Catching up....
Sometimes I am terrible at keeping track of what I'm doing. Of course, this case is a little different. I didn't think of keeping a journal of the days, weeks, months prior to my first season bowhunting for elk until a couple days ago. Then today, I finally got the idea that it'd be fun to keep a blog of it. That way, if nothing else, I could write in my journal without actually having it with me. Hopefully I'll keep some notes during the hunts, and hopefully I'll keep this updated.
Let's get caught up a little...it'll be brief because the excitement and thoughts have been contemplated, changed, sorted through and digested in the past three to four months since I bought a new bow. I originally got the idea to bowhunt for elk during the past four years of unsuccessful rifle hunting elk. I kept thinking, "Boy, those guys that bowhunt have all the advantages. They can use calls to at least figure out where the elk are, they can wear camo, they hunt when the snow isn't up to your knees and the camping is much more comfortable." Yep, I used to think that bowhunting for elk would be EASIER than with a rifle. Don't worry, this has changed a bit since I last thought that. So last season I was serious. I was after elk 90%, until about the beginning of November when I figured I needed SOME meat in the freezer and took a weekend to hunt whitetails. As things worked out, I got one I believe on the 2nd of November (the first weekend out) and thought, "NOW I can concentrate 100%." I even went as far as to take a week off of work at the end of the general rifle season when a unit where I hunt was opened for hunters to take cows OR brow tined bulls. I figured, "Shoot, I've been in cows enough, I'll get one of those easy." That obviously is what every other hunter in 500 miles thought, because the day that started, it was like opening day. To make a long story short, I didn't see anything.
So this spring I invested in a Parker compound from bowhuntersfriend.com which came with all the gadgets and whatnot. Instantly I was in the yard shooting up an $80 target. The landlord was curious enough one day to come by. The first thing he said was, "New toy?" "Yep" I responded. He followed with a smartass remark like, "I thought it was a little early to be practicing." "Well shoot, I thought, isn't this what bowhunters have to do to be good?" Moving on....I couldn't hit my ass with both hands for about two days, then I started to get the hang of the release and started getting results. Pretty shortly thereafter, I was breaking more arrows by hitting them with other arrows than I could ever have imagined. So practice slacked off. I figured I'd buy some judo points and go into the woods and practice my stump shooting. This was all well and good, but I have an important note: Don't shoot a stump you haven't checked out yet. I shot one nice, white, shiny stump from about 30 yards and just nailed it. But, I noticed my nock came flying off on impact, I thought, "Cheap arrows." But I got up there and one of my nice, new, carbon arrows was splintered into the stump...it didn't penetrate even an inch! The arrow kept going, but the little claws on that judo sure did stop the point. That forced the carbon to break and push it's way down until IT was flush with the stump. Funny, I didn't think carbons would break. That was the hardest previously-burnt heartwood I had encountered. But overall I did really well with my rangefinding abilities....yes, I would love a rangefinder, but the cost is a little too much just yet. Perhaps Santa Claus won't know about all the bad things I've done this year and feel sorry for me. And that's when I ran into trouble. See, I was scouting an area I'd rifle hunted in winters past and knew there were elk around....but I didn't figure I'd run into them in June! That's when the fever really took a hold of me. I was actually just cruising down the hill toward an opening where I could eat my lunch. Call me crazy, but on the top of a mountain, I figured I deserved a view for my efforts. I located a nice burned area where I had an incredible view of the [mystery] mountains and sat down hard. Just plunked my pack down and started digging for an apple that was calling my name. That's when I actually looked around. About 70 yards down the hill was a freaking herd of cow elk! I figured they must like a view as much as I do. Oddly enough, they didn't see me....yet. "No better time than now to see what my cow elk sounds would actually do to real cow elk." The result wasn't exactly good. They all seemed to turn and look at me, but knew they should see an elk from where the strange sounds were coming from. (I've learned a little since then.) The wind was perfectly in my face, uphill (another good thing to keep in mind) and they didn't spook. Then the lead cow started getting a little frantic because she could tell something, "just wasn't right." She set off this bark-like bugle thing...I'd never heard a cow's distress call before, and within seconds, the entire herd was down the mountain and out of site. And, like an idiot, I just collected up my stuff and tromped after them. After I thought they had lost me I ran into them again which REALLY caused a panic. I'm just hoping they don't remember that terrible event in a couple weeks. Come to think of it, I must have learned quite a bit since that first day out....so maybe it was good I got that out of my system back in June.
Since that day, I've practiced nearly every day. I've bought hundreds of dollars in camo, calls, broadheads, videos, and packs. (For some reason, NONE of my standby hunting equipment seemed to make the grade.) I now look like one of those guys you see on the videos with all the crap hanging off of them....perhaps that's what my subconscious believes will buy me an elk. Or, perhaps it's just fun buying stuff. I have begun to understand how women can shop for clothes...you see, men do the same thing! It's just in different stores! Ohhhh...gotcha.
I began shooting NAPs Thunderhead broadheads religiously for nearly a month now. My Block is nearly worn out. It does a great job, but jeez, those broadheads still make a mess of the insides. Unfortunately, those strings of white foam hanging out of the target gave me something to aim at...I lost the "eye" for picking a random spot and aiming at it. So I've begun tacking a 6-inch paper plate to the target which forces me to pick a certain part of it to aim at. This has worked and I'm back to slicing fletching off my arrows. Yea, you wouldn't have thought of that would you? I sure didn't. I've been getting good enough groups that when the broadhead grazes my fletching...a little piece of orange flutters to the ground. Crap. Didn't think I'd have to pay money for THAT. But anywho, I was shooting 6-inch groups at 40 yards with field points. This has dwindled to 6-inches at 25 yards with broadheads as of late. Personally, I don't think I want to make a shot much more than that. Another benefit of getting "learned-up" early. Just think if I'd been shooting fieldpoints and a couple days before the season switched to broadheads. I would have been a basketcase...shooting all the time, worrying....ah, not for me. The one thing I can do fairly well is plan and prepare.
Speaking of plans, my big plan this year is to backpack for elk. This dream, this illusion, the HOPE is that I will have enough gumption to do what I dream...work the elk until dark, then camp where I'm at. In the morning I should be in a perfect position right off the bat. Will it work? ....we shall see.
Another case of fever concerning scouting has cropped up recently. I bought my Dad National Geographics TOPO! program for his birthday....and of course got permission to place it on MY computer. So now at night I can be found browsing through all the quads and zooming in, zooming out, exploring all sorts of country. And with one weekend left to scout (I have prior arrangments the weekend prior to the hunting season....probably a good thing), I have to narrow down my choice of hunting areas for opening day. Tough job when you have at least five PERFECT spots picked out. (Yea, perfect on a map isn't so perfect on the ground, I know.) I've looked at some spots I've actually hiked and at the end of a couple hours I was ready to turn around....only amounted to about three to four miles back in the woods. The places I've been looking at on this program are easily five to nine miles from a driveable road. I wonder if I'm man enough to carry an entire elk out if I get one? I must work on some contingency plans...
And I spend a lot of time in my closet practicing bugling. I practice cow calls in the truck on the way to work. Heck, the other morning I woke up to the sound of an elk in my yard! Didn't take me long to sit up, wide awake, and listening. Of course it was my neighbor, obviously not as concerned as I on how he sounded. For a minute I considered trying to call him in, but figured that would get the neighborhood in an uproar....I mean, it was like 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday. Looks like someone else came down with this bug that seems to crop up every summer. At least now I'm part of it.
That's the skinny (real skinny) on where I am at now. Hunting is typically my primary focus for most of the year, except most springs...I tend to get involved with backpacking and fishing. But that's a short month, then I'm back to thinking about the upcoming season. I will try and maintain this post to update myself on my new ideas for strategies, things I NEED to buy, what I'm going to take, etc.
Let's get caught up a little...it'll be brief because the excitement and thoughts have been contemplated, changed, sorted through and digested in the past three to four months since I bought a new bow. I originally got the idea to bowhunt for elk during the past four years of unsuccessful rifle hunting elk. I kept thinking, "Boy, those guys that bowhunt have all the advantages. They can use calls to at least figure out where the elk are, they can wear camo, they hunt when the snow isn't up to your knees and the camping is much more comfortable." Yep, I used to think that bowhunting for elk would be EASIER than with a rifle. Don't worry, this has changed a bit since I last thought that. So last season I was serious. I was after elk 90%, until about the beginning of November when I figured I needed SOME meat in the freezer and took a weekend to hunt whitetails. As things worked out, I got one I believe on the 2nd of November (the first weekend out) and thought, "NOW I can concentrate 100%." I even went as far as to take a week off of work at the end of the general rifle season when a unit where I hunt was opened for hunters to take cows OR brow tined bulls. I figured, "Shoot, I've been in cows enough, I'll get one of those easy." That obviously is what every other hunter in 500 miles thought, because the day that started, it was like opening day. To make a long story short, I didn't see anything.
So this spring I invested in a Parker compound from bowhuntersfriend.com which came with all the gadgets and whatnot. Instantly I was in the yard shooting up an $80 target. The landlord was curious enough one day to come by. The first thing he said was, "New toy?" "Yep" I responded. He followed with a smartass remark like, "I thought it was a little early to be practicing." "Well shoot, I thought, isn't this what bowhunters have to do to be good?" Moving on....I couldn't hit my ass with both hands for about two days, then I started to get the hang of the release and started getting results. Pretty shortly thereafter, I was breaking more arrows by hitting them with other arrows than I could ever have imagined. So practice slacked off. I figured I'd buy some judo points and go into the woods and practice my stump shooting. This was all well and good, but I have an important note: Don't shoot a stump you haven't checked out yet. I shot one nice, white, shiny stump from about 30 yards and just nailed it. But, I noticed my nock came flying off on impact, I thought, "Cheap arrows." But I got up there and one of my nice, new, carbon arrows was splintered into the stump...it didn't penetrate even an inch! The arrow kept going, but the little claws on that judo sure did stop the point. That forced the carbon to break and push it's way down until IT was flush with the stump. Funny, I didn't think carbons would break. That was the hardest previously-burnt heartwood I had encountered. But overall I did really well with my rangefinding abilities....yes, I would love a rangefinder, but the cost is a little too much just yet. Perhaps Santa Claus won't know about all the bad things I've done this year and feel sorry for me. And that's when I ran into trouble. See, I was scouting an area I'd rifle hunted in winters past and knew there were elk around....but I didn't figure I'd run into them in June! That's when the fever really took a hold of me. I was actually just cruising down the hill toward an opening where I could eat my lunch. Call me crazy, but on the top of a mountain, I figured I deserved a view for my efforts. I located a nice burned area where I had an incredible view of the [mystery] mountains and sat down hard. Just plunked my pack down and started digging for an apple that was calling my name. That's when I actually looked around. About 70 yards down the hill was a freaking herd of cow elk! I figured they must like a view as much as I do. Oddly enough, they didn't see me....yet. "No better time than now to see what my cow elk sounds would actually do to real cow elk." The result wasn't exactly good. They all seemed to turn and look at me, but knew they should see an elk from where the strange sounds were coming from. (I've learned a little since then.) The wind was perfectly in my face, uphill (another good thing to keep in mind) and they didn't spook. Then the lead cow started getting a little frantic because she could tell something, "just wasn't right." She set off this bark-like bugle thing...I'd never heard a cow's distress call before, and within seconds, the entire herd was down the mountain and out of site. And, like an idiot, I just collected up my stuff and tromped after them. After I thought they had lost me I ran into them again which REALLY caused a panic. I'm just hoping they don't remember that terrible event in a couple weeks. Come to think of it, I must have learned quite a bit since that first day out....so maybe it was good I got that out of my system back in June.
Since that day, I've practiced nearly every day. I've bought hundreds of dollars in camo, calls, broadheads, videos, and packs. (For some reason, NONE of my standby hunting equipment seemed to make the grade.) I now look like one of those guys you see on the videos with all the crap hanging off of them....perhaps that's what my subconscious believes will buy me an elk. Or, perhaps it's just fun buying stuff. I have begun to understand how women can shop for clothes...you see, men do the same thing! It's just in different stores! Ohhhh...gotcha.
I began shooting NAPs Thunderhead broadheads religiously for nearly a month now. My Block is nearly worn out. It does a great job, but jeez, those broadheads still make a mess of the insides. Unfortunately, those strings of white foam hanging out of the target gave me something to aim at...I lost the "eye" for picking a random spot and aiming at it. So I've begun tacking a 6-inch paper plate to the target which forces me to pick a certain part of it to aim at. This has worked and I'm back to slicing fletching off my arrows. Yea, you wouldn't have thought of that would you? I sure didn't. I've been getting good enough groups that when the broadhead grazes my fletching...a little piece of orange flutters to the ground. Crap. Didn't think I'd have to pay money for THAT. But anywho, I was shooting 6-inch groups at 40 yards with field points. This has dwindled to 6-inches at 25 yards with broadheads as of late. Personally, I don't think I want to make a shot much more than that. Another benefit of getting "learned-up" early. Just think if I'd been shooting fieldpoints and a couple days before the season switched to broadheads. I would have been a basketcase...shooting all the time, worrying....ah, not for me. The one thing I can do fairly well is plan and prepare.
Speaking of plans, my big plan this year is to backpack for elk. This dream, this illusion, the HOPE is that I will have enough gumption to do what I dream...work the elk until dark, then camp where I'm at. In the morning I should be in a perfect position right off the bat. Will it work? ....we shall see.
Another case of fever concerning scouting has cropped up recently. I bought my Dad National Geographics TOPO! program for his birthday....and of course got permission to place it on MY computer. So now at night I can be found browsing through all the quads and zooming in, zooming out, exploring all sorts of country. And with one weekend left to scout (I have prior arrangments the weekend prior to the hunting season....probably a good thing), I have to narrow down my choice of hunting areas for opening day. Tough job when you have at least five PERFECT spots picked out. (Yea, perfect on a map isn't so perfect on the ground, I know.) I've looked at some spots I've actually hiked and at the end of a couple hours I was ready to turn around....only amounted to about three to four miles back in the woods. The places I've been looking at on this program are easily five to nine miles from a driveable road. I wonder if I'm man enough to carry an entire elk out if I get one? I must work on some contingency plans...
And I spend a lot of time in my closet practicing bugling. I practice cow calls in the truck on the way to work. Heck, the other morning I woke up to the sound of an elk in my yard! Didn't take me long to sit up, wide awake, and listening. Of course it was my neighbor, obviously not as concerned as I on how he sounded. For a minute I considered trying to call him in, but figured that would get the neighborhood in an uproar....I mean, it was like 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday. Looks like someone else came down with this bug that seems to crop up every summer. At least now I'm part of it.
That's the skinny (real skinny) on where I am at now. Hunting is typically my primary focus for most of the year, except most springs...I tend to get involved with backpacking and fishing. But that's a short month, then I'm back to thinking about the upcoming season. I will try and maintain this post to update myself on my new ideas for strategies, things I NEED to buy, what I'm going to take, etc.
posted by geotracker12 at 3:11 PM
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