Well, 13 days of the hardest solo backcountry hunting I have ever had.I spent the whole season minus 1 day for resupply in the Norse Peak Wilderness.Saw elk everyday and passed up a dandy 5x5 20 minutes into opening day as I had set my goal for a minimum 320 class bull as it took me 9 years to draw the tag.Nothing really great happened until the last 5 days of the season when I made about a 20 mile shift in my game plan.Then it was insane!Had 5 different encounters with the same bull and passed up a couple of slam dunk shots on him,under 20 yards in the open.
Saw one of the largest bulls of my life in Washington state at 80 yards saturday morning and watched him roll in a wallow and toss grass and mud into the air for about 15 minutes.The full moon and 70+ degree weather was a huge factor in trying to get these bulls to even look my way let alone come check out what was making the cow calls,until yesterday morning when the temp dropped about 30 degrees and it started to rain cats and dogs.
The drop in the temp overnight was the magic button.I awoke to 4 different bulls in the meadow uphill from my bivy sack camp, bugling and tearing the meadow to shreds.I circled around the meadow about 3:45 in the morning and waited and waited and waited some more.Finally about 7:30 I couldn't take it anymore, and had to sneak in for a peak at the action..It was like something off a Primos video.Bulls paralleing each other,bugling,satelite bulls running around,cows mewing..it was incredible!Then the hurricane winds blew in and it was over.The elk cleared out of there and headed for the black timber and I felt about as helpless as a little kid!I was not prepared for the weather that was about to unfold.40-50 mph winds,monsoon rains and upper 30 degree temps.I hussled back to my bivy and made the 5 mile hike to my pick-up point and prayed for cell signal.
To make a long story short.My wife came and picked me up,I cranked the heater in the Dodge and slept until we got home.
I am not upset that I didn't get a big bull,I had my chances at some nice bulls for sure but not any that met my personal goals,learned a hell of a lot more about elk than I could have ever imagined,saw lots of elk,mtn. goats and 1 nice bear.If I ever draw that tag again, I know exactlly where I will be,how to hunt the area a little more effective and try to get at least one of my buddies there to film.Thank you to all the people who gave me a heads up to this very special area.
