Semi-Live MT Public Land Elk Hunt

Well the time is finally here. I am typing this as we are west bound on I90 just west of Billings, MT with an ETA to our 2014 Elk Camp of 3am. This year is our 2nd year elk hunting and we will be returning to the same area near Dillon, MT. We have one week to get it done and plan to do two 3-night backpack trips if necessary.

My friend Shayne is the one with the tag and I will be operating the video camera. Weather looks good and we couldn't be more excited. As a flatlander I know there are lots of guys that always talk about going elk hunting but never do. I hope my post encourages those individuals as this type of hunt is one of the most challenging and rewarding hunts a person can do.

I will try to post updates but service can be spotty. Thanks for following along! Let the adventure begin.

Best of luck on the adventure!

Best of luck on your buddy's hunt. I'm leaving 4am Monday for MT.

Good luck !

sounds like fun, good luck!

Base camp 2014.

Arrived at 3am and just went straight to bed. Woke up around 8 and made a big breakfast. Got organized and filled our packs. We have enough food for 3 nights of living out of a backpack.

Hiked in two miles to our camp for tonight. Setting up the tent now and then heading to a lookout to find the elk. We have seen a decent amount of sign but no elk on our hike in.

Looks like a good time! Enjoy your hunt..

Had this funny looking spike come into our first call setup. Can't shoot spikes in this unit though. Hoping to hear some bugles tonight!

Good luck boys!

Good luck!

Well I want to apologize for the lack of posts. We had trouble posting pictures from our phones and I am not certain everyone else can see the photos above. Below is a recap from a great week of hunting. Thanks for following along!

Well we made it home Friday and it took a while to get things cleaned up and organized. Still can't believe how well the trip went and wanted to give a recap with more pictures.

We began our 2,000 mile journey from ND. Shayne left Hebron, ND and picked me up at the Billings airport. We continued on across Montana and arrived to camp at 3:30am of Day One. We slept in til about 8am and then made a big breakfast and filled our packs.









Running on little sleep but pure excitement we left around 11am on a two mile hike where we would set up our spike camp.





After getting setup we immediately went to where we saw the elk last year. They were definitely going to be in the same spot, right? As we were on our way to our lookout we spotted an elk. We got positioned and let out a few cow calls. A spike came walking in with a bent antler sticking straight out like a unicorn. We were excited to see elk but the remainder of the evening was quiet besides a few distant bugles.



This was our view as we left the lookout spot. Very peaceful with elk bugles in the background.

As we got ready for bed we herd cow calls get closer and closer. Not much we could do as it was past shooting light but right as we stuck our head out of the tent a few cows and a nice 5x5 came strolling past on their way to feed. They were less than 100 yards from the tent! That night the hills started to come alive with bugles. Our tent was the center of it all too.



The falls color were amazing during the whole trip.

Day two started out slow as we went back to the lookout but saw zero elk. Did we make a mistake coming to the same spot two years in a row? We worked our way through the woods throughout the morning in search of more elk sign to reassure we made the right choice. As we walked over a shelf looking over a draw we were spotted by a herd of 6 or so elk. We froze but they walked off. We got in position and let out some calls. Sure enough one was walking back! Our excitement led to disappointment as it was just a spike in a unit where you can't harvest spikes. We continued to watch this herd but did not want to bump them again onto private land and also felt this was third bedding area. We decided to check out a few more areas but did not find much sign in the steep, thick timber. We decided to sit near our tent for the remainder of the evening to see if elk would pass down the nearby draw as they go to feed like we had seen the prior night. We sat for probably 30 mins when Shayne taps me and says their is a small bull! We were ready to shoot a cow so any legal bull was a shooter. With having one brow tine that was over 4" we decided if it presented a shot we would pull the trigger.

It stopped and Shayne shot. The bull took off and almost ran over our tent! After watching the footage you could see the bull dip as the arrow released and avoid the 55 yard shot. Shayne found his busted broad head and arrow and we went to bed. It was another long night of listening to the elk bugle and dreaming about tomorrow.

Day three was another slow start as we didn't find elk all morning and were running low on food as well as batteries were dying. Come lunch time we trekked the two miles up 1000 feet of elevation to base camp. We ate quick and went on a short hike that evening where we spotted two elk. We tried to make a sneak but they moved too quickly.

After arriving back to base camp that evening spirits were down as we began to see less elk. We make a big hot meal and went to bed hoping for better luck tomorrow.

This is our view from the base camp that evening as a small storm rolled through.

Day 4 we had plans of getting up before light so we could hike down to where the elk were around dawn. BUT we slept in!! We hustled down with packs of more food and fresh batteries. We stopped by the tent and dropped items off and then decided to give the lookout spot one more try!

Before we even sat down we spotted a (what we would consider) HUGE bull 400 yards downhill from us. The bull had just sat down in the shade below an evergreen and we felt that was perfect for a stalk. He had his back facing us and we were upwind of him. We made it about 100 yards down the hill and he stood and locked eyes on us. With dry leaves and a rocky surface we weren't exactly that quiet. After twenty minutes of waiting he moved into the trees out of sight and we continued down. We worked our way to 80 yards from where he had been spotted originally. We called for 20 minute using a call scenario from elk nut but it did not work on this bull as he probably knew something was up. After 45 mins we retreated as we had heard another bull bugling down the way.

After further investigation we pinpointed this bull down on the flats with 5 cows and screaming his lungs out at 800 yards from us. It was awesome to watch but were were in no position to make a stalk on him as there was an hour of light left.

We began walking back to the tent when we spotted a satellite bull!! It was feeding in an area with evergreens and sage brush. We worked our way up to 80 yards and positioned ourselves. Just a few cow calls and we had his attention! He bugled back and walked right for us. At 45 yards he appeared from behind a tree and turned broadside. Let out a cow call and he stopped. Shayne pulled the trigger and hit him, but was it a good shot? The elk had jumped to it's left so it was quartering away more severely when the arrow hit. We could see the arrow barely penetrated and it looked as though it may have struck the shoulder. The bull trotted off and we were left confused.

Shayne tried to get a second shot off but resisted as he didn't want to continue pushing the bull. We knew the general direction it went and followed slowly. We sat and listened as the hills came alive. We tried to find a speck of blood but found nothing. We heard a rustle in the trees but minutes later a spike came within 20 yards. We were not sure what to do.

With a poor hit and zero blood we decided we had no option but to halt the search until morning. It was a long night as we ate quick and tried to sleep.



The next morning we were gifted a beautiful sunrise.



We went to where we had been sitting the night prior and had tied a piece of flagging tape to a branch. We worked our way up the hill and found the bull less than 100 yards from where we were sitting the night before! We were pretty upset knowing that we could have possibly found it the night before but very happy we had found it. We took a couple quick pictures and then hurried to get it processed. With temperatures in the mid 40's overnight we wanted to get it opened up right away. The neck had a green tint so we left it but everything else was salvaged.





Shayne with the last load! We finished around 3pm and hit the road for Wyoming! This was day five.



A duramax and 16th foot trailer was not made for this road! Couldn't turn around though. It led to our base camp spot which turned out perfect. Just a little difficult to get to.





Drove throughout the Tetons!



We saw several goats along our drive which made it tough to wait. We made it to our WY Antelope camp around 1pm on day six.



2014 Wyoming Antelope Camp



Took just one stalk and we got one on the ground. It was the first week and I think that was big in our success. This is usually a 100% draw unit.

As the cameraman it was fun to get to hunt for an hour haha. A 14" goat but lacked cutters. Very happy though as this is one of the most fun hunts anyone can do.



Since it was 90 degrees we hunt it up and broke it down right away so we could get it in the cooler.



By the time we got it in the cooler we had little light left for that evening. We tried one stalk but ran out of time. It was a very clear night surrounded by drilling rigs, wind turbines, and oil pumps.



It took about 3 stalks on day 7 to get Shayne's goat on the ground. A great public land buck with excellent cutters. We had him down by 11am and worked quick to get it in the cooler.

I think next year we are going to have to try spot and stalk with the bow!

The trip wasn't complete without a celebratory stop at DQ! Thanks for following along.

Thanks for sharing your experience! For those of us with tags in our pockets for later this fall, these kind of stories keep the juices flowing.

Great write up and photos to go with it. Congrats on a excellent hunting trip in the west.

Awesome trip and great story looks like you guys really had some great days there.

Well done guys. That looks like a fun trip! I like what you did with the trailer too. Just out of curiosity, what do you do if someone locks you in the trailer? Can you latch and unlatch it from the inside?

ishootdasmallones said:

Well done guys. That looks like a fun trip! I like what you did with the trailer too. Just out of curiosity, what do you do if someone locks you in the trailer? Can you latch and unlatch it from the inside?

Click to expand...

There is an RV style latch along with the regular latch. We also put the lock on the latch without the arm lever in it so no one can put the arm down and lock you in.

Here is a video tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT_9f2OC4Wk&list=UUnb7Z_ZQRfH2b58aMiZB3hw