6 antlers in the back of his truck. We did not catch his name either but his rather breathy voice lead us to call him "Emphysema Joe". Emphysema Joe claimed to have killed 26 Bulls in his 32 years of Elk hunting. He had killed his bull down low earlier that morning and was now scouting for some doctors who would be there in a couple days. He was trading his Elk skills for medical attention which we could only surmise was for a long smoking career. He was a heck of a nice guy and claimed to blow a cow call that bulls could not resist. I don't know why we didn't ask him to blow it for us...I wish I had.
The rest of the trip only had a couple bugles and no more close interactions. We did see a cow and calf Moose which was very cool.
My bull is no monster but I could not be happier. I am still "Ear to Ear" and can't wait for next year!
Thanks to WVHunter and Mike, both of which I would hunt with again anytime and to Mixedbag for his support.
We started off with an add on, leftover Pronghorn hunt which was near our Elk area. I did poorly on that hunt so I'll let WVHunter fill in that part of the story.
We got to our truck camping spot the evening of 9/11. On the way in we met a guy who had just killed a bull over the top of one of the mountains. He glassed him from the road and took off after them. He obviously did not plan to go in that far as his first pack out was a rear quarter inside a make shift backpack made from his King's Camo Jacket. He claimed it was his 17th Bull and 3rd in 3 years from this area. We were all pretty pumped to hear a good story and see some blood. None of us caught his name so we just referred to him as "Home Slice" the rest of the trip.
Got camp set up in a couple hours and got all our gear ready for our first hunt the next morning. In retrospect we should have brought an entirely different set of camping accommodations for truck camping and saved our Bivey gear for a dive in.
First morning we got into a bull almost immediately and worked him for a couple hours but we just could not seal the deal. That first encounter made it obvious that our calling was not quite "Sweet" enough to pull a bull to us...we were going to have to get the wind right and get into their living room to get opportunities. We heard a couple other bulls in the distance that morning and were confident we were going to get into more Elk.
First Evening we got into a small 4x4 on a bench. He came quiet to a bugle but none of us were ready. Funny thing is, since we had the wind he never boogered. We got back on him feeding by simply soft cow calling and walking up on him. I finally got a lane and range at 38.6 yards. I drew when I thought his head was behind a tree and waited for him to make up the last 8 ft for a shot. I held for what seemed like forever and finally had to let down. As I let down I saw him starring at me. He obviously saw me draw and now had enough. I still had the wind so he didn't booger...just trotted off.
After the first day we were all pretty much in awe that 3 greenhorns could get into Elk and have 2 great opportunities. Still no Elk down but our spirits were pretty high.
Second Morning we went back into the same area. We called in a small bull, probably the same 4x4 from the previous day. He came in quiet until he was right on top of us and barked at us twice. Mike just could not get maneuvered to get a shot at him and he bolted.
After an uneventful 2nd evening we decided try another spot way up over the mountain and check out several drainages. Since this was in the general vicinity where "Home Slice" killed his bull we thought it would be good. After hiking in a good ways and a very exciting encounter with a squirrel that seemed to sound and move through the timber exactly like an elk, we hit the head of a drainage. Lots of sign but it was 3-4 weeks old. After checking out more of the area all we found was more of the same. The lack of rubs lead us to believe the bulls had likely moved to the lower ends of the drainages to commence the rut. We spent the rest of the day circling back to camp. We came across a couple wallows and a big bedding area which was likely cows and calves.
The 3rd evening Mike and WVHunter went to town to fill our water, get trash bags and a couple other things. I stayed back and scouted new areas. I studied the maps and tried to identify areas which were similar to where we had located Elk previously. Found a good spot and it even had fresh Elk poop on the road. I ran my findings by the crew and we decided to head in there.
The 4th morning we no more than got out of the truck and got our packs on, threw out a bugle and got an immediate response. It had rained all night and it was cooler that morning. We again had great wind so we just walked a little, bugled to re-locate the bull and kept after him. I think at some point we lost the original bull and picked up another one as after about a half mile we finally got on top of him and the original bugle seemed very close to the truck. In any case we were now above a bull whose bugles seemed more and more agitated. He was down at the bottom of a pretty steep drainage but it was not too thick and not a lot of dead fall. It was evident he was not going to come out of that hole so we dove in after him. Downhill a little, Bugle, get an answer back was what we did until we got on the same level as him. It was thick enough we could not see each other and we still had great wind. By this time the bull was downright pissed we had walked in on him. He started raking, so Mike raked right back at him. I had taken point and made it to the bottom, WVHunter was 10 yards behind me and Mike was up another 20. I finally laid eyes on him raking a tree. There was a trail leading up to him but I thought he would spot me. I decided to move up the hill a little, Noc, set up behind 3 trees and pray he came down that trail. He ended his raking and turned uphill, I thought he was gone but he ended up doing a 270 and headed down the trail. As he lumbered down that trail I could not believe this was really happening. His head disappeared behind the first tree so I drew and anchored. Once his chest was clear I let fly. While still in my follow through I saw the entry triangle right in the middle of his chest. My next move should have been toward a cow call or bugle but a very excited fist pump won out. Luckily WV and Mike had the frame of mind to let out a call. I heard him crash through some brush and then another crash and then nothing. He had gone over a small rise so we could not see him. WV and Mike came down and we all whisper yelled some "Hell Yeah"s along with several high fives. I knew there was no way I did not double lung him but I still tried to calm down and wait a while. Mike found the arrow which had the tell tale "Bubble Blood" over the entire length of the arrow. We waited just about 15 minutes and Mike could not wait any longer...he found the blood trail and peaked over the rise and saw him laying dead only 80 yards away.
After the pics we got to work on him. I decided to "Gutless" him and also debone him right there. The decisions were mostly facilitated by my gaze up that steep hill where I could not see the top. Took me 2 hours to whittle him down and get him in game bags. I used WV's Havalon on the entire thing aside from getting his head tendons and ligaments cut from his spine. I am very impressed with that knife and will be ordering one from Schmalts very soon. All 3 of us loaded up a game bag which I conservatively estimate at 50 pounds each. The trip to the top was 1/3-1/2 mile with another similar distance on a closed Forest Rd to the truck. Mike and I dropped our loads at the top and WV started the relay back to the truck with his load. Mike and I went back down to get the last meat bag and the head. By the time we got back to the top on the second load WV had 2 loads back at the truck so we gathered all our gear for the last push. It took right at 5 hours from the time I shot to the time we were back in camp. We quickly went to town to ice the meat, ate a hamburger and a beer then headed back up to get an evening hunt in.
On the way back to camp we came across a guy with a nice set of 6x6 antlers in the back of his truck. We did not catch his name either but his rather breathy voice lead us to call him "Emphysema Joe". Emphysema Joe claimed to have killed 26 Bulls in his 32 years of Elk hunting. He had killed his bull down low earlier that morning and was now scouting for some doctors who would be there in a couple days. He was trading his Elk skills for medical attention which we could only surmise was for a long smoking career. He was a heck of a nice guy and claimed to blow a cow call that bulls could not resist. I don't know why we didn't ask him to blow it for us...I wish I had.
The rest of the trip only had a couple bugles and no more close interactions. We did see a cow and calf Moose which was very cool.
My bull is no monster but I could not be happier. I am still "Ear to Ear" and can't wait for next year!
Thanks to WVHunter and Mike, both of which I would hunt with again anytime and to Mixedbag for his support.
