NE Cali Elk Hunt

larrbo

Very Active Member
Messages
2,013
It's hard to believe but I will be hunting elk 13 days from now in NE California. So I have most of my camping gear put together and my other stuff packed(still need to sight my rifle in Sage). Hopefully I will get a signal on my cell phone so I can post how my hunt is going. I have set aside the entire 12 days for the hunt and will not pull the trigger until I see the big one.
 
First of all, congrats on the tag. Second, way to go on taking off 12 days. Please do keep us updated.
 
I had that tag a couple years ago. Saw a couple good ones.. One monster. Couldn't seal the deal. Definitely not a slam dunk type hunt. Its a really fun hunt though. Hopefully they're vocal during your hunt. Didn't hear much bugling when I was there. Hopefully the rut kicks off in a couple weeks.
 
"(still need to sight my rifle in Sage)"

lol, you better get after it! ;-)

Bud, i'm so happy for you.

I expect progress phone calls daily, none of having to read these threads stuff. lol

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Did you draw your tag, or purchase one? I hear that Roseburg is keeping elk hunters off of their property in the Bartle area. Please let us know what you encounter there if you should hunt it.
 
BS, Larry drew the tag, he had max points like most of us. He always gives great hunt reports.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Thanks for all the best wishes and for good luck, on a hunt like this you need to hunt hard and have a little luck. I talked to the guy I'm hunting with up there and he said my phone would work up there so I should be able to post how I'm doing. He also told me that he has spotted a few nice bulls. 11 days and counting.

PS-- Go Giant's
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-07-14 AT 10:59AM (MST)[p]Larrbo,

PM me if you'd like some intel help. I have 2 buddies who have drawn that hunt in the last 2 years. One, a rifle tag last year and the other, an archery tag the year before.
 
Hey larrbo hope you really get into em that's got to be exciting!

In reading your original post I thought I may pass an idea to ya for keeping in touch way out in the boonies! I just bought one of these for work, and they really extend your cell phone; and apparently if you get a tricked out antennae (trucker style) they work even better.

Kind of sucks to drop $3-4 hundred but technology and keeping in touch these days is important to some.

Check out the link below to Wilson electronics; I bought the 4g wireless setup with an extended antaneae from amazon!

http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/store/index/category/38/wireless

Good luck and post up for all of your followers on here!
 
Hi schmalie79, my buddy that I hunt a lot with has a toy hauler trailer and we bought one of those last year because the cell signal was really bad. It worked really good. I was going to take the trailer on this hunt but decided to do a tent camp instead. I have been told there is cell signal up where we are going to be. Now I need to finish my "to do" list before I leave in 8 days.
 
Cell service on the Garden is hit and miss. Up near Mowitz there is service and as you go south closer to the highway. In between there are areas of service and dead zones.

Good luck to you. The rifle hunt last year was a rough hunt for me. Had thousands of picts on trail cams before the season and then all of a sudden 3 days before season they disappeared on me. I passed a few small bulls hoping for a big one.
 
FAQ's, Did he get to sight in his Rifle and why is he leaving on a Monday?

In talking on the phone w/larry, he Did get some range time in with that nice ultra lite 3oo Weatherby of his, :), and the Elk season starts, of all days, on Wends.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Thanks for the FAQ segment Joey! LOL!

Wednesday?.....OK! Time to get serious!

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.
 
Steve, you're welcome, i'd want to know...

Talk about being ready, i'm still waiting for my call from F&G saying that my 5th Alternate number came up, that i also have a tag for this same Elk hunt... i could be outahere on my way in about a hour and a half. ;-)

Just a Tad of Luck Larry, get em!!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Good luck!,..and shoot a big one!,..and take notes,..few of us other boy's should get the tag, hopefully while we can still get around and hunt.
Mike
 
FYI: If you are going to be hunting the Garden. And if you are going to be around Janes res. Take the main road east of there, about a mile...there is a big mature pine tree on the right with a bunch of tape on it. When they had the big fires up there they found out that there was cell service right around that tree. Worked great for me last year on my deer hunt.
 
I hope larrbo is not down in some hole trying to pack his monster elk out with a bad back. Na, he's smarter than that:)

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.
 
I've been in contact w/Larrbo. He's in a very tough area to communicate from. So,

FAQ: Has he killed his Bull yet?
No.

Has he seen any bulls?
Said something of seeing 4 bulls but 600yds was as close as he could get to them.

Has he passed up smaller bulls?
Yes, he passed a 6x6 at 60 yds yesterday.

Is he going to give up and come home?
Not likely! :)

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
>I've been in contact w/Larrbo. He's
>in a very tough area
>to communicate from. So,
>
>FAQ: Has he killed his Bull
>yet?
>No.
>
>Has he seen any bulls?
>Said something of seeing 4 bulls
>but 600yds was as close
>as he could get to
>them.
>
>Has he passed up smaller bulls?
>
>Yes, he passed a 6x6 at
>60 yds yesterday.
>
>Is he going to give up
>and come home?
>Not likely! :)
>
>Joey
>
>
>"It's all about knowing what your
>firearms practical limitations are and
>combining that with your own
>personal limitations!"

Good info there. Nice to hear he's into em.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-22-14 AT 11:42PM (MST)[p]Again in Communication w/Larrbo on his hunt. I mentioned that i had posted a couple updates here.

His reply: "Thanks buddy. I passed a larger 6x6 and a 5x5. In the field 14 hours per day."

Larry told me right after he drew this Tag that he was going for a Really Good one if possible! He has some nice Bulls from different states already on his walls.

Get em Buddy!! :)

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
FAQ: Did Larrbo get his Bull today?
Not today Boys. He finally was able to get a couple phone calls out. He was in Elk again today.

How's he holding up?
Says, he's feeling it, it's getting to be a long hard hunt. He's putting in lots of miles, today 6 or 7 miles, on foot. Beautiful country and there is Elk there so he's game.

My comments: He's doing it at 60 years of age folks. Giving it a heck of a go!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Hope he gets a elk, looking like the hunt isn't all its cracked up to be again. I wouldn't spend the tag fee for it myself and the time .
Go to Idaho, wyoming for the time and money spent and have a much better hunt. Just my 2 cents. Good luck to you and hope you score on one .
 
>Hope he gets a elk, looking
>like the hunt isn't all
>its cracked up to be
>again. I wouldn't spend the
>tag fee for it myself
>and the time .
>Go to Idaho, wyoming for the
>time and money spent and
>have a much better hunt.
>Just my 2 cents. Good
>luck to you and hope
>you score on one .
>

It's a great hunt with opportunities on trophy bulls. You can't ask for more than the opportunity. Making it happen is up to you. Sounds like he's already passed up a couple bulls by choice. I've had the tag and I would most definitely spend the time on money on the tag again if I could.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-26-14 AT 03:19PM (MST)[p]Well, I'm back from the elk hunt 3 days early. I hunted Devil's Garden the entire hunt starting with one day of scouting the day before opening day. My guide had been scouting the area for quite awhile before I arrived. The hunt was cut short because my guide became quite ill last night and had to be airlifted to a Reno Hospital. I wasn't setup to hunt on my own because I didn't even bring my quad.
I saw 9 bulls on the hunt from 6x6's to spikes and from a distance of 40-150 yards. I saw a big bull Tuesday after dark that looked like he had great mass.
This is a great hunt and takes a lot of work to find where the bulls are. There was only one day that we heard any bugling and it was around 5 different bulls in a area about a mile across. We did a lot of walking to find rubs, wallows and tracks so we could determine where the elk where bedding and which way they were going to water. The huge herd bulls were not coming out only the satellite bulls.
On Monday I sat on a spring that had several rubs and a large meadow below it with several wallows and nothing came out. Yesterday we went back to that location to check the trail cam and found that a really big bull was there on Tuesday afternoon. So we went back and sat above the spring with perfect wind for 6 hours until dark...nothing came in. Today we were going to walk a large area around the spring and do some calling to see if we could locate the bull, but today never happened. I will try and post a photo of the bull...but it's official, my elk season is over and I really enjoyed it.
 
Bull that played Cat and Mouse with Larrbo.

3904big_elk.jpg


Joey




"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-26-14 AT 07:30PM (MST)[p]>Hope he gets a elk, looking
>like the hunt isn't all
>its cracked up to be
>again. I wouldn't spend the
>tag fee for it myself
>and the time .
>Go to Idaho, wyoming for the
>time and money spent and
>have a much better hunt.
>Just my 2 cents. Good
>luck to you and hope
>you score on one .
>


I hate to say it but I agree with this statement. I had the rifle tag last year on the NE hunt and scouted a total of 12 days and hunted the entire season. I passed on four bulls with the largest being a 270" 6pt. The potential for a great bull is there, but this hunt DOES NOT compare to some of the better units in other states. To compare I just got back from an archery elk hunt in UT and NV and each spot where we had trail cams had somewhere around 12-20 different bulls of different sizes hitting the water holes. Many of them were very good bulls (360-380" bulls)!

Last year on the NE hunt I had over a dozen cameras and if you add up all the bulls, both big and small I saw on those trail cams, it would add up to maybe two trail cams from my UT and NV hunts. Also, on my NE hunt last year I never heard a bugle during the season. The weather last year was incredible with an opening morning temp of 24 degrees. This year in UT and NV I started to hear bugles on Aug 25th and it was hot and dry. The NE unit just doesn't have the number of elk and especially the number of bulls that many other places have.

I'd take the NE tag again in a heartbeat because I know the potential is there, but there's no comparison to a high quality unit in another state. Last year I hunted to the last second of the hunt because it felt like at any second a big one would appear.

I have thousands of trail cam picts from the NE unit last year, but they do not compare to what we saw in UT and NV. Here's a decent bull from the NE last year. If you look close it looks like it had been shot during the archery hunt along the top of it's back.
9567ek000652.jpg
 
sounds like a pretty good hunt to me,,,,, hope your guide is ok

how did the deer look? am thinking about x-2 in the next year or two
 
I received an update on my guide and even though he is in ICU he is going to be OK. As for the deer we saw several does and a hand full of bucks but nothing big. My guide told me he hunts another part of the garden for deer.
 
What an experience. That sounds like the hunt of a lifetime, with or without the punched tag. Congrats on a great hunt.
 
YBO, It's up to Larrbo if he cares to share that info thu the open Forum or not, might be a question best asked thru a PM.

Thru the years here, i've often seen one's persons view of a individual guide sour a thread. It only takes one guy to have a negative experience or opinion of that person and sometimes those repercussions compound to turn what was a great thread of a special hunt into a insult slinging contest. just sayin...

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Sage, just thought I might know him/her. Was going to send or call "get well wishes."
 

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