Virtual Elk Hunt

September 17-18, 2005

Game Unit 18

I drove until all my programmed radio stations went out. Parked at the trailhead and headed into the Never Summer Wilderness alone and in the dark. This part of the NSW gets a lot of attention because it borders Rocky Mountain National Park. The sights and sounds of big bulls just inside the park boundary is a big reason people hunt back in here. The hopes a few elk will forget the border and wander into the NSW are why. And I must admit access and walking is moderately easy compared to most Wilderness areas. Read the rules for accessing the NSW through RMNP here. I did a LOT of walking on Saturday just to get into position. In fact that’s all I did on Saturday. I won’t bore you with scenic photos of that trip because we all want to here about elk. Let me just say it was the closest I’ve gotten to a nice bull since 2002.

I awoke at 0430 on Sunday morning and started hiking towards a nice alpine basin in the upper Baker Basin. It frosted that night and still waters had a thin layer of ice form. The upper grasses on the tundra have browned up already. The only green grasses remaining are near water sources. The dry weather and cold temperatures have convinced most tundra plants to go dormant. Their nutritional value will be kept underground and soon under several feet of snow as winter approaches. Walking quietly was very difficult because it has been dry. I mean we had some rain and snow on the 13/14^th of September but that is all gone. Every September I hope for some bad weather so the elk will move around more and tracking them is easier in the snow. But this year has been the warmest and driest September I can remember. Sunday morning’s action happened here on the map. There is a lot of land in Colorado and the elk could be anywhere but there are always places they prefer. Today I was up high in and out of the trees around timberline. I heard a faint bugle when it was light enough to hunt. And it sounded like the same bull I had seen last year. The one that got away. I walked up the very steep section of the hill until it gave away to a nice big shelf on top. I got pretty warm trying to hustle up the hill and I knew I was going to have trouble with two things, my stinky body and the wind. The wind was at my back too much. I’d turn around and it was still at my back. I couldn’t get positioned into the wind. It was swirling only at the worst possible moments. As the sun rose higher the bugling became louder and more frequently. The herd bull was being harassed by two satellite bulls. I could tell them apart by their bugles. The herd bull sounded like a monster we encountered in Wyoming last year. And if everything went well he’d be a heavy 7x7 just like that Wyoming bull too. One bull honestly sounded like a 5x5 but we’ll get to him later. The other bull appeared to be a young 6x6 from what I could see through my binoculars in the early morning light. Here’s where I first ran into them. Let me also mentioned I didn’t bugle at all this day. I only cow called because today was to start the peak of the rut and all signs pointed to a very competitive situation a few hundred yards in front of me. The satellite bulls responded to my cow calling and I primarily used the Carlton double reed estrus whine. The sound is loud and the elk responded well to it. In fact I think it also convinced the cows to come my way and the bulls were pulled along by their lovesick hormones.

Funny the map doesn’t show this small creek that comes from an upper lake. That’s why I never fully trust the darn topo maps for water sources. There’s a lot more water out there than the maps show. At this point the wind was in my direction. But that soon changed. The elk headed to the left of the photo. Into the trees and around to the North Slope where they would spend the day out of the wind and in the cool, dark timber. After they were well into the trees I made a run for it. Across the open meadow, into the creek (I didn’t have time to negotiate a crossing) and up the steep bank on the other side. I found a nice clearing but I was still lower on the hill than the elk. I was on a game trail to hopefully convince the elk of my calling and position. I believe I was on the right track to these elk since I started. I was seeing fresh scat and prints all the way up the hill until I heard the first bugle. And the elk are crafty with their bugling. If you’re not within a few hundred yards you’d never hear it. And it was windy which made hearing bugles much more difficult.

I stopped here because the elk were crossing through the trees up above. I could hear them walking and bugling. I could hear cow mews and some hooves hitting the ground. Darn the wind. It was swirling big time. But that’s the challenge of hunting up high. Unpredictable weather. I could see flashes of tan and antler here and there. They were in no hurry and the herd was pretty spread out. Maybe 25-30 elk in all. I threw out some cow calls to my left (into the wind) and a bull came RUNNING. I will always be amazed how well they can pinpoint an elk sound. They are really good. The bull stopped to my left just outside of this photo barely inside the trees. I needed him to take one more step to expose his chest. He was about 40 yards out. Nothing. I waited and waited. The wind tortured me the entire time. Threw out some cow mews behind me with my Primos single reed open reed call. The bull still wouldn’t budge. He expected to see a cow. I didn’t have time to take out my diaphragm call which would have been worthless as my mouth was drier than dry. I was pretty revved up to be in this position and didn’t prepare well. The stand off became more intense every second. Until the wind interrupted sending a direct current of my scent to the bull. He turned, and trotted off. But he didn’t bust the herd. I still had hope even though I was bummed. I ran back to the creek and jogged a wide circle around the herd. The wind was all wrong and I didn’t want my day to end so quickly.

Ah, this was more like it. An open area and dark timber nearby. I dogged the herd like a coyote to this point. I could hear them up in the trees near the top of the ridge. I found myself in a much better position. A crosswind kept me safe for the moment. I was on a well-established game trail. Behind me is a nice, wet meadow with two big wallows in it. I threw out some cow sounds to test the bulls. I would cow mew and they would bugle. First the young bull, then the herd bull blasted back and then the other satellite bull would sound off. I knew I had a chance here. Funny how the herd bull just wouldn’t run off the other bulls. Competition for cows was nothing like we saw in Wyoming last year. Those Wyoming bulls were like freight trains when they came in. And they would fight at the break of a twig. This Colorado herd bull kept his enemies close. I threw some cow sounds to my left and sure enough that young-sounding bull comes walking by. He would bugle so it was easy to recognize him. And he followed that sound to perfection. Straight as an arrow he went to my left but I threw the sound too far. At closest guess he was still 75-80 yards out.

He’s a young bull that had been wallowing recently. Here’s where I forgot to put my diaphragm call in my mouth again. I could have stopped him but why? He was too far out. I had my bow in one hand and my camera in the other fully zoomed in to get a good look at him.

Here’s the view from behind me. I relocated again to the perfect spot. Behind these stinky wallows and in the shadow of the trees. I was in deep grass and surrounded by trees to break up my outline. I was able to move and relax a little while still remaining unseen. I broke out some estrus cow sounds with my Primos single reed call. Again to my left into the trees where the sound didn’t carry far. I wanted the bull closer this time.

And sure enough he fell for it. I had called for about a minute. Calling over the top of his bugles. The trees allowed the sound to echo well enough to get the bull to come in. He called twice on the way and here he is bugling about 80 yards in front of me. My position was finally perfect. I could have eaten a bag of Premium crackers and he still wouldn’t have seen me.

Arrow on string and ready at my side. Camera taking photos nonstop in the other hand. You see what he’s doing here right? Smelling the air like an industrial strength vacuum. I had really hoped to buy another bottle of cow in estrus scent from Wal-Mart during the week. I could have REALLY used it today. It was my luck a strong crosswind showed up at that moment. The high grass in front of me leaned to the right as the breeze saved me. I’m on a shelf and the wind is blowing uphill at my back until that crosswind saved the day. The trees help block most of the wind but there is always a breeze. He’s a nice 6x6 about 80 yards out. All I need him to do is walk across this open meadow, past the wallows, and stop 20 yards out. Sounds easy right?

Instead he turns and stops broadside at 80 yards out. This wasn’t supposed to happen! There’s my shot. But it’s too far out. And that darn dead tree in front of me too. I tried throwing some more calls behind me.

He looks in my direction. And this is where he’s supposed to come running right?

Instead he walks forward behind a big tree and stops. For like 5 full minutes. I rake trees, break sticks, call some more. Nothing. I try everything in the book to get him to come closer. He hung up big time at 80 yards. Perfect text book situation. I’m scratching my head while kicking myself at the same time. This is the closest I’ve been to the classic call-in type of situation during the competitive part of the rut and this bull hangs up on me. And as the perfect situation quickly falls apart the breeze picks up. Yes, you guessed it, right at my back. Blowing my stink directly towards him for a second time. This photo here is him getting a big whiff. And away he goes. I spent the remainder of the morning dogging the herd for a repeat situation. But they are dug in deep in the dark woods. I can’t get passed all those cows and my cow mews are being ignored. I could have tried an assault on the herd bull, as they were bedded, by sneaking in close then bugling but I left the bugle in the truck. I’ve had much better luck with cow calls during the peak of the rut. I pushed my luck a bit too far today so I backed off. Hoping the herd will remain in this routine until next weekend. The last weekend of archery season 2005. Today, by the way was the last day of Muzzleloader season for deer in Unit 18.

Here are those nice wallows. One looked used recently. These high alpine shelves are often wet. Perfect places for wallows.

This one was very nice. Cloudy water under a thin layer of ice. It was nice and stinky but not smelly enough to cover my stink.

Join me next week for my last week for hunting in 2005.

The week after the season I’ll be filming in many of these same areas with my brother who is a magnet for elk. Our next DVD will be “Where to find Elk in Colorado.” We’ll show you what to look for when finding elk so you can spend more time seeing them than looking for them. We’ll show you elk encounters too. Don’t worry. We also want to talk more about setting up and solo set ups. Once you find the elk you need a script to close the deal.