Surprise elk
Okay, so I went hunting tonight. Yep, I had 44 hours at work this week by 1200! I got home, got changed, and headed out. On my way up highway 12, I started to think about where I would go. It soon dwindled down to a place out of Florence, then ended up being up Ambrose Creek at a rancher's place who lets people hunt on his land...via some rules with FWP. Well, I got up to a parking area and made my way out. I planned on heading west, then to cut over some small finger ridges to see if I could cut any fresh tracks.
Did I mention that this is the first day we had fresh snow in the valley!? Well, it was. I wanted to go out this morning, but had pressing concerns at work, so compromised with the 1200 take off time. Okay, so there were some folks there already, so I went where their tracks were not...exactly where I wanted to go. Nice. Unfortunately, there were no new deer tracks, no sign of deer at all, nothing moving...it was simply terrible. After an hour and a half, I started making my way up the two miles back to the truck. In doing this, I investigated a small saddle, some flat/thick areas, and just HAD to look over the NEXT hill. (This always gets me in trouble.) In doing this, I cut a FRESH track!
Now, I wasn't sure if this was a large mule deer track or what, but it was big and it was fresh. I had about two hours before it got dark, so I decided to just follow it until I met whatever had made it. On the way, I kept going between it being a small elk track, a mule deer, or a very large whitetail. Obviously someone had spooked it because it had that gait like a caribou...kind of hurrying on it's toes. I followed the track, lost it, found it, followed some more. All the while it was headed up the mountain. Eventually, I got into snow that was consistently deep enough to hold a good track. I could see places where this animal was stopping and looking around....most often in areas where it left cover and was going to cross on opening. It felt good to be back in some cover...when I was out in the open, I didn't know what to do with myself. I could SEE everything with the binoculars...so what sense was there to walk it? The problem with that is that it's no fun.
Okay, so I found out that this critter was acting a lot like a moose. It'd go up the hill, down the hill, cross hill, in cover, out of cover, over creeks, up down up down....just wandering. But it was still moving quickly! I made time by not stopping and keeping on this thing...whenever it'd stop, I'd be moving so I was making time. Meanwhile, my boots kept accumulating the wet snow making me feel like I was walking on heels for half of my steps. This isn't real good, because it's easy to twist your knee when you're walking on two inch heels in the woods. Plus it's annoying.
After about two hours I finally had a glimpse of the animal I was following! A young, raghorn elk! I took a quick knee and pulled the gun up in one motion. In doing so, I lost complete sight of the elk. Cursing, I hustled to where I had seen him last. It was obviouse he hadn't seen me just yet, but was nervous from all the snow crunching behind him...you could tell his gait picked up considerably. He had started dragging his toes...which meant he was meandering...but now that quit and he was hustling on his toes again. In my hurry, I fell...protecting the gun, but falling hard on my right side. This made a bit of noise, and in following the tracks further, I found out where he had heard it. There were four even prints in the snow, followed by a sprint straight up the mountain! Of course, I followed right after him. He hit a road and was obviously tired, because he followed the road for a bit...just what I would have done. But then he bolted straight up a draw.
That's when I had to leave him. It wasn't a big elk, but it was an elk and I had blood in my eyes. I was SO close! So by this time, the sun is nearly set...I'm sweating in wet clothes...and I don't know exactly where I'm at. I knew if I headed south long enough, I'd come to a road or a creek (depending on where I was at) and if I followed that...I'd be at the truck. I hustled down the hill and to make this story short...I found the truck. I went through some interesting thoughts...wasn't sure if I should make a shelter/fire whatever..but knew I was close enough to not worry.
The whole time I didn't see a single deer. In following the elk's track, I cut some fresh deer tracks...but they were all running. Some of the other hunters before me weren't doing so good...they spooked this elk and at least six deer! No worries though, I tracked an animal for two hours, saw it, and made my way out of the woods before dying. I am satisfied.
Did I mention that this is the first day we had fresh snow in the valley!? Well, it was. I wanted to go out this morning, but had pressing concerns at work, so compromised with the 1200 take off time. Okay, so there were some folks there already, so I went where their tracks were not...exactly where I wanted to go. Nice. Unfortunately, there were no new deer tracks, no sign of deer at all, nothing moving...it was simply terrible. After an hour and a half, I started making my way up the two miles back to the truck. In doing this, I investigated a small saddle, some flat/thick areas, and just HAD to look over the NEXT hill. (This always gets me in trouble.) In doing this, I cut a FRESH track!
Now, I wasn't sure if this was a large mule deer track or what, but it was big and it was fresh. I had about two hours before it got dark, so I decided to just follow it until I met whatever had made it. On the way, I kept going between it being a small elk track, a mule deer, or a very large whitetail. Obviously someone had spooked it because it had that gait like a caribou...kind of hurrying on it's toes. I followed the track, lost it, found it, followed some more. All the while it was headed up the mountain. Eventually, I got into snow that was consistently deep enough to hold a good track. I could see places where this animal was stopping and looking around....most often in areas where it left cover and was going to cross on opening. It felt good to be back in some cover...when I was out in the open, I didn't know what to do with myself. I could SEE everything with the binoculars...so what sense was there to walk it? The problem with that is that it's no fun.
Okay, so I found out that this critter was acting a lot like a moose. It'd go up the hill, down the hill, cross hill, in cover, out of cover, over creeks, up down up down....just wandering. But it was still moving quickly! I made time by not stopping and keeping on this thing...whenever it'd stop, I'd be moving so I was making time. Meanwhile, my boots kept accumulating the wet snow making me feel like I was walking on heels for half of my steps. This isn't real good, because it's easy to twist your knee when you're walking on two inch heels in the woods. Plus it's annoying.
After about two hours I finally had a glimpse of the animal I was following! A young, raghorn elk! I took a quick knee and pulled the gun up in one motion. In doing so, I lost complete sight of the elk. Cursing, I hustled to where I had seen him last. It was obviouse he hadn't seen me just yet, but was nervous from all the snow crunching behind him...you could tell his gait picked up considerably. He had started dragging his toes...which meant he was meandering...but now that quit and he was hustling on his toes again. In my hurry, I fell...protecting the gun, but falling hard on my right side. This made a bit of noise, and in following the tracks further, I found out where he had heard it. There were four even prints in the snow, followed by a sprint straight up the mountain! Of course, I followed right after him. He hit a road and was obviously tired, because he followed the road for a bit...just what I would have done. But then he bolted straight up a draw.
That's when I had to leave him. It wasn't a big elk, but it was an elk and I had blood in my eyes. I was SO close! So by this time, the sun is nearly set...I'm sweating in wet clothes...and I don't know exactly where I'm at. I knew if I headed south long enough, I'd come to a road or a creek (depending on where I was at) and if I followed that...I'd be at the truck. I hustled down the hill and to make this story short...I found the truck. I went through some interesting thoughts...wasn't sure if I should make a shelter/fire whatever..but knew I was close enough to not worry.
The whole time I didn't see a single deer. In following the elk's track, I cut some fresh deer tracks...but they were all running. Some of the other hunters before me weren't doing so good...they spooked this elk and at least six deer! No worries though, I tracked an animal for two hours, saw it, and made my way out of the woods before dying. I am satisfied.
posted by geotracker12 at 7:34 PM
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