Empty Manastash Cow Tags

[wall of wood camp]

Wow what a terrible year in terms of elk harvest for our camp. First time since 2005 we came up empty.  We had 7 cow tags and we still have seven unfilled cow tags after the season.  We hunted hard every day of the season both general spikes and then the entire cow season only to be shut out.  I saw four branch antlered bulls no spikes and then on Friday evening I had two cows and a calf come out in my little clearing I was set up on.  I shot the dry young cow she went down like a ton of bricks and the big cow and calf ran off.  I picked up my extra coat I was sitting on and shoved it in my pack then went down to start gutting my elk only to find that she had gotten up and ran off.  It was close to dark so I spent about an hour with a flash light coursing over the area then backed out and went back Saturday morning.  I found the tracks in the mud where she fell down a patch of hair that I knocked off her and followed her tracks down the canyon all day crossing back and forth but came up empty. I have no Idea where she went but I was not able to find her. I didn’t see another elk.  Usually I see quite a few but I think the first big snow that came all at once pushed a lot of them out of the area and they never came back once they went down.  I guess I will just have to start preparing for next season.

[coachcw]

WOW ! I cant believe if you guys hunted hard that you couldn't find cows , I'd be moving every day till I found them . there's plenty of cow to shoot in there .

[D-Rock425]

7 unfilled cow tags

[elkoholic1]

thats unbelievible, had freinds down low, they seen elk everyday and they were pretty much just sitting and waiting for them...   

[Killmore]

Ten years ago filling a cow tag was nothing more than going for a drive, Today I believe filling a branched bull tag might be easier,I don't care what the game department says, there is way less elk then yesterday. Our camp eats more than half of the tags we draw. Your aviator pic looks familiar, Walter springs area?

[wall of wood camp]

Killmore I couldn't agree more the other thing that makes it not such a drop in the bucket is the fact that they have changed the cow season to the middle of the week compared tothe old way of getting the first crack at them before general season starts. The elk numbers are down compared to what used to be in this area. Bur could be up in other places. We are close to Walter springs but actually camped at Riders Camp off the 3100 road.

[SniperDanWA]

I was over there with my son all week.  We looked for your camp, but I didn't hit all of the roads.  We were OTC.  Opening day my son had a spike but some idiot was in the way (ahem, me that is).  He chose not to shot, I guess good for me or I might be hanging on a wall somewhere.  Anyway, I scoped the spike after my boy lost him and I was about to pull the trigger when he darted left instead of straight past the trees I was pegging him to follow.  So, missed him and he was gone up the ravine towards Buck Meadows.  Took my son home on Sunday and came back Monday am.  Nothing on Monday, but Tuesday at 6:45 I was on three up near first creek and second creek just north of Bald.  I jumped two cows and a spike, but I could not tell if he was a single or multi-point as it was not light enough and the fog was dang hard to see through.

I agree it was tough this year.  The weather was weird - 12-16" of snow in some places, fog, rain, sun...  Greatest walking and tracking I've had, but tough time walking up some of the canyons and ravines with all that snow.

I saw a nice 6x, 2x and a couple cows taken.  Not much meat on the poles in Umtanum and the part of Manastash I was in.  Tag soup again, but heck of a fun year.  My son learned a lot this year on tracking.

[sled]

Ten years ago filling a cow tag was nothing more than going for a drive, Today I believe filling a branched bull tag might be easier,I don't care what the game department says, there is way less elk then yesterday. Our camp eats more than half of the tags we draw. Your aviator pic looks familiar, Walter springs area?

[littlemac]

Killmore I couldn't agree more the other thing that makes it not such a drop in the bucket is the fact that they have changed the cow season to the middle of the week compared tothe old way of getting the first crack at them before general season starts. The elk numbers are down compared to what used to be in this area. Bur could be up in other places. We are close to Walter springs but actually camped at Riders Camp off the 3100 road.

My first cow tag draw was back when they overlapped with the last weekend of deer hunting.  Like shopping back then, there was always meat in the freezer.  Oh and more hunters then too.

[Killmore]

The department did the mid week season on cows so we would harvest less. They know the herd size is down , so they keep the permit numbers up so we still BUY the application. They use to figure a 50% harvest on cows and now it's less than 25%