Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
Awesome story and photos . OUCH !!!! Those feet look sore , I feel your pain .
Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
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With only a couple days of hunting left I went back elk/moose hunting. Well one evening I was overlooking a good spot and with only 15 minutes of legal light left when I spotted a very nice big bull elk right in front of me at 50-60 yards max. I never heard him and I had to act very quick, I raised my rifle and that’s when I decided to do the imaginable. Yes I passed the opportunity of harvesting a nice 6x6 that would have break the 300 mark. He was short one G5 and he was moving at a very good pace for some cover.
It was very exciting and I couldn’t believe I passed such a nice bull but I was happy I didn’t pull the trigger since my goal was to harvest a real big bull. Since work interfere with my hunting schedule I had to go back to work!!
Annual Alberta elk hunt
For the opening week of rifle season in Alberta I went hunting with a good friend for our annual elk hunt in the Peace of Alberta. Opening day found each of us in "our" own spot we’ve been hunting for 3 or 4 years now. I was in the same area where I got my last two elk and every opening morning it’s a bugling show. This year was no exception and again they don’t want to come in and they quit calling shortly after sun rise. At that moment I heard a gun shot where my buddy was, it reminded me of 2010. Within the first hour of his hunt he was playing with many bulls and he harvested a 5x5.
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Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
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For the second day I didn’t have any activity but my friend text me since at camp he was able to hear continuous bugles in direction of elk country. The bull was on what I call the cruise control, he was bugling and moving very fast in a straight direction. So over an hour later I was in a good spot to intercept him and I bugled to locate him. To my surprise I heard a bugle to the south when the bull should have been to the north or east. I taught it was an other hunter since the sound came from a cutline. Eventually the cruise control bull bugled and the second bull answered back, that’s when I realised it wasn’t a hunter since the bull was moving to get my wind.
I could hear the cruise control bull moving in and he was fast, I kept bugling and both bulls were answering. In thick dead fall I spotted the main beam of the second bull and then that was it of him, where did he go I have no clue. So I tried to play with the cruise control bull but at that point he moved pass me. I tries to bring him in on bugles and cow calls, he answered but never stop walking away. Very fun but strange too.
That evening I went sitting over looking a field corner. While I was making some kind of ground blind removing grass and dead branches I spotted a funny looking 2x2 bull at 100 yards that was looking at me until he ran into the bush. About an hour later something came running in the field, it was the same 2x2 pushing two cow elk.
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They eventually made their way very very close.
http://youtu.be/-8hsdGS-xiE
Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
Nice Pictures and Story ... As a few said before your poor feet
Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
Before sunset I heard some bugle from the bedding area and they kept getting closer at a good pace too. It was an other bull on the cruise control following the ridge along the river bank, he answer to my bugles but never change direction. So I started to make some cow calls and he only answer more without changing his course. That completed my second day.
For the third day I wanted to go play in the same valley I harvested my bull last year. A remote, nasty, tough place to access. In the bush after pushing an animal I bugled and didn’t get an answer what ever was there stayed put. I waited for an hour and a half for the same 2x2 with his two cows to come in. I decided to play with the bull after he passed at 30 yards, he ignored me but an other bull was made some chuckles in front of me. After working this bull for fifteen minutes he gave me a broadside shot, an other 6x6 bull for me with a G3 broken.
The video explain the chain of event.
http://youtu.be/_ZW2BSWq1zk
This is the 2x2 bull at 30 yards
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Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
The rest of the hunt was not very eventful and the third guy in our party didn’t harvest his elk. Also the wolves were everywhere again this year. One day I was guiding the third guy of the group when a pack of wolf moved in on my bugle, to make a long story short dude FU*K IT up and shot at a wolf when he saw I was about to take the lead one and CLEARLY MISSED AT 25 YARDS!!!!!! I was mad but anyway it’s over and I had fun seeing a pack moving in that close.
I used my spare days to play in the hills and scout some areas I always wanted to check but never had a chance to get into. Should be promising for next year again.
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I came back home to process the meat and prepare my 12 day October hunt for a grizzly, moose if trophy calibre and possibly stone sheep if time allowed. Turned out to be the hunting trip of my life!!! I’ll start that story now.
Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
Quote:
While down there I went the Cadomin mine with a good friend who never seen the Rockies yet to check out the bighorn sheep. What an amazing place to see sheep!!! The day I decide to hunt bighorns I’ll spend a lot of time there to study bighorn horns, I’m still amazed how un spooky they are to human activity.
LOL! Only when ON the Minesite Wild One! Took my very first Ram there well above the mine (did a fair amount of Habitat Work there - fish related - back in the day...) and they were anything BUT "un spooky"!! :-D
Great Report, Awesome Pix! And Man! My own feet actually HURT looking at that picture!!
Cheers!
Nog
Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
awesome , that was good reading & great pictures. You sure put in the time & effort this year. congrats & thanx for posting...
Re: Realising the hunting season of my dream: sheep, grizzly, elk, moose (heavy pics)
Not only the season of your dreams, but most of ours too.
Thanks for bringing us along.