Elkin aint easy! My journey so far.

Buffinnut

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 9, 2020
Messages
286
Location
Arizona
My elk hunting journey began when i moved to Arizona. I learned from the average joe Arizonan that you wait 8-12 years and draw a bull tag. When you draw you are expected to shoot a 400" bull with 0 archery elk hunting experience. Well I got lucky and drew my chosen unit in 4 years (at 28 years old in 2019) I shot almost every day, did a lot of scouting, learned how to use a diaphragm. I watched every elk hunting YouTube video I could find. I learned there was a whole lot more to this than I thought. Opening morning comes and my dad and I are chasing multiple screaming bulls in the dark and they get to their beds and stop talking. Hike out to the truck (I would do things very different now), wind starts really blowing hard so we set up on a water hole that evening and multiple bulls come in, each one a little bigger until a young 6x6 shows up. We just watch him and then as we start losing shooting light the cows roll in with big daddy behind them but we run out of light. That night it rains so sitting water is out. Fast forward through days of chasing elk and trying to learn the intricacies of setups and calling. Multiple up close and personal scream-fests and close encounters with the type of big mature bull elk we all dream about.

It rains really hard one night and most of the next day. That evening we decide to stake out a meadow we know elk frequent. This is a one time opportunity as the storm has caused the wind to 180 from its otherwise very constant predictable direction. Sure enough cow elk start showing up and we start to work in as close as we can using a small rise and dead trees as cover. The cow elk are on the other side of a small cluster of trees and we are trying to get into position for when the herd bull shows up. Suddenly a cow stands up out of the tall grass at about 40 yards staring at us. I just know we are busted but we don't move and after a few seconds mr big seems to appear out of thin air and tells her to hurry up. She forgets about us and they join the rest of the cows. A few more minutes and they move TOWARDS us, my heart is going to blow out of my chest. I see an opportunity to draw and get away with it. It's at this moment sheer horror sets in as I realise my diaphragm which i have been keeping in my rangefinder pouch is on the ground 50 yards away where I ranged the remaining distance to the dead trees. The big 6×7 herd bull swaggers around and walks broadside at 15ish yards(if only i could stop him). He keeps moving around without presenting a shot opportunity. Eventually I have to let down. Another bull bugles and it sounds like he is 5 feet behind me. I try to slowly turn to look but my dad reaches out and stops me (he already turned to see it was a younger bull) Light is fading fast and so are our chances. I get another opportunity to draw. Mr big stops broadside, I guess the range because we are too stupid to have my dad who is right next to me carry a rangefinder. The arrow is flying and I hear a horrific crack. He whirls and I see his shoulder bone stopped it in its tracks. Like 2-3" of penetration. The entire herd Is out of the meadow in seconds. I never even considered the possibility of this happening. I want to throw up.... we mark a couple of blood spots by headlamp and leave for the night. I have a lot of time to think about the bull suffering from my bad shot when I'm supposed to be sleeping. After the sun comes up we start trailing the bull. The heavy rains and unique soil in this area change a few drops of blood that stop at 100 yards into an easy track job. The ground is so soft we just have to follow his tracks. Every once in a while he will brush up against a strong stick and there will be a small amount of dry blood on it so we know we are on his trail. He bedded at some point but left no blood and after that there's only one more small blood spot where a big stiff branch rubbed against the wound. After 2 miles there are just too many fresh elk tracks and it's impossible to know which bull tracks are his.
I would not wait a decade to chase September elk.
For 2020 I bought an Idaho OTC tag and was finally able to make it out to hunt the evening of the 24th.
Evening 1 I find the steepest slickest canyon in Idaho with no water in it and climb it just to make sure my entire body hurts the rest of the hunt.
Day 2 my plans are ruined because what's supposed to be a road is not and I can't climb over this mountain and down the other side for a day hunt. The other side is completely blocked by private land with no trespassing signs everywhere. I end up at another spot I e-scouted about 9AM. I'm already bummed that I lost a morning of my hunt. I climb straight up 1200 feet and start slowly working across through some possible bedding areas doing a few location bugles and cow calling. 7 hours of this in and standing in the same spot for a few minutes I take 3 steps and theres like a 3 year old 5×5 staring at me (I would be beyond ecstatic to have an opportunity at this bull and left any size requirements with my "glory tag" failure)
He of course bolts and my frantic cow calls just make him run faster. I was shocked that I never heard a stick pop or an antler touch a branch. The rest of the day is uneventful and so are the next 4 days of death marches where I hike further and further from roads and then up into possible bedding areas. Never heard a bugle or saw another elk. A good amount of sign in some areas but nothing that looked to be within the last few days. This morning (last day of the season) I knew I needed to change it up so I set up to glass and eventually found 3 bulls over a mile away. They were crossing over the top of the ridge from the south facing side to the north facing side. 2 of the bulls were messing around sparring a few times and eventually they all went into the timber and I didn't see them come out. I didn't have the map for that spot downloaded and I wanted to pick up my wife and our 8 month old son from the rv park in town. After packing the diaper bag and playard and making room for the carseat i drove us back up the mountain. She dropped me off at the closest dirt road to the elk and drove to the glassing spot to watch with the spotter. I climbed all the way up to the top of the next draw and the wind was all wrong. I then circled all the way around the south facing side to a saddle on the down wind side. Every step seems to take minutes but eventually I get about 120 yards from where the elk should be bedded. I find a setup I like and start giving this odd group of September 30th bachelors my best sweet lost lonely cow elk impression (trying to call behind me and trick them into looking past me when they come to investigate. About 30 seconds into that routine the wind switches and is blowing my stink directly towards where the elk are supposed to be. The wind continues to swirl all over and after crickets frrom a closer setup I proceed to angry bugle my way into the deep dark hole they are supposed to be bedded in and they have disappeared. Between that and the hike of shame back to the road I have run out of time and energy and the season draws to an end. I will be back in the elk woods next year with more time and in better shape.
 
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Wapiti1

WKR
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
3,569
Location
Indiana
The elk learning curve is about as steep as the mountains they live. Sounds like you are doing pretty well to have gotten into them and played a bit. The wind is the hardest thing to really learn, and work with. There will be times that you are hot on a bull, and have to pull back until the thermals settle. Other times, it will just screw you for zero apparent reason.

Keep at it. Your day will come.

Jeremy
 
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