Was going to attach to a previous thread... But couldnt figure it out....
After the fire closures in the woods here, we made the decision to head to Eastside Oregon. It was a tough decision as we had some other areas available to hunt here. But having already killed a bull, and another of our crew tagging an Oregon rosy. We made the decision to go to the area we felt would offer the highest odds of success and attepmt 3 for 3 in Oregon.
Little did we know it was the beginning of a loooong hard 10 days of elk hunting. First stop was an area I had scouted early on, this area had held alot of bulls including some studs and was tough country with little pressure. But I was worried about lack of cows in the area and its effect on the bulls pattern who were still on summer routine for the most part the first week. Still you dont know if you dont go, so we loaded up packs for 4 days and headed in. It turns out my premonition was right and the majority of the bulls had relocated, although we still were able to locate bulls everyday and had little competition. It was very slow for rutting activity, we did have some close calls spot and stalk, and crept up on a dandy 5 point in his bed who was protected at 30 yards by a screen of brush. After 3 days with no sign of a change we pulled out and headed for another area.
The next 5 days were a roller coaster ride... big bulls, lotsa of bugling and little response, extremley smoky conditions, and hot temps, more stalking, more sitting wallows, blown bulls, and no bucks. We had just got back to the truck and were trying to formulate a game plan. It had been frustrating... we were in elk everyday, But with the conditions the elk were only active first thing in the am and again just before dusk. When the bulls were hot the terrain would beat us, once we had figured out the terrain and wind patterns, the bulls were quiet.... repeat.
We had been covering miles of ground and were into elk.... but conditions were definitley favoring the elk. Although we knew the elk were not "unkillable" they had the odds highly stacked in their favor. With time winding down It was time for another move... We were going back to the wetside.
After a several hour drive and couple hours of sleep we were at the gate, back on bikes and heading in. Litteraly 30 minutes into daylight, and the first bugle into the dense forest, we heard sticks popping and busting along with a low chuckle. We pushed through the heavy jackfirs into the more open and bigger timber, I screamed again more popping and braeking.. he was close and closing fast!!. I saw his antlers coming through the timber at 30 yards and closing fast. Both of us hit the cow calls at the same time and the bow went off, sending a shaft low through his heart at 18 yards. The bull stopped at 30 and the pard let another one rip through him. Although we knew the bull was hit hard, he wasnt able to follow his arrows flight path so after locating his first arrow we backed out to make sure we didnt bump the bull just in case. While heading to a safe distance to wait, we heard some more bugles and spotted a young 3 point crossing into a clear cut.... He was nervous and kept looking behind him... With good reason. Brush popping and pushing his way into the road a absolute STUD of a bull stepped out 10 yards away!!
What a rush! After the wait we followed an absolutley awesome blood trail to his bull!! What an awesome way to end the elk season!
It was a great season.... We talked to several guys that never saw a big bull or heard any bugling. We felt very fortunate to have hunted hard and seen and heard some great public land bulls, although we didnt get the biggest... The experience was huge and those big boys will be in my dreams for next season. I never really got into the bucks, Bedded a nice 4 point early on in a good spot for a stalk. But my mind was on getting another bull for the hunting partner. And killing a buck would have definitley hampered that effort. Plus I cant say I have never wanted to play in Oregons late blacktail archery season
.... Heres to dreaming
Good Luck to All!!!
