MThuntr
Well-known member
WOW I'm actually at a loss for words...threads started about outfitting and fee hunting but a damage hunt isn't an appropriate topic. If it makes you feel better it is outfitting and fee hunting that has caused this particular situation where the elk have used the resources where they are safe during hunting season and now are coming on the neighboring ranches that allow hunting. Although I will admit I don't know how much access is offered during the hunting season.
So here's the deal...I spent 2 days on a ranch. 4 elk had already been shot on this ranch so the elk had gotten wise to what was going on by the time I had a chance to get out there. Thursday, I found the elk out in the open feeding 1/2-3/4 mile from anything that would have even remotely allowed me to get close. They fed over the ridge and I double timed it out there to see if I could catch them. In the process I spotted a young cow in a "safety zone"...I could have shot her at 30 yards. I found the main bunch of elk feeding up into the timber. It would have been a 600 yard shot and I don't do that. They bedded down literally on the other side of the fence on the neighbor's place. Probably 20 cows & 10 spikes in the mix. I watched them from cover of a ridge for several hrs in the cold. I hoped they would eventually get up and feed down out of the wind. Finally at about 4pm they slowly started milling around and I thought for sure they would feed toward the open grass ridge I was on. A spike bull (not legal) was the only thing that came across the fence. I backed out of there at dark. Day 1 mileage was only 4.7 miles.
Day 2 was a near mirror of day 1 except the elk didn't feed as long and were bedded down before I got a chance to get between them and the cover.
Though I only put in less than 10 miles in 2 days, it was a far cry from the damage hunt people claim they know of.
So here's the deal...I spent 2 days on a ranch. 4 elk had already been shot on this ranch so the elk had gotten wise to what was going on by the time I had a chance to get out there. Thursday, I found the elk out in the open feeding 1/2-3/4 mile from anything that would have even remotely allowed me to get close. They fed over the ridge and I double timed it out there to see if I could catch them. In the process I spotted a young cow in a "safety zone"...I could have shot her at 30 yards. I found the main bunch of elk feeding up into the timber. It would have been a 600 yard shot and I don't do that. They bedded down literally on the other side of the fence on the neighbor's place. Probably 20 cows & 10 spikes in the mix. I watched them from cover of a ridge for several hrs in the cold. I hoped they would eventually get up and feed down out of the wind. Finally at about 4pm they slowly started milling around and I thought for sure they would feed toward the open grass ridge I was on. A spike bull (not legal) was the only thing that came across the fence. I backed out of there at dark. Day 1 mileage was only 4.7 miles.
Day 2 was a near mirror of day 1 except the elk didn't feed as long and were bedded down before I got a chance to get between them and the cover.
Though I only put in less than 10 miles in 2 days, it was a far cry from the damage hunt people claim they know of.
How about we all just consider this as a "hunting" site, regardless of landownership and/or if one is guided/outfitted/transported?
