Lark Bunting
New member
- Sep 14, 2016
- 710
I enjoy taking pictures while out and about, especially this year since I was alone for a lot of it. I enjoy sharing my experiences with my family, even if they \"don\'t get it\".
We scouted an area in early August. My son was blown away by the views:
The vegetation was amazing for this late in the year:
I forgot the tent on our scouting trip and accidentally grabbed the beach shade instead:
We found a little natural spring:
And some fresh elk tracks:
Opening weekend we deer hunted to see if we could fill my son\'s deer tag. In two days we saw 5 bucks and a doe, all within 40 yards. My son\'s effective range is 25 max.
Labor Day weekend we went up to where we had scouted and prepared to hunt ELK!
Fresh rub!:
We had great cell phone reception
:
It got damn cold the next morning:
...and that\'s when my son flat out told me he was done for the year. He is an excellent lacrosse player and wanted to play fall lacrosse. So, we packed up that day and headed home. I had to wait two weeks to get back at it due to prior commitments. See, my daughter\'s birthday is September 8th and I promised her I\'d never miss her Birthday nor her party. Plus, I had 10 days to hunt to end the season.
Anyway, as my final hunt of the season approached I found out it was going to be alone. I was not prepared mentally to be out there alone but I was not NOT going to hunt!
First day up there alone, I hate this hill!:
But, it leads to great views:
It gets REALLY cold in this valley at night:
Aspens were pretty! I always get a laugh out of my daughter when I ask her, How\'s your Aspen?\":
I didn\'t hear a single bugle, see a fresh track, see fresh poop, nothing. I spoke with a lot of muzzy hunters that said the same thing. The elk were NOT in this area and nobody knew where they went. I made the decision to head 70 miles away to a different area where I had hunted last year.
My first spot I wanted to check out had a tree stand. The guy arrived soon after I took this photo and said he hadn\'t seen an elk all weekend. NOT off to a good start:
Someone carved their initials in this aspen in 2000:
Navigating this area is NOT easy:
Found a wallow:
This is the remnants of the luckiest bastard alive this season! He got a moose 30 yards from the road:
It attracted ravens and coyotes...50 yards behind my camp.
The next morning I walked in a different direction from the tree stand guy, in the dark, and sat down to eat a Cliff bar. As the sun came up I started doing some light cow calling. I positioned myself with the wind in my face and watched intently. Two cow elk came in from behind me. I wasn\'t prepared and had to drop to a knee to get a shot under the pine tree at my back. I knelt on a dry stick and snapped it. Elk gone! My un-diagnosed ADD kicked in and I began to move around a bit. I heard some branches breaking ahead of me and knocked an arrow. As stealthily as I could I moved in the direction of the bugle hoping to cut off the elk moving around...and all of a sudden it happened! I caught movement above me to my left and I slowly turned. I had a 5x5 bull coming straight at me! I quickly ranged a tree...20 yards, and watched this bull come in on a string! He passed my \"20 yard\" tree...HE WAS INSIDE 20 YARDS!!! But, he stopped behind a short, fat pine tree and started eating grass. I could actually hear the grass being pulled/torn, and him chewing! I tried taking a step backwards to get an angle...*crack*, *crunch*, he was looking through the tree. His nose went up into the air and I could actually hear him sniffing, and chewing. Then, on a dime, like a ballerina pirouette, he turned and headed uphill. I had held my draw for what felt like an eternity. My rotator cuff was relieved when I could let down. And I chased him, for an hour. I\'d see him at 70 yards, I\'d see him at 30 yards, then he disappeared. I went back to where I was standing at full draw and marked a waypoint. The woods were quiet. I hiked around for a while and headed back to camp for lunch. I had been in the woods for four days alone, I was mentally tired.
That afternoon I walked down the road a ways before entering the woods and 20 yards in jumped a lone cow from her bed. Unlike the dumb deer I spooked last year this thing hauled arse and didn\'t stand there at 22 yards, broadside.
I wandered around the woods all afternoon and caught movement...
Pine Martin! First one I\'ve seen in the wild!
I got back to camp that night and packed up everything but my tent, sleeping bag and clothes for the morning. Alarm went off at 7:00 and I packed up the last few things and headed home.
My first call was to home, I spoke with my kids and wife. I then called my folks, my brother, etc. I was excited to get home, put my stuff away and move on. It would be a long drive, almost four hours and two big mountain passes.
By the time I was 45 minutes from home I wanted to turn around and go chase the elk again! :crazy: I have mental issues.
I found elk, had four within 30-40 yards, a bull was within 13 yards, and I left. I was not prepared mentally to be out there alone. I had some fun, saw some amazing things, fought my own brain, learned a few good lessons, and ended my season early. I am frustrated with myself, and the way my season went. I can\'t wait to do it all again next year!
This pretty much summarized my season:
:dance2:
We scouted an area in early August. My son was blown away by the views:
The vegetation was amazing for this late in the year:
I forgot the tent on our scouting trip and accidentally grabbed the beach shade instead:
We found a little natural spring:
And some fresh elk tracks:
Opening weekend we deer hunted to see if we could fill my son\'s deer tag. In two days we saw 5 bucks and a doe, all within 40 yards. My son\'s effective range is 25 max.
Labor Day weekend we went up to where we had scouted and prepared to hunt ELK!
Fresh rub!:
We had great cell phone reception
:
It got damn cold the next morning:
...and that\'s when my son flat out told me he was done for the year. He is an excellent lacrosse player and wanted to play fall lacrosse. So, we packed up that day and headed home. I had to wait two weeks to get back at it due to prior commitments. See, my daughter\'s birthday is September 8th and I promised her I\'d never miss her Birthday nor her party. Plus, I had 10 days to hunt to end the season.
Anyway, as my final hunt of the season approached I found out it was going to be alone. I was not prepared mentally to be out there alone but I was not NOT going to hunt!
First day up there alone, I hate this hill!:
But, it leads to great views:
It gets REALLY cold in this valley at night:
Aspens were pretty! I always get a laugh out of my daughter when I ask her, How\'s your Aspen?\":
I didn\'t hear a single bugle, see a fresh track, see fresh poop, nothing. I spoke with a lot of muzzy hunters that said the same thing. The elk were NOT in this area and nobody knew where they went. I made the decision to head 70 miles away to a different area where I had hunted last year.
My first spot I wanted to check out had a tree stand. The guy arrived soon after I took this photo and said he hadn\'t seen an elk all weekend. NOT off to a good start:
Someone carved their initials in this aspen in 2000:
Navigating this area is NOT easy:
Found a wallow:
This is the remnants of the luckiest bastard alive this season! He got a moose 30 yards from the road:
It attracted ravens and coyotes...50 yards behind my camp.
The next morning I walked in a different direction from the tree stand guy, in the dark, and sat down to eat a Cliff bar. As the sun came up I started doing some light cow calling. I positioned myself with the wind in my face and watched intently. Two cow elk came in from behind me. I wasn\'t prepared and had to drop to a knee to get a shot under the pine tree at my back. I knelt on a dry stick and snapped it. Elk gone! My un-diagnosed ADD kicked in and I began to move around a bit. I heard some branches breaking ahead of me and knocked an arrow. As stealthily as I could I moved in the direction of the bugle hoping to cut off the elk moving around...and all of a sudden it happened! I caught movement above me to my left and I slowly turned. I had a 5x5 bull coming straight at me! I quickly ranged a tree...20 yards, and watched this bull come in on a string! He passed my \"20 yard\" tree...HE WAS INSIDE 20 YARDS!!! But, he stopped behind a short, fat pine tree and started eating grass. I could actually hear the grass being pulled/torn, and him chewing! I tried taking a step backwards to get an angle...*crack*, *crunch*, he was looking through the tree. His nose went up into the air and I could actually hear him sniffing, and chewing. Then, on a dime, like a ballerina pirouette, he turned and headed uphill. I had held my draw for what felt like an eternity. My rotator cuff was relieved when I could let down. And I chased him, for an hour. I\'d see him at 70 yards, I\'d see him at 30 yards, then he disappeared. I went back to where I was standing at full draw and marked a waypoint. The woods were quiet. I hiked around for a while and headed back to camp for lunch. I had been in the woods for four days alone, I was mentally tired.
That afternoon I walked down the road a ways before entering the woods and 20 yards in jumped a lone cow from her bed. Unlike the dumb deer I spooked last year this thing hauled arse and didn\'t stand there at 22 yards, broadside.
I wandered around the woods all afternoon and caught movement...
Pine Martin! First one I\'ve seen in the wild!
I got back to camp that night and packed up everything but my tent, sleeping bag and clothes for the morning. Alarm went off at 7:00 and I packed up the last few things and headed home.
My first call was to home, I spoke with my kids and wife. I then called my folks, my brother, etc. I was excited to get home, put my stuff away and move on. It would be a long drive, almost four hours and two big mountain passes.
By the time I was 45 minutes from home I wanted to turn around and go chase the elk again! :crazy: I have mental issues.
I found elk, had four within 30-40 yards, a bull was within 13 yards, and I left. I was not prepared mentally to be out there alone. I had some fun, saw some amazing things, fought my own brain, learned a few good lessons, and ended my season early. I am frustrated with myself, and the way my season went. I can\'t wait to do it all again next year!
This pretty much summarized my season:
:dance2:
