2018 Elk meat pole

Way to go Dan! You need to share the actual video though. I think you smiled after you shot!  :shock: :tease:
 
I was fortunate enough to get it done on Sunday morning.


After a local outfitter dropped a camp in a quarter mile up the trail from me after I was in my bivy on Saturday night, I hit the trail a couple minutes before that group the next morning. I went up, fast, and they went down. I didn't see them again.


Not 10 steps after dropping into a drainage at the far end of my regular zone, I heard him bugle. We'd had radio silence all month before this, and I wasn't sure if it was a bull or another hunter. I committed fully and cow called as I descended into the bottom, about 300 vertical feet. He screamed back every minute or two. As I approached the bottom, I chuckled and cow called a couple times, then hit him with very aggressive challenge bugles as soon as he sounded off again. I could hear him moving toward me over the next 4-5 minutes as I continued to cut him off, and when I started raking, he ran in on a string.


After mis-ranging him and hitting him once very low, I immediately nocked a second arrow and was able to put a 40-yard shot right in the boiler. I found him 20 yards from where I hit him. A 6.5-mile packout ensued, and we got the pack goats in for an overnight run for the bulk of the meat and the head.


What an incredible morning.
 
Way to go Hawker, Dan, Beardedhunter and Holeshot!  And to any others who filled the freezers. 


Here's another picture for Cohunter14!  :)
 
My field picture wasn't that great so I'll take another and post it over the weekend.  Have to get started boiling it down for a euro.
 
I fell in love with archery hunting after I bought my first elk call and before I owned a bow.  I knew I wanted to try bow hunting, but wanted to learn how to call elk first.  I got a late start to elk hunting and I?ve only been elk hunting for about 8 years now and started archery hunting 3 years ago.  My first year of archery hunting I had the misfortune of shooting at a 5 point elk and my arrow hitting a twig and glancing off its mark. The next year I didn?t let an arrow fly.  So 2018 was going to be my year.  I learned how to bugle better, cow call better, evaluate setups, and play the wind; it was time to make it all come together. I made plans with two friends to go for a week of chasing elk in the mountains of our home state of Montana in early September.  Unfortunately one of them tore an ACL and the other had to cancel due to family, so I was solo hunting.  I start to realize that I?m still very green, I?m solo hunting, and I?m going to areas I?ve never been too; in all likely hood I?m just going to be taking my bow for a long walk this week.  Oh well, I?m sure I?ll learn a lot which may pay off for later this year and the years to follow.  The night before I start my hunt I got a tip on a location from a friend of my father-in-law?s. It is a popular weekend location, but I?m starting my hunt on Thursday so I headed out to discover a new place and test my talents. 
Day 1:
I got into camp after dark so I don?t know anything about this area except for my quick look on Google Earth and the second had description I got from my father-in ?law.  I start hiking 20 mins before shooting light.  I see some sign, but it is limited and the deadfall is thick.  After about 3 hours of hiking and glassing I decide it is time to test my bugling ability.  I let out an okay location bugle and wait 5 minutes, nothing.  I move down the hill a few hundred yards and decide to take a brief break and grab a snack.  After I?m finishing up my snack and taking off a few layers (20 mins since I bugled), I hear a stick break.  As I reach for my binoculars and range finder I see of flash of brown run down the mountain.  First encounter, first call-in, first mistake.  So now my senses are on high alert.  I hike 11 miles that day, see lots of 1 day old sign in exactly the spot that was recommended to me, but no elk.  Did I mess up getting into the area?  I don?t think so; I played the wind and kept my noise to a minimum.  Where did these elk go, why wouldn?t they stay in area with good feed, lots of water (4 wallows), and great cover.  As I?m heading down the mountain I run into a small camp that is set up about 300 yards from the area I was told to hunt, and it was uphill (upwind for morning and evening).  So I decide to hike down and over to the other side of the drainage for the last couple hours of daylight.  I smell elk in many little pockets that are throughout this area and find many beds.  I know they were in hear today, but it looks like they have either winded me (swirling winds) or have headed out to feed.  No elk to be seen on this side, but I glass across the larger drainage to the south and see a heard of about 10 ? 15 elk high on the ridge.  So I make a plan to hunt this area in the morning and if no luck I?m going to find a way up that ridge.
Day 2:
I set out 45 mins before shooting light and start to hike at a fairly brisk rate as I want to get up to the meadow adjacent to where I smelt the elk the day before.  10 mins before shooting light I spook 2 cows up the mountain as I was focused on getting to where I thought the elk may be and was not paying attention to what was in front of me (second known mistake).  I make it to where I smelt the elk the day before and about 20 mins later I hear a bugle to the east.  I work my way that direction and find good cover before I return a location bugle.  I get a response right away, but something doesn?t feel right.  I glass the area and see another hunter with his bugle tube ready to respond to me.  I return back to the west and move up the mountain.  Not a lot of sign up here, but I decide to let out a bugle.  The hunter I saw earlier responds again and is much closer to me than before.  Soon after I hear a ATV stop, then another bugle (from where it stopped).  This guy is driving his ATV around and bugling while sitting on it.  I?m not going to compete with this guy so I decide to head down the mountain and move camp (back of truck) to the back side of the ridge where I saw the elk the night before.  It is Friday, and you can tell, I see about 10 campers move into the area as I drive to my new location.  I decide I?ll hunt the ridge, but I?m going to get out of here as it is going to get busy tomorrow.  It takes about 2 hours to drive to the opposite side of the ridge.  I could have just hiked up the mountain from the side I was on, but the thermals wouldn?t have been right.
I head out and find a good game/cattle trail that looks to be going right where I want to go.  About a ? of the way up the mountain I realize I forgot my quiver (yep I?m still really green).  Drop my pack and hustle down and back up (this time with all my gear).  There is a lot of sign on this trail and you can tell the elk like this area.  I get to within a few hundred yards of the ridge around 2:00.  I decide to take a mountain top nap and see if I can hear any elk prior to moving into the area I saw them the night before.  It is 4:00 and I can?t sit around any longer.  I move up over the ridge and to my surprise the wind is blowing the opposite direction on the north facing slope right where I thought the elk might be.  So I move into the wind to another area and let out a location bugle, no response.  I decide to sit and see if the wind will change again.  It does after about 30 mins so I decide to move towards the area I wanted to hunt to begin with, hoping my sent didn?t spook the elk already.  I let out another bugle (they are sounding better every time).  No response, but I wait a little longer just in case they come in silence.  45 mins later and nothing so I move along the ridge slowly.  About 10 mins later I spook a forky and spike (neither are legal), but they saw me before I saw them and by the way they were acting I think they were coming into my bugle (second call in, third or fourth mistake).  Hunted the ridge for another hour, but the wind is swirling and I?m not feeling like it is going to happen here.  Time to move to another location.
Day 3:
I move over to another mountain range, I?ve never hunted hear, but I?ve hiked in hear before and know elk are in hear at times.  Decide to not get moving before hunting light as the elk are often just over a small ridge from where I camped.  I hike over the ridge and find little sign and no fresh sign.  Spend the morning taking my bow for a walk.  Tired and somewhat defeated I decide to head down after about 3 hours of moving up hill.  My legs are starting to feel the fatigue of hike about 25 miles in 2.5 days, but I still plan to hunt this afternoon.  I head over to a place I found elk (cows only) two weeks prior to my trip.  I set up to play the wind right and I get into the area with the wind in my face, but no elk.  I hike down to the stream below the area and find more ATV tracks and a few elk tracks running out of the area.  I do however get to watch a porcupine stroll through the drainage.  I love finding elk, but watching any wild animal in its natural setting is a bonus for me.  No elk here, so I head out to an opening to try and glass in hopes to set up something for tomorrow morning.  I spot one cow elk cross a meadow and nothing else.  I decide to move again to an area I?ve seen elk in years past.
Day 4:
I?m happy to have my father-in-law (Mike) join me today.  He doesn?t archery hunt, but he is who introduced me to elk hunting and is one of my favorite people to be in the mountains with.  We both share a passion for the woods and the encounters with wild animals.  We get a late start, two groups head into the area before us, but this is a big walk in area and there is more than enough room for all of us.  We really take our time going into the area.  I glass a single cow on the ridge, she is moving towards the bedding ground we plan to reach in the afternoon.  The sign is a plenty in this area.  There are fresh rubs on every 5th tree as we move along the northern flank of a long park.  I move up the mountain to glass an area and Mike moves into the edge of an opening to glass the other side.  I hear a faint bugle towards the area the cow elk was moving towards earlier in the day.  I move down to meet up with Mike and as I move into the area I smell the aroma of elk that he smelt 30 mins ago and has been awaiting patiently for me to return so we can try and figure out what to do next.  The aroma is coming from an area that was clear cut many years past and is now full of 8-foot tall Christmas trees that I often find elk beds in. There is no way we can get into the area without blowing out any elk that might be in there.  Let?s not forget I did hear a bugle up the hill where we planned to go.  So we decide to set up and try to bring any elk in by having Mike rake a tree (he doesn?t bugle and is just learning to cow call).  No luck so I let out a small bugle, nothing.  We decide to move up to where I was when I heard the bugle and have a snack.  As we are eating we see one of the other hunters that moved into the area and I begin to think he must have been the bugle that I heard.  Instead, he came into my bugle and said he didn?t bugle at all today and the other group went into another area. 
We offer for him to move into the area, but he only had time for a morning hunt so we head up to where I heard the bugle come from.  But since the thermals have shifted we need to walk around the area to get in without being detected.  We head north to try and stay away from the thermals moving into the area and then head up the mountain once we get to an area that we shouldn?t get scented from.  As we move up the mountain (mile 5 of the day) we spook a bedded elk.  Time to take is slower, we move up the mountain a little more and decide it would be good to sit for a while and listen for any more elk before moving in.  This area is covered in rubs, some places you can?t find a tree that hasn?t been rubbed.  Could this be our honey hole?  We sit down and have a little snack and then try to close our eyes.  Not long after my eyes closed I heard two cow mews and I wake Mike to make a plan.  I work my way slowly and quietly down the hill to where the mews came from.  It is too thick to move further and I decide to head back up to set up another plan.  Mike had heard/smelt elk to the west and so we set up another raking scenario.  Mike starts to rake after I move up hill (downwind) trying to catch them on the arc.  The hillside erupts in elk aroma when Mike starts to rake the tree and cows start to talk everywhere below us.  No bugle though.  After about 30 mins I let out a bugle and get an immediate response from a ways down the hill, close to where the timber begins.  I decide to move down the mountain as Mike continues to rake the tree.  I let out another bugle after getting to an area with multiple shooting lanes.  The bull response quickly and he has moved up the mountain and is coming in.  I stop calling and wait for the bull to come closer.  I don?t see him or hear him again, but wow that was fun.​
Mike and I get back together to discuss what to do next.  Our best guess is he went back with his cows, I don?t think I was spotted or winded so we wait for a bit and then try another setup; nothing.  It is getting late in the afternoon and Mike has to work early so we make our way down the mountain.  Again there are rubs everywhere we look.  I?ve got to come back here again!  After we make it down about half way, I decide to stay in until dark to see if I can get another encounter and Mike heads down the mountain.  I spend the next hour glassing the park above the timber we had played with the bull.  And right as the shade came across the park, a nice bull walked into the meadow.  Too far to count points or gauge his score (not that I can do that anyways), but I can see the rack reach his hind quarters when he puts his head up so I know he is big.  There is no way I can get back up to him in time so I say I?ll be back tomorrow.
On my way down the mountain I decide to let out a bugle once the sun goes behind the big peak to the west.  To my surprise I get a response to the north.  I figure it is either in the bottom getting water or on the other side in a large park.  I move down the drainage quickly because I only have a little over an hour of shooting light.  The bull bugled two times as I moved down the drainage.  Once I  was in the drainage I could get a good feel where he was so I bugled again.  Well he is up in the park, and that means I need to go over a small ridge, down another drainage and up into the park.  So I start to book it, trying to keep my eyes peeled so I don?t spook anything.  I?m up over the ridge and down in the drainage below the park and I?m exhausted, but I hear him bugle again and I gather the energy to move up towards the park.  Moving slower now, partly because its steep but also to not be spotted.  I hear him bugle one more time and now I know where he is.  I need to move to the east so he doesn?t get my wind as I move into the park.  I find a group of trees to set up on.  I catch my breath as much as I can, but he is coming closer.  I decide to try and lure him in to where I have some good lanes so I give a challenge bugle.  He response so I move very quietly down wind and wait for him to try and catch my scent.  He stays up wind and uphill of me.  I catch my first glance of him.  He is a nice wide 5-point.  I move back around to where I gave the challenge bugle and range a rock at 40 yard close to where I think he will present a shot.  He moves right into the area, but he took a long time to get there and I have been at full draw for a while now.  I try to steady my site on him at 40 yards, I am still shaking.  So I take a couple deep breaths and my sight steadies on his vitals.  I hit my release and my arrow twirls towards him and beyond, I miss.  He spooks and so I run up to the tree line above me and notch another arrow as I make 3 cow calls to try and stop him.  I peak around the trees and there he is.  I try to pull back but as I do his cows spook and he is gone.
I?m disappointed that I missed, but what an experience.  I?m very thankful it was a clean miss.  There is only 15 mins of shooting light left.  I let out another bugle just for fun and I get a response from down in the drainage I just ran down to then out of.  The rut is on!  Now I have 3.5 miles to hike before I get to the truck. I get back to the truck around 10:00; I?m exhausted and am ready for a quick dinner and bed.  What a great day!
Day 5:
My alarm goes off at 5:00. I ask myself, do I really want to go back up there today?  After 20 mins of lying in the back of the truck I get the energy to move.  I only have this morning to hunt as I told my wife I?d be home this evening so we could do something she had needed my help with the next morning (happy wife, happy life).  When I get to the trailhead there was one other guy there, we decide to hunt together.  Well this kid was 20 years younger than me and didn?t have 40-45 miles already on his legs.  He also liked to talk a lot, which isn?t how I like to hunt.  Nonetheless I had a good time hunting together and we did see a heard from a distance, made a play on them with no luck.  By 11:00 I decide to head back to the truck, by legs are exhausted, I could use a shower and it will be nice to see my family.
Day 6:
Well I left my hunting trip to do something with my wife, family comes first.  Plus she is taking care of our 2 year old plus my two older daughters (her two step daughters) this week so I can hunt.  Seems like the least I could do.  I was supposed to go out in the afternoon with another friend that had a special permit, but he couldn?t go until 4:00 and he had another buddy that was a lot more experienced than I so after giving my wife her time I headed out to the woods around 1:00 for one more try at an elk.  Only 45 mins from home I started up the trail onto a ridge to try and keep my scent from moving down into the bedding areas.  I glassed the area to the east as I moved up the ridge with no avail.  The sign I saw was old and after a few hours I decided to head over to the western part of the ridge.  Only 5 mins after I moved into the timber on the west I heard a soft bugle followed by 4 to 5 chuckles.  The bugle was coming from over by a saddle between two of the larger peaks in the area.  This sounded like a large bull, bugling from its bed.  Being that it was so soft I wasn?t sure how close I was so I moved in very slowly, trying to move down the slope to get on the same level as the bugling bull.  The bull went quite so I gave out a couple soft cow calls and he responded with a bugle.  I needed to move down more and move north some.  I know there are typically cows in this area so I was cautious to get too close and be spotted by one.  I set up as close as I was comfortable getting to him and then found a shooting spot and moved downhill slightly to make some noise.  I started with some soft chuckles and followed by some raking.  The bull bugled, and I challenge bugled back.  Quickly and quietly moved up to my shooting spot ranged trees around me.  The bull kept bugling but not moving closer so I bugled from my shooting spot. 
Then I hear branches break below me.  It isn?t the bull that I have been calling to, because he is still bugling from the saddle.  5 mins. Later I hear 5 very hoarse chuckles come from below.  My heart starts to pound and I feel like everything around me must hear it.  Then antlers appear below me, I wait, try to calm my breathing.  The bull moves up the hillside and I identify my preferred shooting lane. It is about 12 inches wide and he is on the path directly to it.  He moves behind some tight trees and I go to full draw.  It doesn?t take long and he steps right into my preferred lane at 20 yards.  I breathe as I steady by 20 yd pin on his vitals and sent my arrow right through him.  He turns and runs downhill as I give cow calls to try and stop him.  He stops 50 yards down the drainage and lays down, a few minutes later I hear him take his last breath.  My 42nd birthday is only 2 days away, I just made my first archery kill and this is my first bull (better late than never).​
As I approach him I notice he is a small 6-point, he is beautiful!  Thanks to the friends who came to help me get him out that night.  Made it to the truck around 11:00, fell asleep around 1:00 a.m. feet hurt, legs hurt, back hurts, soul never felt better!


 
I've been AWOL too long but GREAT bulls Beardedhunter, Holeshot, GTB and Elk tag..

"I love it when a plan comes together." Some of you don't where I got that saying from.. ;) ;)
 
Ol Arky said:
I've been AWOL too long but GREAT bulls Beardedhunter, Holeshot, GTB and Elk tag..

"I love it when a plan comes together." Some of you don't where I got that saying from.. ;) ;)
Click to expand...


Congrats Bartman!


Phil, I'm old enough to know where it came from...didn't want to say hoping a prize might be offered for the right guess!
 
Way to go Dennis! Great Bull
Land of Enchantment buddy!
I hope you left with the memories of bugling bulls and a taste of NM Magic!
(The elk meat will be awesome too!)
:upthumb: :upthumb:
 
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