Game Plan 2020 - Episode #1

[WapitiTalk1]

Tag: Bull tag
Season/Hunt: Archery, partner hunt
Time/Date/Location: Mid-September, 7:30ish AM, in an elk state
Camp/gear: Spike Camp, 3 ½ miles in on an old, un-maintained FS trail.

Dang bulls have been bugling all night down in the draw below camp.  When morning comes, you head out of camp, and before you enter the alder wall/jungle (standing right on the red arrow), you hear at least two bulls.  They sound/appear as though they’re heading in the direction of the yellow line/arrow to bed.  No major weather today so the thermals are pretty much normal for the mountain states (downhill in the morning till around 9:00 – 9:30ish, then, they move uphill till some point in the late afternoon.  Shooting light ends around 6:45ish on this hunt.

I know it’s not a lot of information but sometimes that’s all you’ve got to work with.  For the sake of this scenario, you have never hunted this spot before. 

What’s your tentative game plan to let the air out of one of those distant bulls?

[elksnout]

Always a roll of the dice. I don't know the area but figure there's water in the bottom of that draw and with the night activity mentioned, I'm betting that those bulls are heading to water then either angling back up the same side (to find a bench) or crossing the creek and up the other side to bed.

I've got some time. There's not spooked. I'm going to drop straight down to the creek to get below them and the wind in my favor (for now). Once in the bottom I'll toss out some cow calls and one or two bugles followed by some light raking. It's mid September and a mature bull should have cows but I'm playing that these two are satellites on the prowl and callable.

Until the wind changes, I'm paralleling them with the above plan and heavily playing the roles of cow's looking for a date night. At least until it falls apart in my face. 

[Crunchy]

Throw out some locator bugles and hope to get some responses.  Wait for the thermals to switch and move down/in to make a play.  Stay in or near the bottom until the thermals switch again and hunt your wait out.