Here's a run down of my elk hunt turned deer hunt from earlier this month.
This summer I was very excited to see I drew a cow elk tag as a party with my dad and brother in law for the breaks. We did some planning and scouting and talking with my uncle and decided on some dates and a rough area of where to go. My dad and I arrived at camp on Monday afternoon and quickly got unloaded and hit the trail to see if we could get eyes on some elk. Well that afternoon was productive. We spotted some bedded elk and after moving in closer lost them in some thick timber so we backed out not wanting to spook them. On our way back to camp we spotted some more elk and made a quick move on them as it was getting dark. They knew something wasn't right and started heading out. I got ready for a shot and had a cow picked out but she didnt stop and present a shot. We were a little bummed but excited and anxious for the rest of the week. Unfortunately that night it started raining and rained on and off for 2 days. It was my first experience with the famous "gumbo". Driving was not an option and hiking was difficult.
Tuesday and Wednesday we did what we could but spent a lot of time in the tents drying out.
Thursday we were able to get back where we had been into elk but couldn't find where they were. We glasses hard all morning but didn't come up with anything. That afternoon we moved on in hopes of finding some more. Discouragement was sinking in. At about 3 pm we moved on to our last glassing point. As soon as I sat down I had a deer in my binos. He looked like he was ready to go over the edge never to be seen again so I scrambled to get the spotter on him. Just as I was focusing in on him he did the unthinkable- he laid down! He was about 2.5 miles away but from what I could tell my elk hunt was now a deer hunt.
This summer I was very excited to see I drew a cow elk tag as a party with my dad and brother in law for the breaks. We did some planning and scouting and talking with my uncle and decided on some dates and a rough area of where to go. My dad and I arrived at camp on Monday afternoon and quickly got unloaded and hit the trail to see if we could get eyes on some elk. Well that afternoon was productive. We spotted some bedded elk and after moving in closer lost them in some thick timber so we backed out not wanting to spook them. On our way back to camp we spotted some more elk and made a quick move on them as it was getting dark. They knew something wasn't right and started heading out. I got ready for a shot and had a cow picked out but she didnt stop and present a shot. We were a little bummed but excited and anxious for the rest of the week. Unfortunately that night it started raining and rained on and off for 2 days. It was my first experience with the famous "gumbo". Driving was not an option and hiking was difficult.
Tuesday and Wednesday we did what we could but spent a lot of time in the tents drying out.
Thursday we were able to get back where we had been into elk but couldn't find where they were. We glasses hard all morning but didn't come up with anything. That afternoon we moved on in hopes of finding some more. Discouragement was sinking in. At about 3 pm we moved on to our last glassing point. As soon as I sat down I had a deer in my binos. He looked like he was ready to go over the edge never to be seen again so I scrambled to get the spotter on him. Just as I was focusing in on him he did the unthinkable- he laid down! He was about 2.5 miles away but from what I could tell my elk hunt was now a deer hunt.