So I originally was going to hunt in the Graham are, but the rut was WAY more powerful than I thought. I was getting anywhere between 5-10 bulls in one picture off my trail cameras. Come early September...poof...they're gone. So I called a buddy of mine that I've known for 10 years and asked for a life line. Where he hunts he has A LOT of success. So, he hooked it up.
Day 1- He showed us the area and kind of gave us a brief run down about their patterns in that area. We hiked in, and he did a little calling. We hiked around for a few hours but had to cut it short because my other buddy and I had to set up camp.
Day 2- Due to some equipment failures we had to drive home and refit. Wasted day.
Day 3- SNOW! We woke up to snow. We decided to stay high and try to locate some elk that might be traveling down to find food. We found some tracks and followed them for about 3-4 hours. Then all of a sudden the tracks stopped. It was weird.
Day 4- ELK! We were walking along a trail and we see elk. I looked down my scope and only saw one cow. I saw the butt end of some others but I couldn't make out what they were. After watching them for a minute they spotted us. They ran down a hill and I went after them. I followed their tracks as my buddy stayed high on the trail. After about 30 minutes I realized they went back up. I met up with my buddy and he said it was a spike with some cows.
Day 5- We went down that same trail as before and decided to give the legs a rest. We split up and went to areas where we saw some fresh sign. Sat there all day and I saw nothing. My buddy kicked up some elk but didn't get good eyes on.
Day 6- We went back to that same general area but just a bit West of it. After walking down a trail I decided to break brush and see what I can find. After about 2 hours.....I was lost. Had NO IDEA where I was. I was going up and down ridges, thru saddles, sucking wind and hating life. After trying to find my way back on my own, I decided to whip out the GPS and head back to the vehicle. About an hour after that, I found the trail and my buddy. PLUS side of being lost...A LOT OF ELK SIGN.
Day 7- We tried our luck next to some openings and near some water. Nothing.
Time to go home. Left empty handed but loved every minute of it. 10-15 miles every day, minus the rest day, saw elk and a lot of sign. Met some great people that were willing to help us out and give us pointers. Congrats to all that tagged out so far. My journey hasn't ended...
