deerkiller
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LAST EDITED ON Aug-22-18 AT 04:33PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Aug-22-18 AT 04:29?PM (MST)
I figured I'd post my success so far. I've had cameras out since the first of May. I hunt turkeys in the same general area that I hunt elk, so I usually take a cam with me every day and put one out when it's slow and I'm in the area. I ended up spreading out 5 this year from one end of the unit to the other. Tested a couple new spots I had found from last year and put out a couple in my old reliable spots. After letting them sit until mid July, I had determined 2 of the new spots were gonna be a waste of time, the other new area was looking promising and just like always, the 2 old go to spots were looking good as usual. A week before the hunt started I went and checked them one last time to decide what my plan would be for the opener. I also placed a couple bags of critter lick in each spot. If you've never tried that stuff, it's amazing for elk. They love it. I share the best area with another hunter, he has a stand in there and a cam in there and has been religiously placing salt in there for years. Since I knew he'd probably be there opening day I figured I'd just stay out of there all together out of respect and let him enjoy his hunt without my interference, so I decided to hunt plan B. It was loaded with elk, but it's in a more popular area so it was a guess at best that elk would continue their normal routine with that many people around. Opening day came and I was in the stand well before light. I had several small bucks come in with a few does, and heard several bulls bugle during the morning but that's about all the action I had all day. I decided to skip Sunday and let the areas calm down. Plus with a new baby at home I figured I'd gain some bonus points with the wife being home that day, that I could cash in on later when my chances at filling a tag was higher. I went to work Monday and checked the best areas cam that night after work. The elk were back to their routine after the weekend chaos and I figured Tuesday would be a good day to be ?sick? of work. I climbed in the stand at 5:30 and sat and waited for it to get light. It had rained that night and was really cool. As daylight broke a small 4x5 walked down the trail I could see and he let out a halfassed bugle. That woke the mountain up! I've never heard elk so vocal, so early in the hunt. Had atleast 4 different bulls bugle back and forth all morning. The one sounded like a small bull, possibly a spike, and with each bugle he was getting closer. The elk on the cam were coming in between 7 and 9 in the morning and 6 to 830 at night. By now it was 830 and I figured it wouldn't be long until one showed up. Sure enough at 845, 4 cows and 3 calves quietly made their way to the water. The biggest cow that didn't have a calf came and stood directly below the stand and just watched and the other drank and went to the salt. I have an antlerless tag and a multi season spike tag and planned on shooting the first calf I had a chance at, but at the last moment decided I was going to take this big cow if she gave me the shot. After 5 minuets of her just standing there I could hear cattle coming down the trail. This caught her attention and I knew she was getting nervous and going to leave soon. I drew my bow and tried to guess where to hold my pin on her. I've shot quite a few animals from tree stands, but never shot straight down at one that close to me. She was only 5 yards away... I've shot a lot of target and 3D archery In the past so had some experience with shooting at these close distances and angles. I took an educated guess and started squeezing my release. The bow went off and I watched that arrow sink into the side of her, right where I'd wanted it to hit. I'm shooting a rage hypodermic broadhead and I instantly saw blood pouring out as she jumped, spun and took off down hill with the others right behind her. Just as they started going out of my sight, I saw her starting to stumble and fall behind. Just as she got out of view I heard that unmistakable crash as she fell over. I called my wife and told her that I was gonna be later than I had told her I was gonna because I had just killed an elk. After giving her 30 minuets I began the short track job. Blood was everywhere, just like the many other times I had shot animals with these heads. The damage and devastation from these things are unbelievable. Right where I heard her fall, is where I found her laying. Took a few pics and began the cutting and quartering. I packed out the first load myself and decided to come back with the wife that afternoon to get the rest.
It was a great start to the 2018 archery season. I'm really lucky to live in the area I do and extremely blessed to be able to do these kinds of things as often as I want. Utah is a pretty amazing place with great opportunities if you want to work for them. I realize it's only a cow, and I've killed lots of them. But to be able to do this hunt every year with an OTC tag is pretty awesome if you sit and think about it. I've got 2 more elk tags left, and a swan and rifle deer tag in my pocket as well to keep me busy for the rest of the year. And my dad has a buffalo tag too, so it should be another awesome year! Hope everyone else has found success or will find success in the coming weeks and months. Don?t forget to get out and enjoy the best 2 months of the year that are just starting!
I figured I'd post my success so far. I've had cameras out since the first of May. I hunt turkeys in the same general area that I hunt elk, so I usually take a cam with me every day and put one out when it's slow and I'm in the area. I ended up spreading out 5 this year from one end of the unit to the other. Tested a couple new spots I had found from last year and put out a couple in my old reliable spots. After letting them sit until mid July, I had determined 2 of the new spots were gonna be a waste of time, the other new area was looking promising and just like always, the 2 old go to spots were looking good as usual. A week before the hunt started I went and checked them one last time to decide what my plan would be for the opener. I also placed a couple bags of critter lick in each spot. If you've never tried that stuff, it's amazing for elk. They love it. I share the best area with another hunter, he has a stand in there and a cam in there and has been religiously placing salt in there for years. Since I knew he'd probably be there opening day I figured I'd just stay out of there all together out of respect and let him enjoy his hunt without my interference, so I decided to hunt plan B. It was loaded with elk, but it's in a more popular area so it was a guess at best that elk would continue their normal routine with that many people around. Opening day came and I was in the stand well before light. I had several small bucks come in with a few does, and heard several bulls bugle during the morning but that's about all the action I had all day. I decided to skip Sunday and let the areas calm down. Plus with a new baby at home I figured I'd gain some bonus points with the wife being home that day, that I could cash in on later when my chances at filling a tag was higher. I went to work Monday and checked the best areas cam that night after work. The elk were back to their routine after the weekend chaos and I figured Tuesday would be a good day to be ?sick? of work. I climbed in the stand at 5:30 and sat and waited for it to get light. It had rained that night and was really cool. As daylight broke a small 4x5 walked down the trail I could see and he let out a halfassed bugle. That woke the mountain up! I've never heard elk so vocal, so early in the hunt. Had atleast 4 different bulls bugle back and forth all morning. The one sounded like a small bull, possibly a spike, and with each bugle he was getting closer. The elk on the cam were coming in between 7 and 9 in the morning and 6 to 830 at night. By now it was 830 and I figured it wouldn't be long until one showed up. Sure enough at 845, 4 cows and 3 calves quietly made their way to the water. The biggest cow that didn't have a calf came and stood directly below the stand and just watched and the other drank and went to the salt. I have an antlerless tag and a multi season spike tag and planned on shooting the first calf I had a chance at, but at the last moment decided I was going to take this big cow if she gave me the shot. After 5 minuets of her just standing there I could hear cattle coming down the trail. This caught her attention and I knew she was getting nervous and going to leave soon. I drew my bow and tried to guess where to hold my pin on her. I've shot quite a few animals from tree stands, but never shot straight down at one that close to me. She was only 5 yards away... I've shot a lot of target and 3D archery In the past so had some experience with shooting at these close distances and angles. I took an educated guess and started squeezing my release. The bow went off and I watched that arrow sink into the side of her, right where I'd wanted it to hit. I'm shooting a rage hypodermic broadhead and I instantly saw blood pouring out as she jumped, spun and took off down hill with the others right behind her. Just as they started going out of my sight, I saw her starting to stumble and fall behind. Just as she got out of view I heard that unmistakable crash as she fell over. I called my wife and told her that I was gonna be later than I had told her I was gonna because I had just killed an elk. After giving her 30 minuets I began the short track job. Blood was everywhere, just like the many other times I had shot animals with these heads. The damage and devastation from these things are unbelievable. Right where I heard her fall, is where I found her laying. Took a few pics and began the cutting and quartering. I packed out the first load myself and decided to come back with the wife that afternoon to get the rest.
It was a great start to the 2018 archery season. I'm really lucky to live in the area I do and extremely blessed to be able to do these kinds of things as often as I want. Utah is a pretty amazing place with great opportunities if you want to work for them. I realize it's only a cow, and I've killed lots of them. But to be able to do this hunt every year with an OTC tag is pretty awesome if you sit and think about it. I've got 2 more elk tags left, and a swan and rifle deer tag in my pocket as well to keep me busy for the rest of the year. And my dad has a buffalo tag too, so it should be another awesome year! Hope everyone else has found success or will find success in the coming weeks and months. Don?t forget to get out and enjoy the best 2 months of the year that are just starting!
