Rocksteady 2019 Dear Diary

[gamehunter6o]

Taking next week off to go hard and kill a 6..

Good luck. I'll be following you.

[Xbow]

THanks for the great reading Rock!!

[Shikari300WSM]

Ya man reading your thread definately passes time between hunts! Hope you put a 6pt down!

[rocksteady]

Out in the black light again this morning.. on a viewpoint.. as light progresses, see an elk on the tracks.. too dark to tell for sure how big but definitely a bull.. he wanders into the thick stuff.. stay glassing.. cow and calf.. watched them for 30 minutes before they crossed the tracks into the jungle... ran down to another area where i have been seeing lots and my buddy was in there this morning.. no bugles or cow calls since Tuesday... seems to be what all my buddies are experiencing.. silence since Tuesday..

So i hook up with my buddy and say lets do some jungle work.. we head off the viewpoint down to the tracks.. get thru the nasty brush pit and into good terrain.. we have wind in our face so decide divide and conquer.. working north 100 yards apart.. ten minutes later he texts me that small herd with a bull coming my way... i never saw them but partner stayed on their trail.. he thinks 4 point maybe bigger.. eventually they just evaporate..

We regroup hike back up to the viewpoint.. sitting there and 5 minutes later a spike crosses where we had decided to quit..

Seeing elk.. no shots.... but still in the game

[rocksteady]

Black light.. viewpoint.. nothing between my lookout post and the tracks like the past few mornings. Just about ready to load up and go to another area and i hear a bugle down by the river.. hmm..

Then another and another, finally get his lication pegged and figured may as well give it a try... hike down the steep trail, across the willow pits to the tracks.. go up the tracks til i find the main trail in..

Try to quietly go down the bank, not that successful, as you know railway ballist is kinda squeeky.. get to the woods finally... sneak along the trail as quiet as i can for about 40 yards, coming out of the spruce into a big natural openings.. big cottonwoods, juniper and grass..

BINGO!!! bull standing in behind some stuff at about 80 yards. He heard me and is on full alert.. reach into my pocket and do a couple sqeeks of the cow call, he looks at me for a second, puts his head back down..

I wait, glassing, 5 or 6? 5 or 6?

Did not know it but there were 4 cows and calves to my left on the edge of the willows looking at me.. sitational awareness on my part bad, target fixation on my part good...


Bull throws back his head and bugles, walks 5 steps lets loose again..

I think the cows winded me or maybe just had enough of the noise and sliwly dissappear into the willows

[rocksteady]

So i see the cows sneek away, bull sees them go but is not concerned.. he grazes a bit, then realizes his girls are out of his site, so he starts to follow, walking slow.. he goes behind a clump of cottonwood and willow so i make my move.. crouch down and scoot down the trail for about 40 yards.. trail is like a cow path but in pure sand..

I see him in behind a big spruce about 40 yards away.. cant count...

He starts walking, hits the trail and does a hard left right at me.. i have the binos up.. i can clearly see he is a clean 5 when he gets to 20 in the wide open and stops to look at me.. then he got really angry and started bugling right at me..

We have a staring contest for about 30 seconds then he spins and wheels heading after the cows.. i know they are gonna cross the river so hustle to get to the bank..

Get there just in time to see the cows come out onto the bank.. i was not sure if the 5 was a satellite or the herd bull.. watch the cows cross the river ever so slowly.. after a few minutes, bull comes out and follows.. same bull, clean 5.. waited another 5 minutes no other bulls with them so make the big climb up to the truck..


A fun morning, so far.. no shots fired but i may have peed a bit when he was screaming at me at 20 yards...

[835]

aaahhhhhhhh .......
thatd drive me nuts!

[The Hermit]

That makes for a great morning! Oh to have an extended bow season!

[rocksteady]

aaahhhhhhhh .......
thatd drive me nuts!

Nah.. thats the fun and challenge of elk. If i got one everytime i stalked it would just become work..

[835]

I know, but you gotta be a little driven nuts! Nuts isn't a bad thing! lol.... Island Blacktails drive me crazy... go home all mad you messed up all the way to the elation of success..... its that roller coaster that keeps us going... but only a crazy guy would keep at it! Golf is so much easier!