Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: Tman on July 06, 2017, 02:00:11 PM
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Before I get flamed for asking questions, youth elk tags are pretty limited so you put the kids in with a hope that they'll have a chance.. and since there are very limited eastern muzzle tags, it makes it hard to put them in for your typical units..
Anyhow, am trying to plan a trip scouting before she starts school. Any insight anyone wants to give on places to camp, start, etc would be appreciated.
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Good luck to the hunter. The shame is on those that don't share and help a kid fill a tag. Wish I had intel to pass along.
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I would go the first weekend of the general season and see how you do but talk to everyone that you can midday about where they are seeing elk and what they know for hot spots. The weekend after it closes for the general season her tag is still good that is when you will have your best opportunity. I believe Veteran's day is in there as well. She should have the day off of school, take that day off and I bet that is the day you actually get a shot.
There are tons of roads over there. Right now the cows are herded up with calves and only moving where you can see them well early morning and late evening. I would start getting familiar with the area and roads now. I would go again for Labor day weekend and get out early in the morning. They should be in many of the same areas then that they will be in during her season.
EDIT: scratch all that I was thinking rifle tag. PM sent.
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Finding a cow should be pretty easy. We have 10 acres that you can use as base camp if you need. What are the season dates?
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Sep 30-Oct 8.
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Sep 30-Oct 8.
:bash: Muzzy tag, scratch the part about veterans day, that applies to the rifle tag.
That muzzy tag is a great one. My daughter has the adult muzzy cow tag. I will shoot as much intel as I can. I will PM you my cell number.
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Thanks for the advice Ranier and the offer Vandeman, may take ya up on it.
May be able to get that way early Sept, she is starting her first year of high school so once that gets going in August, we may be stuck till the season.. Normally she'd let me pull her out for a few days to hunt but takes her academics and sports participation pretty serious so I may be limited to the weekends during her hunt.
We live in the NE corner, ide be happy to share info as well for a kids tag..
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Keep me posted. My tag ends sept 21st so if you need a hand I could probably help for a weekend or something.
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Sent you a pm
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Been at it since Saturday. Have only seen a few, mostly bulls though.. Hope she connects soon!
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Been at it since Saturday. Have only seen a few, mostly bulls though.. Hope she connects soon!
have you checked out the low country in the sage brush? Pse wind farm? All the lower canyons in the quilemene. Lots of cows down low
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Hoping for your success and positive reports. I have the cow muzzy tag and really hoping to connect on my first elk. Many years of tag soup will hopefully end nest week!
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She got it done. Got a nice cow on Tuesday evening. Tried to post a pic but for some reason it won't load. 311 lbs of hanging quarters.
Thank you so much to the members that contributed advice to help out. With the limited availability of youth tags (sad, should be more), we ended up drawing the Colockum which I don't typically hunt. Without your advice, it would've been a different experience. You contributed alot to the memories of a hunt and kill that will last a lifetime. I can't even begin to express how much I appreciate the advice.
It was a tough hunt, lots of boot miles up and down mountains. Learned now it's not about the kid keeping up with me, it's about me trying to keep up with her.
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Awesome! Glad it worked out. Hopefully you can get a picture up for us.
Try resizing the picture.
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Fantastic. Stoked to see some pictures and hear the story
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Excellent.....congrats to the young hunter for hanging in there and getting it done.
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I'll let the OP fill us in......
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And.......
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Nice! Looks like a dandy cow.
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I love it when the kids connect :tup: congrats! To your daughter. :tup:
Your right, there should be more youth tags In my opinion.
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Nice fat cow. Can eat on that for a good while. Job well done.
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Awesome! Love to see the young ones be successful! :tup:
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Awesome!
I want my daughters to enough the hunt as much as I do. When I get home I'll have to show them the pic.
Very cool.
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Saturday the 30th: opening day:
Daughter had to cheerlead at a game Friday night, so we packed, took a nap, and I drove the 4 hours to the naneum starting at 2 am on sat.. We arrived and headed up the road we we're going to start to learn just at first light. Completely new to the area, we were just checking it out..We arrived at a glassing point about 730 and right off the bat, bulls are bugling all around. We slowly tried to make our way down into and up into the draw they were in. Found ourselves in the center of a small meadow filled with rubs and wallows with at least 3 - 4 bulls bugling within a couple hundred around us. A shot rang out from above and things got quiet. Backed out and went exploring. Back out and explore.
Hike down a trail about a mile, elk sign everywhere and all of sudden about 10 dirtbikes come blowing down the trail. Crap.. that's it for that hunt.. back out and call a member who points us in a different direction. several miles up other drainages.
Went back and camped (slept in the rig) near where we were in the bulls the morning.
Sunday 10-1: woke up to a bull bugling in a meadow above us. Moved down into the small meadow and creeped up the draining. Bull getting closer. At some point he crossed and began moving up the other side bugling every few minutes. Pretty soon my daughter spots movement about 60 yds ahead and it is a group of cows crossing the creek in the timber in front of us. Too thick for her to get a comfortable shot so she passes. After they feed up into a thicker patch out of sight we turn to come down the drainage back towards the meadow and cows coming down behind us. Still about 200 yds up from the meadow I was sure that's where they were headed. We get to the meadow and wait.. and wait... And we must've gotten busted, nothing..
Head to a trail head and here some faint bugles. Try to get closer, but with the wind and sleet storms blowing over we just can't get very close to any bugles. Hike in a mile or so to a little bridge and all of a sudden the woods explode, elk running everywhere.. no shot.. dang it. Busted.
Head over and arrive later in the day, a short hike lots of sign, but it's getting dark in unfamiliar area so we back out and take a drive around the area getting to learn the road system hoping maybe we'll hear or see something.. camp up for the night.
Monday 10-2:
Head back down that drainage and hike about a mile in, to hear nothing that morning. Head out somewhat discouraged and go back to the top of the mtn we had been hunting.
Head to the drainage that was filled with elk the day before but decide to come up from the bottom.. we hiked up about 2-2.5 miles to a bridge gaining a ton of elevation. Quite steep. Kid just plugged away, I had to stop her so I could rest, several times. We stop about half way and the daughter decides she needs a break.. she hands me her gun and heads over the drainage ready to dig a hole armed with a roll of tp.. a few minutes later I hear elk running down the rocks and back comes the kiddo ready to stalk these guys.. cliffs on both sides and about 100 yd gap over the mountain, they're no where to be found.
Head the rest of the way up the drainage and bump a nice little satellite bull about 10 yds away and sit for a couple hours glassing, listening to distant bugles but otherwise elk free until we head back down.. on our way down in a rather dusty area we walked through, elk tracks in our boot prints.. grrr. Darn it.. wrong place, wrong time...
Decide to try a new area and drive up colockum Rd in the dark about halfway to the top and find a spot to camp.
Tuesday 10-2:
Wake up and head down to the bottom to see where we are, what we're in (never been there). Daughter spots a cow feeding just above the road. Try to make a quick stalk but the cow gets nervous and starts getting squirrelly, another 10 or so get up and get pushed away by a decent bull. No decent shot except for the bull and no tag for that so on we go exploring, hiking over the hill into some drainages and glassing. Don't see anything so decide that for the afternoon we'll head back where that other member had directed us earlier.
Hike up to the top, quite a ways, ide say over a mile and sit on a bluff and glass. It's getting later and we spot some elk moving about a mile below us. She wants to go after them, but it's just too far too late in the day. As we sit and watch them, I catch movement about a hundred yards below us in the timber. A cow, wait a couple cows feeding around. No shot because of the timber but we sit and watch. A decent bull suddenly appears and begins chasing the cows towards an opening. Over the course of what seemed like an hour he pushed them. A large cow steps out and my daughter takes aim, fires, the cow stumbles and drops kicking. I look over and excitement fills her face as a tear of joy creeps out. After a few high fives and hugs we make our way down to the elk, just as she approaches she stops and admires her accomplishment (first picture). I try to sneak around to try and get a picture of the emotion on her face but she catches me and smiles, but is was a face of respect, accomplishment, and that little bit of remorse some of us get after taking a life. Something almost impossible to capture. We take a quick pic and dress her so she can start to cook while we head back to the rig for the tools we need to finish the job..
The rest is work...in the dark. Of course after loading, there was no where to sleep, so I made the long drive home while she napped as she wanted to get back to school the next day to miss as little as possible.
Overall it was a great experience that tried her patience and proved her perseverance.. Impressed me to a place without words. So proud of the determined woman and Hunter she has become..
Hope you all enjoy our story.
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And.......
That’s the pic I’ve been waiting for 😜 that smile seals the deal. Glad you guys were able to get her done.
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Great job. She looks like she's hooked.
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So AWESOME!! That is what it is all about. Big CONGRATS to the both of you.
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That is awesome, nothing cooler than being with your kids when they harvest a big game animal!
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:tup:
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Great story.
Congratulations to you and your daughter. Memories for a lifetime for sure.
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Great job to both of you on a first elk! This is precisely how we get hunters to stick with it!
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Nice work, cool story.
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Congrats to the hunter and dad. Those are the best experiences and memories :tup:
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Thanks for the write up
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That was a great hunting trip for you and your daughter. You went the extra mile to help in her success. I bet she will remember this hunt forever. That was a great story of your hunt.
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Nice work :tup:
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Congratulations to your daughter!
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Congratulations to your daughter. :IBCOOL: Awesome to see people helping out a youth huntress be successful. Threads like this make this forum what it is. :tup:
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Very cool congrats to your daughter and for you getting her out there hunting
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Awesome!
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Tell the huntress great job, way to get your daughter into hunting dad. :tup:
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Sounds like a great trip! Congrats to you both!