Free: Contests & Raffles.
Quote from: Shawn Ryan on March 04, 2015, 03:01:23 PMGet comfortable with walking in the dark, whether early in the morning from camp or late in the evening back to camp. Spend those first and last 30 minutes right where you think the elk should be, even if its miles from camp. Also, start down in the draws. I don't know how many people head straight for the ridges in the morning, but the thermals are still going down for a couple hours. I want to be right in the bottom of the bowl/drainage I plan to hunt when it first starts getting light. follow the elk up, and make sure you stay to the side before the wind starts to swirl. You can't be scared of elevation gain.
Get comfortable with walking in the dark, whether early in the morning from camp or late in the evening back to camp. Spend those first and last 30 minutes right where you think the elk should be, even if its miles from camp.
Stay at home tell you draw a good tag.
I just dont see the problem phantom :chuckl
Quote from: kentrek on March 06, 2015, 10:23:01 AMI just dont see the problem phantom :chucklNote to self.. bring kentrek along to Idaho as a pack mule, lol.
Cover scents are good, but not always....... I was following three bulls down a steep hill when I came across fresh elk pee in a bed. So what's a true blue elk hunter do that has been foiled by swirling wind for days? Oh yes rub it all over himself. I was in the middle of my rubadubdub when my wife say's your not getting into my tent smelling like that!!!! Then the fly's attacked me,they came out of knowwhere. Why weren't the fly's on the pee on the ground? I don't know but now they are swarming me. It's a good thing it wears of quick. And yes I did get to sleep in the tent that night.
Plan for get-homeitis. We all get a long ways from camp in rough and dangerous terrain that can't be navigated safely in the dark. Pack to stay if you have to. Carry the essentials, that includes a few comfort items. The worst for me was when I pushed a bull after I shot him years ago because I wasn't prepared to stay the night.
Practice proper trail etiquette. If hunter A has ingested a can of Stagg chili (or any other rot gut, flatulence producing concoction) the prior evening, hunter A must by rule, allow hunter B to take the lead going up the access trail in the morning. If hunter A forgets this rule and accidentally takes the lead, and then feels something coming on, hunter A must immediately move off trail, announce "trail bomb" over his left or right shoulder, and allow hunter B to move into the lead position prior to release.