Extreme Elk Magazine - Montana Elk Hunt

[buglelk]

Dirk, Donnie, and I headed out for our first elk hunt in Montana earlier in the month. We started our hunt on opening day (September 6), and had 7 days to try to find two bulls for our General tags. We hiked through some epic country, and were rewarded with some awesome views in elk country.

 

[Arrows4Elk]

Wow, beautiful country!

Looks like the weather was stellar, too.

 

[buglelk]

We were hunting the early season, with a full moon sandwiched in the middle of our hunt. We knew the conditions would make for a tough hunt, and it was quickly apparent that the elk were not ready to rut. We stayed mobile, and with some help from a good friend in the area, we found a small, remote pocket that was holding a handful of barely-bugling bulls.

 

[buglelk]

Finally, on Tuesday, we found a bull that was responding to our calls, and moved up the canyon to set up. After 15-20 minutes, Dirk coaxed the bull down the draw and into my setup. Unfortunately, my arrow found the edge of a small pine tree and exploded before it make it to the elk. Fortunately, the bull had no idea what had just happened and continued around the ridge and straight into Dirk's lap. Dirk made a great shot, and we had a short, 80 yard bloodtrail to follow.

 

[buglelk]

Dirk's shot was right behind the shoulder and in the lungs, and the bull was down within seconds.

 

[buglelk]

Quartering and deboning a bull in grizzly country adds a new element of excitement. Fortunately, we had no encounters with bears on our trip, although there was sign everywhere. With Dirk's tag filled, we had 3 days left to try to locate one more bull.

 

[buglelk]

We branched out and hunted some new country, but a snow storm the next night brought us back to our base camp for the last day and a half. The bulls were incredibly quiet during and directly after the storm, but we were hopeful the clearing skies and temperatures in the teens would get them fired up.

 

[buglelk]

Sure enough, on Thursday evening we went back to the area where Dirk had shot his bull and found the bulls were again responsive. Dirk worked his calling magic, and had to get a little creative, but eventually pulled a timid bull down the ridge and into my lap. This time, there were no trees to distract my arrow, and a short tracking job led to our second and final bull of the trip.

 

[buglelk]

As all of our hunts are, this trip to Montana was a total team effort. Donnie captured some great video, and pulled more than his weight when it came time to pack as well. We shared one last meal on the mountain, and then headed for base camp and our next elk hunting adventure.

 

[RUTTIN]

Great job team extreme, can't wait to see the footage! Thanks for sharing with us, and I'm sure there is more to come from other states.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[turbo1967]

looks good, your in a better part of the state than me, rut just stated in my area a couple days ago, three weeks later this year .Been a very slow start to the season this year.

 

[cowboystl1]

good work man great job nice bulls

 

[ChrisB]

Awesome story!


Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bryan]

Fantastic effort guys!! Congrats on two awesome bulls.

 

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Great stuff and awesome bulls!

 

[Trouble Shooter]

Congrats on two great elk.

Cory how did your Oregon hunt go this year.

Trouble Shooter

 

[BrentLaBere]

Just watched the two short clips. Awesome stuff guys! Great pictures too.
Thanks for sharing.


We had the storms hit us in the SW too, but the bulls completely buttoned up! Not a peep in 5 days after the storm cleared. Wrong spot wrong time I guess.