Lark Bunting
New member
- Sep 14, 2016
- 710
Warning! Long post! Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. Those with ADD, hit the back button now... :mrgreen:
Wow, wow, wow... What a weekend. The only bad news is we did not get an elk on the ground. Otherwise it was incredible.
I drove up Friday after work. One quick stop for a six pack and ice for the cooler and was back on the road. I arrived to find the camp spot closest to where I was going to hunt was occupied. I drove to a pull off and quickly changed clothes. I headed up a ridge and was almost immediately hearing bugles. (Yeah...I was a little excited and texted Atfrith
) He left out the part of the text where I mentioned I may have sharted. :lolno:
I crossed the ridge back and dropped down into the small valley below and worked my way to the far side. I was trying to work my way up as quietly as I could. I also got caught up taking video of the bugles. I couldn\'t see the elk and I could tell they were pretty high up the drainage but the sound was amazing! Dark came way too soon and I backtracked and hiked out in the dark.
I called home to check in, then Atfrith to tell him about my experiences. I was only in the woods for a little over an hour and I honestly couldn\'t count the bugles I heard. 20? 30? 50? Who knows. I spoke with another hunter where I had parked and he got a shot at one.
Friday night I was busy setting up camp and getting ready for Saturday morning. I was really hoping to hear them again and be able to pursue some vocal elk. Camping alone sucks to me but my camp was very near a creek which made the perfect white noise blocking all the branches the boogie man was breaking while he was coming to eat me in my sleep. :wtf:
Saturday morning...I wake up at 5:40 and layed there in misery. I had slipped off my sleeping pad, my body hurt, the inside of my tent was soaked, and I hadn\'t slept very well. Suddenly I heard a truck...diesel...and that\'s what the other hunter drove from the night before, but I wasn\'t sure if it was him. I shot out of my sleeping bag, tied my boots, and was on the road in a few short minutes.
When I got to the pulloff I realized it was the same hunter as the night before. This was good news as he was hiking further up the road and hunting the top. I was convinced I could possibly use his pressure to push the elk my way. I cut the ridge in a swift 30 minutes in the dark...
Let\'s talk about this ridge for a second. It\'s steep as hell. I could go maybe 30 yards then stop to catch my breath...20 yards, dry heave, 30 yards, saw stars... anyway, it was steep, and it was dark.
So, I get to the ridge and immediately drop down as I see another hunter up the ridge not far from me. This guy was hysterical...Mew, mew, tiptoe sprint. Mew, Mew, tiptoe sprint. As I was laughing I noticed what we all desire to hear...Buuuuuuuuugle...chuckle chuckle chuckle.
Sweeeeet! They\'re at it again!
I went to the second ridge away and started my ascent. I worked up and up and up and got caught in dead-fall after dead-fall. Meanwhile Mr. Cow Call was going to town on that thing. Same pitch every time, same cadence every time, then tiptoe sprint. I\'m sure he was convinced he was getting the bulls to react but in reality (and I admit that on Friday night I was sure I was getting them to respond) they were talking to each other and probably ignoring us idiots. I did no calling on Saturday morning and was really sure the hunter pressure would push them right to me.That\'s when it happened. :!:
I was continuing my climb and I looked up and there was a bull. I counted 6 on one side and I\'m sure the other split at the top to make it a nice 6X6. \"Whoa! What now?!\" I watched the tree it was pushing on bend. I didn\'t get a good look at the animal itself but the antlers on either side of the tree were in perfect view. It didn\'t really rake the tree, just pushed it until it looked like it was about to break. Amazing! I ranged and saw 80 yards to a tree near the bull. I crawled up really slowly and on my hands and feet. It was steep through this area. I moved a few feet and looked up and he was gone. :dk:
It was around 7:45 and the bugling had slowed way down. I checked the wind and it was swirling, then a few minutes later it was racing uphill. Damn!
I sat there listening and heard the bugles waaaaay off to my left. They might as well have been in Canada because there was no way I could catch them. I backtracked to the first ridge and went uphill. I wanted to see some sign of them being up there. I hiked around and kept going uphill, and eventually just turned it into a photo session and scouting trip. I knew Atfrith would be arriving mid-afternoon. I hiked (fell) back to the truck and headed back to camp. I cleaned up as it was hotter than heck, dried out the sweaty camo, made lunch and gathered firewood.
Atfrith arrived around 3:00. I-70 really sucks. Traffic was relentless and weekends are the worst.
We had a quick introduction then got his tent up and he changed and we headed out around 3:30. That damn hill again...I\'m pretty sure I was twice as slow as the morning hike. We crested the ridge, listened and Sadly...there were no bugles. There was another hunter in the valley calling though. He was entertaining for a few minutes but we were there to hunt. If they weren\'t in there we\'d go looking for them. We hiked our butts off Saturday afternoon, worked as a team doing calling setups. We hunted and we hunted hard! We found ourselves quite a ways away from the truck and up on a bald hill overlooking the huge valley below. Looking around the hillside revealed two old trees which had been struck by lightning some time ago. It was a little creepy up there. With the sun fading we decided to hunt out way back to camp. We could still hear Mr Bugle Boy down in a meadow close to the valley.
Saturday night...
We did dinner, got a fire going and I threw some back straps from my recent deer on the small folding grill I had brought. Even though we were fairly full from dinner I wanted to experience the novelty of eating some small steaks from my only big game kill. Atfrith had some salt, pepper and garlic powder. He doctored them up and on the grill they went. They were delicious! I believe he made the comment on how good they were and then told me something funny as hell. Apparently when I mentioned bringing up some deer meat he said to himself, \"Oh great...deer venison...that\'ll taste like ass.\" :mrgreen: Turned out though, they were awesome and he complimented them a few more times. We had a couple beers, told stories and went to bed.
Sunday morning...
I may have over slept a few minutes. I heard his tent zipper and shot out of bed. We both slept in a few extra minutes. Off we went, parked up the road, cursed that damn hill and when we got to the top we saw a hunter immediately. We spoke for a few, then ran into two more \"hunters\". They told us of yet another hunter down in the valley. We devised a plan and headed out...up...and up and up. Again, we hiked out butts off, did some calling setups, but couldn\'t find the elk. We headed back to the truck around 11:00 this morning. :yawn:
All in all it was an absolute pleasure to meet Atfrith. I had an excellent time hunting with him. We worked together very well, took turns taking the point, worked on new plans together, did a lot of calling setups and we hunted HARD! I certainly look forward to hunting with him in the future as we have a very similar mindset in the woods. Atfrith, thank you again for sharing this spot with me and for being an excellent hunting partner for the weekend. I wish you caould have been up there Friday night and Saturday morning to hear the bugling elk.
I will save the pictures for the next post... standby! :mrgreen:
Wow, wow, wow... What a weekend. The only bad news is we did not get an elk on the ground. Otherwise it was incredible.
I drove up Friday after work. One quick stop for a six pack and ice for the cooler and was back on the road. I arrived to find the camp spot closest to where I was going to hunt was occupied. I drove to a pull off and quickly changed clothes. I headed up a ridge and was almost immediately hearing bugles. (Yeah...I was a little excited and texted Atfrith
) He left out the part of the text where I mentioned I may have sharted. :lolno: I crossed the ridge back and dropped down into the small valley below and worked my way to the far side. I was trying to work my way up as quietly as I could. I also got caught up taking video of the bugles. I couldn\'t see the elk and I could tell they were pretty high up the drainage but the sound was amazing! Dark came way too soon and I backtracked and hiked out in the dark.
I called home to check in, then Atfrith to tell him about my experiences. I was only in the woods for a little over an hour and I honestly couldn\'t count the bugles I heard. 20? 30? 50? Who knows. I spoke with another hunter where I had parked and he got a shot at one.
Friday night I was busy setting up camp and getting ready for Saturday morning. I was really hoping to hear them again and be able to pursue some vocal elk. Camping alone sucks to me but my camp was very near a creek which made the perfect white noise blocking all the branches the boogie man was breaking while he was coming to eat me in my sleep. :wtf:
Saturday morning...I wake up at 5:40 and layed there in misery. I had slipped off my sleeping pad, my body hurt, the inside of my tent was soaked, and I hadn\'t slept very well. Suddenly I heard a truck...diesel...and that\'s what the other hunter drove from the night before, but I wasn\'t sure if it was him. I shot out of my sleeping bag, tied my boots, and was on the road in a few short minutes.
When I got to the pulloff I realized it was the same hunter as the night before. This was good news as he was hiking further up the road and hunting the top. I was convinced I could possibly use his pressure to push the elk my way. I cut the ridge in a swift 30 minutes in the dark...
Let\'s talk about this ridge for a second. It\'s steep as hell. I could go maybe 30 yards then stop to catch my breath...20 yards, dry heave, 30 yards, saw stars... anyway, it was steep, and it was dark.
So, I get to the ridge and immediately drop down as I see another hunter up the ridge not far from me. This guy was hysterical...Mew, mew, tiptoe sprint. Mew, Mew, tiptoe sprint. As I was laughing I noticed what we all desire to hear...Buuuuuuuuugle...chuckle chuckle chuckle.
Sweeeeet! They\'re at it again!
I went to the second ridge away and started my ascent. I worked up and up and up and got caught in dead-fall after dead-fall. Meanwhile Mr. Cow Call was going to town on that thing. Same pitch every time, same cadence every time, then tiptoe sprint. I\'m sure he was convinced he was getting the bulls to react but in reality (and I admit that on Friday night I was sure I was getting them to respond) they were talking to each other and probably ignoring us idiots. I did no calling on Saturday morning and was really sure the hunter pressure would push them right to me.That\'s when it happened. :!:
I was continuing my climb and I looked up and there was a bull. I counted 6 on one side and I\'m sure the other split at the top to make it a nice 6X6. \"Whoa! What now?!\" I watched the tree it was pushing on bend. I didn\'t get a good look at the animal itself but the antlers on either side of the tree were in perfect view. It didn\'t really rake the tree, just pushed it until it looked like it was about to break. Amazing! I ranged and saw 80 yards to a tree near the bull. I crawled up really slowly and on my hands and feet. It was steep through this area. I moved a few feet and looked up and he was gone.
:dk: It was around 7:45 and the bugling had slowed way down. I checked the wind and it was swirling, then a few minutes later it was racing uphill. Damn!
I sat there listening and heard the bugles waaaaay off to my left. They might as well have been in Canada because there was no way I could catch them. I backtracked to the first ridge and went uphill. I wanted to see some sign of them being up there. I hiked around and kept going uphill, and eventually just turned it into a photo session and scouting trip. I knew Atfrith would be arriving mid-afternoon. I hiked (fell) back to the truck and headed back to camp. I cleaned up as it was hotter than heck, dried out the sweaty camo, made lunch and gathered firewood.
Atfrith arrived around 3:00. I-70 really sucks. Traffic was relentless and weekends are the worst.
We had a quick introduction then got his tent up and he changed and we headed out around 3:30. That damn hill again...I\'m pretty sure I was twice as slow as the morning hike. We crested the ridge, listened and Sadly...there were no bugles. There was another hunter in the valley calling though. He was entertaining for a few minutes but we were there to hunt. If they weren\'t in there we\'d go looking for them. We hiked our butts off Saturday afternoon, worked as a team doing calling setups. We hunted and we hunted hard! We found ourselves quite a ways away from the truck and up on a bald hill overlooking the huge valley below. Looking around the hillside revealed two old trees which had been struck by lightning some time ago. It was a little creepy up there. With the sun fading we decided to hunt out way back to camp. We could still hear Mr Bugle Boy down in a meadow close to the valley.
Saturday night...
We did dinner, got a fire going and I threw some back straps from my recent deer on the small folding grill I had brought. Even though we were fairly full from dinner I wanted to experience the novelty of eating some small steaks from my only big game kill. Atfrith had some salt, pepper and garlic powder. He doctored them up and on the grill they went. They were delicious! I believe he made the comment on how good they were and then told me something funny as hell. Apparently when I mentioned bringing up some deer meat he said to himself, \"Oh great...deer venison...that\'ll taste like ass.\" :mrgreen: Turned out though, they were awesome and he complimented them a few more times. We had a couple beers, told stories and went to bed.
Sunday morning...
I may have over slept a few minutes.
I heard his tent zipper and shot out of bed. We both slept in a few extra minutes. Off we went, parked up the road, cursed that damn hill and when we got to the top we saw a hunter immediately. We spoke for a few, then ran into two more \"hunters\". They told us of yet another hunter down in the valley. We devised a plan and headed out...up...and up and up. Again, we hiked out butts off, did some calling setups, but couldn\'t find the elk. We headed back to the truck around 11:00 this morning. :yawn: All in all it was an absolute pleasure to meet Atfrith. I had an excellent time hunting with him. We worked together very well, took turns taking the point, worked on new plans together, did a lot of calling setups and we hunted HARD! I certainly look forward to hunting with him in the future as we have a very similar mindset in the woods. Atfrith, thank you again for sharing this spot with me and for being an excellent hunting partner for the weekend. I wish you caould have been up there Friday night and Saturday morning to hear the bugling elk.
I will save the pictures for the next post... standby! :mrgreen:
