journal of 2018 elk archery of cheeser

EPILOGUE:

Just a couple of notes to maybe enlighten someone reading this. A typical day would start at half hour before daylight of getting up, getting a little something to eat and getting dressed. I don’t normally take any kind of pack or backpack with me as I never too far away from camp or bike. If I do take anything it is my day pack. Usually I wrap up my morning hunts about 11 AM go back to camp and eat. I purchased Hormel Completes of which there over 40 different meal, they are 8 oz. of decent meals and I don’t need to refrigerate them, and they aren’t frozen, so I can eat them cold if need be but usually heat in boiling water. I also bring, tortilla’s which I top with jelly/jam/peanut butter/Nutella. I drink Lipton tea my entire trip or water.

I usually take a nice nap at mid-day after eating and maybe do my journal or target practice, listen to the radio news if I have reception. Maybe some e-scouting on my maps I have brought with. Around 4PM I begin to get ready for the evening hunt, typically I just take my bow with no pack, I generally leave my pack on my bike. In this year’s area I always carried a 380 Glock and a can of bear spray . I also typically leave my stand a little earlier than if I was whitetail hunting, due to wanting to be able to see a bear if I meet one on way back to my bike. I also really have not seen many elk right at dark like I do with whitetail.

I bring an enclosed utility trailer in which all my gear fits into for the trip out and back which includes my wheeler. Once at camp, the trailer is my home which I sleep in and cook in. I use a cook stove to heat the food and the trailer in the mornings. I sleep on a blow-up mattress and my sleeping bag. I try not to use any heaters because of carbon monoxide. I have a carpet on top of the air mattress makes a huge difference in being able to sleep, as an air mattress sucks the body heat right out of you. A portable commode makes a huge difference in comfort when you are roughing in the woods. A chain, shovel, axe, saw, block and tackle, long rope and a sears tool kit are a must. I also bring a cordless drill w/bits and Sawzall.

I shoot a Bowtech Carbon Knight 68#, Victory VAP Ultra thin 0.166 arrows, a quivilizer quiver (which I am sold on), use a Sling-A-Ling which is a must in my book, and Muzzy 3 blade. My entire bow is setup to be the lightest bow combo I can make. It makes a huge difference when your walking miles.

I use clothes I would normally use for whitetail hunting here and my shoes I typically will use tennis shoes if weather allows, then hiking boots. The one thing I would really say I wont compromise on is a rain-PROOF outer shell in camo, I have a good set from guide gear that is good, it is quiet, rain-proof and light so I can wear in warm weather and over top of my warm gear when needed.

Looks like some good memories made there. Those long solo hunts can be taxing, but are always fun to look back on later.

Thanks for the write up, I enjoyed reading it. I'll be honest, I kept expecting to get to the end and feel the big payoff for all of the hard work, the solo-hunting, and for fighting off that pneumonia. But alas, that's hunting, you certainly don't always get the "payoff" as I'm learning time and again.

I'm planning to write up my most recent hunt/encounter and one of the things I'm curious to hear is if people have any thoughts on the mistakes that I think I made. I'm curious, do you wish you had done anything differently? What mistakes do you wish you had avoided?

Also, Upper Michigan must mean the UP if you drove through WI? Where are you from? I live in CO now but I grew up in metro-Detroit. Happy to be where I am now...

FYT said:

Also, Upper Michigan must mean the UP if you drove through WI? Where are you from? I live in CO now but I grew up in metro-Detroit. Happy to be where I am now...

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raised a cheesehead, but been in crystal falls, in the u.p.for 35 yrs

FYT said:

Thanks for the write up, I enjoyed reading it. I'll be honest, I kept expecting to get to the end and feel the big payoff for all of the hard work, the solo-hunting, and for fighting off that pneumonia. But alas, that's hunting, you certainly don't always get the "payoff" as I'm learning time and again.

I'm planning to write up my most recent hunt/encounter and one of the things I'm curious to hear is if people have any thoughts on the mistakes that I think I made. I'm curious, do you wish you had done anything differently? What mistakes do you wish you had avoided?

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I had my chances, I nocked an arrow over a dozen times, only shot once but passed on 3 spikes.

My biggest mistake was not taking my antibiotics earlier. I am sure I missed close encounters due to my coughing those first 4 days. i take antibiotics along on every hunt i have been on, which was my 8th this yr. they have saved my trip twice now. last year i had a abcessed molar, during my hunt in the missouri breaks.

I would say my biggest hunting mistake was not putting more miles on early in my season, but by the same token I was really run down and I was seeing elk. my neighbors from oregon were 20 yrs younger and they covered a tremendous amount of ground and it paid off for them. I just couldn't maintain that pace, being sick.

my other mistake is my calling, i need to work on my chuckling more. my cow calls and bugling is fine but I havent mastered chuckling and almost every bull I did get to answer me was chuckling and I just couldnt answer them back with a chuckle.

I think a full size cow decoy may have also helped, we used one couple yrs with success, I had the small ultimate predator bow mounted decoy.

p.s. i have written a journal on 5 of my hunts i give me something to do at night, and its great to relive and enjoy with others

Thanks for your reflections on the mistakes- I'm always looking to learn from other people's mistakes so that I can hopefully avoid making the same ones. I can make plenty easily enough on my own!

Yea, journaling is a great idea. I'm lucky enough to live in the unit that I hunt in so I get home and don't have the same opportunity for quiet reflection. Eventually I'll branch out to other areas, but I'm enjoying getting to know the unit over time. While I like living close to where I hunt, it is a blessing and a curse. I love being able to scout over time ahead of the season, but I during the hunt itself I do sometimes yearn to be a little more disconnected. I know that's my choice- I could still hike in and camp, but it hasn't worked out that way yet- I hike in and out each day so by the time I'm back the last thing on my mind is journaling unfortunately.

But, I'm sure you love having the record of your experiences and I bet you've also learned a lot by looking back through past journals. I'm going to try to push myself to do that next hunt. Thanks again for sharing.

Well, you can't say you didn't see anything. You've got a good spot! Wish you wouldn't have had the cough. It sucks. I had a cough the whole whitetail rut here in Ohio. Great write-up and thanks for sharing!

take the journal with you and write during midday while taking a break/nap. mine is like 6x6 inches notebook

Everybody should hunt the way they want, if you're grinding it out too hard you may burn out, especially while sick on a long hunt like that. One thing I'd suggest though is hunting midday. I got all 3 of my western critters ('lope, muley, cow elk) during the midday hours this year.

Thanks for sharing!

Great write up. Did you see any g bears or sign of them?

madtom said:

Great write up. Did you see any g bears or sign of them?

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i have hunted here twice once in 07 and this year and I did not have any bear sightings or encounters in either trip griz or black.

oops