Well, I've finally got an evening to sit down and give my report. Work has been giving me the business!
Archery elk hunting is an incredible experience, and I was lucky enough to get eight days worth this year. As posted previously, I just got into archery this summer, and had never hunted elk anytime near the rut. Buying my bow in July, I basically had two months to learn to shoot and learn to elk hunt. I shot as much as I could, and by the end I could consistently hit a paper plate out to 60 yards. I felt pretty good about my shooting, but as I learned during the hunt, shooting a paper plate over flat, open ground and shooting elk on steep mountain slopes are very different things. I bought several cow calls and a bugle, and watched as many videos and read as many posts on hunting sights as I could, just trying to learn as much as possible about elk hunting. By the time the hunts rolled around, I felt good with my diaphragm calls (and my Hoochie Mama, of course), but wasn't very good with the bugle. Here's my daily report.
Friday, September 8, Observatory (Manastash and Umtanum units) between Ellensburg and Yakima. As posted previously, I got really lucky this year and drew an any elk tag in Washington and a 5-point minimum bull tag in New Mexico. Unfortunately, because I was taking a full week off work to hunt in NM, I could only hunt the opening weekend in WA. But I had scouted the area three of the five weekends prior to the hunt and had found a few different herds. The Sunday before the hunt, I found what sounded like a large herd in my unit - at least three bugling bulls, and countless cows mewing on all sides of me. Since the hunt was only 5 days away and these elk were in heavy cover, I figured I could go back in there and get right on the elk. I should have known better. I had to work opening morning, and by the time I got to the unit that evening, everything was quiet - not a single bugle or mew, and didn't find the elk in the spot I had left them. They couldn't have gone far...or did they? I had no idea where the elk were.
Saturday, September 9. Knowing there was water downhill from where I had previously found the elk, I hunted lower in the drainage Saturday morning. Busted two cows and stalked another hunter with a bugle, but that was about it. I still didn't know where the big herd had gone. I took the afternoon off (it was about 90 degrees out, and I'm sure the elk were bedded), then decided to hunt the top of the draining in the dense timber that evening. And that's when the fun began. I took a trail sidehill near the top of the drainage and it didn't take long to find the critters. Along the trail, I jumped a 5 point and a spike at about 80 yards, crossed a moving spike at about 30 yards, then after hearing rolling rocks and breaking branches, I got right in the middle of the herd at dusk. I could hear elk moving all around me, but couldn't actually see them in the thick timber and brush. Ultimately, I stalked a branched bull to within about 15 yards, to where I could hear his individual footsteps and his rack moving through the trees. But I had a huge shrub/tree between us and couldn't see him, and because it was quickly getting dark, I had to make a move and ultimately busted him without getting a shot. But at least I knew where they were. Lesson learned that night was that elk are loud creatures, and so long as you move slowly and keep the wind in your favor, you can move right in on those buggers even if you're rolling a few rocks or cracking a few twigs.
Sunday, September 10. I went right back to the same trail the following morning, getting in there before daylight. It didn't take long to get right back on the herd. Since this was my last morning to hunt in WA, and I desperately wanted to take an animal with my bow, I decided I'd take the first cow or bull that presented a good shot. Within the first 15 minutes of daylight, I had a cow move dowhill to my trail at about 25 yards. At full draw, the cow stopped broadside with a single branch covering her vitals. I held out for what felt like 5 minutes (probably much less than that, but sure felt like 5 minutes), I couldn't take the shaking at full draw any longer and had to let down. She caught the movement and bolted. So I just kept moving down the trail, and it didn't take long before I found another. I could see movement uphill ranged at about 40 yards. Knowing the direction the elk was moving, I found a narrow lane out in front and got set. The cow slowly moved into my lane, and I let one fly. The shot was a bit high, but I couldn't quite tell whether I hit her high in the back or whether it was a clean miss. I moved about 10 steps to my left to watch her move across the hillside, just to watch her run by a branched bull and a spike at about 60 yards. I gave it about 45 minutes, then climbed the hill to where the cow had been standing, where I found my clean arrow bedded in the hill. Apparently I didn't take the pitch of the hill into account quite enough, and my arrow sailed just over its back into the hill. By that time, the elk had moved off, and I never got back into them before it got hot and they were bedded for the day. I had my chances, but just didn't quite connect. Still an awesome experience - can't beat being in the middle of a herd for two straight hunts. Just wish I had a bit more time to get back in there.
Monday, September 18, Gila Wilderness, New Mexico. After working all week, my wife and I flew down to Arizona on Friday the 15th, then spent the weekend with her Grandma near Tucson (that's the trade I made for using a third of my annual vacation for the hunt in NM). On Monday, I met up with my cousin Mark in Phoenix, and we loaded and took off on the 7 hour drive to our hunting area. We got into camp about 10 pm that night. Our hunting partner Bob got in a day early, so he got to hunt that Monday. We really had no idea what to expect, but we thought there was a decent chance that Bob, who had already decided he was going to shoot the first 5-point he saw (all three of us were new to archery elk), might already be tagged out. Well, when we got to camp and heard the report, it didn't sound good - not much in the way of bugles all day, and he never saw an elk at less than a half mile. His highlight of the day was seeing two bears at less than 150 yards. By the time we got camp set up, it was 1am and we had 4 hours before the alarm went off.
Time to log off. Hopefully I'll have time later this week to give you the good stuff!
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