My toutle any bull tag experience.

[briancorneal]

It all started on the 4th when I drove down to the toutle unit.  I planned on hiking in past the gates, but was surprised to see them open.  After trying to head over to elk mountain (too much snow), I decided to park it for the night on the 5700 line.  Since camping wasn't allowed, I slept in my truck...if you can call it sleeping (sleeping in you truck isn't camping right ).  I awoke in the morning not knowing the area , so after glassing for a bit and seeing nothing, I started driving around.  I had a feeling that I should stop and glass, so I did and I wondered what this tan blob was that was on top of a cliff in the distance.  The blob was an elk and I had a bull tag, so I prayed for it to be a bull!  I pulled out my spotting scope, the one I told my girlfriend I "needed" and had to convince her to get her approval, and I'm glad I spent the bucks that I did.  It was a bull, but a funky looking one to be exact.  It was a 2 point with one side pointing up and the other down.  I nicknamed him retard.  I immediately ran to my truck and zipped down there faster than jeff gordon.  I hopped out, took my boots off, and started the stalk (my 2nd stalk in 5 years of hunting).  The alder leaves were crunchy, so that made stalking slow.  I finally made it up to where I thought he was and heard a twig crack.  Soon there after, I hear chewing.  I was in a perfect spot.  He was less than 15 feet away, but a rude tree with no manners was between me and retard.  I ranged what I could, then all of a sudden my rangefinder battery fell.  Not too good when you're 15 feet away.  All I needed was him to take a step or 2 and he was mine.  Too bad that I decided that he won't see me pick up the battery.  Not a good idea.  He blew out of there quick!  That was the closest I've ever been to an elk.  My heart was pounding in my throat.  Not bad for a first day!

Stalk #2 was within a half mile of the first one.  The guys who said that i'd be in elk at the Toutle was not joking!  I had the wind in my favor, a stream to cover some of the sound of my approach, but as I got to where they were, they weren't there.  More elk with no manners. 

Stalk #3 began in a new area, and I was glassing a sector with no luck, then I looked over my shoulder and saw a few stumps move.  It's amazing how those ol' cows look just like tree stumps.  I pulled out my bino's and saw a spike in the bunch.  It was game on.  They were headed up through a clear cut and over a saddle.  I decided to head through an uncut stand of trees to keep concealed....bad idea.  What I didn't see was the thousand or so of blowdowns.  Blowdowns = bad stalking conditions.  It took forever to head through that stuff.  Finally I emerged out of the trees, right below the group of elk......busted! 

Stalk #4 and 5
Same group of elk as # 3, but those old cows know what they're doing!  I also found out that still hunting and I don't mix.

Stalk #6
After a day of not seeing anything, I drove down the 5360 and spotted a group of elk with a spike in it across the toutle river.  It was getting dark, so I drove down there quick.  I parked my truck and headed out.  300 yards to cover, and I made sure my battery cover for the rangefinder was on tight before heading off!  Boots off, and I starting my stalk.  After my 5 lessons at the school of elk, I made sure the wind was in my face, and I was patient.  I put some 10' firs in between me and the elk and covered a lot of distance.  I had to do it quick because it was getting dark.  I made it onto a log which offered a great shot opportunity.  The spike was between 2 firs so it was a perfect lane to shoot.  The branches weren't all that great for my rangefinder though.  A great idea I thought of was to use a stump that looked like the same distance as the spike (34 yards).  I aimed, shot and my sleeve made quite a loud sound when my bow string hit it.  The elk spooked, but didn't go far.  I guess my camo worked becase they didn't know what the hell happened.  I glassed the spike praying for a clean shot....no such luck.  I would've shot again, but I barely saw my peep the first time.  Without knowing if my shot was good or not, I let out a couple yells to spook them off.  I needed to find my arrow!  I ran to my truck, grabbed my headlamp, and ran to the spot of my "kill shot" and searched for my arrow or blood with no luck.  My battery in the headlamp was almost dead, so I decided to wait til morning to continue the search.  The following morning with 10 minutes, I found it...no blood.  My florescant? yellow arrow wraps are awesome for retrieval fyi! 

6 stalks in 6 days= one hell of a good time and a whole lot of lessons learned.  It would've been 7, but on Saturday, I found a crack in my bow limb (2007 Browning Illusion).  No way was I going to shoot after finding that, so I headed home.  Even though I'll get crap for 5 years with no elk in the freezer, I find it totally worth the heart pounding action in those 6 stalks.  Maybe next year will be my year!

A many thanks to the hunt wa members who have offered their knowledge and help! 

[blindpig]

Good read, lessons learned for sure.  Way to stick with it.

[Bigshooter]

It all started on the 4th when I drove down to the toutle unit.  I planned on hiking in past the gates, but was surprised to see them open.  After trying to head over to elk mountain (too much snow), I decided to park it for the night on the 5700 line.  Since camping wasn't allowed, I slept in my truck...if you can call it sleeping (sleeping in you truck isn't camping right ).  I awoke in the morning not knowing the area , so after glassing for a bit and seeing nothing, I started driving around.  I had a feeling that I should stop and glass, so I did and I wondered what this tan blob was that was on top of a cliff in the distance.  The blob was an elk and I had a bull tag, so I prayed for it to be a bull!  I pulled out my spotting scope, the one I told my girlfriend I "needed" and had to convince her to get her approval, and I'm glad I spent the bucks that I did.  It was a bull, but a funky looking one to be exact.  It was a 2 point with one side pointing up and the other down.  I nicknamed him retard.  I immediately ran to my truck and zipped down there faster than jeff gordon.  I hopped out, took my boots off, and started the stalk (my 2nd stalk in 5 years of hunting).  The alder leaves were crunchy, so that made stalking slow.  I finally made it up to where I thought he was and heard a twig crack.  Soon there after, I hear chewing.  I was in a perfect spot.  He was less than 15 feet away, but a rude tree with no manners was between me and retard.  I ranged what I could, then all of a sudden my rangefinder battery fell.  Not too good when you're 15 feet away.  All I needed was him to take a step or 2 and he was mine.  Too bad that I decided that he won't see me pick up the battery.  Not a good idea.  He blew out of there quick!  That was the closest I've ever been to an elk.  My heart was pounding in my throat.  Not bad for a first day!

Stalk #2 was within a half mile of the first one.  The guys who said that i'd be in elk at the Toutle was not joking!  I had the wind in my favor, a stream to cover some of the sound of my approach, but as I got to where they were, they weren't there.  More elk with no manners. 

Stalk #3 began in a new area, and I was glassing a sector with no luck, then I looked over my shoulder and saw a few stumps move.  It's amazing how those ol' cows look just like tree stumps.  I pulled out my bino's and saw a spike in the bunch.  It was game on.  They were headed up through a clear cut and over a saddle.  I decided to head through an uncut stand of trees to keep concealed....bad idea.  What I didn't see was the thousand or so of blowdowns.  Blowdowns = bad stalking conditions.  It took forever to head through that stuff.  Finally I emerged out of the trees, right below the group of elk......busted! 

Stalk #4 and 5
Same group of elk as # 3, but those old cows know what they're doing!  I also found out that still hunting and I don't mix.

Stalk #6
After a day of not seeing anything, I drove down the 5360 and spotted a group of elk with a spike in it across the toutle river.  It was getting dark, so I drove down there quick.  I parked my truck and headed out.  300 yards to cover, and I made sure my battery cover for the rangefinder was on tight before heading off!  Boots off, and I starting my stalk.  After my 5 lessons at the school of elk, I made sure the wind was in my face, and I was patient.  I put some 10' firs in between me and the elk and covered a lot of distance.  I had to do it quick because it was getting dark.  I made it onto a log which offered a great shot opportunity.  The spike was between 2 firs so it was a perfect lane to shoot.  The branches weren't all that great for my rangefinder though.  A great idea I thought of was to use a stump that looked like the same distance as the spike (34 yards).  I aimed, shot and my sleeve made quite a loud sound when my bow string hit it.  The elk spooked, but didn't go far.  I guess my camo worked becase they didn't know what the hell happened.  I glassed the spike praying for a clean shot....no such luck.  I would've shot again, but I barely saw my peep the first time.  Without knowing if my shot was good or not, I let out a couple yells to spook them off.  I needed to find my arrow!  I ran to my truck, grabbed my headlamp, and ran to the spot of my "kill shot" and searched for my arrow or blood with no luck.  My battery in the headlamp was almost dead, so I decided to wait til morning to continue the search.  The following morning with 10 minutes, I found it...no blood.  My florescant? yellow arrow wraps are awesome for retrieval fyi! 

6 stalks in 6 days= one hell of a good time and a whole lot of lessons learned.  It would've been 7, but on Saturday, I found a crack in my bow limb (2007 Browning Illusion).  No way was I going to shoot after finding that, so I headed home.  Even though I'll get crap for 5 years with no elk in the freezer, I find it totally worth the heart pounding action in those 6 stalks.  Maybe next year will be my year!

A many thanks to the hunt wa members who have offered their knowledge and help!

          

[bowhuntersd]

Great story. Elk hunting is hard enough let alone with a stick and string... Good luck next time.

[Arteman]

Yep, good luck next year.  Sucks about your bow but good thing you found the crack before something bad might have happened.

[briancorneal]

That's what I was thinking.  I've seen a few youtube videos of bow limbs shattering and bad stuff happening to the shooter!

[MADMAX]

Hell of a try, anyone that tells you "its easy" bowhunting elk is a liar.
It takes time, and everything needs to align for it to work perfectly.
Stick with it.
Its really good when it all comes together.
You'll see.

[heavy hauler]

great story. thanks for sharing. i have messed up every way possible while bow hunting for elk. i still love it though

[RadSav]

Back in '85 when I first started field testing archery equipment I received a prototype bow.  Inspection of the bow after my first animal was down I noticed a crack in the limb.  Every shot after that I expected the thing to blow up in my face.  The thought that the next shot was going to be my last made me really bear down and make the shot count.  At the end of the year I was flown down to the SHOT show in Houston to receive the "Skinmaster Award" for outstanding field test and representation.  To this day I still feel the cracked limb led to my success and to this day the best year of my life.  If my tiller and nockset marks were still good I'd have had to be out there that last day and risked the disappontment or injury.

That being said, I am glad you had a great time.  Less success and more effort produces more stories and a better understanding of yourself.  There's nothing wrong with that for someone like yourself who maintains a positive attitude and appreciates the chase as much as a full freezer.

And remember, hunting is a ratio of success and failures.  Every broken stalk or missed shot should bring the positive minded bowhunter great joy.  For you've just increased the percentages in your favor.  It won't be long now!!

I've enjoyed your stories and look forward to hearing your stories next season.  And maybe, just maybe the picture of success you are sure to appreciate more than the average BowJoe.

[briancorneal]

I feel that after 5 years of lessons, including this one, next year will be my year!  You are exactly right that I learned as much about myself as I did the senses of elk and their will to survive.  Mistakes that I've made during the stalks were great on-the-job training that I believe I wouldn't have received if I weren't persistant.
Thank you all for the support!

[Elkpiss]

Sounds like you gave it hell..   Bow Hunting cant be a test of test thats for sure.. There are so many high's and lows and when it all comes together and you knock one down there is a great feeling of satisfaction that I think you only can get by bow hunting..  Stick with it and you will connect.. Elk Hunting will change your life!..