Elkaholic
09-03-2008, 01:34 PM
Well me and my cousin heading to the high country on Sunday afternoon to get our tent setup and ready for the morning walk into a road closure. Get camp all setup, and decide to glass a honey hole that has a bit of a walk involved but worth it none the less. Get to the spot let a bugle go, instant answer. As I hear the bugle I also see the bull eating. Great we think a bugling bull all by himself and we know just how to get to him.
So the next morning we start the 1.5 hour walk into the area he was at. We are just closing the distance to where we had agreed we would call from and I hear rocks falling, like animals walking up a rocky trail. Look over to our left and there are elk. 300 yards away on the other side of the valley we were on the night before. We glass them up, 5 point, 6point , 3point, spike and two cows. So we tried a few cow calls to try to entice the bulls. They would have nothing to do with it, and it turned into a stare down for the better part of an hour with us glassing them and them looking at us. We thought it was kind of odd for that many bulls to be on those cows( figured maybe they arent into it fully yet.) Also we noticed that the bull we seen the night before was in this group, so we walked out, and little disappointed but excited non the less that we had seen bulls.
We head back to camp and have a little siesta followed by lunch. For the evening hunt we decided to walk into the original spot we had decided on to try our luck their( We did not want to pressure those elk from the morning as they were heading into the "Hell Hole" as I call it and when they get pressure they don't come out of it.) As we are heading back slowly up the mountain we glass the old burn at the back where we are heading to. My cousin says "BIG BEAR", we immediately agree it is worth trying to harvest. After we walk another K or 2 to get back to the bear we are at 300 yards away wind is perfect and the bear is still gorging on berries. We decide my cousin would do the spot and stalk and I would guide him to the bears movements.
I watch as he get into about the 80 yard range and I motion that he is slightly up the hill and to his left and that you are getting close. He closes in further and as I watch with my binos I see him range him, put up the crossbow, and then the bear runs off. He gets back and says when he put up the cross bow he hit is range finder and made a noise that the bear heard. He was at 28 yards, and my cousin said he has never had a rush like that in his life. I tell you just from my vantage point I was excited but could only image how he would have felt.
Needless to say we are going after this bear again this weekend. And are both hooked on spot and stalk now.
Just figured I would share our opening morning fun with you guys. Hope you are having better luck than us.
So the next morning we start the 1.5 hour walk into the area he was at. We are just closing the distance to where we had agreed we would call from and I hear rocks falling, like animals walking up a rocky trail. Look over to our left and there are elk. 300 yards away on the other side of the valley we were on the night before. We glass them up, 5 point, 6point , 3point, spike and two cows. So we tried a few cow calls to try to entice the bulls. They would have nothing to do with it, and it turned into a stare down for the better part of an hour with us glassing them and them looking at us. We thought it was kind of odd for that many bulls to be on those cows( figured maybe they arent into it fully yet.) Also we noticed that the bull we seen the night before was in this group, so we walked out, and little disappointed but excited non the less that we had seen bulls.
We head back to camp and have a little siesta followed by lunch. For the evening hunt we decided to walk into the original spot we had decided on to try our luck their( We did not want to pressure those elk from the morning as they were heading into the "Hell Hole" as I call it and when they get pressure they don't come out of it.) As we are heading back slowly up the mountain we glass the old burn at the back where we are heading to. My cousin says "BIG BEAR", we immediately agree it is worth trying to harvest. After we walk another K or 2 to get back to the bear we are at 300 yards away wind is perfect and the bear is still gorging on berries. We decide my cousin would do the spot and stalk and I would guide him to the bears movements.
I watch as he get into about the 80 yard range and I motion that he is slightly up the hill and to his left and that you are getting close. He closes in further and as I watch with my binos I see him range him, put up the crossbow, and then the bear runs off. He gets back and says when he put up the cross bow he hit is range finder and made a noise that the bear heard. He was at 28 yards, and my cousin said he has never had a rush like that in his life. I tell you just from my vantage point I was excited but could only image how he would have felt.
Needless to say we are going after this bear again this weekend. And are both hooked on spot and stalk now.
Just figured I would share our opening morning fun with you guys. Hope you are having better luck than us.