ahhh, another day off to chase elk!
it started kinda dark- 4am usually is. i made it to the trailhead a little late, but since this was my first hunt in this area this year, i didn't mind a late start. call it a a scout/hunt if you will. the first 2 or 3 miles kinda flew by. there was a good sized pack of coyotes serenading me as i hiked- started about a mile from the truck & followed me for a mile or so. one of them even left me a fresh steaming present in the trail- how thoughtful....
4 miles in & time to take the next left. it was suddenly daylight! it amazes me how fast it goes from predawn to full blown day- but i digress. there is a monster set of wallows up the trail to the left. i apologize for the lack of pics of it, but before i got there, i had 4 bulls bugling around me- no time to dig in the pack! the wind (as always!!) was trying to shaft me by blowing toward the nearest bugle (probably 75-100 yards away through some thick timber), so i had to take a detour & try to scramble up the ridgeline to the right at double time. contrary to popular belief, it's not that hard to get in front of elk- just ignore gravity & walk straight up the nearest ridgeline! i kinda expected that i'd need to do this, so i was traveling light today.
on the way up the ridge, i had to write off one of the bulls. he was keeping pace with me 100 yds to my left & screaming at me to fight. sounds perfect, right? if only the wind wasn't quartering to him, i would have made a run at him & tried to get in his face, but i never could get far enough in front of him to cut him off. once i made the top of the ridge & it shouldered into another that headed up & left, i thought i might get a chance at him, but he had turned left way before me & was pretty far below me. i'm pretty sure he got my wind at some point, since he had stopped bugling at me before i made the left.
so now i found myself in unfamiliar territory- i'd looked at it from google earth & on maps, but the reality is always different when you're dealing with blow downs. trails change every year around here! there was a beautiful, very "elky" rub line running the length of the ridge. there had to be several bulls using the rubs- i counted at least 20 different destroyed saplings in a mile! then i hit paydirt- started finding beds every 100 yards or so. i started looking for trails leading down into the timber on the north side & soon enough found one with fresh turds marking the way for me.
i wasn't being overly sneaky, so when i heard the lip ball from 150 yards straight ahead, i almost peed myself. i had stumbled into a BIG bull's bedroom & he was going to kick my butt! (i live for these scenarios!) i went into aggresssive mode & ripped off a short, high-pitrched squeal right back at him. he screamed at me (imagine a pissed off freight train) as soon as i ended my bugle, so i cut him off with some chuckling. that was it- he came charging, grunting & whining as he tore through the timber. my adrenaline went into high gear & i did my best impression of a young, dumb bull elk running for a fight- crashing into trees & breaking every bit of dry wood i came near. (i'm giggling again as i write this- charging a 700# animal with huge antlers is indescribably fun- you GOTTA try it once before you die). suddenly there was only 50 yards of heavy timber between us & i tried to find a spot to crouch & wait for a shot. i could see antlers through the branches- BIG antlers. i could tell he was a mature bull- 6 points on each side. his right side was huge (the side i got a good view of)! his g4's had to be 2 feet long, and his g5-mainbeam split looked like a whale tail. i didn't get a good look at his other side, but it seemed to be about the same. i'm not an expert, but i've seen alot of bull elk. i'd score him around 340", maybe 350"- a "toad"! he came in to 30 yards like he was going to kill me.......and the wind swirled.
poof! gone! Kaiser Soze'd! i hate how fast they can de-materialize!!! as he charged down the mountain, he'd let out an occasional short, deep bugle to remind me how much faster he was than me (or possibly he was telling his cows where he was).
i had no chance of catching up, so i found a ridge heading north (towards the truck) & started hoofing it home. it was around 11am already & the elk would all be bedding down on the thickest, nastiest steep north faces now. it's nearly impossible to catch them in these hell holes.
about half way down, i rounded a corner to see a beautiful, shiny-coated, FAT bear feeding my way about 60 yards out through some waist high aspen saplings. he had his head down, so i couldn't tell if he was a grizzly (no good!) or a blackie (got a tag for one of those in my pocket!). he was feeding parallel to the trail, and looked like he'd pass by me at less than 15 yards (i like that range alot!), so i prepared to shoot. at 20 yards, he lifted his head- his big old grizzly head! it's amazing how fast you find your bear spray in your hand when you see a grizzly up close. i stepped away from the bush that had been screening me & called out "Hey Grizz". i have a policy about surprising grizzlies at close range- i try to let them know i'm there before i'm in their "space". he stood up for a second, then bolted straight away from me. i love it when they do that!! i never had a bad feeling about this bear, so i managed to stay relaxed & enjoy the experience this time. i've had a few close calls with bears in this neighborhood before, so the bear spray is always ready. i've even had a few get aggressive with me here. i sprayed a monster last year from 6 feet away not far from where i was today. i've also had a grizzly beat me to a deer that i shot a few years ago less than a mile from where i saw the bear today. needless to say, i tend to get a little jumpy in these woods.
so far, this is a pretty typical hunt for this area. from where i saw the bear, it's only 3 or 4 miles to the truck, and most often goes by uneventfully. not today...
1) i didn't know that bull moose (meese?) squatted to pee.
2) then i couldn't tell if he was mad at me, or in love....... 75 yards away at this point
3) and 30 yards away now- singing his sweet moose music every other step. note where i'm taking this pic from....
4) because in this pic, he's sniffing where i was standing! he made a little run at me- not really a charge, i think he thought i was a cow moose playing hard to get- hence the singing. we had a short game of ring around the rosie (the pine on the left of him). thankfully, i was able to talk him out of whatever he had in mind for me (without bear spraying him, but it was close! i had the safety off was pointing it at him from 10 feet away for a few tense seconds), then scamper down the trail 75 yards or so to take a couple more pics.
5) beautiful shiras moose!
i tell ya's, it doesn't matter if i put a tag on a critter most days. just having days like today in truly wild places will always make me happy!
Rob
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