2017 Colockum Archery Elk Hunt

[teanawayslayer]

 

You missed a lot of punctuation in that story.  I mean a lot.


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. Critic 

[Jpmiller]

While we are in the process of making the forum a more friendly welcoming place I propose some kind of rule about punctual updated from guys who draw premium tags. 

[jackelope]

I won’t put you guys through this kind of suspense. I promise. This guy Rainier10 is obviously slacking off.


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[fishngamereaper]

The suspense...

Your one to talk.

 

 

What could you possibly mean???

 

Was it 8 or 9 pages.....

[PlateauNDN]

The suspense...

Your one to talk.

 

 

What could you possibly mean???

 

Was it 8 or 9 pages.....

I almost forgot, you did mean "you're" right? As in "you're one to talk"?

And by 8 or 9 pages, whatever do you mean? Who would put others through such cruel, pain and animosity of telling a story 1 post a day at a time.  

Not I says Plat.

[Rainier10]

Sorry for the delay, had to spend some time with the family.

So day two and three, Sunday and Monday, were super slow. Covered tons of ground and heard very little and actually didn't see an elk.

On my hike out at the two mile mark before I got to the truck I ran into a hunter on an unlicensed quad.  He said he was a disabled hunter.  He had a crossbow.  I knew he was in the area.  Day one he was close to the area we parked.  After talking to him he said that he hadn't seen any elk so he was moving his blind again.  I asked him if he thought his quad driving was affecting the elk in the area.  He said no and that the elk were there each time he moved deeper into the woods.  He would drive in at dark and the elk were in his headlights but at sun up they weren't around.  He would then spend midday driving around checking his game cameras and they all showed elk.  He would then drive back in for the evening hunt.  I then asked him about the fact that the area was closed to motor vehicles.  He said it was open to everyone, that is why they cut the barbed wire fence, to allow access. 

Frustrating for sure but once I could see that he was pushing deeper and deeper I decided I needed to move to another area.  I did take down his information and sent it in to verify that he was legal to be accessing the area with an unlicensed quad.

[Stein]

He's right, study after study shows elk love people and are absolutely addicted to motor vehicles.   

Take some pics and text them to WDFW.  If he's legit, no harm.

[Rainier10]

Tuesday was the day to move to a new area but my buddy woke me up before my alarm went off.  He said that he thought someone was on my property bugling and doing a terrible job.  He saw a headlamp going across my place and then it went off when he went outside to check on it.  We both waited for the sun to come up and couldn't find the trespasser but we did find the bugler, it was a 6x6 bull with 20 cows.

The scramble was on.  I am super familiar with the elk around my place and the paths that they like to take.  I hightailed it to an ambush point and patiently waited.  From 300 yards out I saw the elk come over the horizon on a be line for me.  The cows in front, the bull lagging way behind.  After the cows passed I prepared for my shot.  What I didn't realize was that all the bugling had brought in some other cows from behind me that I hadn't seen.  My motion drew their attention and the bull noticed them and started their way.  I had to adjust my shot and in my haste I ranged him again and misread my rangefinder or had it on brush, I'm not exactly sure what happened but I know that I was steady for the shot but the arrow sailed high over his back.

He ran off with the second group of cows.  Knowing that there was now 10 cows with him but 20 that he had lost I figured later in the day he would be looking for those cows.

I had some errands to run in town so I headed in to take care of those and be back for the afternoon hunt.

On my way back from town I found the elk just 115 yards off of the road to my cabin.  I parked the truck and waited for the bull to step behind some bushes.  I got out of the truck and slowly began to close the distance in my blues jeans and teal blue t shirt.  What a site that must have been for the cows.  They slowly meandered off but the bull never came out of the tall brush.  I waited for only about 10 minutes and I heard him stand in the trees as his antlers rattled on the branches.  He popped his head out of the brush and he was only 23 yards away.  Absolute chip shot, as he stepped out of the trees he dropped into a hole and all that I could see was his head and antlers, no view of his vitals.  At that point he realized that his cows were gone and I was up to no good.  He bolted away. I called my buddy at the cabin and told him the bull was headed that way and for him to watch.

When I got to the cabin he told me that he had seen the bull and the cows. He showed me the cows in the spotting scope and the brush that he had seen the bull go into.

I changed my shirt into a camo one but stayed in my Levi's.  40 minutes later I was at the brush and as I approached again the cows just moved away but the bull didn't move.  When I got to 26 yards from the clump of trees I could see the bull bedded through a small opening in the brush.  Over the next two hours I stood and watched as he put his head down to sleep and raise back up every couple of minutes.  At one point I thought I was going to get a shot but he just repositioned himself and laid back down.  At this point his hind end was exposed in the opening and it appeared that a well placed shot just over the hind quarter to find it's mark just behind the ribs and into the boiler room.  I wasn't 100% sure that it would work and so I decided to wait for the bull to stand and give me a better shot.  Unfortunately the wind started to swirl and the bull jumped to his feet and ran out the other side of the brush.

It was an amazing day with three different opportunities at the same bull.

[Rainier10]

The next day was a long hike day.  With such a long hunt I decided to go long one day 14 miles and short the next 7-9 miles in an effort to save my body and feet.  It all kind of runs together but I believe this was the day that I ran into another tag holder.  After talking to them and letting them know I was shooting any bull over 300" they pointed us in the direction that we were already heading but said that they had just seen two 340" bulls that way and had passed on them.

We didn't get into either bull but on the next ridge over from where we were we spotted a group of 60 cows and one giant bull.  At this point we were whooped and just wanted a good meal and stiff drink. My buddy said "there is no way you can walk away from that elk, you have to try."  I agreed but the odds seemed impossible.  It was quite a hike and once I arrived there were so many eyes.  I just didn't see how he would respond to a bugle, I figured he would just take his ladies and go and cow calls wouldn't work, he had plenty of cows as it was.

After making the trek to get into position I noticed there was a guy with horses just above the elk.  I hiked up and asked if he had someone hunting the elk below.  He was oblivious to the elk just below him and said that he had a friend just over the other side of the ridge cow hunting.  I told him I had the bull tag and was going to make a move on the elk below him.  He said good luck and if it didn't work there was  nice 6x6 and a 6x7 working the ridge top that he had his buddy on for the night. He said I should try that the next day.  I said thanks and moved on to the elk below.

I had seen that there was a skidder road going out to the elk and as I approached I could see that the elk were on the move.  The cows were out front going away from me and the bull was lagging behind.  I could only get to 100 yards but as they went over the ridge and around the corner I figured I would be able to catch them on the other side.

I came over the top and found the cows but the bull was now below them and bugling away.  We had moved closer to my buddy and he could see all that was happening and was headed our way.  I could hear cow calling coming from down the road and all of a sudden all of the cows started heading that way.  I was amazed it was working.  All of a sudden the bull appeared at 120 yards and was following the cows.  I started to head that way to cut them off as they headed towards my buddy.  Unfortunately he had lost track of where the elk were and was cow calling as he was walking up the road.  He bumped into them before I could get into position and they busted down over the hill.

Another close call that actually almost worked on an amazing bull.

[Rainier10]

The next day was supposed to be a short day and wouldn't you know it the elk were on my property again.  15 cows and one big bull bed down just 60 yards off of the road.  I head down to get into position and of course the elk start to move away before I can get close.  Once again knowing the area well I move to an ambush spot cow calling the entire way.  I come around the corner and see the cows moving away at 120 yards.  I only see two cows so I figure if I hurry I can catch the bull in the corner at the end of the line.  Just as I start to double time it over there I bump right into the bull at 60 yards.  He was leaving the cows and coming right to my cow call.    Rookie move, don't rush it.

I was able to get around and in front of them one more time but something seemed wrong as they moved away from me.  I texted my buddy who was still in the cabin and he said you better come up here and take a look.  I headed back to the cabin and took a good look at the bull now bedded in the sage below m place.

He was huge, gigantic body.  His left side was enormous, 7 points total.  His right however was really weak, only 4 points.  My buddy says you can do whatever you want but you said you wanted a 300" bull and although that will gross 300" it won't net it.  I agreed so we just let him lay there and we headed out after other elk.

[Rainier10]

Friday was the day that we were getting more guests to come and hunt so we did a pretty light morning not knowing what everyone would want to do for the night hunt.  Nobody was interested in a night hunt so me and my buddy just headed up to a lookout point to come up with a plan for the morning.  On the way there 5 bulls crossed the road in front of us.  We quickly bailed into the woods but couldn't catch them.  We got back in the truck and got above them and did some calling but couldn't get them in.

We proceeded up to the lookout and found two different groups setting up camp at the landing.  We talked to both camps about our plans for the morning and they both agreed to let us pass through on our way to our destination.

The next day was super quiet but  about 3pm my buddies heard a bugle and actually saw a nice 6x6, a  4x4 and a true spike.  They passed on the true spike and waited for us to arrive to where they were.  As soon as we arrived the bull bugled and we set up.  My buddy was 70 yards behind and to my right calling.  I wasn't exactly sure where my other buddies were but they had to be close.  Immediately I saw the bull coming my way and I began to look for shooting lanes based on his approach.  That is when I saw my other buddies, they were in some brush not 30 yards from me between me and my caller.  Unfortunately I felt that took away my option to wait for the bull to pass and draw at that point.  There was a bush that I thought I could draw at and shoot him at 16 yards.

He stopped at about 40 and started raking a tree but didn't give me a shot.  As my buddy kept calling the bull continued his approach.  When he got to the bush I drew and he caught my motion and spooked.  He busted out and the jig was up but what an encounter.

[Rainier10]

Sunday was a slow day for me but everyone else in our group had bulls within 40 yards of them.  They all got great video on their phones to torment me with.  I had to head home Sunday night to get back to work to get some work done but I would return on Tuesday.

[Rainier10]

This is the one that spooked as I drew.

[Rainier10]

While I was at work on Monday this guy was waltzing around without a care in the world.

[Rainier10]

When I got back Monday night there were elk going bananas. The next morning this guy was in my sites but I just couldn't get him to commit.