2020 Hunt Update Thread

[cohunter14]

The 2020 Elk Season is upon us. Use this thread as a place to check in and to post updates as to how things are going in your hunt. Heading out? On the road? Made it to camp and have cell service? Hearing bugles? Got one down? Let us know! It's a great way for those who aren't currently in the woods to live vicariously through you!​

 

[Bowhunter1]

It's a great way for those who aren't currently in the woods to live vicariously through you!​

Updates of screaming bulls and bulls down is another way to torment the ones hunting later in the season.  :haha:

 

[cohunter14]

It's a great way for those who aren't currently in the woods to live vicariously through you!​

Updates of screaming bulls and bulls down is another way to torment the ones hunting later in the season.  :haha:

Very true!!!

 

[montanaelk31]

Elk from this morning. Bulls with velvet hangin

 

[Maldavis]

It's a great way for those who aren't currently in the woods to live vicariously through you!​

Updates of screaming bulls and bulls down is another way to torment the ones hunting later in the season.  :haha:

Or the ones who aren?t hunting at all this year for whatever reason


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[cohunter14]

Elk from this morning. Bulls with velvet hangin

Holy moly! That is one heck of a group of elk. I counted 212 that I see.

 

[montanaelk31]

Elk from this morning. Bulls with velvet hangin

Holy moly! That is one heck of a group of elk. I counted 212 that I see.

More in the trees! Don?t beat yourself up. Limited entry unit that I don?t have a tag for. Just near home...

 

[cohunter14]

More in the trees! Don?t beat yourself up. Limited entry unit that I don?t have a tag for. Just near home...

That is awesome! I'd get a little distracted with that kind of action close to home  :lol:

 

[montanaelk31]

Elk bugling at night here in SW Montana.  Since thursday....

 

[cohunter14]

Elk bugling at night here in SW Montana.  Since thursday....

Awesome!!!! It's coming quick!

 

[hawker]

Any word from central Idaho? We leave day after tomorrow and start our hunt on Friday.
I?m really hoping that the wolves haven?t clammed up the bugling!

 

[jspencer]

I shot my bull opening day Aug 30th in the Sawtooth zone.  He was bugling and came in looking for the source of the 1 bugle I had thrown out.  I was hunting solo so I had moved 100-150 yards toward him and more down wind.  He didn't know I was even there.  He wouldn't answer the cow call as there were lots of those in the area.  He was not bugling loud, but it lead to his demise.  Good luck to all!

 

[cohunter14]

I shot my bull opening day Aug 30th in the Sawtooth zone.  He was bugling and came in looking for the source of the 1 bugle I had thrown out.  I was hunting solo so I had moved 100-150 yards toward him and more down wind.  He didn't know I was even there.  He wouldn't answer the cow call as there were lots of those in the area.  He was not bugling loud, but it lead to his demise.  Good luck to all!

Congrats! Let's see some pics if you got them. Get that meat pole thread rolling for the season!

 

[ribo451]

Opening day was good for me. I didn't shoot anything so it wasn't great but I was into elk right out of the car. I heard a bugle 200 yards from where I was parked. I walked up in that direction and ran into a spike and a 2 point at 40 yards. If they had stood there for another 10 minutes I could have shot as it was before legal time but they didn't wait that long. I called a few times and the herd bull that was bugling came down to within 30 yards but I never saw him. I could hear him bugling and walking around me but it was too thick on that side of me to see anything. I got a good look at him at about 150 yards when he went back up to his cows. Another spike came down to play with the other two little guys. By that time the sun was up and that hillside was getting hot. The little guys went into the timber on my right and the herd went left towards a wallow. The thermals had shifted so I couldn't follow. I went up and over to come down on them and ran into a 4 or 5 point satellite covered in mud coming out of that wallow. I had him at 40-50 yards for 20 minutes but never had an opportunity.  He was interested in my cow calls but  he knew something was up. The herd bull kept bugling as I was playing with the little guy but he didn't come back. It was too hot and noisy to sneak anywhere very quietly so I sat over that wallow for several hours till the wind started blowing up towards that bedding area the herd had gone towards so I left.

Today I got a late start. The wind was blowing hard and swirling. I spotted the two point and one of the spikes but I was 150 yards away when the swirling wind gave me away. Conditions are supposed to be much better the next several days so I backed out and went to work for a few hours.

I heard a ton of bugles including a bull on the mountain behind me and saw 5 different bulls and had 4 of them in bow range so I thought it was a pretty good start to the year. Heading back tomorrow.

 

[cohunter14]

Opening day was good for me. I didn't shoot anything so it wasn't great but I was into elk right out of the car. I heard a bugle 200 yards from where I was parked. I walked up in that direction and ran into a spike and a 2 point at 40 yards. If they had stood there for another 10 minutes I could have shot as it was before legal time but they didn't wait that long. I called a few times and the herd bull that was bugling came down to within 30 yards but I never saw him. I could hear him bugling and walking around me but it was too thick on that side of me to see anything. I got a good look at him at about 150 yards when he went back up to his cows. Another spike came down to play with the other two little guys. By that time the sun was up and that hillside was getting hot. The little guys went into the timber on my right and the herd went left towards a wallow. The thermals had shifted so I couldn't follow. I went up and over to come down on them and ran into a 4 or 5 point satellite covered in mud coming out of that wallow. I had him at 40-50 yards for 20 minutes but never had an opportunity.  He was interested in my cow calls but  he knew something was up. The herd bull kept bugling as I was playing with the little guy but he didn't come back. It was too hot and noisy to sneak anywhere very quietly so I sat over that wallow for several hours till the wind started blowing up towards that bedding area the herd had gone towards so I left.

Today I got a late start. The wind was blowing hard and swirling. I spotted the two point and one of the spikes but I was 150 yards away when the swirling wind gave me away. Conditions are supposed to be much better the next several days so I backed out and went to work for a few hours.

I heard a ton of bugles including a bull on the mountain behind me and saw 5 different bulls and had 4 of them in bow range so I thought it was a pretty good start to the year. Heading back tomorrow.

Great update! Good luck tomorrow!!!

 

[ribo451]

No elk photos but had several more encounters. I called in a 6 point bull to 4 yards and hit the only stick between him and me and shot over his back. I don't know how many people have missed a broadside bull at 12 feet but I managed it. The next day I called in a spike to 30 yards and promptly shot under him.

Heard a few bugles the next day in a different area but I'm not convinced they were elk. They didn't quite sound right but I have been fooled before. I will be back there next week. It was hot and the bugling I did hear quit early when it was warming up which sounds more like elk than hunters but I'm still not convinced.

Then the next day I went to a different area and was getting a little discouraged by the lack of elk sign. I got no responses to my calling at the first spot I stopped, so I moved to another spot that was a couple hundred yards above some wallows. I called there for a minute and didn't hear anything. I convinced myself that nothing was around and I wanted to get out to a ridge to glass before it got hot so I started to move off and spotted a 5x5 sneaking in about the same time he saw me from 80 yards.

I have seen and called in bulls 4 out of 6 days and have had a blast. I have to work for the next couple days so I won't be back out till Tuesday. I did get to watch a small bull moose shed his velvet. I will post pictures of him if I can get them off my phone.

 

[ribo451]

Moose after shedding velvet

 

[cohunter14]

Just getting settled back in after hitting the Colorado mountains for the first rifle season. It was extremely dry, even though we did get a little snow on Sunday. Definitely a different year hunt-wise, but we were still able to punch two of five tags for our group.