Archery Elk Opener Today...

[archery288]

Man this is killing me knowing that I could be out hoofin it around elk country listening to bulls bugle and carry on....  But, I am stuck working for the next 6 days until I get 8 off to go give em' hell!   

If anyone gets anything, lets see some pics!

Good luck to all who will be out there!

[NW-Eric]

im in the same boat as you... i work all this week then come friday after work im gone till the following sunday.

[Mike450r]

Damn,  I know the feeling.  I wasn't planning on being able to get out til the weekend but my wife called me this morning saying she saw a small herd in the pasture getting ready to head into the woods.  She said if I hustled I should be able to cut em.

Well,  I didn't get to em but I did get an hour in the woods with my bow and that felt good.

For any of you Rainier area guys the Silver Springs herd is really active and spread out right now so if ya head in at the mile 18 gate they are in there.

[coyotemadness]

Well it could always be worse....look where I'm at.....

[Gobble]

Well it could always be worse....look where I'm at.....

I feel for ya man, Thanks for keeping us safe.

The upside is you have endless insurgent "Tags" for 

Be safe

[coyotemadness]

You are welcome....thank you. Those tags are for an endangered species if you get my drift.

[elkaholic]

stuck in a class for 4 more days,  cant wait.

[Rhinoron247]

  I'm grounded with work and Jury duty till Wednesday.  That bites.  Camp is set and waiting. 

Is anyone hunting at the upper end of the Taneum or in that general area?  I might have a tip or two for just that right someone with a Peaches Big Bull archery tag.  I didn't get drawn and am hunting sole so I wouldn't mind teaming up with just the right person or persons. 

[Antlershed]

Just got home....two elk, a deer, a coyote, and four grouse is what we saw today. No shots as we couldn't get close to the big bull....he wasn't singing at all. Put at least ten miles on the boots before it got REAL warm.

[MuleySniper]

Leaving Thurs. afternoon I'll be dragging along wastickslinger so he can pack out the quarters while I carry the rack and backstraps Just kidding, he's already whining how he should get first crack since its his birthday on Friday I can't wait for some new stories by the end of next week. Good luck guys!
MS

[wastickslinger]

that reminds me, I need to get to the store and get some broccoli and cheese. 

[miah]

I work till wed. but I'm headed to elk country after work for 4 days, bringing my bodybuilder huntin buddy to help pak mine. sounds like the rut is starting to heat up, good luck everyone.

[JBR]

I was planning on leaving Friday, to hunt through til the 21st, but my sons just reminded me that the youth pheasant hunt is the weekend of Sept 20/21, so I'm bumping up the elk hunt and may try to get outta here on Wednesday so I can be back by that last weekend for their pheasant hunt.  Hopefully with my FIRST EVER archery kill of a spike or cow elk!! Can't wait to get going. 

We should create a HUNT-WA flag to hang up at our camps, so we can say hello to each other out there.     Anyway - hope you all have a great time.  I'll be starting out in the Nile unit and may head to the Rimrock unit.  Stay safe and lets lets drop some Wapati !! 

[bankwalker]

i seen 5 today but 3 had me pinned in the car and i couldnt get out without them taking off. and when i finally got out there was another one to my left that wouldnt present a shot.  

and i pushed a nice bull into a guy with a any bull tag. had i been paying attention i would have seen the cows that were with him...but i was late looking up when i busted them out and only seen the bull.

lot of bear sign everywhere today where i was at.

also very promissing elk sign everywhere. lots of fresh sign within the last few nights...and not to much older sign which i figured i would find and not fresh sign.

back at it friday though tuesday.

[Gamblin Guy]

JBR,

I'm with you, headed out wednesday, will hunt until friday morning next week, get home in time for 13yr old son's birthday dinner then try to figure out what we're doing for the youth hunt.  He wants to go goose hunting on his b-day, the 20th, but i dont know if i can put that together in two days.  May end up driving back over the hill and trying to chase a rooster.  I'm needing some woods time right about now....

Good luck to everyone.

[Bookworm]

Got into two herds today. One turned right instead of coming straight up the hill to me. the other we jumped in the tall grass( over six feet)& vineys, all we could see was the tips of a branched bulls horns. . Now I have to wait for the weekend.

[shorthair-on-point]

I will be leaving Thursday.

[mikelonsford]

I am leaving Thursday after work and going through the rest of the early season.  I was going to come back for one evening (19th) which is my wedding anniversary.  The wife said don't worry about it we could have a date the weekend after hunting and she lined up my Mom to babysit.  I am not sure if I should go for that or if it is a trap?!  Guess I'll see how the hunting is right before then.

Good Luck to all!

Mike

[jadeball1]

Ahh... she said go. What else do you need to hear?

[jadeball1]

God, is it friday yet? Course, the margaret doesnt open till the 15th.

[buckmaster_wa]

I like the idea about a hunting-washington flag. That way when we see it we can stop in and meet one another. Anyways good luck to all!!!!!!!

[bankwalker]

I like the idea about a hunting-washington flag. That way when we see it we can stop in and meet one another. Anyways good luck to all!!!!!!!

yeah that would be cool.

[huntnphool]

Maybe a small camo one with Hunting-Washington embroidered under an elk or deer, I can see if I can come up with one that you can slip over an antenna once out of the car. Does anyone think a car would be vandalized for this? I'm not a sticker kind of guy either. If enough are interested I can send a sample to Ray for approval.

[robodad]

Maybe a small camo one with Hunting-Washington embroidered under an elk or deer, I can see if I can come up with one that you can slip over an antenna once out of the car. Does anyone think a car would be vandalized for this? I'm not a sticker kind of guy either. If enough are interested I can send a sample to Ray for approval.

How bout a license plate ring or what ever you call em, then we can bump each other on the freeway !!! JK !!

I would be interested in the flag, that is a good idea for us to meet other members !!

One thing though is the logo doesn't show up all that well on a dark camo pattern is just what I have noticed, maybe Ray wouldn't mind using some other colors  Just an idea !!!

[huntnphool]

I would do a camo flag with a tan elk or deer and Hunting-Washington in maybe yellow, or maybe a hat that you could leave on the dash in the same color configuration, that way it wouldnt get stolen

[billythekidrock]

Might be easier and cheaper to go with one color. Maybe camo with white silk screening on the text and critter?

[JBR]

I'd be open seeing anyone's sample of flags....whatever works would be fun. I think it would be cool to see the flag at a camp and stop in to say hello, knowing I was going to get to meet someone from here. For some reason I haven't figured out a great way to ask another elk hunter out in the woods, "Hey by the way, so do you by chance ever go online to that hunting forum called 'hunting-washington.com'" 

I just got back (early) from my first archery elk hunt in the Nile unit. First time hunting elk, and first time archery hunting.  My expectations were low going in, but also because I had been unable to spend time scouting that unit other than a drive-thru on Labor Day weekend and I never saw any elk then. 

The weather was HOT.  Very dry, very dusty, very hot.  Got up there Wednesday afternoon and started hunting Thursday morning.  My hunting partner and I hunted all day with a short lunch break/target practice at camp during mid-day, and finished hunting at dark.  For all our effort covering a lot of ground and trying to get as far away from the roads as possible, we never saw any elk.  In fact, we never even saw a deer.  Frankly, all the sign we saw was old to really old and nothing fresh. 

Day two we tried to focus on water sources as they were few and far between in that area and the weather was so warm.  We found many dried up creek beds and old wallows, but not much water.  The water we did find, such as creeks, we followed looking for fresh tracks and sign.  We found neither, although we did find 'old stuff'. 

Again, after hunting all day again, we had yet to see even ONE elk or ONE deer.  Hmmm...

Day three, came and went again hitting up high in the thick shaded areas, the north and east facing slopes, the ridgelines, the open meadows, the water sources, always looking at new area covering as much ground as possible, as far away from the roads as possible, looking for animals, bedding areas, trashed trees and any other fresh sign, but only found old stuff.  We cow called as we quietly moved through the mountains, but got no responses.  I would bugle only once each morning from new locations, and once in the evening, just as a locator call to try to find a bull that would respond.

Nothing.

Day four.....nothing but heat and dust and more disappointment.

By day five, after failing to locate even one single elk or deer (which I ALWAYS come across in the woods at some point), we began to feel like something was wrong.  The elk clearly didn't seem to be in the area.  Was it the heat? They still had to be somewhere.  Was it the area?  Was it us?  Only one camp had a cow hanging (that we could see) which they had apparently got within the first 3 days. 

If we had at the very least seen something, anything, or come across fresh sign, it would have been worth burning through the remaining vacation time to stay and keep trying.  But as it was, we just couldn't see wasting the additional time in an area that seemed totally void of animals at that time.   

We decided to cut our losses, get home and learn more, scout more, and figure out WHERE the elk are before spending the next hunting trip wandering aimlessly and fruitlessly through the mountains.  I was frustrated and confused to say the least, but mostly I was just regreting not feeling confident about where to go and find the elk.  I can say with confidence that we hunted hard all day, every day and we clearly were unable to locate the animals.  I know I'm a total novice when it comes to archery and elk hunting specifically and I'm a beginner with the elk calls, but I've hunted long enough to be able to hunt an area and search for fresh sign, and even that was elusive for us. 

So...it was a total bust for us (at least as far as filling our tags), but we still enjoyed being out there of course.  It was a great experience to be out there with our bows, hunting beautiful country in nice weather (for a change) and just soaking it all up.  I just feel I could use some direction and guidence from those more experienced than me to get me off and running in the right direction, and that's in large part what I look for on forums such as this.  I always seem to have to trudge my way through these new experiences blindly, but I eventually get there and the journey is always worth it.  I hope others had much more success than we did and I'll try to post some pictures soon.  Like I said, it was beautiful out there.

I'm looking forward to this coming weekend with the youth pheasant hunt. It should be much more productive for my boys than than the past 6 days were for me! 
 

[shorthair-on-point]

I am sorry it didn't go better JBR. A simple flag sounds like a good idea.