Jon Boy
WKR
With the off season in full swing, my mind keeps drifting to September. Thinking of mistakes I made last season and how to correct them for this season. I decided to write it all out. I like to write and it makes things clearer and more organized for me. I thought some of you might enjoy reading it. Its very long but there are many lessons to be learned in this article for rookies and veterans alike.
Jon Boys 2014 Elk Season:
Trials and Tribulations Of An Aspiring Elk Slayer
My 2014 elk season started similar to the past few seasons prior with relentless scouting missions and endless shooting sessions. But, it was also different in the fact that the season prior I arrowed my first elk; a pope and young 6 point bull. I was riding high on that experience and considered myself a “real” elk hunter; rather than an armed hiker, just hoping an elk would appear. I was confident the moment would happen again for me this season as long as I was patient for the right moment.
It didn’t quite unfold as I had expected. I did some things right, some things wrong, and learned more about elk and elk hunting than all seasons prior, combined. It was a season of learning, excitement, humility, and defeat. I make reference to mistakes I learned from throughout the story and expand on them later as you can see a recurring pattern. These are the trials and tribulations of my 2014 Montana General Elk Season.
Sept 7th- My first hunt of the season found me on a familiar trail hiking in the dark. My good friend and coworker, Greg, was with me for a lot of the season filming and learning elk hunting. He wasn’t a resident yet and was happy to film for me. At first light we cut off the trail and up a ridge. There was a tent set up on a knob not far from where I’ve seen elk in the past. I was fairly disappointed with this but kept hiking. Not a ¼ mile from the tent I looked up to see a pale hide to our left that was obviously an elk. Greg started rolling film and I crept forward. I could now see it was a small bull; feeding up a steep slope. I ranged the base of a large pine tree the elk was behind. 50 yards. I couldn’t help but think how sweet this season was already panning out. I knew he was small and would only take a shot if he made his way to under 40 yards and stood broadside begging me to shoot him (mistake #1). Heck it was only the first 15 minutes of my season. The bull stepped out higher up the ridge than anticipated. I ranged him and he was 70 yards. I drew on him knowing he was out of the range I am comfortable with, but used it as a great experience to once again put my pins on elk flesh.
After a few minute stare down he barked twice and trotted up and over the slope. Greg and I followed him thinking he might be taking us to a larger herd. We were scrambling up a slope when I looked to my right and told Greg to get down. There were 4 spike bulls feeding in the park just below us at 40 yards. I opted to pass, as they didn’t get me nearly as excited as the small rag horn did just a few minutes prior and now it was only 30 minutes into my season. Eventually the 4 small bulls fed away and the raghorn from earlier joined up with them. I pursued them and did a little cow calling but they paid no attention and eventually made it to their bedding area where I left them.
Sept 8th- Greg and I headed to a new trail head we had scouted out previously in the summer. This area looked like the elk mecca. Lots of parks, benchy timber, and rubs from the previous ruts. It was also a pretty unknown spot amongst locals and others, unlike the area we hunted the previous day. Three miles into our hike we cut off trail and hit a well-used elk trail. Just slinking through the timber learning a new area, Greg tapped me on the shoulder and said he thinks he sees an elk just off the trail a hundred yards in front of us. I lift the binos to see a bull a bit bigger than the one the day before. Good spot Greg. He was looking directly at us so our plan of attack was a bit rogue, but we had no choice. So I used an antelope trick I learned the month prior; line some sort of cover up to conceal myself and walk straight towards him. Surprisingly it worked and I was able to sneak within 40 yards. I could tell by now he was a young bull, just barely a 6 point on one side. Again, I told myself if he would present me a perfect shot I would take it. But, I did very little to be proactive to make that shot happen (mistake #2) It was thick lodge pole pine and there weren’t any clear shots, but thinking back I feel I could have made it happen if I really wanted that particular bull. He slowly walked off and disappeared into the dark timber.
It was two days into my season and I had already been on 6 bulls. In my mind I passed all of them and let them slip away do to their size. I kept telling myself just to wait for the rut and the big bulls would be running into my setups. Mistake #3.
The rest of the week I worked and did a few small hunts after work. It snowed several inches and surprisingly it had the elk movements shut down. I spotted a few bulls that week that were still off by themselves with no signs of the rut. That was fine considering I had 10 days off starting the 14th and a hunting partner of mine was coming in from WA. Surely the rut would be going in that time frame.
Sept 14th- Brock wasn’t supposed to show up until that night so I headed into the area I had seen the lone bull in. I made it to the area right at first light and the bulls were screaming. Finally! Two different bulls were bugling back in forth and I was in the middle of them. From what I deduced it was two herd bulls moving in opposite directions with their harems. I was close to one of the herds and could hear cows mewing and the bull bugling not more than a hundred yards away. I was focused on getting a kill on film this year but I was by myself on this particular hunt. Trying to film, call, and move solo is nearly impossible and that bull slipped away with his harem. I was fine with it knowing the rut was just starting and I had 10 days to get it done, half of that being with another hunter. I had these elk’s number and a reasonable pattern on them (mistake #4)
Sept 15th- Brock made it in late the night before. I told him I would make a decision on where we would hunt last minute based on my gut feeling. After the action packed morning I had had the day before, the decision was easy. We packed up 3 days worth of gear and headed to a spot for base camp that afternoon. No need to hike 3.5 miles in the dark every morning. We hiked into a little bit different of a spot than I had been hunting to check things out for the evening. Not too far into our hike there was a spike bull standing in the trail, having never killed an elk Brock wasn’t picky. Before he could get an arrow knocked and draw the bull took off. I threw out some cow calls as we took off after him. I knew if we hustled we would be able to look down on him moving through the timber. We only made it 15 yards in our run and looked up to see him standing there. He had stopped not 40 yards from where we first saw him. When we put on the breaks he took off and disappeared. (mistake #5)
Sept 16th- The evening prior was incredibly warm compared to the previous week. We woke that balmy morning and made our short hike from base camp to the hunting grounds I had so much success in the previous two times I had hunted it.
Dead. Not a bugle, not an elk. Nothing. The hot weather seemed to have things shut down. I was mildly concerned but new there were lots of elk in the area and to just be patient. It was the elk mecca in my mind and I had so much success there so early on (mistake #6)
Sept 17-19th- We had very little success over the next few days. We bumped a few singles slinking through the timber. We heard a few location bugles the morning of the 18th but nothing significant. I had broken my golden rule of elk hunting. Keep moving until you find a bull that wants to cooperate. I had so much faith in such a small area that it kept me there doing the same hunt over and over. It was my favorite spot deep in the mountains and we never saw another person. But I finally realized the elk didn’t want to cooperate and they had moved on. Brock had to leave the morning of the 21st. We only had a day and a half to get it done.
Evening of the 19th- We packed out of our spot and headed to a spot we could glass some high country parks from the road. We spotted a lone bull high up in a park raking a tree. A few minutes later a 300 class bull stepped out of the timber with a few cows. Moments later the bull ran off and some more cows started stepping out. Then an absolute giant bull started walking out, hooking cows with antlers and bugling, He had it all. Whale tails, spread, ass scratchers, you name it. We had a game plan for the morning and luckily I had scouted the area they were in and knew just how to get to them.
Sept 20th- We headed in on a trail long before light. As soon as we crested a ridge we could hear a rut fest going on in the bottom of the drainage! We knew this was our last chance for Brock to get it done and the opportunity we had been so desperately waiting for. We played aggressively but cautious enough not to blow it. We concentrated on one particular bugle that sounded the most aggressive and soon cut the distance right to him.
We made it to a small park and let a bugle rip. Nothing. We were disappointed but soon started making a plan to go after another bull that was still bugling. Brock let another bugle go and a bull erupted 75 yards into the timber. We were caught in the open and the bull was coming. There were two small jack pines I took cover behind, Brock just bent down in the tall grass and drew his bow. I couldn’t see the bull at this point in time but could hear him walking through the tall grass not 20 yards from me. I saw Brock sit up and release the arrow. I could hear the sound of the arrow hitting home. I sat up and stopped the bull with some cow calls only to see the worst site a bow hunter could see. A full arrow sticking out of an elk’s scapula. Brock knew the hit wasn’t fatal and let another arrow fly, this time deflecting off a branch. The 6 point bull casually trotted off like nothing happened and disappeared into the timber. Another inch to the left and the bull would have tipped over dead. There was no blood trail to track and we soon found Brocks arrow with only an inch of penetration.
That concluded mine and Brocks hunt together and he left the next morning. It was a tough hunt with a painful ending. I hunted the next few days and got on some bulls but things didn’t pan out. It was painful not punching a tag on a bull during archery season. I didn’t like the feeling. That’s why I decided to write this. I don't want to go another archery season without filling a tag.
I recognized the mistakes I made and what I have to do differently to correct those. A lot of these mistakes go hand and hand.
Mistake #1 & #2- Make the shot happen. In both instances I had two great opportunities, just needed to be proactive and make something happen. I let them slide because they weren’t big bulls. But, I’ve realized this early in my elk slaying career I need all of the experience I can get killings bulls before I start trophy hunting. I won’t be letting that happen again.
Mistake #3- Never wait for the rut. I’ve heard it time and time again from hunters. They were rutting the week before we started hunting or the week after or the full moon had them active at night etc. Hunt with the circumstances you are given. If you hit the rut perfectly, play it accordingly. But what if you don't? You have to adapt and hunt to those situations in order to be successful.
Mistake #4- This plays into the prior three. If you do happen into a bull that is extremely vocal, give it all you got because you never know when it’s going to happen again. After that morning, the bulls completely shut off for 6 days and I kicked myself every one of those days for taking it easy on that bull.
Mistake #5- Never chase an elk. An elk a lot of the time will stop and see what its running from. If it doesn’t stop, you’ll rarely catch up to it right away any ways so its best to just take it slow.
Mistake #6- Keep moving until you find them. Never get hung up on a spot do to prior success. Elk are nomadic animals and keep moving. I thought I had them patterned between there feeding, water, and bedding areas but they moved on and I didn’t.
I can’t say we did much wrong with the bull Brock ended up hitting. We played the situation we were given right. We did end up getting caught in the open but we made it work and Brock made the shot happen. Unfortunately an elk’s shoulder blade is one tough object I’ve personally seen save three bulls lives. The only good thing about the situation is there is a very high chance the bull is still alive.
It was a great season; I saw a lot of elk and had several opportunities. A lot of people would consider that a success. I used to as well, but I feel like I was selling myself short. After tasting success, the thought of failure again is unfathomable. I’ll be doing all that I can next season to correct these mistakes and punch my tag.
Jon Boys 2014 Elk Season:
Trials and Tribulations Of An Aspiring Elk Slayer
My 2014 elk season started similar to the past few seasons prior with relentless scouting missions and endless shooting sessions. But, it was also different in the fact that the season prior I arrowed my first elk; a pope and young 6 point bull. I was riding high on that experience and considered myself a “real” elk hunter; rather than an armed hiker, just hoping an elk would appear. I was confident the moment would happen again for me this season as long as I was patient for the right moment.
It didn’t quite unfold as I had expected. I did some things right, some things wrong, and learned more about elk and elk hunting than all seasons prior, combined. It was a season of learning, excitement, humility, and defeat. I make reference to mistakes I learned from throughout the story and expand on them later as you can see a recurring pattern. These are the trials and tribulations of my 2014 Montana General Elk Season.
Sept 7th- My first hunt of the season found me on a familiar trail hiking in the dark. My good friend and coworker, Greg, was with me for a lot of the season filming and learning elk hunting. He wasn’t a resident yet and was happy to film for me. At first light we cut off the trail and up a ridge. There was a tent set up on a knob not far from where I’ve seen elk in the past. I was fairly disappointed with this but kept hiking. Not a ¼ mile from the tent I looked up to see a pale hide to our left that was obviously an elk. Greg started rolling film and I crept forward. I could now see it was a small bull; feeding up a steep slope. I ranged the base of a large pine tree the elk was behind. 50 yards. I couldn’t help but think how sweet this season was already panning out. I knew he was small and would only take a shot if he made his way to under 40 yards and stood broadside begging me to shoot him (mistake #1). Heck it was only the first 15 minutes of my season. The bull stepped out higher up the ridge than anticipated. I ranged him and he was 70 yards. I drew on him knowing he was out of the range I am comfortable with, but used it as a great experience to once again put my pins on elk flesh.
After a few minute stare down he barked twice and trotted up and over the slope. Greg and I followed him thinking he might be taking us to a larger herd. We were scrambling up a slope when I looked to my right and told Greg to get down. There were 4 spike bulls feeding in the park just below us at 40 yards. I opted to pass, as they didn’t get me nearly as excited as the small rag horn did just a few minutes prior and now it was only 30 minutes into my season. Eventually the 4 small bulls fed away and the raghorn from earlier joined up with them. I pursued them and did a little cow calling but they paid no attention and eventually made it to their bedding area where I left them.
Sept 8th- Greg and I headed to a new trail head we had scouted out previously in the summer. This area looked like the elk mecca. Lots of parks, benchy timber, and rubs from the previous ruts. It was also a pretty unknown spot amongst locals and others, unlike the area we hunted the previous day. Three miles into our hike we cut off trail and hit a well-used elk trail. Just slinking through the timber learning a new area, Greg tapped me on the shoulder and said he thinks he sees an elk just off the trail a hundred yards in front of us. I lift the binos to see a bull a bit bigger than the one the day before. Good spot Greg. He was looking directly at us so our plan of attack was a bit rogue, but we had no choice. So I used an antelope trick I learned the month prior; line some sort of cover up to conceal myself and walk straight towards him. Surprisingly it worked and I was able to sneak within 40 yards. I could tell by now he was a young bull, just barely a 6 point on one side. Again, I told myself if he would present me a perfect shot I would take it. But, I did very little to be proactive to make that shot happen (mistake #2) It was thick lodge pole pine and there weren’t any clear shots, but thinking back I feel I could have made it happen if I really wanted that particular bull. He slowly walked off and disappeared into the dark timber.
It was two days into my season and I had already been on 6 bulls. In my mind I passed all of them and let them slip away do to their size. I kept telling myself just to wait for the rut and the big bulls would be running into my setups. Mistake #3.
The rest of the week I worked and did a few small hunts after work. It snowed several inches and surprisingly it had the elk movements shut down. I spotted a few bulls that week that were still off by themselves with no signs of the rut. That was fine considering I had 10 days off starting the 14th and a hunting partner of mine was coming in from WA. Surely the rut would be going in that time frame.
Sept 14th- Brock wasn’t supposed to show up until that night so I headed into the area I had seen the lone bull in. I made it to the area right at first light and the bulls were screaming. Finally! Two different bulls were bugling back in forth and I was in the middle of them. From what I deduced it was two herd bulls moving in opposite directions with their harems. I was close to one of the herds and could hear cows mewing and the bull bugling not more than a hundred yards away. I was focused on getting a kill on film this year but I was by myself on this particular hunt. Trying to film, call, and move solo is nearly impossible and that bull slipped away with his harem. I was fine with it knowing the rut was just starting and I had 10 days to get it done, half of that being with another hunter. I had these elk’s number and a reasonable pattern on them (mistake #4)
Sept 15th- Brock made it in late the night before. I told him I would make a decision on where we would hunt last minute based on my gut feeling. After the action packed morning I had had the day before, the decision was easy. We packed up 3 days worth of gear and headed to a spot for base camp that afternoon. No need to hike 3.5 miles in the dark every morning. We hiked into a little bit different of a spot than I had been hunting to check things out for the evening. Not too far into our hike there was a spike bull standing in the trail, having never killed an elk Brock wasn’t picky. Before he could get an arrow knocked and draw the bull took off. I threw out some cow calls as we took off after him. I knew if we hustled we would be able to look down on him moving through the timber. We only made it 15 yards in our run and looked up to see him standing there. He had stopped not 40 yards from where we first saw him. When we put on the breaks he took off and disappeared. (mistake #5)
Sept 16th- The evening prior was incredibly warm compared to the previous week. We woke that balmy morning and made our short hike from base camp to the hunting grounds I had so much success in the previous two times I had hunted it.
Dead. Not a bugle, not an elk. Nothing. The hot weather seemed to have things shut down. I was mildly concerned but new there were lots of elk in the area and to just be patient. It was the elk mecca in my mind and I had so much success there so early on (mistake #6)
Sept 17-19th- We had very little success over the next few days. We bumped a few singles slinking through the timber. We heard a few location bugles the morning of the 18th but nothing significant. I had broken my golden rule of elk hunting. Keep moving until you find a bull that wants to cooperate. I had so much faith in such a small area that it kept me there doing the same hunt over and over. It was my favorite spot deep in the mountains and we never saw another person. But I finally realized the elk didn’t want to cooperate and they had moved on. Brock had to leave the morning of the 21st. We only had a day and a half to get it done.
Evening of the 19th- We packed out of our spot and headed to a spot we could glass some high country parks from the road. We spotted a lone bull high up in a park raking a tree. A few minutes later a 300 class bull stepped out of the timber with a few cows. Moments later the bull ran off and some more cows started stepping out. Then an absolute giant bull started walking out, hooking cows with antlers and bugling, He had it all. Whale tails, spread, ass scratchers, you name it. We had a game plan for the morning and luckily I had scouted the area they were in and knew just how to get to them.
Sept 20th- We headed in on a trail long before light. As soon as we crested a ridge we could hear a rut fest going on in the bottom of the drainage! We knew this was our last chance for Brock to get it done and the opportunity we had been so desperately waiting for. We played aggressively but cautious enough not to blow it. We concentrated on one particular bugle that sounded the most aggressive and soon cut the distance right to him.
We made it to a small park and let a bugle rip. Nothing. We were disappointed but soon started making a plan to go after another bull that was still bugling. Brock let another bugle go and a bull erupted 75 yards into the timber. We were caught in the open and the bull was coming. There were two small jack pines I took cover behind, Brock just bent down in the tall grass and drew his bow. I couldn’t see the bull at this point in time but could hear him walking through the tall grass not 20 yards from me. I saw Brock sit up and release the arrow. I could hear the sound of the arrow hitting home. I sat up and stopped the bull with some cow calls only to see the worst site a bow hunter could see. A full arrow sticking out of an elk’s scapula. Brock knew the hit wasn’t fatal and let another arrow fly, this time deflecting off a branch. The 6 point bull casually trotted off like nothing happened and disappeared into the timber. Another inch to the left and the bull would have tipped over dead. There was no blood trail to track and we soon found Brocks arrow with only an inch of penetration.
That concluded mine and Brocks hunt together and he left the next morning. It was a tough hunt with a painful ending. I hunted the next few days and got on some bulls but things didn’t pan out. It was painful not punching a tag on a bull during archery season. I didn’t like the feeling. That’s why I decided to write this. I don't want to go another archery season without filling a tag.
I recognized the mistakes I made and what I have to do differently to correct those. A lot of these mistakes go hand and hand.
Mistake #1 & #2- Make the shot happen. In both instances I had two great opportunities, just needed to be proactive and make something happen. I let them slide because they weren’t big bulls. But, I’ve realized this early in my elk slaying career I need all of the experience I can get killings bulls before I start trophy hunting. I won’t be letting that happen again.
Mistake #3- Never wait for the rut. I’ve heard it time and time again from hunters. They were rutting the week before we started hunting or the week after or the full moon had them active at night etc. Hunt with the circumstances you are given. If you hit the rut perfectly, play it accordingly. But what if you don't? You have to adapt and hunt to those situations in order to be successful.
Mistake #4- This plays into the prior three. If you do happen into a bull that is extremely vocal, give it all you got because you never know when it’s going to happen again. After that morning, the bulls completely shut off for 6 days and I kicked myself every one of those days for taking it easy on that bull.
Mistake #5- Never chase an elk. An elk a lot of the time will stop and see what its running from. If it doesn’t stop, you’ll rarely catch up to it right away any ways so its best to just take it slow.
Mistake #6- Keep moving until you find them. Never get hung up on a spot do to prior success. Elk are nomadic animals and keep moving. I thought I had them patterned between there feeding, water, and bedding areas but they moved on and I didn’t.
I can’t say we did much wrong with the bull Brock ended up hitting. We played the situation we were given right. We did end up getting caught in the open but we made it work and Brock made the shot happen. Unfortunately an elk’s shoulder blade is one tough object I’ve personally seen save three bulls lives. The only good thing about the situation is there is a very high chance the bull is still alive.
It was a great season; I saw a lot of elk and had several opportunities. A lot of people would consider that a success. I used to as well, but I feel like I was selling myself short. After tasting success, the thought of failure again is unfathomable. I’ll be doing all that I can next season to correct these mistakes and punch my tag.
