Scott/IL
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2014
- Messages
- 223
2017 has already been a memorable year for me. I was fortunante enough to backpack on the Kenai Peninsula in May for black bears, and watched my buddy Kyle take one with his rifle on the last night. I also got to chase velvet whitetails on public land in Kentucky, and if not for a well placed branch, I would have arrowed my first velvet buck on opening morning. The real jewel of my season was the tag that was coming in mid September.....
But first a little rewind. The night after Kyle shot his bear, we were back in Anchorage cutting it up in Trevor Embry's garage while talking future hunting plans. The topic of an OTC Idaho elk hunt came up and with some local intel, I was told me to swing for the fences on a tough to draw archery unit in Idaho. I got home a few days later, bought my Idaho hunting license and had my application completed. My odds were slim to none, so my planning was still focused on the OTC area I had picked out.
One night in late June, I saw Idaho released their draw, and a quick check revealed I had been the lucky winner of an amazing archery bull elk tag. A quick text to Trevor about my success and as luck would have it, one of his friends Travis lived near the unit for a few years and was real familiar with it. Over the next few months, me and Travis shared several texts and phone calls through July and August talking over my hunt and I was also put in touch with his friend Brad who lived nearby. Their knowledge of the area was so valuable for my scouting. Also signing up for the fun was Kyle, as he was ready to watch me be the shooter this go around and was coming along to call for me. I'm pretty sure if either of our old ladies heard us practice another elk bugle, we would have been single men headed west!
The morning of Septemeber 13th finally rolled around and I pulled my truck and a trailer loaded down with coolers into Kyle's driveway to pick him up. We arrived in Idaho 22 hours later at a campsite Brad had said would be a good place to start. A quick nap, camp organized, and a gear run, we set out to glass and listen for bugles. Unfortunately all we saw were people on four wheelers and dirt bikes moving camps into a timbered region of the unit. We noted this area for later. I felt like a kid waiting for my first ever deer opener that night as I laid in my cot.
Day 1- The next morning me and Kyle were up early and made a short drive from camp. We were going to follow a trail into an area Brad had seen some good bulls in a few weeks prior. A location bugle at dawn showed no response. We climb to the top of a ridge to get the wind in our favor and another bugle from my tube is sent into the bottoms. A few minutes later a response is heard from the next ridge over and a quick sweep of the binoculars reveals a large bull elk headed straight towards us. We wait until his visual is broken and we take off running down the hill to set up. The bull is in an alder filled creek bottom and we are unsure exactly where he plans to come out. Our problem is, we fear he is on private land. I set up close to the boundary line, and Kyle takes position behind me. 2 cow calls, and the bull responds. Kyle cuts him off and I see antlers emerging from the alders. It takes no time and the bull is close enough to me that I can see steam coming from his nostrils as he breathes. At 8 yards he bugles in front me.......staying on private land the whole time. I watch helplessly as a 6x6 bull elk passes right by me without ever giving me a legal opportunity at him. Not bad for a first hour of elk hunting though!!! The winds picked up shortly after, and the hunting is tough. Right at dark we hear a few bugles, but see no elk.
Day 2- We see 2 moose in the morning and find 2 other trucks hunting the same timber patch as us. We quit early and go get more water in town. We spend the rest of the day driving new areas void of people. We find a spot on the map that looks like a hell hole to get to. Due to private land boundaries, it's about a 7 mile walk through the hills. Kyle says I'm crazy, but I tell him he better hope I'm tagged out before the end of the week or he is following me in there. A 2 hour drive back to camp and we're in our cots.
Day 3- That spot of timber we saw the wheelers headed into earlier seems to be getting pounded daily by about half of the available tags for this unit. While that's still not too many people, those elk are getting pressured. Brad had marked a map for me showing a pocket of elk he knew of and between that and knowing those elk needed refuge, we formulated a gameplan to hunt a hard to get to ridge. We set off for an hours drive out of camp that morning. We left the truck at 5:15 and at 7:30, we're still climbing towards a patch of timber above us. Kyle takes a break and gets my attention to stop. A big bull is herding his cows to bed on the ridge next to us and a raghorn bull and a spike are shadowing them. We watch as the bull disappears over the top and we sneak a little further. I let out a bugle to get a key on his location. The responses come from 5 different directions as the whole hillside comes alive from bulls: The 3 bulls we spotted earlier, and 2 others who are closer. We take off running, completely unaware of our tired legs. Those bulls continue to fire off.
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But first a little rewind. The night after Kyle shot his bear, we were back in Anchorage cutting it up in Trevor Embry's garage while talking future hunting plans. The topic of an OTC Idaho elk hunt came up and with some local intel, I was told me to swing for the fences on a tough to draw archery unit in Idaho. I got home a few days later, bought my Idaho hunting license and had my application completed. My odds were slim to none, so my planning was still focused on the OTC area I had picked out.
One night in late June, I saw Idaho released their draw, and a quick check revealed I had been the lucky winner of an amazing archery bull elk tag. A quick text to Trevor about my success and as luck would have it, one of his friends Travis lived near the unit for a few years and was real familiar with it. Over the next few months, me and Travis shared several texts and phone calls through July and August talking over my hunt and I was also put in touch with his friend Brad who lived nearby. Their knowledge of the area was so valuable for my scouting. Also signing up for the fun was Kyle, as he was ready to watch me be the shooter this go around and was coming along to call for me. I'm pretty sure if either of our old ladies heard us practice another elk bugle, we would have been single men headed west!
The morning of Septemeber 13th finally rolled around and I pulled my truck and a trailer loaded down with coolers into Kyle's driveway to pick him up. We arrived in Idaho 22 hours later at a campsite Brad had said would be a good place to start. A quick nap, camp organized, and a gear run, we set out to glass and listen for bugles. Unfortunately all we saw were people on four wheelers and dirt bikes moving camps into a timbered region of the unit. We noted this area for later. I felt like a kid waiting for my first ever deer opener that night as I laid in my cot.
Day 1- The next morning me and Kyle were up early and made a short drive from camp. We were going to follow a trail into an area Brad had seen some good bulls in a few weeks prior. A location bugle at dawn showed no response. We climb to the top of a ridge to get the wind in our favor and another bugle from my tube is sent into the bottoms. A few minutes later a response is heard from the next ridge over and a quick sweep of the binoculars reveals a large bull elk headed straight towards us. We wait until his visual is broken and we take off running down the hill to set up. The bull is in an alder filled creek bottom and we are unsure exactly where he plans to come out. Our problem is, we fear he is on private land. I set up close to the boundary line, and Kyle takes position behind me. 2 cow calls, and the bull responds. Kyle cuts him off and I see antlers emerging from the alders. It takes no time and the bull is close enough to me that I can see steam coming from his nostrils as he breathes. At 8 yards he bugles in front me.......staying on private land the whole time. I watch helplessly as a 6x6 bull elk passes right by me without ever giving me a legal opportunity at him. Not bad for a first hour of elk hunting though!!! The winds picked up shortly after, and the hunting is tough. Right at dark we hear a few bugles, but see no elk.
Day 2- We see 2 moose in the morning and find 2 other trucks hunting the same timber patch as us. We quit early and go get more water in town. We spend the rest of the day driving new areas void of people. We find a spot on the map that looks like a hell hole to get to. Due to private land boundaries, it's about a 7 mile walk through the hills. Kyle says I'm crazy, but I tell him he better hope I'm tagged out before the end of the week or he is following me in there. A 2 hour drive back to camp and we're in our cots.
Day 3- That spot of timber we saw the wheelers headed into earlier seems to be getting pounded daily by about half of the available tags for this unit. While that's still not too many people, those elk are getting pressured. Brad had marked a map for me showing a pocket of elk he knew of and between that and knowing those elk needed refuge, we formulated a gameplan to hunt a hard to get to ridge. We set off for an hours drive out of camp that morning. We left the truck at 5:15 and at 7:30, we're still climbing towards a patch of timber above us. Kyle takes a break and gets my attention to stop. A big bull is herding his cows to bed on the ridge next to us and a raghorn bull and a spike are shadowing them. We watch as the bull disappears over the top and we sneak a little further. I let out a bugle to get a key on his location. The responses come from 5 different directions as the whole hillside comes alive from bulls: The 3 bulls we spotted earlier, and 2 others who are closer. We take off running, completely unaware of our tired legs. Those bulls continue to fire off.
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
