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Sorry but I can't get hunting off my mind. Leaving in one week to beautiful Wyoming.
Since we have lots of hunters here, maybe we could share a few tips. Anything helps.
One thing I've learned is to carry those nylon straps with the small metal buckles you can cinch up. (not tie downs, these have smaller buckles) When tying an elk quarter to a pack frame, rope tends to slip and the load shifts causing you to have to stop and re-tie the load. Two of these straps in 6' lengths secures the load perfectly. They don't take up much room. Of course nothing beats a horse or ATV to haul it out. Don't have a horse and ATV not allowed in the area I hunt.
Another thing I've done is carry two metal tent stakes. They come in really handy when dressing an elk and you have no tree or sturdy bush to tie the back legs to. You can place the stakes so you can spread the back legs apart and tie them off making gutting easier if you're by yourself.
Hope this helps someone and I would love to hear some of your advise on elk hunting, especially calling a bull in.
But thanks for the tent stakes idea. There have been plenty of times those would come in handy on mule deer, especially when my back is acting up. Just the little aluminum wire ones would be better than nothing.
Good luck. . . and a full report is required
"Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world." - Thomas Carlyle
Montana archery elk season opened Saturday the 4th of Sept. John (my son) and I went to one of the spots we have consistently seen elk over the last several years. We were in position right at legal shooting light. He was setup about 50 yards behind me and was doing the calling -- I was the designated shooter. We run a sequence of several cow calls followed by a lone bugle every five minutes for about an hour. Right after the first series (about 5 minutes into the hunt) I heard the pounding of hooves in the timber about 40 yards in front of my position – couldn’t see a thing. Thought I’d been made and was sure that would be it for this setup – not so. About 15 minutes later I saw a cow moving slowly thru an opening on my right about 25 yds away. I hunkered down a little more and waited to see if she was alone. A decent 5 point bull was right behind her. He stopped (for about 45 seconds) with his front half behind a small bunch of pines while the cow continued towards John. My plan was to let the cow pass, then with the bull behind the trees, I could get into shooting position. Just as she cleared the pines, she must have winded me because she swapped ends and bolted back towards the bull spooking him in the process. They moved a short way down the slope, in the timber, in front of me. The bull gave a bark and a couple of chuckles, while they both watched my position intently. All of the sudden, a spike bull moved into the area where the cow had spooked and immediately swapped ends and disappeared downslope.
John, unaware of what happened, continued to call and the elk circled down below his position – he moved towards them and the 5 point started bugling back. Using a combination of cow calls and bugles, John managed to get a shot at the 5 point (actually a small 6 point). We waited over an hour before trying to find him. Four plus hours later we found him several hundred yards from where he had been shot. The blood trail was sparse at best and in some extremely dense undergrowth (boggy and up to our thighs in places) – it was hands and knees in spots and very slow going with continuous backtracking. Each located blood spot was marked with orange tape. After more than 4 hours it started to rain and hail, washing away what little blood sign there was. Using the back trail line of orange tape markers as reference, we worked our way in the direction we thought the bull had taken and found him about 5 minutes later.
Sorry, just saw your previous post. Scents (Elk Wiz) can't hurt, but if the wind is against you, for the most part you are in trouble. Even if it seems still, cold air will flow downhill and warm air will rise uphill. This means that (in the absence of a discernable wind direction), you want to stay below, or to the side of your quarry in the morning and viceversa as the day warms up. Won't always work, but it will put the odds more in your favor.
jkbrea wrote:
Hope this helps someone and I would love to hear some of your advise on elk hunting, especially calling a bull in.
If you don't have any real experience in calling elk, best to leave the call in your pocket. If you take it out of your pocket, don't try to play your favorite tune with it like so many of the idjuts on the infomercials do. Instead try and mimick the sounds you're hearing the elk make.
A bad swak or wrong note on either a bugle or a cowcall will send them packing out of the drainage.
Use your ears,nose and god given stalking ability to get in close.
Don't get real caught up in this "bigbull" business, the majority of elk killed are cows,yearlings and young bulls, those "big bulls" didn't get that way by being dumb enough to let every tom dick and henrietta with a rifle take a pot shot at em.
jkbrea wrote:
Hope this helps someone and I would love to hear some of your advise on elk hunting, especially calling a bull in.
If you don't have any real experience in calling elk, best to leave the call in your pocket. If you take it out of your pocket, don't try to play your favorite tune with it like so many of the idjuts on the infomercials do. Instead try and mimick the sounds you're hearing the elk make.
A bad swak or wrong note on either a bugle or a cowcall will send them packing out of the drainage.
Use your ears,nose and god given stalking ability to get in close.
Don't get real caught up in this "bigbull" business, the majority of elk killed are cows,yearlings and young bulls, those "big bulls" didn't get that way by being dumb enough to let every tom dick and henrietta with a rifle take a pot shot at em.
I've used calls quite a bit. Usually to locate them. I've called in bulls a few times, sometimes to within a few yards, but always when I had a cow tag. One thing I've noticed in the past few years is that the bulls don't respond as much as they used to. I reallly believe the growing wolf population may have something to do with it. Also I've had better luck if I bugle to locate the bull and use a cow call to get them closer. I'm more of a meat hunter but would like to get that one nice bull someday.
Too many concerned sportsmen out and about with the newest latest greatest elk calls, is why the elk are becoming call shy. To many times they get called in especially during archery and then get spooked out. Elk are very sharp critters, they learn fast.
Hunting has changed for the worst bulls hardly bugle except dusk to dawn cause the wolves come in on them and if you still hunt and cow call alot you have a chance to meet one of three of the big predators, I use a cow call when I move thru dark timber if I make noise that way the elk think its just another elk moving around. Remember you arent going to lure a big herd bull from his harem for one cow in the brush, what I try for is the satellite bulls in the brush that are trying to steal a cow from him. danny
Plus one on what both Danny and Don said. More and more folks are taking up bow hunting. They do some amazingly stupid things. They'll drive up a dirt road on a 4 wheeler or in a truck. Stop, turn the engine off and slam the truck door and bugle. If they don't hear anything right away, they jump back in the truck (or on the 4 wheeler), start it up and drive off. Also, for the most part they aren't real good at calling, end up over calling and bugling way too much. So, you have a lot more people in the field, making a lot more mistakes which educate the elk in a hurry. Wolves are also a big problem.
Don't dismiss Danny's comment about the big three predators. Several years ago, a friend of my son had to kill a mountain lion at point blank range -- shot it between the eyes with his bow. Periodically there are reports of hunters being attacked by grizzlies while field dressing game. My son went back to the above kill site to look for an arrow he lost while we were dragging the elk out. A bear had been on the gut pile.
Be alert out there, and have a really good hunt -- it doesn't get much better than early season elk hunting -- spectacular country, fall colors, crisp mornings and nice days, and the elk are active if you can locate them.
You're not kidding abut the predators. Last year I went to a spot overlooking a mudhole where I've taken a few elk. I used a cow call at about daybreak and heard wolves immediately. I would use the cow call about every 20 minutes until the wolves were about 50 yards away inside the tree line. I could hear them barking and then they started forming a semi circle around me. I could catch glimpses of them through the brush. I think when they figured out I wasn't an elk they kind of disappeared. Made me kind of nervous and glad I brought my 45-70 along. First time in 16 years I saw or heard elk in that area of Wyoming.
"It's one of those unfortunate incidences of a human-bear conflict that occur some years during archery season - a surprise encounter that leads to a mauling," he said. "It's an inherent risk and people know it when they go up into certain areas and archery hunt."
danny