Wasatch
Active Member
- Messages
- 246
LAST EDITED ON Oct-05-10 AT 11:00AM (MST)[p]It's funny how you spend so much time preparing and gearing up for a great hunt. I took all 9 days of the hunt off from work and expected to be up on the mountain until dark on the last day. Instead, my hunt was over by 7:35 Wednesday morning. Some might say I should have passed or held out for something bigger, but the fact that I found this specific spot on my own, and have pictures of the elk I shot on trailcam make this whole experience so much sweeter. It also doesn't hurt that I think he is a great bull!
My hunt started on April 29th when I found out I drew a muzzy tag for a big bull on the Nebo unit. At that point not a day went by when I wasn't thinking about elk hunting at some point on any given day. I began my scouting effort via the internet by finding and talking to as many people as possible who had experience on the unit. Based on those conversations I began actual scouting of the unit at the end of June. From June through late July I never saw a single elk. I had been in some excellent country and seen a lot of old sign that the elk had been there previously but I just wasn't finding any animals. I was told to be patient and not get discouraged because the elk would be there come late September after they began rutting and especially after having been pressured by the archery and rifle hunters. Later in August I decided to hike down into and explore a canyon that no one else had mentioned previously and looked as if few to no other people had been down into in quite some time. The first trip down into that canyon I literally hiked into a herd of about 40 +/- cows and calves. They were everywhere on all sides of me and when they spooked the whole mountain came alive with the crashing of elk! Sweet! Needless to say it was exciting. Later on, that same day, after moving in the direction the elk had gone I blew a lost cow call and again the whole mountain came alive with mewing elk. I have never experienced anything like I did that day with elk being so vocal for so long! I was also excited because I had finally seen some elk!
That first day down in that canyon is also when I placed my trail cam?.after checking it for the first time a few weeks later, I had nothing but some moo cows and 4 cows and calves. It was exciting to see elk on it, but I fully expected to see more. On my next trip into the canyon I went back to where I had originally stumbled into the big herd of cows and calves and by following all the trails in that area found a great spring. The trails coming into that spring were amazing. They were literally elk highways! So I moved my trailcam to that spot hoping for more. It wasn?t until opening day of the rifle elk hunt that I finally got back down to scout again and see what was on my camera. During the hike into the canyon there were so many moo cows that I began feeling a little angry & disappointed and hoped that with all the cows in the canyon that the elk were still close by. My camera showed that there were 135 pictures, I expected all 135 pictures to be cows. Boy was I wrong. Only about 10 were moo cows the rest were elk including a few good big bulls, a raghorn 4, a spike and lots of cows and calves. According to the time stamps the elk were coming in to water every other day between 7 and 9 AM...The big bulls never came in until 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon! Here are a few trail cam pictures:
I think This is the bull I shot...?
Later that same day after checking my camera a bull was beginning to bugle on the hillside on the opposite side of the canyon. So I moved out to see what I could see and ended up watching a 6 point with tiny 5ths wrangle his cows. This time I was even more excited because I had finally found a bull! I just hoped that he would still be around for the muzzy hunt in a week and a half!
Fast forward a week and a half to this past Tuesday, I had camp set up and was ready to spend the day scouting prior to opening morning the next day. I spent the day in the canyon I had scouted originally back in June and July and ended up seeing a few really nice bulls, but they were all across the canyon and far away. They weren't very vocal either and as soon as the sun came up they were into the deep pines. It was still fun to be seeing elk and especially some nice bulls. However, I was still unsure where exactly I wanted to be in the morning. My options were into the canyon where I had seen the big bulls on Tuesday or to the spring I had scouted and hung my trail cam on. Due to the heat, I finally decided that I would start by sitting the spring and hoping that the elk were still there and coming into water as consistently as they were on my camera.
So opening morning the plan was to wake up well before light and hike down into the canyon and sit the spring for a few hours until 10 or so. By 6 AM myself, my dad and my good friend Nate were in position and sitting right where I wanted to be. At about 6:45 just as it was starting to get light a cow and a calf fed right to where I was sitting, passed right behind me about 10 feet and continued down the canyon. They never knew I was there! About 15 minutes later my buddy Nate mentioned he was seeing elk high on the ridge above the spring feeding through the trees. Every now and again the bull would let rip a nice bugle! At the same time down at the spring where I was a cow and a calf were feeding down the canyon right to me, the got close and walked right behind me at about 4 yards...Soon after a lone cow fed out of the trees to water also. Afterwards she moseyed right on over to me and walked to about 6 feet. It made me kind of nervous to have her so close. Thinking she was going to walk right over me I whistled and she looked up still not knowing I was there and instead of bolting just casually turned and walked away?Amazing! Two close encounters all within the first 20 minutes! Meanwhile, Nate continued to tell me he was seeing more elk up on the hill. At that point I walked over to my dad to see if I could see what Nate was seeing... Right then a loud bugle erupted from the hill side above the spring and all of a sudden the whole big herd was heading right down the hill through the pines like a freight train headed straight for the spring! So I sprinted back to where I had been sitting just as the first few cows appeard. With all the noise I was making I half expected to spook them, but they were making more noise than I was and never heard me. Thirty seconds later with about 20 cows standing around at the spring the bull herded 2 or 3 stray cows down and stepped out of the trees. He was a big heavy 5 and it took me about 2 seconds to decide to take him. So at the instant he stepped out of the trees I aimed and fired. He reared up like a horse came down on three legs, stumbled, fell and died in the spring not 10 yards from where he was when I shot. Perfect! For me it was only a 30 yard shot!
7:35 opening morning and my hunt was over!
I suppose the hunting for me took place not so much on opening day as between April and September! In the end though I couldn't be happier. He wasn?t the biggest bull on the mountain, but I love his character and mass. Turns out he also had a broken 3rd.... Being able to take such a great animal and being able to share this hunt with my Dad truly made this a hunt of a lifetime and one I surely won't forget any time soon!
Also, I can't forget to send a huge thank you to all of those here on MM who I talked to and who helped me point me in the right direction....You know who you are!!!
Here are a few pictures of my elk and the pack out:
Thank goodness for horses!!!
My hunt started on April 29th when I found out I drew a muzzy tag for a big bull on the Nebo unit. At that point not a day went by when I wasn't thinking about elk hunting at some point on any given day. I began my scouting effort via the internet by finding and talking to as many people as possible who had experience on the unit. Based on those conversations I began actual scouting of the unit at the end of June. From June through late July I never saw a single elk. I had been in some excellent country and seen a lot of old sign that the elk had been there previously but I just wasn't finding any animals. I was told to be patient and not get discouraged because the elk would be there come late September after they began rutting and especially after having been pressured by the archery and rifle hunters. Later in August I decided to hike down into and explore a canyon that no one else had mentioned previously and looked as if few to no other people had been down into in quite some time. The first trip down into that canyon I literally hiked into a herd of about 40 +/- cows and calves. They were everywhere on all sides of me and when they spooked the whole mountain came alive with the crashing of elk! Sweet! Needless to say it was exciting. Later on, that same day, after moving in the direction the elk had gone I blew a lost cow call and again the whole mountain came alive with mewing elk. I have never experienced anything like I did that day with elk being so vocal for so long! I was also excited because I had finally seen some elk!
That first day down in that canyon is also when I placed my trail cam?.after checking it for the first time a few weeks later, I had nothing but some moo cows and 4 cows and calves. It was exciting to see elk on it, but I fully expected to see more. On my next trip into the canyon I went back to where I had originally stumbled into the big herd of cows and calves and by following all the trails in that area found a great spring. The trails coming into that spring were amazing. They were literally elk highways! So I moved my trailcam to that spot hoping for more. It wasn?t until opening day of the rifle elk hunt that I finally got back down to scout again and see what was on my camera. During the hike into the canyon there were so many moo cows that I began feeling a little angry & disappointed and hoped that with all the cows in the canyon that the elk were still close by. My camera showed that there were 135 pictures, I expected all 135 pictures to be cows. Boy was I wrong. Only about 10 were moo cows the rest were elk including a few good big bulls, a raghorn 4, a spike and lots of cows and calves. According to the time stamps the elk were coming in to water every other day between 7 and 9 AM...The big bulls never came in until 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon! Here are a few trail cam pictures:
I think This is the bull I shot...?
Later that same day after checking my camera a bull was beginning to bugle on the hillside on the opposite side of the canyon. So I moved out to see what I could see and ended up watching a 6 point with tiny 5ths wrangle his cows. This time I was even more excited because I had finally found a bull! I just hoped that he would still be around for the muzzy hunt in a week and a half!
Fast forward a week and a half to this past Tuesday, I had camp set up and was ready to spend the day scouting prior to opening morning the next day. I spent the day in the canyon I had scouted originally back in June and July and ended up seeing a few really nice bulls, but they were all across the canyon and far away. They weren't very vocal either and as soon as the sun came up they were into the deep pines. It was still fun to be seeing elk and especially some nice bulls. However, I was still unsure where exactly I wanted to be in the morning. My options were into the canyon where I had seen the big bulls on Tuesday or to the spring I had scouted and hung my trail cam on. Due to the heat, I finally decided that I would start by sitting the spring and hoping that the elk were still there and coming into water as consistently as they were on my camera.
So opening morning the plan was to wake up well before light and hike down into the canyon and sit the spring for a few hours until 10 or so. By 6 AM myself, my dad and my good friend Nate were in position and sitting right where I wanted to be. At about 6:45 just as it was starting to get light a cow and a calf fed right to where I was sitting, passed right behind me about 10 feet and continued down the canyon. They never knew I was there! About 15 minutes later my buddy Nate mentioned he was seeing elk high on the ridge above the spring feeding through the trees. Every now and again the bull would let rip a nice bugle! At the same time down at the spring where I was a cow and a calf were feeding down the canyon right to me, the got close and walked right behind me at about 4 yards...Soon after a lone cow fed out of the trees to water also. Afterwards she moseyed right on over to me and walked to about 6 feet. It made me kind of nervous to have her so close. Thinking she was going to walk right over me I whistled and she looked up still not knowing I was there and instead of bolting just casually turned and walked away?Amazing! Two close encounters all within the first 20 minutes! Meanwhile, Nate continued to tell me he was seeing more elk up on the hill. At that point I walked over to my dad to see if I could see what Nate was seeing... Right then a loud bugle erupted from the hill side above the spring and all of a sudden the whole big herd was heading right down the hill through the pines like a freight train headed straight for the spring! So I sprinted back to where I had been sitting just as the first few cows appeard. With all the noise I was making I half expected to spook them, but they were making more noise than I was and never heard me. Thirty seconds later with about 20 cows standing around at the spring the bull herded 2 or 3 stray cows down and stepped out of the trees. He was a big heavy 5 and it took me about 2 seconds to decide to take him. So at the instant he stepped out of the trees I aimed and fired. He reared up like a horse came down on three legs, stumbled, fell and died in the spring not 10 yards from where he was when I shot. Perfect! For me it was only a 30 yard shot!
7:35 opening morning and my hunt was over!
I suppose the hunting for me took place not so much on opening day as between April and September! In the end though I couldn't be happier. He wasn?t the biggest bull on the mountain, but I love his character and mass. Turns out he also had a broken 3rd.... Being able to take such a great animal and being able to share this hunt with my Dad truly made this a hunt of a lifetime and one I surely won't forget any time soon!
Also, I can't forget to send a huge thank you to all of those here on MM who I talked to and who helped me point me in the right direction....You know who you are!!!
Here are a few pictures of my elk and the pack out:
Thank goodness for horses!!!
