Noontime contact

[Deertick]

(Mid-September, archery season)

You\'re back at camp from the morning hunt, and you\'re going to eat and tidy up camp a bit.

As you\'re walking around, not 200 yards from camp across a small meadow, you see a cow slip into the trees, heading slightly away from you, down a creek bottom. She didn\'t see you, and seemed to be unaware that you were watching.

Wind is slight, but seems to blow from her toward you, so it\'s more-or-less in your favor.

Assume that you, or your partner, are after any legal elk.

What are your thoughts on how to move forward on this situation?

 

[bowhunter]

I would grab my bow and head after her. I would get within 50-75yards if I could on the same side of the creek as her. I would stay up away from the creek about 30 yards incase the cool stream made my sent go down even though the wind is up slightly. I would find a good spot to sit with a shooting lane and give a few cow calls. Possibly a little whiney or lost sounding calls. I would give her 15-20 minutes seeing as she is close. If she didn\'t come in I would try to still hunt after her for a couple hundred yards or so. Then head back to camp if she had passed on through the area and had left.

I probably made several mistakes so you mentors need to rip into me and let me know how i did. :?

 

[cnelk]

Tough one John

Here is my take.
Obviously your camp is in a good spot. But the cow elk sighting could be just a fluke.
A couple of factors I would consider before going after her.

1- I know the lay of the land. Why is she headed in that direction? Is there a bedding area she is headed to?

2- Is she alone? I know I saw only one elk, but is there more behind her? Did I miss some before I saw her?

Since its noon, Im thinking she is on the move [not a bedding area near] and you wont catch her, or even call her back.

Finish your camp chores, take a nap, and late afternoon, head in the direction she went and see what you can find...

 

[Swede]

By the time you get your stuff together and on, the cow is long gone. Over the years this has happened is various ways many times. I have never been able to reel one in under these circumstances. As Brad said, finish what you were doing and get ready for a good afternoon hunt.

 

[elkmtngear]

Not sure what I\'d do.

During this time of day, chances are I would have to sprint around her to get into a position to have a chance to call her into bow range. I would guess she would be heading back to a bedding area after coming down to the creek to cool off/ get a drink. Plus the wind could be very unpredictable.

If I thought I had a chance to get around her/ ahead of her...and I had a partner...I\'d have one of us set up behind the SLIP Decoy and the other move ahead to a suspected ambush spot. Caller/ decoy guy would commence with a lost calf call...and see what happens?

 

[bowhunter]

It sounds like I just wasted an hour of my lunchtime nap. I doubt I would have seen her again with my cautious approach. At least I didn\'t scare her into the next county and can head her way in the afternoon and see where she went. :think: