Husky7mm
12-21-2021, 05:51 PM
Practise makes perfect.
2021 hunting season started off like most did, not enough time….
I had been working to much, way to much. Bow season had been open for three weeks and I had been out 1 day, and that was spent mostly checking cams. 11 cams all confirmed the game was here, the numbers were decent and there was a few shooters around. I did come to full draw on a 30 inch bull moose that I snuck up within range while he was fighting with his buddy, also a 30 inch moose. The shot had potential for deflection and there was a 50 inch bull in the area with 4 on the brow that I was much more interested about so I passed, plus it was only day 1.
Opening day of rifle, means no school in my house. My 17 year old son was with me and he was ready. He already had a deer, elk, moose and black bear to his name but this year was different. He had practised none stop on bugling, and he was good. He could make every sound and it sounded flawless.
We started off in a spot where the elk always are in mid September. A long ride into and then about 1/2 k hike. Brandon let’s a bugle go and is immediately answered by a deep growing bugle. What luck it is likely a big mature bull and he is headed our way. There is some back and forth challenging but unfortunately the bull hangs up at 100m in the the thick jungle. He is smart, he doesn’t want to come into the open. I tried every trick in the book to get him loose but he eventually moves off to the north. We follow, into the jungle. I have a cam up there, maybe we can see what he looks like. I send Brandon in on the old avoidance line I cut out and I parallel on the overgrown pipeline in case he comes out the side door. This tactic has served well in the past. Unfortunately he runs into 2 young bull moose on the trail in and they won’t move. He has a moose draw for this year but it’s in a different unit. When the moose finally move off he sees a glimpse of an elk heading off to the west, he tries to entice with cow calls but the gig is up. I am east and pinned down with a whitetail doe that is stomping at me. She doesn’t blow but she stares me down and stomps for about 5 mins. She has probably seen and smelled me for years as my cam in not far from here and it’s been there on a lick for 7 years. We are friends. She finally moves off into the jungle and I meet up with Brandon to check the cam.
As per usual for this time of year the cam is loaded with deer, elk and moose sign. There is a big bull elk in the area with some cows they where there last night. Those two joker bull moose were standing in front of the cams all morning but we did not get the growler on cam this AM. We move off east into an area the elk like to use during the day. We stop for lunch and Brandon let’s out a call. We have an answer way south, well I thought north but I am almost deaf in 1 ear so I am open to south. Lol
He lets another bugle go and bull screams at us from a few hundred meters away. He is coming in hard. I have to put down my chicken and get ready for the action. We are in fairly thick timber, we can only see 50 m at best. There are some rubs all around us. The bull come galloping in and stops at about 30m. Brandon let’s him have it. The bull limps right past us, I see his left side is broke right off. Brandon stops him with a cow call and let’s him have again. He is down. Success! Now I have to finish my chicken and get to cutting him up. It takes about an hour to do the gutless. It takes another 1/2 hour to cut a trail in so we can load him on atvs and haul him out. We are home by 4, which is awesome cause I have to work the next day. I should mention there was a young bull bugling off in the distance while we were butchering but I had my mind set on just 1 bull. The bull, he was pretty big last year but now he was starting to look impressive.
https://i.postimg.cc/bs15hZQG/1-EC83-FBD-3-CC2-4-E4-D-873-A-7-F3-E27800-C80.jpg (https://postimg.cc/bs15hZQG)
https://i.postimg.cc/LJT0JGQ2/460220-B8-650-B-4508-BCC0-14632-ED5-FE16.jpg (https://postimg.cc/LJT0JGQ2)
https://i.postimg.cc/8FzXMwxW/86-E742-BD-2-CFB-493-A-AAEC-0-F82-D259850-A.jpg (https://postimg.cc/8FzXMwxW)
Fortunately it is just and quick I day job and I am off again the the day after. The 3rd day of rifle season. I am with my hunting partner, it’s a Saturday. I have not booked hunting days off in September as I have week booked off for our annual moose trip. I am happy to be out again so soon. We start off in a new spot, I have not checked the cams yet in there and they have only been there for a year. There is great sign there and we call on and off for 1/2 hr. The cams says three bulls wandered past in the last 24 hrs, one was the bull. I find it odd that he his not with a herd of cows.
We move off to the north in an aspen and willow jungle, there is a ridge of spruce in there that is loaded with elk rubs, trails and sign. We stop to bugle from time to time but it appears quiet. I am not a patient person so I want to keep hiking and make something happen. It cost us a bull that morning cause he came in silent and then alarm barked when he caught our sent from a spot we had just left minutes again. He then bugled and ran off to the north east, we tried to re engage with him but the gig was up. He smelled us.
Time to move to a different spot, it had tons of sign this year and I had pst right by it a few time to check other spots I was more familiar with. It was time to throughly check it out. There was ridges, and creeks and ponds, mixed growth forests and natural meadows. Just perfect. It was almost 4pm and we had put on over 10 ks of hiking.
“ The next spot we call from we need to stay for an hour”
I didn’t argue, I found a downed log with a backrest and was happy to have a rest.
The bull came in silent from the thick shit. At first Steve said “deer” but a few more steps revealed it was a bull elk. I could see it was a really nice bull from my angle but Steve only could make out 3 points. Any legal bull is a go for him. He let him have it, the bull spun and ran down into a big ravine before a follow up shot could be taken. He attempted to climb out the far side but died part way up. “Big bull down”. I say. Steve says “I think it’s just a 3 pointer”
“You are in for a surprise Steve”
Now the work begins and we were 1/2 played out already. I had to cut blow down almost a km to get the atvs close. There was an old avoidance line most of the way but it had 20 yrs of blow down across it, I only cut the bare minimum out to keep the atvers out. I ran out of gas within 100m of the elk. Good enough. We got after it but unfortunately Steve tweaked his back so I would do the packing with his new mystery ranch pack. What a nice pack!
The area was loaded with rose hips and I had found out in the summer that they gave me a real boost of energy. I did 7 loads back to back with not 1 stop to catch my breath. Rose hips give you wings baby!!!!
2021 hunting season started off like most did, not enough time….
I had been working to much, way to much. Bow season had been open for three weeks and I had been out 1 day, and that was spent mostly checking cams. 11 cams all confirmed the game was here, the numbers were decent and there was a few shooters around. I did come to full draw on a 30 inch bull moose that I snuck up within range while he was fighting with his buddy, also a 30 inch moose. The shot had potential for deflection and there was a 50 inch bull in the area with 4 on the brow that I was much more interested about so I passed, plus it was only day 1.
Opening day of rifle, means no school in my house. My 17 year old son was with me and he was ready. He already had a deer, elk, moose and black bear to his name but this year was different. He had practised none stop on bugling, and he was good. He could make every sound and it sounded flawless.
We started off in a spot where the elk always are in mid September. A long ride into and then about 1/2 k hike. Brandon let’s a bugle go and is immediately answered by a deep growing bugle. What luck it is likely a big mature bull and he is headed our way. There is some back and forth challenging but unfortunately the bull hangs up at 100m in the the thick jungle. He is smart, he doesn’t want to come into the open. I tried every trick in the book to get him loose but he eventually moves off to the north. We follow, into the jungle. I have a cam up there, maybe we can see what he looks like. I send Brandon in on the old avoidance line I cut out and I parallel on the overgrown pipeline in case he comes out the side door. This tactic has served well in the past. Unfortunately he runs into 2 young bull moose on the trail in and they won’t move. He has a moose draw for this year but it’s in a different unit. When the moose finally move off he sees a glimpse of an elk heading off to the west, he tries to entice with cow calls but the gig is up. I am east and pinned down with a whitetail doe that is stomping at me. She doesn’t blow but she stares me down and stomps for about 5 mins. She has probably seen and smelled me for years as my cam in not far from here and it’s been there on a lick for 7 years. We are friends. She finally moves off into the jungle and I meet up with Brandon to check the cam.
As per usual for this time of year the cam is loaded with deer, elk and moose sign. There is a big bull elk in the area with some cows they where there last night. Those two joker bull moose were standing in front of the cams all morning but we did not get the growler on cam this AM. We move off east into an area the elk like to use during the day. We stop for lunch and Brandon let’s out a call. We have an answer way south, well I thought north but I am almost deaf in 1 ear so I am open to south. Lol
He lets another bugle go and bull screams at us from a few hundred meters away. He is coming in hard. I have to put down my chicken and get ready for the action. We are in fairly thick timber, we can only see 50 m at best. There are some rubs all around us. The bull come galloping in and stops at about 30m. Brandon let’s him have it. The bull limps right past us, I see his left side is broke right off. Brandon stops him with a cow call and let’s him have again. He is down. Success! Now I have to finish my chicken and get to cutting him up. It takes about an hour to do the gutless. It takes another 1/2 hour to cut a trail in so we can load him on atvs and haul him out. We are home by 4, which is awesome cause I have to work the next day. I should mention there was a young bull bugling off in the distance while we were butchering but I had my mind set on just 1 bull. The bull, he was pretty big last year but now he was starting to look impressive.
https://i.postimg.cc/bs15hZQG/1-EC83-FBD-3-CC2-4-E4-D-873-A-7-F3-E27800-C80.jpg (https://postimg.cc/bs15hZQG)
https://i.postimg.cc/LJT0JGQ2/460220-B8-650-B-4508-BCC0-14632-ED5-FE16.jpg (https://postimg.cc/LJT0JGQ2)
https://i.postimg.cc/8FzXMwxW/86-E742-BD-2-CFB-493-A-AAEC-0-F82-D259850-A.jpg (https://postimg.cc/8FzXMwxW)
Fortunately it is just and quick I day job and I am off again the the day after. The 3rd day of rifle season. I am with my hunting partner, it’s a Saturday. I have not booked hunting days off in September as I have week booked off for our annual moose trip. I am happy to be out again so soon. We start off in a new spot, I have not checked the cams yet in there and they have only been there for a year. There is great sign there and we call on and off for 1/2 hr. The cams says three bulls wandered past in the last 24 hrs, one was the bull. I find it odd that he his not with a herd of cows.
We move off to the north in an aspen and willow jungle, there is a ridge of spruce in there that is loaded with elk rubs, trails and sign. We stop to bugle from time to time but it appears quiet. I am not a patient person so I want to keep hiking and make something happen. It cost us a bull that morning cause he came in silent and then alarm barked when he caught our sent from a spot we had just left minutes again. He then bugled and ran off to the north east, we tried to re engage with him but the gig was up. He smelled us.
Time to move to a different spot, it had tons of sign this year and I had pst right by it a few time to check other spots I was more familiar with. It was time to throughly check it out. There was ridges, and creeks and ponds, mixed growth forests and natural meadows. Just perfect. It was almost 4pm and we had put on over 10 ks of hiking.
“ The next spot we call from we need to stay for an hour”
I didn’t argue, I found a downed log with a backrest and was happy to have a rest.
The bull came in silent from the thick shit. At first Steve said “deer” but a few more steps revealed it was a bull elk. I could see it was a really nice bull from my angle but Steve only could make out 3 points. Any legal bull is a go for him. He let him have it, the bull spun and ran down into a big ravine before a follow up shot could be taken. He attempted to climb out the far side but died part way up. “Big bull down”. I say. Steve says “I think it’s just a 3 pointer”
“You are in for a surprise Steve”
Now the work begins and we were 1/2 played out already. I had to cut blow down almost a km to get the atvs close. There was an old avoidance line most of the way but it had 20 yrs of blow down across it, I only cut the bare minimum out to keep the atvers out. I ran out of gas within 100m of the elk. Good enough. We got after it but unfortunately Steve tweaked his back so I would do the packing with his new mystery ranch pack. What a nice pack!
The area was loaded with rose hips and I had found out in the summer that they gave me a real boost of energy. I did 7 loads back to back with not 1 stop to catch my breath. Rose hips give you wings baby!!!!