2017 Colockum Archery Elk Hunt

[GUscottie]

 

[Woodchuck]

I know, I know 

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Work should be done now. Post away!!!!!

[wsucowboy]

Tagging


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[Woodchuck]

Don't tell him I did this but here is a bull that he may have taken a look at.

[takethetime]

Fun read hope there is a still picture coming soon!

[Rainier10]

So I have covered about when I realized I had been drawn with 17 points and my plan for the hunt to hunt where I always hunt with my friends.  I wasn't worried about the biggest it was more about the hunt and the memories we would be creating.

I really thought it would only take a few days and there was good chance it would happen opening day.  That is definitely the best day to fill a tag.  There is nothing better than opening day.

I got to my cabin Friday afternoon and headed up to see what the elk activity was doing.  Just as I was arriving to my spot I noticed elk off to the side of the road.  A few cows and a bull, the bull was singing away and I thought everything is falling right into place.

Opening morning we head out and get to the spot but no elk in sight, it seemed odd but we hiked on.  About 7 am we hear our first bugle and it is close.  I try to get setup as a group of 30 cows starts filtering by at 100 yards and just beyond them is a nice 6x6 bull.  They are on the move pushed by someone and there is no stopping them.  Off I go to get ahead of them.  Some how they give me the slip and I run into another hunting that asks if I have seen a wounded cow.  I say no and that I was following a herd and had a bull tag.  Of course he shows me video of a bull that has spent the morning just roaming around and practically licking his face. 

He points me in the direction of the bull and off we go. We get setup and do a  bit of calling and immediately a group of four cows comes running with a spike by two.  The small bull walks right up to 25.5 yards and stands broadside.  Of course I pass and my buddy gives me all kinds of grief.  He says I am one of the only guys on the mountain that can shoot a 2x1 in a true spike area.  He goes on to say how good it would taste and how fun it would be to drive around a true spike area showing off a 2x1.  Guaranteed visit from the game warden.

We move on and about an hour or so later hear a bugle in the distance.  Off I go with my buddy calling behind me.  I see two cows coming and they pass by me on the left as I see a great 6x6 coming in screaming his lungs out.  I range him at 68 yards and can see that he is going to cross in front of me at 40 yards.  When he gets to the 40 yard mark he just disappears behind some brush I assume on the same path as the cows.  I wait and he never appears.  No idea where he went.  No biggie, it's opening day we will find another one and just like that we hear another bugle off in the distance.

We start moving towards it and it won't budge.  No worries I will just take it to him.  It's 1:30 maybe he is just bed down and bugling from his bed.  My buddy keeps cow calling and bugling as the bull keeps responding I move in.  I come up on a bedded elk but it is a true spike.  No way was this the elk that was bugling.  Right then I hear the elk bugle again to my right.  I back away from the spike and move closer to the bugle.  I come around a tree and right there at 45 yards is an awesome 7x7 destroying a tree and bugling.  Problem is there is a bush covering most of his vitals.  As I am trying to figure out how to get a shot he notices me.  Bit of a standoff and then he goes back to manicuring this poor tree.  My buddy hasn't bugled for 10 minutes and this bull is now focussed on the tree.  I thought about dropping to a knee to see if I could slip one under the brush.  I decided to just wait for my buddy to bugle and get this elk on the move to a clear shot.  I waited for what seemed like an eternity and finally decided to just try to make a move to a clearer shot.  That was all it took, the bull spooked and was in the Blues I think before I could blink.

Moving on we decide to sit on a wallow for the afternoon, why not, it's 83 degrees or something like that.  I have the patience of a two year old so 20 minutes into that I am ready to move on.  As I stand up my buddy grabs me and says look at that.  A solid 6x6 is headed straight to the wallow.  He drops into the 5 foot deep hole and disappears.  I make my move down the hill through the brush and pop up over the top of the hole and no elk.  What the heck?!  Did these elk go to magic class or what?  I see tracks out of the wallow and ask my buddy what happened.  He says he has no idea.  My guess is he thought he would get a quick game of candy crush in while I was stalking in. He has a worse attention span than I do.

We decide to follow the tracks and catch up to him quickly but even though we spike his interest with cow calls he won't commit.  He finally blows out and we hear another bugle ahead of us.  As we get closer my buddy says they are right on the other side of the hill.  Maybe I should just take a peak and see where they are.  Wrong move.  They were coming right over the top and I blew them right out of there.  Rookie move.

Day one is in the books and I am feeling great about the opportunities I had and just know that this won't take more than a day or two.  My buddy is so stoked about what a great first day we had.

[fishngamereaper]

 

[bracer40]

Can't wait for the next episode!

[jackelope]

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


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[Mossyoak]

 

[PlateauNDN]

The suspense...

[carpsniperg2]

Did he eat to many tacos again?  keep it coming man

[fishngamereaper]

The suspense...

Your one to talk.

 

[PlateauNDN]

The suspense...

Your one to talk.

 

 

What could you possibly mean???