Saturday the 17th, Part 3 of the weekends hunt
On Saturday morning I woke up after a very fitful, restless night. Between the rain, the cold, a tree falling near camp, and something walking around outside, I didn’t get much sleep. Until the morning I guess, I slept until about 0700…it was already starting to get light out. I had planned on an earlier wake-up time, but didn’t set an alarm…I figured I’d be up. Oh well. I stood around for a bit and decided, “Well, nothing better to do except get going.” So I moved things around in the cab so I could squeeze in and drove down the road….saving myself some serious hiking. My plan was to get back to where I was last night when I saw all the elk and be in their road when they decided to come back to their bedding area. I got down to that end of the road and changed clothes in the rain. That is definitely NOT a pleasant experience. Try it sometime. Get out of a warm truck at 0715 in the morning when it’s raining. Strip down and stand there in your underwear. Then, put on damp clothes. Fun-freaking-bo!
I then went to grab my pack. Where’s the pack? Crud, the pack was STILL IN THE TENT! I figured, well, I don’t need the pack. But then thought, “but it’s got my bow-sling.” No worries, I can just carry the bow. Then I thought, “but it’s got my water.” No worries, I’m not going to be out long enough to need water.” Then I thought, “but it’s got my bugle attached to it.” CRAP! So I drove back to camp, then back to where I got changed. Annoying. I began the hike up this valley, running into the cows. I hate hunting around cows. Actually, I’m not so sure I like cows in the woods…they seem to change the whole atmosphere somehow. Am I hunting in a cow pasture?
I topped the hill and began trekking up and over all the finger ridges again…but got to where I wanted to be fairly quickly. Of course, by that time I was in a hurry so was sweating up a storm of my own…getting soaked from the inside out and the outside in. Fun! My cotton camo pants were very soaked from the rain-saturated grass in the open hill I had to walk across…and that all ran into my boots. Plus it was about 34 or 35 degrees…JUST above freezing…I could feel that when I stopped. Cold! Dangerous.
I bugled once and almost instantly got a distant reply! Now THAT is what I expected bow hunting for elk to be like. You bugle, you hear a bull, and you bust your butt to meet up with him. So that’s what I did, pretty much ran through the woods to the next likely spot to have a set-up. I chose a little patch of Christmas trees to hunker in…with good shooting lanes and in a place where I could see anything coming. I bugled again and the bull was a little above me on the next little ridge…obviously moving uphill. Shoot! I couldn’t let him get around me because that’s where the wind was blowing…so off I went…hoofing it up the hill to intercept. I got into a less-than-perfect spot and blew on the call again. Nothing. I waited a little bit and then gave him a bugle that said, “I’m pissed! I’m coming after you, you bastard!” Nothing. I figured he couldn’t hear me, maybe he was in the next hollow over a small hill; I took two steps and then looked up the hill. There he was, staring me down. He had located where I had bugled and was staring at the area as if thinking, “Well, here I am. Where’s the other bull?” Needless to say, he ambled off. I could never get a good luck at his antlers, they were dark and he was in some thick timber. But I knew it was that satellite from the night before…because he had no cows with him. He busted me twice…I don’t think I ever had a chance.
I did a half-ass reconnaissance of the next couple finger ridges further and got no response. By this time, every time I was still for a couple minutes I got cold. Funny, right before I heard that other bull, I was thinking about how cold and wet I was and how I should probably just turn around. I heard him and POOF! All those thoughts were gone! All of a sudden I was warm, toasty, full of energy and ready to go. After that went down the drain, I realized how much trouble I’d be in if I slipped on a stick or something. Can anyone say hypothermia?
I made a command decision and went back the way I came. I didn’t really want to hike an elk out of there anyways…riiiight. Just keep telling yourself that Tom. I chased the cows down the hill. (Stupid cows. That happened a couple days ago when I was in the truck. Ran these cows down about two miles of single lane dirt road before I got around them.) So the same thing happened here, the calves freaked out and chased the entire herd down the hill. THEN, I got the privilege of yet again changing clothes in the rain. Luckily, this time it was into DRY clothes…so much nicer. I took care of my tent and boogied out of there.
Things I learned? Get really good set-ups in good cover. Have the area where your scent is going really thick and nasty…something that might funnel an elk down to you rather than around you. That’s ideal, but probably impossible. Remember your rainpants…and put them on! Shoot, I HAD them in the truck, but figured it would be too hot walking around in them. Bad decision. I was sweating anyways. That’s another thing, leave yourself plenty of time to amble your way in. Even if you’re in a hurry, just slow down and enjoy yourself. Ummm, take an extra tarp if you plan on camping in the rain/snow to dry your clothes under. The truck cab simply isn’t big enough. Bugle your butt off, even if they aren’t answering and then WATCH and LISTEN very carefully. Hard when the rain is popping all around you and off your cover, but still vital to the situation. And most importantly, hunt an area you actually enjoy being in. I had an immensely better time hunting down there than on the ridge just because it was prettier and more interesting. And I still managed on getting into elk…I mean, I knew the area had elk in it because I have scouted it for the past two years…but still. And finally, don’t shoot any moo cows, no matter HOW tempting it is.
I then went to grab my pack. Where’s the pack? Crud, the pack was STILL IN THE TENT! I figured, well, I don’t need the pack. But then thought, “but it’s got my bow-sling.” No worries, I can just carry the bow. Then I thought, “but it’s got my water.” No worries, I’m not going to be out long enough to need water.” Then I thought, “but it’s got my bugle attached to it.” CRAP! So I drove back to camp, then back to where I got changed. Annoying. I began the hike up this valley, running into the cows. I hate hunting around cows. Actually, I’m not so sure I like cows in the woods…they seem to change the whole atmosphere somehow. Am I hunting in a cow pasture?
I topped the hill and began trekking up and over all the finger ridges again…but got to where I wanted to be fairly quickly. Of course, by that time I was in a hurry so was sweating up a storm of my own…getting soaked from the inside out and the outside in. Fun! My cotton camo pants were very soaked from the rain-saturated grass in the open hill I had to walk across…and that all ran into my boots. Plus it was about 34 or 35 degrees…JUST above freezing…I could feel that when I stopped. Cold! Dangerous.
I bugled once and almost instantly got a distant reply! Now THAT is what I expected bow hunting for elk to be like. You bugle, you hear a bull, and you bust your butt to meet up with him. So that’s what I did, pretty much ran through the woods to the next likely spot to have a set-up. I chose a little patch of Christmas trees to hunker in…with good shooting lanes and in a place where I could see anything coming. I bugled again and the bull was a little above me on the next little ridge…obviously moving uphill. Shoot! I couldn’t let him get around me because that’s where the wind was blowing…so off I went…hoofing it up the hill to intercept. I got into a less-than-perfect spot and blew on the call again. Nothing. I waited a little bit and then gave him a bugle that said, “I’m pissed! I’m coming after you, you bastard!” Nothing. I figured he couldn’t hear me, maybe he was in the next hollow over a small hill; I took two steps and then looked up the hill. There he was, staring me down. He had located where I had bugled and was staring at the area as if thinking, “Well, here I am. Where’s the other bull?” Needless to say, he ambled off. I could never get a good luck at his antlers, they were dark and he was in some thick timber. But I knew it was that satellite from the night before…because he had no cows with him. He busted me twice…I don’t think I ever had a chance.
I did a half-ass reconnaissance of the next couple finger ridges further and got no response. By this time, every time I was still for a couple minutes I got cold. Funny, right before I heard that other bull, I was thinking about how cold and wet I was and how I should probably just turn around. I heard him and POOF! All those thoughts were gone! All of a sudden I was warm, toasty, full of energy and ready to go. After that went down the drain, I realized how much trouble I’d be in if I slipped on a stick or something. Can anyone say hypothermia?
I made a command decision and went back the way I came. I didn’t really want to hike an elk out of there anyways…riiiight. Just keep telling yourself that Tom. I chased the cows down the hill. (Stupid cows. That happened a couple days ago when I was in the truck. Ran these cows down about two miles of single lane dirt road before I got around them.) So the same thing happened here, the calves freaked out and chased the entire herd down the hill. THEN, I got the privilege of yet again changing clothes in the rain. Luckily, this time it was into DRY clothes…so much nicer. I took care of my tent and boogied out of there.
Things I learned? Get really good set-ups in good cover. Have the area where your scent is going really thick and nasty…something that might funnel an elk down to you rather than around you. That’s ideal, but probably impossible. Remember your rainpants…and put them on! Shoot, I HAD them in the truck, but figured it would be too hot walking around in them. Bad decision. I was sweating anyways. That’s another thing, leave yourself plenty of time to amble your way in. Even if you’re in a hurry, just slow down and enjoy yourself. Ummm, take an extra tarp if you plan on camping in the rain/snow to dry your clothes under. The truck cab simply isn’t big enough. Bugle your butt off, even if they aren’t answering and then WATCH and LISTEN very carefully. Hard when the rain is popping all around you and off your cover, but still vital to the situation. And most importantly, hunt an area you actually enjoy being in. I had an immensely better time hunting down there than on the ridge just because it was prettier and more interesting. And I still managed on getting into elk…I mean, I knew the area had elk in it because I have scouted it for the past two years…but still. And finally, don’t shoot any moo cows, no matter HOW tempting it is.
posted by geotracker12 at 5:44 PM
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