CONTEST!
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Entry 2: From the Field
Yes I am posting a selfie, but a little background first. This was our first weekend in the mountains and we had camped right next to a creek, if you look closely you can see my buddy behind me going head first into the creek with his life straw!
Yes I am posting a selfie, but a little background first. This was our first weekend in the mountains and we had camped right next to a creek, if you look closely you can see my buddy behind me going head first into the creek with his life straw!
Entry 4: A-Ha Moment
Now being this was our first year going I decided to take the online course Corey Jacobsen has created, and man was I glad I did. I am a midwestern kid who has hunted whitetail my whole life and had no clue what I was getting myself into when it came to elk hunting. One thing that has stuck out to me out of the whole course was calling elk in, mainly ?the open door effect?. Our first weekend up there we had bulls bugling everywhere, and the first one we had within bow range I called in while we were on the move. He was a beautiful 6x6 and he caught us in the open and would not offer up an ethical shot. It dawned on me then even though the course said set ups were important, until that moment I didn?t realize how quietly an animal that size could come in and that we had to think more for the next one!
Now being this was our first year going I decided to take the online course Corey Jacobsen has created, and man was I glad I did. I am a midwestern kid who has hunted whitetail my whole life and had no clue what I was getting myself into when it came to elk hunting. One thing that has stuck out to me out of the whole course was calling elk in, mainly ?the open door effect?. Our first weekend up there we had bulls bugling everywhere, and the first one we had within bow range I called in while we were on the move. He was a beautiful 6x6 and he caught us in the open and would not offer up an ethical shot. It dawned on me then even though the course said set ups were important, until that moment I didn?t realize how quietly an animal that size could come in and that we had to think more for the next one!
bvillebeaver
New member
- Aug 25, 2017
- 9
My brother and I's elk camp in Oregon
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Entry 5: Tell Us a Story
I have been wanting to go to Colorado to Elk hunt ever since I can remember. I have lived in Indiana my whole life and have only hunted animals native to my home state. This school year I am a senior at Indiana State University and managed to get all of my classes online this fall semester. I did that on purpose because I decided I wasn?t going to keep dreaming about Colorado, I was going to do it. To make things better a friend of mine had just moved out to Denver from Indiana. I talked to him about it and we decided to make it work. We bought OTC tags the day they went on sale, unfortunately neither of us were able to do boots on the ground scouting. We decided on a unit that had a low success rate, 6%, but I felt pretty confident going into after going through the online course Corey Jacobsen had created. I did a lot of E-scouting and studying google maps and looking through onX Maps. We hiked in about 4 miles and finally found a spot to set up camp. The altitude kicked my but though. I flew in on a Saturday morning and we hiked in that Saturday afternoon, I was pretty beat. We got up the next morning and stayed on the hiking trail and hiked about another mile and I let out my first bugle in the mountains ever, and I had an immediate response. It sent chills down my back. We continued hiking and working up the ridge, and they were bugling from everywhere. I thought for sure we had maybe found other hunters and we were all bugling back and forth, but after seeing 7 different bulls in 3 hours that changed my mind. We both were so caught up in the moment we did not set up like we should have. Unfortunately we had to hike out that night because he had to work some that week. We hiked back in the following Thursday in the pouring rain (no fun) and set up camp where we had before. We worked that same area all day Friday and could not get a single bull to answer. I was pretty confused at that point. They had literally disappeared. The next morning we slept in some because of storms that night and got up a little after sunrise to try it again. We worked the trail deeper and finally got a bull to respond. After a series of cow calls and no responses we figured he had moved on so I bugled and then out of nowhere I saw antlers behind some pine trees. He stepped out at 7 yards and I let it fly. I shot a little forward but it looked to be a great shot. We waited a bit and made a rookie mistake. We heard other bulls bugling and started chasing them to try and get my buddy on one, we pushed up the same way my bull had gone. Well after hunting for a bit we went back to find blood. We found good blood and after a while it dried up. We searched for hours upon hours trying to trail that elk and between the shot being a little forward and thinking we pushed the bull to hard, I was unable to recover him. We went back to camp that night and I had couldn?t sleep at all. The next morning we worked the same area and sure enough we got a response after bugling. The bull sounded like he was getting further and further away and after working to the top of the ridge we decided we had better move and do it fast. I let out one more locator call and had a response from a satellite bull who couldn?t have been more than 100 yards away. I immediately bailed down the ridge to get out of sight and started cow calling. That bull came charging in and my buddy was able to arrow him. We waited 2 hours before we even moved from that spot and we were able to trail him no more than 100 yards from where he was shot. The rest is history. Packing it out was a great experience, it was brutal, but I would not have wanted to do it any other way. It was the best experience ever and there are more pieces to the story and I could go on and on, but nonetheless we have next year planned and we cannot wait.
I have been wanting to go to Colorado to Elk hunt ever since I can remember. I have lived in Indiana my whole life and have only hunted animals native to my home state. This school year I am a senior at Indiana State University and managed to get all of my classes online this fall semester. I did that on purpose because I decided I wasn?t going to keep dreaming about Colorado, I was going to do it. To make things better a friend of mine had just moved out to Denver from Indiana. I talked to him about it and we decided to make it work. We bought OTC tags the day they went on sale, unfortunately neither of us were able to do boots on the ground scouting. We decided on a unit that had a low success rate, 6%, but I felt pretty confident going into after going through the online course Corey Jacobsen had created. I did a lot of E-scouting and studying google maps and looking through onX Maps. We hiked in about 4 miles and finally found a spot to set up camp. The altitude kicked my but though. I flew in on a Saturday morning and we hiked in that Saturday afternoon, I was pretty beat. We got up the next morning and stayed on the hiking trail and hiked about another mile and I let out my first bugle in the mountains ever, and I had an immediate response. It sent chills down my back. We continued hiking and working up the ridge, and they were bugling from everywhere. I thought for sure we had maybe found other hunters and we were all bugling back and forth, but after seeing 7 different bulls in 3 hours that changed my mind. We both were so caught up in the moment we did not set up like we should have. Unfortunately we had to hike out that night because he had to work some that week. We hiked back in the following Thursday in the pouring rain (no fun) and set up camp where we had before. We worked that same area all day Friday and could not get a single bull to answer. I was pretty confused at that point. They had literally disappeared. The next morning we slept in some because of storms that night and got up a little after sunrise to try it again. We worked the trail deeper and finally got a bull to respond. After a series of cow calls and no responses we figured he had moved on so I bugled and then out of nowhere I saw antlers behind some pine trees. He stepped out at 7 yards and I let it fly. I shot a little forward but it looked to be a great shot. We waited a bit and made a rookie mistake. We heard other bulls bugling and started chasing them to try and get my buddy on one, we pushed up the same way my bull had gone. Well after hunting for a bit we went back to find blood. We found good blood and after a while it dried up. We searched for hours upon hours trying to trail that elk and between the shot being a little forward and thinking we pushed the bull to hard, I was unable to recover him. We went back to camp that night and I had couldn?t sleep at all. The next morning we worked the same area and sure enough we got a response after bugling. The bull sounded like he was getting further and further away and after working to the top of the ridge we decided we had better move and do it fast. I let out one more locator call and had a response from a satellite bull who couldn?t have been more than 100 yards away. I immediately bailed down the ridge to get out of sight and started cow calling. That bull came charging in and my buddy was able to arrow him. We waited 2 hours before we even moved from that spot and we were able to trail him no more than 100 yards from where he was shot. The rest is history. Packing it out was a great experience, it was brutal, but I would not have wanted to do it any other way. It was the best experience ever and there are more pieces to the story and I could go on and on, but nonetheless we have next year planned and we cannot wait.
the best stalk of my life:
(only entry).
walking out in the field with a short range weapon is a special challenge. you have to find the animal, then get next to the animal. as always, i was hopeful. the sun was up, wind was gentle (and more importantly, "RIGHT") against my neck. i did not like how hot this season was; the animals would probably be bedded or holding out in the shade. i was grateful for the relatively level ground. the landowner's warning of a fantastic rattlesnake year was fresh in my ears. i started walking..not walking..creeping. it didnt take that long. i saw him. HUGE. a real trophy. instinctively i dropped to my knees. i took out my binoculars and access the prey. yes, he's a shooter!! i took the time to put my binos back in the pouch being careful not to make that dragging noise against the fabric. i dont remember breathing..but i had to be, since my heart was beating against my eardrums. badoos badoos badoos...i could feel the blood surging.
what rattlesnakes?. i crawled from bush to bush after ranging him at 125 yards. at 50 yards, i think he got nervous. ears flicked..and he trotted off..ARG! stalk blown!! or was it?..i watched him run 200 yards away and stop. i prayed he made a mistake. then unlike all my lottery prayers that go unanswered..he did it.."whoops, big guy..you shouldnt have done that!". he had stopped in a position that put his face in a bush..i sped-crawled like i have never crawled before. yoga instructors around the world couldnt have done the moves i was accomplishing..i was gliding over cactus..i would pause to use my teeth to pull out thorns and splinters. i could barely make out his body. i took the chance to invest some time to pull out my binoculars again. i stared at the bush...YES! that big dark spot at the right was his body. more yoga gliding. i got to 25 yards. and that was it..no more bushes stood between us. it was a flat dirt spot. i had no more footage to gain. i was done. i lifted my weapon. 25 yards! i've practiced this. i got this. i leveled my sights. breath..i took the time to marvel at how still my sights were..is this happening? squeeze the trigger...POP! he did that bucking move where i knew he was hit..he dived into another bush. i finally allowed myself to take a breath. i took a few moments to let him expire.
i got it done. and he tasted like crap.
gun: Browning Buckmark .22 Contour
Prey: jackrabbit
it really was the best stalk i ever pulled off..that never happens when im bowhunting big game. hahha.
(only entry).
walking out in the field with a short range weapon is a special challenge. you have to find the animal, then get next to the animal. as always, i was hopeful. the sun was up, wind was gentle (and more importantly, "RIGHT") against my neck. i did not like how hot this season was; the animals would probably be bedded or holding out in the shade. i was grateful for the relatively level ground. the landowner's warning of a fantastic rattlesnake year was fresh in my ears. i started walking..not walking..creeping. it didnt take that long. i saw him. HUGE. a real trophy. instinctively i dropped to my knees. i took out my binoculars and access the prey. yes, he's a shooter!! i took the time to put my binos back in the pouch being careful not to make that dragging noise against the fabric. i dont remember breathing..but i had to be, since my heart was beating against my eardrums. badoos badoos badoos...i could feel the blood surging.
what rattlesnakes?. i crawled from bush to bush after ranging him at 125 yards. at 50 yards, i think he got nervous. ears flicked..and he trotted off..ARG! stalk blown!! or was it?..i watched him run 200 yards away and stop. i prayed he made a mistake. then unlike all my lottery prayers that go unanswered..he did it.."whoops, big guy..you shouldnt have done that!". he had stopped in a position that put his face in a bush..i sped-crawled like i have never crawled before. yoga instructors around the world couldnt have done the moves i was accomplishing..i was gliding over cactus..i would pause to use my teeth to pull out thorns and splinters. i could barely make out his body. i took the chance to invest some time to pull out my binoculars again. i stared at the bush...YES! that big dark spot at the right was his body. more yoga gliding. i got to 25 yards. and that was it..no more bushes stood between us. it was a flat dirt spot. i had no more footage to gain. i was done. i lifted my weapon. 25 yards! i've practiced this. i got this. i leveled my sights. breath..i took the time to marvel at how still my sights were..is this happening? squeeze the trigger...POP! he did that bucking move where i knew he was hit..he dived into another bush. i finally allowed myself to take a breath. i took a few moments to let him expire.
i got it done. and he tasted like crap.
gun: Browning Buckmark .22 Contour
Prey: jackrabbit
it really was the best stalk i ever pulled off..that never happens when im bowhunting big game. hahha.
cohunter14
Administrator
- Jul 10, 2017
- 5,279
LOL, good story Cliff :haha:
bowhuntin_360
New member
- Dec 29, 2012
- 36
2017 Oregon Archery Elk
bowhuntin_360
New member
- Dec 29, 2012
- 36
Photo from the field. Can't beat a September sunset in the elk woods!
bowhuntin_360
New member
- Dec 29, 2012
- 36
A-Ha Moment!
This season I learned that spikes do in fact bugle. I got a trail camera video of a spike pushing sniffing the backside of a cow, then he lets out a mini bugle. Pretty cool!
This season I learned that spikes do in fact bugle. I got a trail camera video of a spike pushing sniffing the backside of a cow, then he lets out a mini bugle. Pretty cool!
bowhuntin_360
New member
- Dec 29, 2012
- 36
Short story time!
The day I harvested my bull, I ended up having one of the coolest experiences with elk in the 20 years I've been hunting. I decided to sit on a wallow that elk often come to water. It was September 1st and the weather was warm and I figured water might be a good bet. I got there at daylight and had several different spikes and cows come to water until about noon. I was considering taking a spike, but I didn't have a good shot opportunity. At about 1:30 in the afternoon I had a cow and calf come to the water. She must have been the lead cow, because she gave the all-clear mew and the woods lit up with mews and elk began to roll into the area. I turned my cell phone on to record a voice memo. They began filing in and I heard a bull bugle off in the distance. Several spikes made there way in, but I had heard the bull bugle and I knew I couldn't take a spike now. After about 30 minutes of elk milling around, I estimated I had ~30 cows, spikes and calves around me. Some had bedded down 15 yards in front of me. Some were to my left, some to my right. I figure I had elk at 270 degrees around me, and the wind was perfect. A few cows and calves walked past me at less than five yards. One young cow stared me down from about three yards for a minute or so, then went about her business. The bull finally made his way into the mix and walked past me at 10 yards. I couldn't draw because I had two cows looking my way. He made his way to the wallow, had a drink and milled around. He began to make his way back toward me and check on some cows. He pushed one cow in front of me and I had him at 15 yards looking away. I had one cow to his left that was facing me feeding. I figured this was my only chance so I drew as smoothly as I could. She lifted her head slightly, but didn't flinch. The bull was slightly quartering away. I centered my top pin and let one fly. The rest was history. I've been hunting a long time and this was my first branch bull and only my second elk. It felt great to finally put all the pieces together!
The day I harvested my bull, I ended up having one of the coolest experiences with elk in the 20 years I've been hunting. I decided to sit on a wallow that elk often come to water. It was September 1st and the weather was warm and I figured water might be a good bet. I got there at daylight and had several different spikes and cows come to water until about noon. I was considering taking a spike, but I didn't have a good shot opportunity. At about 1:30 in the afternoon I had a cow and calf come to the water. She must have been the lead cow, because she gave the all-clear mew and the woods lit up with mews and elk began to roll into the area. I turned my cell phone on to record a voice memo. They began filing in and I heard a bull bugle off in the distance. Several spikes made there way in, but I had heard the bull bugle and I knew I couldn't take a spike now. After about 30 minutes of elk milling around, I estimated I had ~30 cows, spikes and calves around me. Some had bedded down 15 yards in front of me. Some were to my left, some to my right. I figure I had elk at 270 degrees around me, and the wind was perfect. A few cows and calves walked past me at less than five yards. One young cow stared me down from about three yards for a minute or so, then went about her business. The bull finally made his way into the mix and walked past me at 10 yards. I couldn't draw because I had two cows looking my way. He made his way to the wallow, had a drink and milled around. He began to make his way back toward me and check on some cows. He pushed one cow in front of me and I had him at 15 yards looking away. I had one cow to his left that was facing me feeding. I figured this was my only chance so I drew as smoothly as I could. She lifted her head slightly, but didn't flinch. The bull was slightly quartering away. I centered my top pin and let one fly. The rest was history. I've been hunting a long time and this was my first branch bull and only my second elk. It felt great to finally put all the pieces together!
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