Standing with Elk

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Elkman
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Standing with Elk

#1 Post by Elkman »

Standing with Elk - part 1.

It has been almost a week now and my super adrenaline high has subsided. I touched on this during my post of my Livingston hunt. What I am going to do is try and replay what happened while sitting in the tree stand just days ago. Actually I should say while standing in the tree stand.
Here is a little history of the area I am in during this hunt. I am on private land that my neighbor and I have permission to hunt. We have 3 stands setup and 1 ground blind. Most of the time while there my neighbor is using the blind. He is 76 years old and has been on many, many elk hunts with me over the last 8 years. He has been pretty much my only hunting partner during the last 8 years. Believe it or not he still goes up in the hills with me once in a while. Sometimes he goes up with his son also. He has been fighting cancer along with other health issues, one being some kind of inner ear problem that effects his balance. I have been hoping to get him a shot opportunity on a Brow-tined bull – an elk with an antler or antlers with a visible point on the lower half of either main beam that is greater than or equal to four inches long. Since we received permission to hunt this private land from a former neighbor, he tends to want to go there most of the time now.
Since the wolf population has exploded in the last ten years here in the north west our game animals, especially elk populations, have dropped by as much as two thirds :o. It is harder to find the elk up high these days in some areas. Many have moved down into the foothills and even the valley. This land borders some state land that is directly up above my house about 3/4's of a mile. There are times when I can hear the Bulls bugling at night and very early in the morning. 15 even 10 years ago this didn't happen.
We try and hunt the state land also, but find it hard when the general public uses it for general recreational activities.
Okay, let me get back on track here. I'm supposed to be talking about a bow hunting experience. It just happens that a herd that I hunted up high above the house has moved straight down this way.
One more thing to touch on before I continue. Us going to sit in the stands that night was based on a memory or flash back to hunt in the same spot 2 years ago. That is what I told my neighbor when he asked where I wanted to go that evening. I told him that the vision of a herd of elk coming out of the trees like 2 years ago was all I could think of that afternoon while trying to work. So to the stands we went.

To be continued.
Calling Elk - Awesome! !€

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Elkman
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Re: Standing with Elk

#2 Post by Elkman »

Standing with Elk - part 2.

I climbed into the stand at about 5:30 pm and my neighbor stayed down the small draw aways in the blind. The trail that cuts in front of the stand cuts down into the draw. This area we are hunting is a ridge that goes east and west. To the north is a very steep drainage that is not easy to move around in, much less hunt in. To the south we have many small finger ridges and draws that flow down to farmland. The timber ends about a half mile south of the ridge top. So we have about 40 acres of ground to hunt. The private land we are on ends just 100 yards south of the ridge top. Someone else owns the land south of us. We are setup to hopefully catch the elk as they move to and from the hay and Alfalfa fields. The stand I am in is at the transition from timber to sparse timber. It is about 5:40 by the time I get setup and settled in the stand. The wind is very still and it is dead quiet.
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At about 6 I decided to go ahead and do some cow calling. I was curious as to if there were any elk even in the area. Within a minute or so a Bull bugles back at me.😮 man he is close! No more than a couple 100 yards. I give him a couple minutes and I cow call some more. He bugles again. Now I am wondering why in the heck am I up in a tree.🤔 I like to be mobile while pursuing a Bull. Well I guess I'll have to try something new. So I stay put. It's not like I am going anywhere, I'm in a freaking tree😕.
I sit down and ponder what to do next? Call more or stay quiet for awhile. That question got answered very quickly. I caught movement to my right as a small calf came running right up close to the stand. Maybe 25 yards. It is curious about the cow calls it had just herd. Wow, this is cool😎a little entertainment while I wait for the main event. The calf stands there just at the edge of the timber looking for other elk for a few minutes. She sees nothing and turns and heads back to where she came from. She gets to about 60 yards and I cow call to see what happens. It stops, doesn't look and starts feeding. Hmm! Maybe the herd is closer then I think? The Bull bugles and a cow now starts calling. I recognize the call. She is calling for her calf. The calf then trots off to moma. I decided that I better stay quiet and stand at the ready just in case. I have given away my location by calling. You have no idea how well elk can pinpoint sound. Well, I shouldn't say that, deer do it just as good.
My visibility into the timber was not very good. We had left many branches on the tree to the right as cover to blend with. Do to other small trees and all we didn't plan on shooting that direction. I need to fix that! Plus there is the property boundary out at about 50 60 yards. Anyway, after about 10 minutes the Bull started bugling on his own. Great! Now I can tell where he is at. Sounds like he hasn't moved. I continue standing, arrow nocked and hand on the string. All I can do is wait :roll:

To be continued.
Last edited by Elkman on Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Spelling error
Calling Elk - Awesome! !€

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Graps
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Re: Standing with Elk

#3 Post by Graps »

:? Come on, what's the rest? :?
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

stumper
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Re: Standing with Elk

#4 Post by stumper »

Another great beginning...
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

Carpdaddy
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Re: Standing with Elk

#5 Post by Carpdaddy »

Your making us nervous 😟! I get too invested in the story.

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Shadowhntr
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Re: Standing with Elk

#6 Post by Shadowhntr »

🤯
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Lowcountry
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Re: Standing with Elk

#7 Post by Lowcountry »

Waiting...

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Elkman
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Re: Standing with Elk

#8 Post by Elkman »

Standing with Elk - part 3.

First off, sorry I didn't get back to this post sooner.

I'm standing in the stand watching to my right. It is hard to see with all the tree branches and thicker timber to the right. The picture, stand-view-front-right, shows a very large trail, old jeep road, following the edge of the main tree line on my side of the small draw that the calf had came from. Straight up from the far right of the picture the trees get smaller and thin out some. After about 15 to 20 minutes I finally catch movement in that area. Problem is it's moving out and across towards the center of the picture I just mentioned. I see more movement. Okay now I can tell what they are. Two cows just grazing along without a care in this world. The Bull has been bugling off and on, still to my far right down and across the small draw.
Now the waiting game, but with game in sight. You've all been there. Sometimes it can be pretty nerve racking. 😓 I have no clue how many elk are in this herd, but at times I know there has been near 60 or more. Normally during the rut multiple Bulls come down and the herd gets cut into multiple smaller groups. So far this season we have only seen and heard sign of one in this general area. A small young Bull. This one sounds like a younger Bull.
Now I am seeing more elk filter into the same area. There might be six or so now. The Bull bugles to the right. I glance over that way and see more elk now to my right. Hey! Nice! These are kinda heading my way. They are taking the same route that the very first calf had. The Bull bugles again directly beyond them. Then all the sudden a cow starts calling. She is really worked up. Eeeaaawww! Eeeaaawww! Eeeaaawww! Eeeeeeeaaaaaaaawwwwww! Eeeaaw! (Hope that makes sense.) She does this again. The Bull bugles again. This time he is all worked up. Then I hear crashing moving down and further to the right and going down the draw. Oh no what happened? 🤔 I look out to the others out in front of me and they are still just feeding.🤔 Okay nothing to worry about. I'll just sit this out, what choice do I have? The Bull bugles again, but this time he follows with some pretty good grunts. Ohhh! That's what I like to hear😎😎😎. That's what gets my blood going. It is so so cool to hear that up close. Then that cow starts her loud long drawn out calling again. This cow is in estrus. That's what's going on. She toying with the guy and he can't stand it.
I am now focused on the elk directly to my right. They are at about fifty yards. They now start to move away and up towards the first ones. Man I thought for sure they were going to come over to me.😮I watched them move up and as they came to the tall dry grass you can see in the picture, they start feeding also. I now probably have twelve or more elk up to the right, all feeding. I have never heard them grazing like that. They were actually a bit noisy. Just like standing near a bunch of horses while they pulled and chewed grass. Incredible!
I hear a cow call back over to my right. The Bull bugles again. Then I see some more elk coming from where the calf did. You mean there are more? Nice! This just keeps getting better and better. All the sudden one of the cows in that group runs up towards the others, but this one has a Bull following right behind her. She starts her estrus calls again and the Bull bugles and grunts and stops to check out one of the other cows. He wastes now time and moves up out of sight to where the cow in heat went. He bugles again. The cow lets out another long sequence of estrus calls. I am in heaven. Who cares if a shot comes at this point. I am in awe of everything unfolding in front of me.
At this point everything is going slightly up and away and to my left. They are all sill in the upper right half of the picture of the right view and beyond.
Hey, but guess what, you recall that my neighbor is sitting in the ground blind down the small draw behind me on the left. He doesn't hear very well. He has no hearing at all in one ear. But these elk are close enough that he should be able to hear them. I can't call because I am close to them. Then all the sudden a calf steps out on the big trail. It is walking right at me. I don't want to shoot a calf, nor do I want to make one an orphan. It is at about 25 yards and cuts back into the tree to the right. I hear a lot of noise again and look forward towards the main group. The Bull is now racking a small tree straight out in front of me. The tree is moving all over the place. When the tree stops moving the Bull bugles again. The tree in about 60 yards. More movement in front of me at the big trail. Out steps a cow. She is now walking towards me. Then another and another. Okay now I have to decide if I shoot at a cow or hold out for the Bull? I have two tags. My general Elk tag (Bull tag) which is good for either sex in this district during archery season and my Elk B license which is good for antlerless elk only and only on private land. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time I am after Bulls. What should I do?

To be continued.
Calling Elk - Awesome! !€

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Graps
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Re: Standing with Elk

#9 Post by Graps »

:evil: Really, you are going to leave it like that?
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

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Re: Standing with Elk

#10 Post by Captainkirk »

Hmm, I know what I would do.
And yep, I'm gonna leave it like that.
Aim small, miss small!

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