...currently reading.....
Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset...last read.....
Trout, by Ray BergmanEmbed? Win!
Fantastic Contraption
Powered by: MySpace Games >br?
Sunday, September 14, 2003
ELK UPDATE..
So. Yesterday, we left here at about 3:45 to go elk hunting up in the mountains. Took about an hour and 15 minutes to get there. We were going to camp at this really cool area where 4 big canyons come together. When we got to the end of the road, there were some inbred drunken Texans sitting in their big 4x4. Turned out they were going the same place as we were going to. With crossbows. We went a different place. We only hiked about 1/4 mile in because we had lots of stuff and it was at about 9,500 feet and we had to walk the whole way on a steep, scary slope.
So we finally found a kinda level spot (kind of a long, narrow shelf sloping downward at the end of two canyons) and set our stuff down, and I told Jenn I was going to go downhill a ways and see if I could find a better spot. I took my bow and elk bugle, just in case. I had been cow calling occasionally, as we walked in. So I walked down a few hundred feet. Seemed like it might be a better place to camp. So just for the heck of it, I bugled. What do you know but one bugled right back at me. And I was pretty sure it wasn't another hunter. Sounded a ways off, so I walked back to where Jenn was to tell her I was going to go downhill and see if I could call it in. When I started back downhill, I suddenly froze. Off to my right, downhill, about 40-50 yards away, was a big, fat, elk. Well, not huge...but you know, all elks are pretty big. Either elk sound a lot farther away than they really are, or this dude walked REALLY, REALLY fast.
I could see its entire body, but its head was hidden behind a few trees. OK, go ahead and pause it right there. Now, there are moments in a guy's life that he is forced to make a split-second decision, then wishes later he could go back and choose differently (I've had my share of those). This was one of those moments. I should have shot. Granted, I was a little unsure of the yardage, because it was a fairly steep downhill grade to where it was standing. Granted, I haven't practiced shooting that far with broadheads. However, I am fairly comfortable at 40 yards with field points, and I know how my broadheads act at 20 yards (2.5 inches left, .75 inches high). Also, since the critter's head was hidden, I could have taken my time and made a relaxed shot. I didn't even have time to get nervous. However, I chose to crouch. I was hoping that if I crouched behind a little spruce tree, it would come up the hill (an easy 10 yard shot, if so).
So I crouched there waiting. Nothing happened. Finally, I started raking a nearby spruce tree with a stick, hoping to make him think I was a bull challenging him. Still nothing. Finally, I stood back up, slowly. When I got 3/4 of the way up, I saw a spike bull, staring at me. He didn't seem worried. He kind of looked at me, then looked around, then sniffed the air for awhile. Finally, he turned and walked off down the hill.
So I made some mistakes. First, I probably should have just shot to begin with. Second, when I started raking the tree, he probably started to have some second thoughts about coming up to try and steal my girlfriends. Probably some problems with his self-image and confidence. I probably should have just cow-called, waited, or crept to the edge of the hill and then shot. Finally, when he was just standing there like a dumb guy, staring at me, I should have cow-called to distract him, and pulled back and shot right then.
He wasn't a whopper, by any means, but definitely a few hundred pounds of edible goodness. At any rate, it was awful exciting, and good for my confidence, to be able to call one in that closely, that easily.
I hiked around there quite a bit yesterday evening. Then we camped there last night. (brrrr...ice on the INSIDE of the tent fly last night, from condensation, and a dusting of snow). I hiked around from early this morning to early afternoon. Thought I might have heard a distant bugle. Maybe a cow, once or twice. But not much else. I think they haven't started the rut quite yet.
So, my legs feel like theyre going to fall off by tomorrow. Hiking up and down 600 foot hills at almost 10,000 feet is real hard work.
Good times. I'm addicted.
-m
So. Yesterday, we left here at about 3:45 to go elk hunting up in the mountains. Took about an hour and 15 minutes to get there. We were going to camp at this really cool area where 4 big canyons come together. When we got to the end of the road, there were some inbred drunken Texans sitting in their big 4x4. Turned out they were going the same place as we were going to. With crossbows. We went a different place. We only hiked about 1/4 mile in because we had lots of stuff and it was at about 9,500 feet and we had to walk the whole way on a steep, scary slope.
So we finally found a kinda level spot (kind of a long, narrow shelf sloping downward at the end of two canyons) and set our stuff down, and I told Jenn I was going to go downhill a ways and see if I could find a better spot. I took my bow and elk bugle, just in case. I had been cow calling occasionally, as we walked in. So I walked down a few hundred feet. Seemed like it might be a better place to camp. So just for the heck of it, I bugled. What do you know but one bugled right back at me. And I was pretty sure it wasn't another hunter. Sounded a ways off, so I walked back to where Jenn was to tell her I was going to go downhill and see if I could call it in. When I started back downhill, I suddenly froze. Off to my right, downhill, about 40-50 yards away, was a big, fat, elk. Well, not huge...but you know, all elks are pretty big. Either elk sound a lot farther away than they really are, or this dude walked REALLY, REALLY fast.
I could see its entire body, but its head was hidden behind a few trees. OK, go ahead and pause it right there. Now, there are moments in a guy's life that he is forced to make a split-second decision, then wishes later he could go back and choose differently (I've had my share of those). This was one of those moments. I should have shot. Granted, I was a little unsure of the yardage, because it was a fairly steep downhill grade to where it was standing. Granted, I haven't practiced shooting that far with broadheads. However, I am fairly comfortable at 40 yards with field points, and I know how my broadheads act at 20 yards (2.5 inches left, .75 inches high). Also, since the critter's head was hidden, I could have taken my time and made a relaxed shot. I didn't even have time to get nervous. However, I chose to crouch. I was hoping that if I crouched behind a little spruce tree, it would come up the hill (an easy 10 yard shot, if so).
So I crouched there waiting. Nothing happened. Finally, I started raking a nearby spruce tree with a stick, hoping to make him think I was a bull challenging him. Still nothing. Finally, I stood back up, slowly. When I got 3/4 of the way up, I saw a spike bull, staring at me. He didn't seem worried. He kind of looked at me, then looked around, then sniffed the air for awhile. Finally, he turned and walked off down the hill.
So I made some mistakes. First, I probably should have just shot to begin with. Second, when I started raking the tree, he probably started to have some second thoughts about coming up to try and steal my girlfriends. Probably some problems with his self-image and confidence. I probably should have just cow-called, waited, or crept to the edge of the hill and then shot. Finally, when he was just standing there like a dumb guy, staring at me, I should have cow-called to distract him, and pulled back and shot right then.
He wasn't a whopper, by any means, but definitely a few hundred pounds of edible goodness. At any rate, it was awful exciting, and good for my confidence, to be able to call one in that closely, that easily.
I hiked around there quite a bit yesterday evening. Then we camped there last night. (brrrr...ice on the INSIDE of the tent fly last night, from condensation, and a dusting of snow). I hiked around from early this morning to early afternoon. Thought I might have heard a distant bugle. Maybe a cow, once or twice. But not much else. I think they haven't started the rut quite yet.
So, my legs feel like theyre going to fall off by tomorrow. Hiking up and down 600 foot hills at almost 10,000 feet is real hard work.
Good times. I'm addicted.
-m
Comments:
Post a Comment
