# Another CPA's Adventure to the La Sals



## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

However, unlike CPAJeff, I have just an elk tag, not a bear tag as well. "Just" an elk tag . . . only the best flipping tag I've ever had! Its for the archery season. Not quite as ideal as the ML, but I'll take it!! If the stars align just right, I'll be able to take my first branch antlered bull with archery equip.

I had my first chance at a big bull archery hunting 21 years ago. That was back in OR, and was my second archery season. My first son was born the next summer, and hunting, esp archery, took a back seat for a very long time with kids, school, and a new career. (That son will be returning from his mission in Alaska at the end of this month!)

Fast forward to last year, I decided to put up the rifle and go back to archery. My how equipment had changed in 20 years! I'm shooting a 5 year old bow, and it's light years ahead of that old beast I used to have. So, in reading the tea leaves, I could see I would have a pretty good chance of drawing La Sal archery in 2017 with my meager collection of points, so I hunted it in 2016 during the spike/cow season.

Never took an elk last year, despite many close-to-a-shot opportunities, and one shot that I screwed up. After a jumping a lone cow out of bed, and a 20+ min standoff 30 yards away through thick brush, she finally decided, despite her nervous barks, that my cow calls were something worth investigating. So, she tried to swing downwind, through an opening, to get a scent on me. I drew, mewed, she stopped, and then it was all a blur - guesstimate 40 yards, second pin on the chest, punch the trigger! Ugh. knew I didn't keep shooting form. Figured I just blew it and pulled the arrow down punching it and not following through. Well, turns out when I got back to camp, I couldn't' even hit my target block. My drop-away tie-in had come loose, and my launcher forks were not all the way up, causing me to shoot way low. That was my only shot of the season. Sure had lots of encounters and close calls. Only hindsight could tell that I shouldn't have passed up that calf three days before the end of the season. All expectations were that I would get one, given the number of close encounters.

But I only had a close encounter with one 6 pt. My game plan has to shift this year. 6 new game cameras later, some intel from two fine contributors here on the forum, and a renewed determination to make scouting a higher priority this summer, I hope to get the game plan I need to get on the bulls more than the cows this year. Still hoping to draw a cow tag though, so I can poke my first elk (any elk) with an arrow, and then hunt antlers the rest of the time. Hey, one can dream, cant' they?

So, in true CPA fashion, I started looking at the stats. You know, conventional wisdom is that the later season ends are better for archery, as there is more opportunity for the rut to get really active. And I was glad to have a tag this year, as it's nearly as good as it gets. However . . . when you look at success rates against season end date, there really doesn't seem to be a correlation.








Well, look at that! The two seasons with the latest end dates are in the top three worst for success rates. 2016 was pretty good success rate with the last day on the 16th, as well as 2005 having the highest success rate having ended on the 16th. But with the high success of 2011 and 2014, and the low success of 2004 (might be an outlier being the first year the archery tag was offered, and there was only 9 tags) and 2010 makes any conclusion suspect to me.

Well, if ending date doesn't correlate with success rate, perhaps early season is the causal factor? Nope, that doesn't fit either. 









So then, perhaps it's amount of effort put in?








Clearly not that either, since the highest success years came during two of the three lowest average days afield per hunter. That does cause me to be suspicious that early season success may be part of the key. When it's good, people tag out faster.

Perhaps someone that has paid more attention to success rates and factors over the years can comment on what 2005, 2006, 2011, 2014, and 2016 might have in common?

Not that it'll change my plans. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I'm hunting this tag no matter the conditions. But it's fun to do the crystal-ball guessing to see I can build confidence this will be my year to take a big bull with archery.

I hope to update this thread as the summer progresses. First scouting trip is coming up soon. For sure will be out on the 23rd this month, might even skip my former plans and disappear this weekend to get camera's out.

Oh, and I'll never pass up an opportunity to learn from others and their experiences with elk on the La Sals. I'm all eyes and ears if anyone is willing to share some info to add to what I've been so favored to get from CPAJeff and Johnnycake. Thanks guys!


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

The nerd in me is really loving those charts. 

Can't wait to follow along! And remember the #1 Rule of Johnny when hunting antlerless game: ALWAYS SHOOT THE BABY! 

The only exception to the rule is if you have +2 antlerless tags then you first shoot the momma and the baby(ies) stick(s) around allowing you to take a very favorable shot most of the time.


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## slyck68 (May 25, 2017)

I'm not a CPA, but as a fisheries biologist you basically summed up my daily struggles with those figures. I spend an unhealthy amount of time making and studying graphs similar to these trying to find correlations between salmon and sturgeon migrations through our river systems or to determine which stressors are causing population declines. I can't help but laugh when I see some of the conclusions our various stakeholders come to when there often really isn't a clear correlation. One group can look at a graph with no statistically significant evidence and say, "See, clearly it's the water agencies!" while another group will just as enthusiastically proclaim, "See, clearly it's overfishing!" It's like that old saying: to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Anyhow, like I said in my PM, I have this tag, too. Hopefully we bump into each other on the mountain! Best of luck, and if I'm around *WHEN* you drop your bull I will gladly help you with the pack out...you can use my phone to call someone with horses. JK, of course. There's always room for new bloodstains on my pack.

-Josh


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## Ducksanddogs (Oct 9, 2016)

Once I saw the first chart I just stopped reading 


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Those graphs are a thing of beauty - they nearly brought a tear to my eye! Best of luck and I look forward to following this thread, that mountain sure is a wonderful place!


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

I am no accountant but do work a lot with charts and graphs. What I derived from your research is that this game is called hunting and that, by nature, is unpredictable. 

Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose regardless of the other factors playing into the equation. I too have looked at the success rates, draw odds, etc. over and over and really cannot make any sense of it other than I will do my damnedest when/if I finally get my chance at a LE Bull.

Good luck this season, don't spend too much time trying to decipher the odds...elk can't read spreadsheets anyways.


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## utahhunter678 (Nov 3, 2012)

I had a blast last year down there. It even made me want to put my points in for a bull. I could have drawn the tag last year. I was focusing on the deer so I did not venture to find the bulls. I did see some though. My opinion would be to locate them before the rut. I found most of the elk on private property. I can only imagine that the bulls migrate to the cows on private land to find some tail. But I shot my deer the second weekend and did not hunt the prime time elk days.

My advice is to glass high. The bulls were in the open grass meadows up high. So be prepared to hike your a$$ off to even get close. I saw some bulls in the moon light when I was hiking to a spot. They were bumping antlers in the moon light and feeding. They definitely move in the dark

Your pre season scouting will only show you the general area. Once archers hit the hills they move to different spots.

Take a look at this video from last year. Not nearly all the interactions I had with animals on this hunt but you can see some of the fun.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Thanks for the comments and thoughts guys. 

Fun vid to watch utahhunter. I've certainly wondered a bit how high I might be looking to go for the bulls in early season. And I've been preparing to be able to chase them up high. For the last 7 months I've upped my stair climbing routine. My goal is to sprint 800 ft vertical climb each weekday. I hit my goal about 85-90% of the time. 3 sessions of 275 ft climbs here at the office. The stairwell is 7 stories, so I do the 7 stories aiming for less the 45 seconds to the top, three times. 84 stories in all throughout the day. Will start upping that to 1,000+ ft each day here pretty soon. 

The truck is loaded, just waiting for the work day to pass. I'll pick up my 5 yo about 3:45 and we're headed out to explore and place some trail cameras this weekend. 

This will be my first year getting serious about trail cameras. I've run one or two before, for a short bit before and during season. I have some remote (more than 1 mile off any trail) water holes I want to put up some cameras I picked up this winter. Couple trails/bedding areas I'm contemplating. Still a little unsure about where else I should be monitoring. Hopefully can get at least one good high elevation hike in this weekend. The 5yo proved he can do it Tues eve when we hiked 1,000 ft climb to flag rock in Farmington.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Two scouting trips down. Sure is a long drive from SLC for just a weekend visit. I think I need to schedule some three day weekends, and leave the five year old at home. Its fun having him along, but it does limit where I can go.

Two weeks ago I didn't really find good spots to put the trail cams, and didn't go to the further out spots that I know I want to put some. So, only put two out on some bedding areas that looked to have active use. A few cows/calves, three different bulls (two locations), a bear, and a coyote is the extent of the pics retrieved this weekend.

This is all I got of this bull. 









This fella spent about 45 minutes in the bed, then left the way he came in.









Bear









Crappy pic of the coyote









I repositioned that camera uphill about 50 yards to see what activity occurs on the upper portion of the bedding area.

This is the only bull captured on the other cam. I pulled it to place somewhere else. 









Did manage to get a little bit of salt out and put a cam there to see who lives in the area. Spent most of our time in the North end of the unit, with just a drive through the South end. I do plan to spend the next trip or two exploring more of the south end. Still not sure where I want to focus, and need to figure that out soon.

Not much snow left in Beaver Basin.


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## Idratherbehunting (Jul 17, 2013)

Man, I feel like I should apply for the area next year and continue the CPA tradition... But I don't have near enough points yet. Looking forward to following the thread.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Awesome! That first bull looks like a solid 4-5yr old bull for the unit, and will be flirting with 300" by the time he finishes. Gorgeous country, and I can't wait to keep watching from a distance.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Idratherbehunting said:


> Man, I feel like I should apply for the area next year and continue the CPA tradition... But I don't have near enough points yet. Looking forward to following the thread.


You should! Before SITLA turns it into a CWMU. I sure hope that never comes to pass.



johnnycake said:


> That first bull looks like a solid 4-5yr old bull for the unit, and will be flirting with 300" by the time he finishes.


 Good enough for me if I were to bump into him during season! But I've got lots of territory to check out, and suspect I'll find better dreams to chase. He would be a super easy pack out though.

Apparently bears can be litter box trained! Is some bear just lightening the load before the climb up the big pine tree? WTH? All of it looked pretty recent. I forgot to step back from the tree to see if it had a broken top. Some little bear poop in the area, so I wondered if there was a den up in a hole of a broken top or something. 









The 5 year old led the hike on Sat evening. He just kept pushing and pushing and I had to turn him around as it would be 9pm before we got back to camp as it was. 700ft climb in about 1/2 mile distance. View of Don's lake as we took a break to get a drink.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Third scouting trip is complete. I saw a lot of new territory, found some good spots, gathered useful info, but couldn't get to 1/2 of my to-do list I had created ahead of time. It always takes longer than I anticipate to get through the list.

First the eye candy. I suspect this is the same bull as was noted bedded above. This camera is only about 200 yards away, and is where I placed a little salt and a piece of a mineral block. The bull only visited once, on July 1st during the two weeks the camera was out. 









I know I saw on the phone that a bear, turkey, and other elk stopped by, but I haven't had time to transfer them to the computer and take a look. Might post some more photos later.

My two other cameras were both "inspected" by a bear. They are damaged, but seem to function still. Unfortunately, both were rotated on the tree so that they were pointing away from where the traffic would be.

Elsewhere, I am rather excited about a series of wallows I found. 5 interconnected ponds far from any road that were being actively used (two were very stirred up with mud). Sorry, forgot to take a photo. But I have a trail cam up now. If find that it gets regular use, it just might be my opening day spot. Looking forward to two weeks from now when I can get back down there to check for pics and set out additional cameras (and try to remember to take a photo of the wallows).

Overall I saw about 50 elk most in one large herd down in the oaks about 8500 ft, bumped what I presume was a bull from his bed mid-day in a N facing fir patch, found a couple potential areas to hunt, and ruled out about a dozen more. Still trying to narrow down exactly where I'll be hunting, and only two more scouting trips (planned anyway, unless I do some back-to-back weekends) to figure it out.

Major hiccup forming in the plans though. While I was out scouting this weekend, the wife sends me an email that a few weeks back she scheduled to be out of town from mid-day September 8 to late September 12th. WTH??? I've only been planning this hunt with her approval since, what, January? Pretty upset at reading that email this morning. I'd love to have my 5 yo out there with me, but I don't think he'd be capable of chasing bugles the way I may need to if I haven't scored before then. Guess I better plan to take one early in the season. -O,- What was she thinking???


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Send me the GPS coordinates and I'll keep an eye out on the area for you.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

My wife ended up shooting a bull very similar to the one in your pic (and I agree that that is probably the same bull), from 30' away with our 4.5 month old daughter (born premie and spent a month in the NICU, btw, she weighed about 6lbs at the time of the hunt). Granted, her's was on the rifle hunt and ~10days later in the month, but still. You might be surprised what you can manage with your 5 year old if the bulls get really fired up.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

LostLouisianian said:


> Send me the GPS coordinates and I'll keep an eye out on the area for you.


I tried, but this darn work computer is blocking my attempts. Something about 'sensitive and/or confidential information' filtering preventing it. -O,-



johnnycake said:


> My wife ended up shooting a bull very similar to the one in your pic (and I agree that that is probably the same bull), from 30' away with our 4.5 month old daughter (born premie and spent a month in the NICU, btw, she weighed about 6lbs at the time of the hunt). Granted, her's was on the rifle hunt and ~10days later in the month, but still. You might be surprised what you can manage with your 5 year old if the bulls get really fired up.


I know if I give him some sugar, he can do some incredible hiking! He's tough. But at that age attention span is pretty short, and he's on and off. The logistics of it are just a bit tougher, esp with bow, than I had planned on taking on. And trying to keep him quiet is a challenge! It'd be awesome to have him there, just not what I was planning as far as being able to give it my all this time around.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

I few more pics of the bull. He hung around for about 15 min, so quite a few pics of him.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Two spikes showed up.

This guy is looking quite young. 









Another tween needing a few years to grow.









Close call on getting this cam mauled. Fortunately only decided to sniff, then go sit down in the more interesting salt. Perhaps that's how to keep bears off cameras? Put a more interesting and smelly toy nearby to occupy them?


















This gal liked it so much, she decided to just lay down in it. 









I'm always finding turkey feathers out here.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Thanks for sharing the photos and story. It will be fun to live vicariously through the thread.

That is definitely a tough basin (if still in the one mentioned) to access but see relatively less pressure all season (hunters and other outdoorsman). Miss that area but no the thick, downed off trail woods. 

Best of luck on your hunt!


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## Idratherbehunting (Jul 17, 2013)

Good looking bull! Looks like he might be working on a 7 point there, unless I'm seeing things.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Fourth scouting trip completed. One more planned before heading out for the hunt.

Still don't have a firm plan where I will start off the season, but this last trip down did begin to narrow my focus on 4 or 5 areas. And like the previous 3 trips, I ruled out several areas that won't be on my top list of places to visit during the hunt. Not that there are many bad places to hunt out there. Elk are spread out all over from 11,000 down to 8,500 ft right now. Seeing them all over and in between. I still hope to visit some of the lower elevations next trip just to get a feel, but based on sign I'm seeing so far, my early season will likely start up high.

On the S. side of the unit, the wallow I was highly anticipating seeing some elk in was a bit of a disappointment. I only had one cam on me when I unexpectedly stumbled across it, and there are 5 pools. I set the cam up on this one, since it looked the most stirred up with mud. 









Off to the side, I did catch one small bull getting out of the water. He escaped detection until a few pic as he was exiting. 









A few cows, calves, and deer would come to drink, plus this hawk. I'm thinking Red-tail from the photos (none of which are all that great), but the habitat is definitely Gosshawk territory, not Red-tail. Fun to note all the other wildlife that shows up on the cams in addition to the targeted elk. 









I did setup additional cams in the area, but hurried and left before viewing the pics on my phone as vocal elk were nearby. I downloaded them to the phone and hurried out, otherwise I would have made sure to relocate to cover the small section the bull was climbing out of. Oh well.

Back to the north end of the unit, I ran into a few cow/calf groups while looking for where the elk will be come Sep. One group, from which I had heard two bulgles (might have been cow bugles) from about a hour earlier, I inadvertently bumped at 10 yards in some very thick aspens. This big cow didn't run off until I started moving again. Certainly no way to shoot in this stuff!









The salt I put out four weeks back continued to get regular visits by cows, calves, and at least two spikes. Here is the same bull I posted photos of before, on July 14th. Unfortunately, I have no pics from the 17th to the 23rd as my camera was rotated on the tree to face some brush. 



























I thought there were at least two bulls in the area from my initial cam setup about 200 yards away. And here they are together. First time I saw this second bull coming in to the area. But he never came over to the salt. 









Ended the day Sunday with a hike up into some older fir growth timber. Lots and lots of 2016 and older rubs like this, combined with plenty of fresh droppings. Definitely an area I'll be visiting early in the season.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

That looks and behaves like every Goshawk I have been hawked by in Utah. I haven't seen redtails fly like that in dense aspen. Tail pattern seems distinctly Northern Goshawk.

I can't recommend the experience of being hawked by one.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Got a little to close to a nest did you? haha Don't worry, they usually use clubbed feet to hit you, not open talons. I agree, more Gos habitat, but there is open areas for mouse hunting nearby for the redtails. 

Many moons ago I was in falconry. Flew a few Red-tails and did pretty well on rabbits. Did fly a cooper's hawk for a while, but no Gos. That coops (small version of a Gos) was a fireball. I can't imagine having that kind of intensity in a larger form. I'd rather have a harris or redtail before a Gos. 

Either way I'm suspecting it's an immature bird. The banding on the tail doesn't look right for a gos to me, but I'm not familiar with immature gos as I am with immature redtails. I'll probably send the photo off to my brother who leads birding tours. I'll get a definitive answer eventually.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Yeah, worked as a biological technician for USGS and spent most of my time doing field studies of Northern Goshawk. Got comfortable hiking long distances in Carharts and hard hat and ducking with clipboard over neck when they swooped me. They come at you hot and are definitely good sized. More than once I could hear their feathers ruffling not far from my ear. We toured historical nests looking for fledglings since they were are forest health indicator species.

I always saw Red Tails come at me from above, but only one ever got close. Never saw them fly through the forest like the one in photo. Red Tails always had talons spread when dropping from above. 

Loved my job but would just assume never be hawked Again.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Huh, now i am second guessing myself and going down identification wormhole. Been a while. Perfect photo to keep me guessing for a while. You sound like have more experience safely up close with them to know identification and diversity of behavior better than I.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

In case you are interested Backcountry, the professional birder's assessment is that it's an immature Red-tail. "It looks like a Red-tailed Hawk to me, juvenile. They have paler outer wings and finely barred tailed like that in the juvenile plumage. They are lankier too, with those feathers all being longer than in the adult. The head shape and color is perfect for Red-tail."


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

a chart of the last 5-10 years by daily success would be interesting to see when the most were killed from opening day to closing day on a day by day basis


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Thx for update.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Two best bulls I have pics of so far.

This guy showed up on the cam just once, on July 9th. So, he's had some time to grow in July after that pic. Unfortunately, I really don't have a sense of where he might be hanging out, don't see much sign when I circled the area. Just showed up once and done. 









This bull appeared on the cam twice, just passing through. Didn't even stop to get a drink. I'm quite surprised how little this water hole is used, and he seems to have absolutely no interest in it. I might hunt this area, but it feels like a long-shot to figure out where to find this bull. This is the latest pic, taken July 29th.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

It's common advice to hunt water during the early archery season and good luck finding the area they are hitting. Getting any cows on your cameras? Don't forget about them! The boys go looking for the girls not the other way around.
And have a lot of fun!


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

That last pic is a very nice bull! And hey, as long as you have found a spot where good bulls cruise through...it only takes one, right?


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## BradN (Sep 25, 2007)

Thanks for sharing. You've got to be stoked with the season getting close.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

middlefork said:


> It's common advice to hunt water during the early archery season and good luck finding the area they are hitting. Getting any cows on your cameras? Don't forget about them! The boys go looking for the girls not the other way around.
> And have a lot of fun!


I had hoped to have some water to target in the early season. I haven't found any that is used routinely enough to set up a stand. Having to rethink my early season plan. I might post a few questions about that when I have more time. Yes, seeing lots of cows. About half my scouting time has been spent looking for where there are cows, anticipating that sometime after that first week or two of season the shift will occur. Still, I'm finding cows up at 10,500+ down to 8,500 ft. There are just elk all over the unit. Only one area that I have hiked through would I have classified as a 'bull only' area. Otherwise I'm seeing sign of both bulls and cows sympatric now, even if not intermingling. But some of the lower elevation areas are predominately cows with just a few raghorns mixed in.



johnnycake said:


> That last pic is a very nice bull! And hey, as long as you have found a spot where good bulls cruise through...it only takes one, right?


"Only takes one" is what I keep telling myself. I'd be ecstatic to have a close encounter with a bull like that, but I'm working to keep expectations in check. I know I'd shoot a smaller one if it came in range. Still, as I've thought about it more today, I do plan to check in on that area in the early days of the season. I have an idea of where they might be bedding down at times.



BradN said:


> You've got to be stoked with the season getting close.


That's an understatement! Very much looking forward to opening weekend.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Both bulls are dandys. Good luck. It's coming up quick now. 

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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Well, no bull after the first 8 days of season hunted. 

Started off with a bang, with being withing bow range of 5 bulls the first two days (three were spikes - which I saw NONE of last year when I had a spike tag, of course), and three non-shooter bulls Monday afternoon. But then it really slowed down from there. 

It was a tough first week. The only calls from an elk I heard was one of the three bulls on Monday making whiny mews as he raked a tree. Otherwise all the bulls were dead silent. I heard more bugling on the unit back in July!

Only one day did I have reasonable stalking conditions. Most of the time the prior year's aspen leaves were as crunchy as corn flakes, and twigs snapped if you looked at them. Well, obviously not that bad, but it was surprisingly dry and crunchy most of the time as compared to last year when I had a hard time drying out. 

Being so noisy, I tried some cold calling, but mostly focused on raking/rubbing, or even rattling. Did call in two bulls (one spike, one unidentified size) with raking a tree. But most cold calls setups were uninvestigated. I played with the 3 bulls I found on Monday to gauge their interest in checking out the new bull on the block. I stayed well out of sight back in the trees, and they would look, but seemingly never a thought to check me out as I escalated from light rubbing, to heavy raking, to chuckles, to location bugles over a 2 hour period. And of course, no interest in the cow calls yet.

Cattle were moved into my primary area, and the elk seemed to have moved out. Found very little sign in the pasture the cattle were moved out of three weeks prior, or the next pasture over. Not sure what happened there. 

So, on Wednesday I moved camp to my secondary area. Should have reconsidered as soon as I drove into the area and saw how badly overgrazed it was. All the active sign and bulls I had observed through late July had apparently vacated the area. Only saw one bull (a 6 pt I wouldn't have hesitated to take) the last three days I was out there. But he busted me before I could make a play.

Sure beat the best day working though! Excited to get back out and hopefully find some bulls starting to get interested in other bulls, and then cows.

I'm back for 4 days to catch up on some work, restock, and head back out Thursday for the last 15 days of the season.


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

Perseverance and determination while maintaining a fun, positive attitude have combined to kill a lot of critters...

Best of luck to you Charina, really enjoy reading about your adventures!


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## mrkrik (Jan 26, 2016)

Good luck out there. You are definitely right that it's better than working! I'm headed out to CO for a week starting this weekend before my wife's early rifle hunt. Can't wait to breathe some mountain air with a bow in my hand. Stay safe.


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## neverdrawn (Jan 3, 2009)

Keep after it, the best is yet to come! Once they start rutting it will get much easier. I helped my cousin with a limited entry archery hunt a couple of years ago. I had to remind him every day to wait till the last ten days, then we'll get into them. Lo and behold, with ten days left he killed a nice bull while listening to three others bugling their heads off.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Took me 18 days in 2011 to score. Hang in there it really does get better as you get closer to the rut.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Ok, I think I finished my post-hunt update. It's loooooong. Might not want to bother if you don't like reading long posts. 

Let me start off that I’m bit let down by the hunt dates and competition from other users. The unit is fair, perhaps good. I really don’t have a lot to compare it to. Not sure that I ever saw any bull that was all that much bigger than a standard LE cookie-cutter 6 pt. All trophies to me. My hunt experience was priceless. 

Should I first write the end results of the hunt? Or should I tell stories and let it all play out as you read? I think I’ll go for the latter. This whole thread is a bit about telling a story. Those that want the short story have the option of just skipping to the final post. 

A few lessons and thoughts looking back on the hunt:

There were some significant challenges in this hunt. First of all, my sleep apnea was a significant difficulty at elevation, despite the cpap and O2 concentrator. Let’s just say I didn’t work the hunt from pre-sunup to post-sundown all days. I simply had to sleep in some mornings. Think I finally got somewhat adjusted to the elevation by the last week. But I worked it hard from morning to after dark most days.

Deer hunters and bear pursuit presented challenges to the hunt. As well as tourists and youth groups. They certainly changed the behavior of elk at times. That land out there gets a LOT of use. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t hear hounds on the trail of bears until after Labor Day. Had to change my plans a few times due to hounds working the area. Until that last week of the LE archery season (with the exception of Friday afternoon when the next hunters are filtering in) I was competing with many other users. Did I mention bear pursuit? Not enough to stress how much it interrupted my plans. Man, they must have given a lot of permits out. You certainly can get away from it all, if you are willing/capable of packing in or spike camping. There are a few areas that can be found to get away from everyone. 

I knew my hearing would present a challenge. My left ear has lost much of its hearing in the high pitches. I wear a hearing aid in that ear, but I just couldn’t pick up the high pitches of a bugles in my left ear. So, I didn’t have stereo hearing for bugles. There were times that I thought bugles were 180 degrees from where they actually were, and I ended up hiking an extra ¾ mile to try triangulating where the bulls were actually bugling from. Can’t wait until my youngest boys get older to join me and assist with hearing direction, and distance. I simply didn’t realize how much of a handicap my hearing would present. 

I’d suggest considering not going solo. That was my choice, as I wanted to do it solo (and not slow anyone else with my sleep issues). I think I’m a pretty decent caller, and I did call in a couple dozen animals, but with their hearing depth perception, they knew right where to be looking when they came into view. I expected that, but didn’t expect how few opportunities I would have to draw undetected. I was busted quite a few times while trying to draw with no cover. A caller behind me would have allowed me to be pretty selective on which bull to take, rather than taking whatever eventually presented an opportunity. 

Cattle were a pretty big problem in some areas as it relates to hunting. My primary spot selected in scouting had a whole bunch (over 900 according to the cowboy managing them) cattle moved into the pasture, and the elk seemed to vacate. Then, my secondary spot selected in scouting was severely overgrazed, and the several bulls that I had been seeing in there were nowhere to be found. On the Trust lands, the cattle are not well managed for the health of the land. Pretty disappointed about the level of overgrazing observed on quite a few areas of the Trust lands. On the USFWS lands, you have to watch for the cattle being rotated between pastures. 

All in all, it’s a decent unit and a fun hunt. But honestly, the dates for LE archery in UT are not very friendly. I knew that very well going in, but it’s quite fresh on my mind, feeling I really only had the very last of the hunt that was suitable to match the challenge archery presents. On this unit, I’d suggest rifle or ML if you are after a bull, not the experience and high level of challenge. 

I’m going to intentionally avoid mentioning specific areas I hunted. This is an LE unit and I don’t mind sharing info with other permit holders, but I feel that hotspotting can be an issue. It’s better for the elk and the hunters that everyone spreads out and doesn’t concentrate on one area. Ask, and I’ll likely share some, but not in the public posts. I found elk on lots of areas on the S end of the unit, and the N end of the unit. All the familiar haunts mentioned in various other posts here on the site all produced. And other areas did as well. There are elk spread across all the unit. Well, I can’t speak to the junipers and sage as I didn’t spend any time there. But if there is oak, ponderosa, aspen, or firs, there is likely elk somewhere nearby. 

And, I’m only telling a small fraction of the encounters I had. Just the good ones that are illustrative of the challenges, successes, and experiences. I am not one to journal usually, but when I’m out hunting, I take daily notes on my phone. Keep a log. There are so many encounters, I’d probably bore everyone with telling them all. What great memories though.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

The season started off on a really good note, leaving me expecting I'd be getting a bull early.

Sunrise opening morning.









After spending a bit of time glassing opening morning, just after the sun came up I found myself sneaking into an thicket of young aspens about 12-15 ft tall with a trail beaten through it. Unknown to me was that a 6 pt bull was just 20 yards away on the other side. No way I could have seen him, and he was silent. I never had a chance. But I did get a view of him as he headed downwind and doubled back behind me. I set a trail cam in the area, and found it very interesting that he came back to the scene of the disturbance that very afternoon. I suppose it could be a different bull, but the rack looked very familiar to the one I saw trotting away just 50 yards from me. 









Here's the damage he had recently done to the aspens. At least 17 snapped off, the largest about 1.5-2 inches in diameter. 


















About midday, I called in a spike I could have shot, and right at sunset, called in an unidentified bull that stayed just out of sight in the brush as we had a 30 minute standoff.

Given the success of opening day, I was quite optimistic that I'd be harvesting something pretty early in the season.

Day 2 and 3 were also 'successes' in that I was seeing bulls each day, even if I didn't push to get any shot opportunities on the spikes and smaller bulls seen. 
Day 3, Monday, I found my first raked fir tree with recently shed velvet. That was one of 4 raked trees where I found velvet. 









Then things changed. . . I'm not sure exactly what happened. Perhaps I blew elk out of some areas, and the new spots I was visiting just were poor choices or unlucky timing. But I wasn't seeing nearly as much as the first three days. While I called in two elk on opening day, I couldn't call in any additional elk for some time, despite being in areas where I am confident no other hunters had called to these elk.

One significant challenge to finding elk through the first half of the hunt was the dry conditions, and how incredibly difficult it was to still hunt anywhere. There was no sneaking up on the elk, at least not for me. At times, I felt that if there were awards given for who could bump the most bulls from their beds, I'd be in contention for the top prize. I just couldn't slow down enough in the right spots, or it was so crunchy in silent conditions, I'm not sure why I bothered much of the time. Except I was giving it my all and spending every hour I could out and hunting the beasts.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

I came home on the 27th of Aug to see family, take care of finances, restock, and keep a project on task at work. But after 5 days off the hunt, I was right back out there. That was the only 5 days I didn't hunt at least some. Two runs into Moab for showers or supplies, but other than that, I was out there hunting all but 5 days.

On the 26th, I had bumped a narrow and tall 6 pt from his bed 800ft elevation above closest vehicle access. On the 1st of September, I was headed back to that area to look for him, as it looked like the grassy open aspens in the area were routinely used as a bedding area. I bumped him from that patch of open aspens, and found many active bedding sites on the hillside, so I had a series of waypoints marked on my GPS to work along and see if I could find him in bed. Well, after a 400 ft elevation climb up the back side and up over the top of the ridge at first light, I was set to start sneaking into the area. I hadn't taken 2 steps into the open when I realized he was just 40 yards away, and headed for a rock slide as his escape route. That's the type of story that played out over and over again through the season. Getting within range to see them, only to snap a twig or move to fast at the wrong time, and having one or more bulls move out hastily. At least I was seeing something!

My wanderings had turned up a handful of wallows that appeared to be actively being used. And trail cams confirmed periodic use. One wallow I did sit 4 or 5 evenings, but every time the story was "you should have been here yesterday" according to the trail cam pics. I'm pretty confident the issue was just one of chance and timing, as the wind was always right, I'd park the ATV more than ½ mile away around a hill, even one time parking the ATV 6 hours beforehand, and exploring other drainages before going over to the wallow. But it just so happened that only one elk came in while I was sitting the wallow in the evenings. I just didn't have the confidence in the plan to stick to it every evening until one I could shoot showed up.




























Then, on the evening of the 4th, I heard my first bugle at 7:52 pm. Way off in the distance, but a promising sign.

The 5th, well after dark as I was wandering around listening for bulls and bugling for responses, I had two bulls responding. Oh boy! Getting close to calling time!!!

Crepuscular bugling started happening for real on the 6th. I had found a pretty decent bull was visiting the dark timber way up high via a trail cam. Actually, he was the largest bull I had seen in person or on camera. 








I had spent much of the day on the 3rd trying to identify where he and the local cows in the area were coming down for water. I was not aware of any spring or seep anywhere on the ridge they were inhabiting. One option was they crossed large rock slides, which I figured out they will do, but I couldn't find any active trails coming from the rock slide into the timber where water was. Another option was that they headed south about a mile (again having to cross a rock slide, albeit smaller one) to reach a stream. But the most likely option was a steep hillside (I named thunderstorm slope as I got caught on it twice with bad thunderstorms) down to a stream. The hillside was absolutely torn up with trails and hoof prints. And these were not cattle trails as most trails turned out to be. This was elk and deer only.

So, I had setup several cams on these various trails the day before, and had come back in this evening to check the cards and sit the trail waiting for the elk. It was the waxing new moon the several nights before. So, I was expecting the elk to be very active all night in the bright light, playing until morning, and bedding early. These were some of the mornings I took the opportunity to sleep in, rationalizing in my mind the elk were in bed well before I could get to them, or perhaps even before legal shooting light. Hence, I expected they would be anxious to hit the water early in the evening. Still hunting hadn't produced, so perhaps ambushing on the way to water would.

But then that darn call of the bugle lured me out of my hiding spot. 6:12 pm, and I hear a good deep gnarly bugle up slope. Not a simple clean location bugle. This sounded to have some dominance to it. I couldn't help but chase it!!! Stupid hearing . . . I went south and up 150 ft in elevation bugled, he responded, and based on the new info, I now headed north, and up another 150+ ft in elevation. Bugled, and he responded again, but now I thought I needed to go south again, and up another 100ft elevation. The response this time I simply couldn't tell which direction, so I continued south and up, not trying to be quiet as I knew the bugle was a fair distance away. And there it was - a BIG beautiful . . . elk butt. I didn't know if it was a bull or a cow, but it was a grand sight to see, and only about 60 yards away.

Turned out to be two bulls. A smaller 5x5 that I first spotted, and his junior buddy with him. Munching away on grass and completely oblivious to the noise I had been making closing in on them. I glassed them for about 5 min, debating whether or not to make a play on the 5pt, and decided it wasn't late enough in the season that I wanted him, given the active prospects of that mature sounding bull nearby. But, I wanted to back out without detection, and for really good reason as I experienced.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

I stood there glassing that 5x5 and his buddy for a few minutes, looking for any other elk nearby, and assessing the situation. When I was confident I wanted to back out, I had a short mental lapse. I had been very cognizant to only move when their heads were down in the grass/snowberry bushes to remain undetected. But when I went to pick up my bow, I took my eyes off them for just a moment while I continued to move. And I was busted during the tiny lapse of concentration. We had a 2:38 stare down (by my mental count - was curious how long I would be standing there, half bent over, having a redlight/greenlight game going on with this elk). He didn't seem overly alarmed, but nervous enough to move off 20 yards and put some trees between us.

That allowed me to move and get some good cover, where I proceeded to bugle, in part to try to convince this bull I was not a danger, and in part to try to pick up the trail on the bugle I had been pursuing. Dang it! The response from the mature sounding bull was clearly to the north of me, and I think it was downhill now.

Meanwhile, this nervous 5pt had had enough of the unconfirmed suspicions, and gave a nervous grunt asking me to show myself. I thought it best to show myself, and move his rear out of there and over the ridge so he didn't mess things up further. Well, that didn't go as planned. I showed myself, hiked right towards him, and he simply moved off a little ways. I figured, having clearly seen me, that he would now vacate the area, so I turned north and side-hilled to get another clue on the location of the bull I was after. All was well for a while, but when I bugled again to seek a response (which came from very far away, and back down near where I had been sitting the trail earlier - argh), I started getting some barking back from where the 5pt was last encountered. That cleared that hillside for the next few days at least, and the trail cams showed no elk using those trails on thunderstorm slope coming down to water after that. They changed their pattern to use water somewhere else.

The 7th and 8th were much of the same. Unable to determine direction of bugles in morning and evening in time to close the distance, and bumping multiple elk during the day. I really didn't hear much bugling on the 9th or 10th. Don't know if it was just chance and the locations I had selected those days, or an effect of the bipolar weather. While the vast majority of the season up until now had been very dry and quite warm, it suddenly was in a pattern of cool and wet. I wrote in my notes on the 8th: "Yesterday was dry and miserably hot. Today is soggy and miserably cold (said to self while hands were freezing on a wet mid-afternoon ATV ride). As a rule, man's a fool . . . "


> As a rule, man's a fool,
> When it's hot, he wants it cool;
> When it's cool, he wants it hot,
> Always wanting what is not,
> Never wanting what he's got.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

The 11th started the big push to sprint to the finish. No more sleeping in past sunrise, no more naps at camp, and defiantly no giving in until the last of legal shooting time.

The 11th, 12th, and 13th I was up well before sunrise trying my best to triangulate bugles and get close to the bulls. And each morning I was in a location where I was able to observe 5 bulls through the binoculars, way up a hill in open grassland grazing their way towards bedding. Between 6:45 and 7:40 they made their way across an area perhaps 80 yards wide and into the trees. After the third day observing this, I felt confident there was a pattern here that I could take advantage of to ambush them. So, Thursday the 14th, I'm up at 4:00am, hitting the dark chocolate before I even roll out of bed trying to get the energy to pull the covers off me. I was making the 800ft elevation gain (over about 1/3 mile - STEEP) hike to be in place well before first light to intercept these bulls. I knew there was one good bull in the bunch, with some smaller racks mixed in. Couldn't tell exact size in the binoculars, but at this point, being an ambush situation, I had decided I would take the first one that came into range.

I made it up the hill in good time, getting settled in as the first hint of light began to appear to the east. The climb, even as steep and high as it was, was easier for me than getting out of bed. I settled down into a small patch of 3ft high oak brush, with the tree line 42 yards uphill, and a clear line of sight 45 yards downhill. I was facing south, as the bulls would travel NWN right through this area, with a good steady south breeze to the NEN. Perfect setup and conditions I thought to myself. Now, I just have to wait.

Sunrise from my hideout:









Time passed, and I waited, positively confident they would begin appearing any minute. Well, it's light now, and a bit past time they should be here, but well within the window I had observed a previous day. Any minute now they should appear. Pushing 7:30. I hear something now, but now what I hoped for. Apparently a youth camp had come in last night and camped near where the bulls were going for their nighttime activities. I can hear some laughter and loud talk from more than a 1/3 of a mile away.

The bulls never came. Was their pattern disturbed by the campers? Being the 14th, had the band broken up to chase cows? I'm confident my setup was not the cause, but perhaps was there something I overlooked. I don't know, but I suspect the campers changed their course. I can point to quite a few setups where the story was "if you had been here yesterday". Such as: this ambush setup; wallow activity I observed on trail cams on nights I didn't sit the wallow; wallow activity that dropped off when the cool weather hit, and setting up the tree stand on a wallow just a day or two before the cool weather came. It felt like I was a day late quite a few times. Just behind the curve of where I needed to be. Oh well, control what I can, don't worry about what I can't.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Back up a little bit to the 11th. While the 9th and 10th were generally silent, the evening of the 11th things started to pick up again. Now, I found a bull that would respond to both bugles and cow calls (whereas previous to this I only received responses to bugles). Unfortunately, a cow and calf came in before he did, and we ended up in a 15 minute standoff as she stared at my calling location with an uncanny ability to know precisely where a sound originated, no matter how far away she was when the calls were made. I ended up following that bull's bugles for a mile or more until it turned dark, but it became clear he wasn't going to ever turn and come in to cow calls. Right at dusk, other bulls began responding to my cow calls as well, but no one was coming in that I was aware of. Time for the long walk back to the truck in the dark.

Some of the thick stuff I was finding bulls in at times:









The 12th was mostly evening action as well, as the bugles in the morning just didn't last long enough, or weren't close enough for me to determine direction to chase them. The bull I was working in the evening wasn't all that loud or aggressive, so I was matching his bugles. I was getting close, and about ready to setup and really work his curiosity and bring him in. About that time, a dirt bike came up a trail a few hundred yards the other side of the bull. On the straightaway, closest to the bull, this rider really hit the throttle winding up the engine to a frantic rpm level. That shut down the action until an hour later, right at last light. What a miserable evening walking uphill to the truck in rain gear as a thunderstorm rolled in and poured hard. Not sure if I ended up wetter from the rain, or sweating inside the rain gear. If it hadn't been so cold, I would have just decided to get wet and change at camp.

The 13th finally gave me a break on the morning bugles. The first plays on bulls in the morning had failed, but when I headed to the east a half mile or so, I was able to get good direction on a bugle that responded to a cow call. I estimated he was 200-300 yards away, so I set off at a brisk pace to close the distance quickly. I hadn't traveled 40 yards when I entered a clearing in the oaks to see a 5 or 6 pt standing 70 yards away intently watching my movement into the clearing. Dang hearing! Not only is direction difficult, but depth perception is off as well.

Surprisingly, he only walks off to the east, but I do hear some breaking wood as he or another elk with him move swiftly through some dense cover. I'm hoping that there was another bull with him that wasn't alarmed, so I put out a couple more cow calls and hike off the east to try to get ahead of them. Well, I lost my presence of mind about wind direction, and I was working my way upwind of them. I should have circled around to the west, then north, to get downhill to take advantage of the downhill thermals before I headed east to intercept. Turns out this bull was with a group of cows, as I ran into them just 50 yards moving into the oaks. They didn't know I was there, but the wind did betray me. Still, hoping against the odds, I threw out a couple aggressive bugles, hoping the bull would try to put himself between me and his cows. Nope!

So, I set down to listen for additional bugles, and formulate my new plan. It's the 13th. No time to say "try again tomorrow". I'm out here all day, going to get it done today, not giving up. After about two minutes passing, I hear hoof steps behind me. Dang cattle. They are all over this range, and at times interfere as they crash off through the downfall announcing that something scared them off. I hear it again, but seems closer. I really ought to get up, turn around, and identify the source shouldn't I? Why didn't I sooner? Mental lapse. One of many small mental lapses that cost me an elk.

When I do finally get up to turn around and look behind me, a 4pt bull is just appearing about 20-25 yards to the SE, presenting a good frontal shot opportunity. Of course, he sees me move, and whirls around to run off, but a quick cow call stops him just 15 yards into his run. Now he's curious again, but a bit more cautious than to walk directly in. So, he walks broadside about 40 yards out, and I get a good opportunity to draw as he moves behind some brush. Unfortunately, the hillside started to drop a bit between he and I, and his vitals were behind some snowberry brush. I was tempted to let it fly and poke through the brush, as it was not that thick, and right next to his chest. But I knew this guy would be trying to circle downwind, and expected I would have a much clearer shot as he did so.

And he did exactly as planned. While he worked his way downhill, turning to his left to circle down wind, he went behind some small fir trees. That gave me an opportunity to range a few trees down where I expected him to appear. 42 yards. Perfect. And he appears just behind those trees, so 43-44 yards away. I have this. I can shoot a softball at that range. I'm at full draw, waiting for a clear shot, and he stops about the only place down there that I wouldn't have a shot. Quartering to me, with vitals behind two smaller aspen. Dang it! Now, don't panic, this guy is dumb and I just might have an opportunity with this dumb of an elk. He begins to make his way back to where he came from, not having winded me, and I give another cow call to keep his interest.

He's coming back through where he was the first time I drew, and while he's behind the fir trees, I've crept 10 yards that direction to have a better elevation and clear the snowberry brush where he would pass. It'll be a nice 30 yard chipshot. And that's when the nemesis of that day appeared. Shifting winds. It shifted and blew right to him, and that was the end of that.

Someone missed threading the arrow between two trees:









The wind would blow up three opportunities that day that I was within 40 yards of a bull. I did my best to plan for and deal with shifting winds, and I'd get 95% of the way, and then one unexpected shift would unfold the entire plan.

The bulls were bugling midday the 13th, but I hiked a few extra miles attempting to triangulate the direction. This was the day that I ended up initially going 180 degrees of where the bulls actually were bugling, and made nearly a full figure 8 before getting within 40 yards, and having wind bust me. Hearing and wind. My nemeses this day.

So, on the 14th, after the non-event previously recounted trying to intercept bulls way up the hill, and noting that the wind was switching between all 4 directions once the sun came up, I jumped in the truck to get away from the peaks and ridges looking for more steady winds. And I found them fortunately. And I found mid-day bugles to boot!

I'm working my way in on a bull(s) that are responding to my location bugles. I've dropped off a rise and am working my way down a slope towards these bugles somewhere out there, I think over this direction. Or . . . perhaps they are that direction. Either way, there are bugles out here to chase. I believe they are a few hundred yards out yet, so I drop my pack to lose some layers and cool off. I'm not quiet about it, as the elk are still far off. Well, after getting my pack on, and walking 30 yard around some oaks, there is a cow in the open just 50 yards downhill - downwind. I think she only got a brief wind of me, as she simply looked my way, and then turned around and snuck back into the oaks it appears she had just come from (as her calf was behind her, still in the oaks).

A couple cow calls after moving into a covered position had a cow appearing 25 yards to my left, right in a perfect doorway, as expected (sans antlers). But . . . there is a 4 pt in the oaks down below me, and he's trying to spot this sexy cow calling as well. Alright, I'm not picky at this point. I want my first elk with a bow. An easier-to-fool 4pt seems a bit more my speed, and I'm not ashamed of that. I'll take him if I can.

Well, all these sexy cow calls I'm giving have some bulls off to my right all fired up and bugling. It took me a couple min to realize those bugles are getting closer. Now they are close! Dang it, I'm not setup for that direction - there is an 80 yard opening between where I am, and the most likely doorway where a bull will appear. I quickly start my way across this opening to get within shooting range of that doorway. I don't make it but 1/3 of the way across when he appears. Just a 4 pt. And here we go again, another drawn out game of redlight/greenlight. Now, how long can I hold this position with my right foot behind me on my left side, and left foot in front of me on the right side?

All I can do is hunker down in the sparse 2-3 ft tall snowberry bushes. I was hoping he would circle uphill just a little bit to the other side of a patch of oaks, giving me an opportunity to draw before he would appear about 25 yards above me in the open. Nope. Of course not, silly me. He decides he's going to come straight at me, being a curious and not to overly caution youngster. The only real cover between him and I which would allow me an undetected draw is a 7 inch diameter oak trunk. Not much! But, it's all I've got. As his eye passes behind this oak, with the oak just 8 yards from me, the bull about 10 yards from me, I'm thinking: here it goes, my first shot on an elk being a frontal at point-blank.

Yeah, you guessed right. He detected some movement in my draw. Not enough to scare him off, as he only turned and went another 10 yards. But there is no real clear shot given some small oak branches and snowberry bushes. And, he can clearly see me, this dark blob, in the middle of the grass and snowberry. He may be young and dumb, but not that dumb. He eventually saunters off to where he came from.

Some of the oak/snowberry habitat hunted the last two days:









When I move to the location of his entrance and exit and call, a small 5pt comes in, peering through windows in between the oaks above and snowberry below. I really should have worked to find a better setup position. Oh well, let's work with what I've got right now. I'm trying to reposition myself to get an opening between him and I when the REAL bull showed up. This little guy looked behind him, saw the large 6pt, and lept forward as if someone pricked his butt with a pin. Well, no opportunity on him now, but who cares! Look at that rack!!! Of course, with a poor setup in the first place, not shot opportunity occurred. He could see the calling location, and there clearly was no cow to be seen.

It began to rain steadily and heavily by 4:30 or 5. But hey, this is the 14th. No time to rest, even if the temp did just drop by 20 degrees in 10 min, and my hands are going numb from cold and wet. Dang I hate hiking around in a rainsuit! I sweat about as bad as the rain would be. At least the sweat is warm, not 40 degree rain with periodic hail.

I stayed out, except for a short stint in the truck to move and thaw out, until after dark, calling to, and playing with a few bulls. Noteworthy for tomorrow's story was one small eager bull I played with right at last light. He really wanted to see this cow that kept calling to him. He would come in, hang up, whine, mew, moan, then back off and bugle, only to come back in with soft mews and moans after I called to him again. Did that four times before I stopped calling so I could start the hike back in the pitch black.

One more day to get it done. And what a day that turned out to be!


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Thursday's cold front brought some snow up high, as observed Friday AM. 









Friday is when the hunt went into full speed sprint. Very little time for taking photos.

First thing in the morning, I worked two bulls just east of camp, but one time a cow caught my movement, the next time the bull was so focused on my location (calling solo is HARD) that he saw my movement beginning to draw. So, I jumped in the truck searching for more vocal bulls. Didn't hear anything in my first destination from 10-12, so I headed back to where I had finished off yesterday. The rut was definitely in full swing there!

I hiked in and picked up my glove that had slipped out of my pocked the night before. Not receiving any responses, I decided to go deeper and hike in an additional 1/2 mile or so. I can hear some bugles now, and I hike some more trying to triangulate where the bugles were. Eventually I concluded they were about 200 yards in front of my current location, upwind. So I headed off at a moderate pace, only to see two bulls moving off after I had only gone 30 yards. Guess they were only 80 yards away!!! Again, a couple quick cow calls pulled a 4 pt back (lots of 4pts seen), and had I been alert, I could have shot him right there, but having such a hard time drawing with bulls focused on where I called from, I was trying to move quartering upwind 30 yards, and he saw me. Lots of mental lapses like that, not looking before I move. I should have had him (#1 missed opportunity for the day).

I hear the bugles move off, and I follow. 300 yards, and now it's silent for the last couple minutes. I throw out a simple location bugle, and I get a pretty gnarly response somewhere about 100 yards to my left, just past a rise. A few cow calls to see if he would come in, but I didn't have much hope, as he sounded pretty mature and likely had cows. Again, I tried moving closer and cross/up wind in order to try to not get busted at the point of calling, and be in position if he worked his way in on the downwind side. A spike was watching from a nearby rise, perhaps 40 yards off. I likely could have shot him, but he would have had to turn. I'll still count that as bull #2 for the day I should have killed if I didn't make an error.

I proceeded forward, tried glassing into the brush to see where this bugling bull was, and I start spotting bedded cows. 3, 4, 7, a bunch! There is the bull. With a nice large rack. I hunker down, back out walking bent over to keep my profile low, and swing wide to come to another position about 60 yards to my left, more directly above the elk, away from brush, and where the wind was a bit better. It was switching, but not too bad. In my face from right, then in face from left in this new position. It was perfect. Every few steps I would glass to identify where cows were, who could see my position, etc.

My mind raced. Do I sneak all the way in, knowing what a challenge that is given all the eyes? Or do I get in here tight, and give a challenge bugle and draw him over to deal with the intruder (as Joel Turner would suggest)? I debate the options for a moment, and go for sneaking in. All the elk seem relaxed, some sleeping, and I've got time, decent cover, a great setup, and good winds. What little I had observed so far showed him pacing back and forth among his cows spread out over 40 yards, so he would eventually circle around and give me a good shot if I get a little bit closer.

I began crawling to hide behind the low brush and avoid detection. It took a bit of glassing, but I finally see where the bull is, and his chest is perfectly broadside right between two trees. Huge opening, can see his full chest. I can see 6 full points on each side of a typical, but large, rack. 48 yards. Ugh. If I were standing, and calm and relaxed, I might take that, but ideally, I wanted 40 or under. And I'm quite confident I can get there. So, I crawl closer. I'm exposed to one sleeping cow, but no problem so far, she is sleeping and had eyes closed. Bull is still in perfect position, and periodically is mounting a cow in front of him. I thought "at least he'll die happy!"

I think I'm ready to take the shot now. Nerves are calm. It's going textbook perfect. Wind remains my friend this time. I reach for the range finder in my pack's waist belt to get a final yardage reading, and it's not there! My head quickly turned to look behind me to see if I had dropped it where I last used it. That quick head turn, that one lapse of mental concentration about slow smooth movements cost me. The sleeping cow had woke, and caught that movement. Ugh! She stood alert, and that put everyone on edge. I got an arrow knocked, about ready to draw, bull still in position, but that was too much for her. She moved off 30 yards, and everyone stood up all eyes on her, seeing what she would do, as she stared at me from 50-60 yards away. There must have been at least 15 heads I could see, plus calves, all intently watching her for sign. Well, her movement made the bull move to her to try to round her up. She would have none of that and stood her ground. He acquiesced and stood there looking at her, but now he was 50 plus yards, and no really good clear shot. Soon enough she decided to move off, and everyone else prudently did so as well. She was young, not the lead cow, but because she saw something and was on edge, everyone was following her lead.

Aggressive bugles didn't cause him to put himself between me and the cows as they began to filter off. Raking didn't cause him to come back (of course, but I had to try). But man was he fired up thinking I was a bull that pestered his cows! He was bugling every 30 seconds for the next 1/2 mile. They made their way close to private property, and to more open area, so I didn't follow after a half mile. I knew there was little chance given their recent rest that they would settle down anytime soon. That was #3. I absolutely should have had him. One little head snap cost me. He was BIG (at least to me). Full mature 6 pt. I have no skill in judging score, but to me he was huge. I think he had about 15-17 cows plus calves.

Where I left their trail, another bull was bugling really close by. He responded to cow calls, but was staying put after 5 min, and sounded dominate, so I figured I had another herd situation. Started to put the sneak on, but then he came in. Mental lapse - I didn't put the wind right before I started getting closer, and the wind betrayed me. No shot opportunity there.

It's getting on to 4 pm now. I pick a spot on the phone gps/sat image about a 1/2 of a mile away that looked/felt good from the satellite view. I overshot my mark, and immediately bumped into two spikes. My spot picked on the phone would have been within 100 yards of them, and I'm sure I could have easily called them in. After that last encounter almost shooting the herd bull, I was genuinely fulfilled. Now, I only needed to fill the freezer. I would have been happy with a cow at that point, if it was legal. So, a spike would have just put icing on my cake and fed the family.

Fortunately, being young and dumb, a couple cow calls settled down these two spikes, but they still moved on. I bumped into them again about 120-150 yards along, and pushed them again. Again, cow calls settled them - even though I was in a wide open clearing plainly visible, and they spooked at watching me come in. Seeing these dumb spikes were even more suited to my speed than the 4pts, I decided to finally think ahead this time and leap frog past them, and do a couple cow calls. I was literally 30 yards off a road I could drive my truck onto, and 100 yards from another. I smiled at the thought of an easy packout. And here they come looking for the inviting cow. I don't want to talk about that shot. My first shot of the season. I put the 40 yard pin on him even though should have used 20 pin. I had estimated a point out in the opening that was about 40 yards out, and that stuck in my mind when the pressure of stopping the moving elk and then shooting preoccupied my conscious mind. That, and a rushed the shot and the arrow was high. Wasn't going to ever find that high sailing arrow! #4 I should have had that day. Still, I looked for the arrow a little bit, hoping to get lucky, and listening for nearby bugles.

It's 6 pm now. Last day of season. I had heard a bull nearby while looking for my arrow. I move over to the area, but he goes silent for the next 10 min or so. Thankfully, he lights up immediately upon my bugling. I finally picked a proper setup to cow call from this time. Oak brush between him on my left and my position would mean he wouldn't come that way. So his most likely appearance would be directly ahead about 70 yards. Lost mew, he responds, then use some assembly mews (Chris Roe terminology). After I know he knows I want him to come to me, I move ahead 30 yards towards the opening and plant myself next to a big tree. As soon as I moved to my location, and before he appears, I had ranged a few trees and knew where 30 and 40 yards were. I see movement coming my way. The wind is perfect. I see antlers. Here is a big tall 6 pt coming up right where I expected. I ignore antlers from that point on, determined to be mentally focused on the shot and proper pull through surprise release this time.

Here he comes, goes behind some brush so I can draw undetected - all textbook situation here. Diaphragm in mouth ready to stop him. It's perfect. He steps into the opening at 40 yards, bow hand relaxed, line up my sights, put 40 yard pin on center of chest, begin pull final pullthrough for release . . . OH NOOOO!!!! He's turning away!!!! Mental panic sets in before I can recognize it. I try to stop him with a terrible mew, and panic shoot. It was a standard 45 degree quartering away that I could have put in the kill zone EASILY if I was calm. I thought I heard impact (poor hearing) as he whirled around and headed back where he came from at a hard run. It's 6:18. I wait a few for him to expire. Now, I see 5 or 6 cows file up the hill through the opening. YES!!! He isn't following his herd!!! Wait another few before checking out the impact site.

Can't find my arrow on the trajectory if a passthrough. Not surprising given the quartering shot, but I still had to look. With difficulty I find a few tracks and mark them. No blood yet. But then . . . I hear bugling from 3-400 yards away that sounds awfully familiar. I move in trying to get a view, knowing I could recognize the bull easily from the muddy lower half of his body. Can't spot who is bugling. But he shuts up for 5 min at a time if I throw out cow calls from the same call as I used to get him to come in. I'm scared it is him. Go back to the scene of impact and piece together a few more tracks and find my arrow. 4 inches of penetration, very little blood, and mostly just some fat on the broadhead and shaft. No clue where I hit him, but clearly not lethal. That was chance #5 today.

Pic of arrow.









Still, the hunt is not over! Now is no time to be wallowing in pity or defeat!

It's past 7 now. Time for a hail mary play. 1/2 mile away I played with a small eager bull the night before. I highly doubt he would be there, but perhaps - just possibly - it's part of his daily routine, or rather, part of the lead cow's daily routine of the herd he's orbiting. 1/2 mile directly going through brush and over a hill, or 3/4 to go around via a side road. I'm going the direct route as time is ticking down. I get to my intended destination, sweating heavily from the fast pace, just a few min after sunset and begin cow calling. The hills light up with bugles. Big gnarly ones from two bulls out there quite a ways away. They probably have cows, so not going to close the distance to my position, and certainly not in time. But no small/immature bugles are heard like I was hoping for. Again, my hunt is complete except for the freezer. ANY legal bull will do! I decided I better move closer to where I expect the elk to come from given my experience of the last couple day's solo calling. I wait by a big tree.

15 min until close. 10 min. It's getting rather dark now with just a few min left, so I finally give in. It's been one incredible day. I kneel by the tree to offer a prayer of gratitude for the amazing and wonderful day. It was by far the best day elk hunting I'd ever had. Finished, I grab my bow and am half way to standing when I notice a "horse" sized body just 20 yards away!!! Absolutely can't be a cow as big as the body is. I can clearly make the body out, so it should be a super easy shot. And now I see antler tips way up high! At least 5 pt, most likely 6 pt. I didn't hear him walking in on my left side (dang hearing).

My prayer wasn't silent, even if quiet, and I moved quickly to grab my bow and stand, but this bull just stood there. And that set me up for the mental lapse. I didn't move slowly/smoothly enough, thinking for some reason (or rather, not thinking) that this bull wasn't bothered by my movement. Knocked the arrow, release on, turn on the light above the pins to make sure I can see a pin to put on him, bow up, ready to draw, and THEN, he decides to notice me and run off 40 or so yards. The lighted fiber optic pins probably caught his attention. I had quickly contemplated shooting unable to see my pins, expecting I could put in in there being so close, but, with the way he acted when I did move, I wrongly reasoned he wouldn't be bothered. Looked at the phone - 4 min of shooting time left. I almost filled the tag in the last 5 min of the season. And that was #6 for this day.

It was epic. A mix of emotions having had a GREAT hunt, esp those last three days. But . . . a lot of mental struggle failing at something I had in the bag six times on the last day alone. I had put my all into it, but still didn't have meat for the freezer. All worth it, with some amazing memories, learning tons, wonderful highs and close calls. But what a strange mix of emotions not coming away with at least the spike I made a poor shot on.

I was out there all but 5 days of the season, and worked hard, so the sweat and effort part was there. But it all came down to small errors all along. Bumping dozens of bulls from not slowing down enough in the timber when it was dry. Being a day late on deciding where to hunt numerous times. Ultimately though, it was really small mental lapses, like whipping my head in slight mental panic at the possibility of losing my range finder - those are what ultimately caused me to fail. Or failing to execute properly at the last moment in the shot cycle. I know I would have had the bull I snuck in to and watched breed a cow if I wasn't busted by that cow. Because I was calm. No nerves whatsoever, and the bull was stationary. But something about a moving elk, mewing to stop him, and then shooting has me failing to execute properly in that last crucial moment of my shot.

What a wonderful season it was. Can't wait to do it again. Perhaps next time with someone that can hear.

Headed out tomorrow morning for the Wasatch extended, but my expectations are in check. Hopeful, but guarded. Still . . . the season isn't quite over yet.

Now . . . WY or ID for next year's rut action? Anyone have any suggestion on units to look at? I only have one pp in WY, so just looking at general units for archery.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Great hunt! Lots of ups and downs, and that is what makes this such an addicting lifestyle!


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## weaversamuel76 (Feb 16, 2017)

Loved your write up. Thanks for sharing

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Absolutely incredible write up!


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Outstanding! Thanks for taking us along.
Archery hunting is tough but really tough by yourself. You did great hanging in there to the end.


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## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

Awesome! I have total respect for you doing this solo. I only hunted 2 days completely alone and I was ready to hang it up afterwards.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

Thanks for the comments. Glad to see that someone read the short book. haha 

Wish I had the phone out for a few bear encounters to be able to share photos/videos. Like the bear I almost hit with the ATV and had to tap the brakes to keep from putting a tire on him (that could have been bad), or the one that walked by about 4 yards away as I was sitting a trail. Lot of bears out there.


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

Excellent write up and adventure, thanks so much for detailing you hunt, taking the time to allow us to follow along! Dude, I was really pulling for you, paragraph by paragraph. Been a while since I had such a fun time hunting as you did, awesome, freaking awesome!


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## turkinator (May 25, 2008)

Awesome write-up!! I kept thinking I'd see a pic of a nice bull you got the last day. Sucks that it didn't work out, but I loved reading along even though you weren't able to harvest a bull!


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## kdog (May 4, 2015)

loved the read


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