Chasing a Ghost
Virtual Elk Hunt
Opening Weekend
August 26/27, 2006
Unit 29,
Bow hunters couldn’t have asked for a better opening weekend. The weather was cool, wet and there was a chance of snow up high. It’s hard to believe its still August.
Today I was hunting a different kind of elk. The kind that smell danger in the air and disappear. They have to in this area that sees a lot of human traffic. Despite the relatively small area on the map I walked my feet off. There’s a lot more to it than the map suggests. More creek, springs, valleys and hills. Not far into my
hike I encounter the wall of willows. It’s an impenetrable tangle of leaves and limbs. It had rained heavily Saturday night so every touch of every limb brought down buckets of water that was sitting on the leaves. I was soaked with in the first 15 minutes. In the past I’ve had good luck here. You can hunt the willows without ever being seen. Same goes for the elk. It comes down to a high stakes gamble of who can get through the maze first. I lost today. I could hear the sound of hooves just 15 yards away. But I could never see the elk. I decided to circle and try and catch the elk as they headed up the mountain to bed. Fresh sign was everywhere. And my attempt to attack down the middle yielded two encounters with two different elk. However, neither of us was able to see anything. No harm done I thought to my soaking wet self.
The dreaded squirrels are gathering pine cones and the task sounds like elk every time you hear them. They drop cones from 80 feet high pounding the ground and sounding like an elk’s step. Or breaking sticks which sound like an elk coming in. You fall for it hook line and sinker then they start chirping which sounds more and more like a laugh. I’ll admit they got me today.
Still hunting through the woods was easy. The ground was soaked. What is usually a loud, crunchy walk on dry debris was now a stealthy advance. Not sure if you can see it but it was raining in this photo as a small rain cloud passed overhead at day break.
I found myself in a perfect bedding area. Away from the lush aspens and between two creek valleys. This was a good place to be. I let out a short, curious locator bugle. Nothing. That’s ok. This place had plenty of evidence. Though the rain had washed out all the old surface tracks. It was easy to see what was fresh and what was old. There are a lot of elk in the area. Sign was everywhere. I left all the fresh scat back in the big aspen grove.
I found more scrapes than I could count. Most were from last year and beyond but the sheer number of scrapes was amazing. I did find one fresh one. I’ll have to return as this area looks like a traditional rutting area. I even found signs the elk wintered here. The habitat is so amazing that the elk can live here all but 2-3 months a year. Nobody is getting through the snow when it hardens up.
On my way back to the bedding area I heard the sounds of a single set of hooves. The cover was too thick to see anything. Again, I was close. If you’re lucky you get to hear the first few steps of the elk retreating. Maybe you can pick up his direction from a few sounds. Then nothing. It’s like they just disappear. How is it possible for an animal that big disappear into thin air like that?
The dark timber area here is HUGE. On the map it sits between lush aspen and pine ridge and lower private lands below. It reminded me of the Troublesome area in the way it was clean. I found a pair of escape tracks – tracks from two elk (maybe more) that had fled their bed in a hurry and left an easy trail to find. Someone must have been through here yesterday as the rain had diminished the prints somewhat. I wish I could have seen those elk. What a sight that would have been in the dark timber. They headed down the mountain and closer to private land.
I kept heading south because I knew there was a road I could pick up and follow back to the truck. I picked up a game trail that took me out of the dark timber. It lead me to an intersection where the stench of elk was in the air. Either I missed this bedded elk or he left before I could see him. I had let out a bugle earlier and I wonder if that was a mistake. However, elk often pee on themselves when bedded and the small can remain on the ground for days. The rain would wash the smell away I would think. Let me tell you the elk trails were heavily used as they were deep and pronounced. I can’t stress that enough. Keep walking until you find those kinds of elk trails that are heavily used and have fresh scat and prints. At the base of this trail that would take me up the mountain and one that took me around it was this bedding area. The rain, heavy as it was, still didn’t reach the ground where the trees grew tall. I couldn’t complain with this fresh sign. Anytime you can small elk means you are very close. I hadn’t seen any fresh scat for a while so this was a good find. Again, I blame my elk calling on the disappearance of this elk. I was watching the wind closely. It was in my favor and I was checking the wind with some elk scent. It was probably too early to bugle a curious bugle. Either I was too close when I did it or the elk just didn’t like it. I did throw in some cow calling with an emphasis on calf sounds. That’s the danger of cold calling elk I guess. The dark timber allowed the sound to magnify. Maybe I sounded too threatening or too big of an elk. Though I can’t complain about the sound. It’s the most realistic bugle I know of. I use Rut Buster from Bugling Bulls Game Calls. Either way I learned a lesson here. It’s too early to be calling if the elk are super sensitive in your area.
After a short, steep downhill I picked up the trail/road that would take me back to the truck. On the other side of Boulder Creek I found this little worm-like creature on the trail. He was the first wild creature that I could get close enough to for a photo. Anyone know what kind he is? I’m still checking the Internet. I’ll update the article when I find out. He’s probably poisonous.
Just a warning about the area. There area fences to
designate National Forest. There are
fences to designate Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and there are private
property fences. Only private fences
HAVE to be clearly marked. Anyway if you get off the trail you have to watch
where you are because if there are no fences or no postings then there are no
problems. For some reason in
On my walk back the terrain REALLY dried out so I hit the gas. Dry areas won’t have elk until they pass through later in the spring or fall. The road turned into a canal which turned into a single track path for me to follow. Before it turned to single track I notice at least 7 serious game trails that crossed the old road and headed down into the valley. Apparently there is some good eating down below. Hay fields and a creek. Too good to pass up for any elk or deer. And the game trails that cross the road are a GREAT place to sit and wait early and late in the day. The hill was STEEP in places. Another key ingredient in finding elk.
I just missed this elk crossing the road. In fact he or she walked on the road for a while. Timing really IS everything. Fresh tracks were REALLY easy to see thanks to all the rain.
My suggestion is take the road/trail almost all the way to the end. You will cross two creeks and go around 3 mountain ridges. I’d get off the trail (above or below) near one of the many game trails. And let out a locator bugle. This area is on public land but you could get a response from private land. It’s doubtful the bull would leave any cows to come and chase you away but there are always eager satellite bulls in the area. Something to think about if you are lucky enough to hunt Unit 29 during archery or first rifle season.
The trail takes you across the creek. I found fresh scat right on the trail from this morning. All I can say is the aspen grove is so lush and wet that the elk appear to all have diarrhea. This is the best habitat for elk I’ve seen this close to a major metro area. It really has it all and there are a lot of elk in the area. Because the trees are so thick it’s hard to see them. You will hear them (running away) before you see them. I wish I had more time to spend in the area. It doesn’t look large on a map but it can take a lot time to hike it.
I hope you have enjoyed the photos. It was a wonderful weekend to be out in elk country.