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September 29, 2010
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We had a fantastic evening last night. We were able to get in close on the “big sounding” bull from the previous evening, and he turned out to be a good six point in the 330-inch range. We then drove back to where we’d driven the Rokon during the day and parked the Tundra and settled in for another night of luxury truck camping.
The alarm blared early and with our instant coffee, msr reactor stove and Leica optics we made the two-minute walk down to the glassing lookout. What a gorgeous morning. We were quickly able to spot a bunch of different elk, including six different six-point bulls. One bull in particular really got me excited and it turned out he was really close to where we’d been scouting the evening before. You never know where these things are going to turn up. It was a long way off, but this bull was really wide with long tines, which is the combination every elk hunter is looking for.
[ Read Full Post ] September 27, 2010
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Katie and I left our home in Montana early yesterday morning and made the long drive down to the Manti Unit in Utah. We drove to a predetermined spot that I’d hoped would hold elk and sure enough, we heard bugles right out of the gate! We’re focusing our scouting efforts for the first couple days in an area in the northern end of the unit that has some deep canyons that have very limited roads and trails. It's perfect country to hold elk.
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After leaving the truck to hit the trail, we watched our wind and then circled back in toward the bugles we had been hearing. It wasn’t long before we had cows spotted and began a little practice stalk. At 50 yards we held tight and watched as two cows fed towards us. It wasn’t long before a raghorn bull started pushing the cows around in the meadow and right by us! A couple hundred yards away there was a deep bugle coming from the aspens, so we crept toward the bull in some tough wind, getting within 50 yards before we bumped his cows and the gig was up.
[ Read Full Post ] September 24, 2010
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My lists are made, the packing still needs to be done, but the important part ... dialing in my muzzleloader is finished. Utah here I come!
Katie and I are headed down tomorrow to begin scouting within the unit. I'm stoked! It's going to be a full camp of great people. My father and "godfather" John Armstrong will be back for another Utah elk hunting adventure. Last year they tended camp during my brother-in-law's successful archery elk hunt in the Monroe, this time we'll be hunting during muzzleloader season in the Manti Unit.
[ Read Full Post ] September 23, 2010
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After the late night, we only got a few hours of sleep before the alarm blared. We quickly ate a light breakfast, drank some coffee and headed back up the mountain. This time we decided to stay out of the basin and work our way along the ridge above the basin. We made the pull up the steep mountain and we spaced out along the game trail above the basin when I spotted a bull heading our direction on the mountaintop! Wow, that fast and easy I thought. I got down, whistled back to Chris behind me to get down and signaled to him to sneak up to my location.
[ Read Full Post ] September 22, 2010
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We woke up early this morning, eager to get out into the elk. From our camp location we were “hunting” about 300 yards from the tents. We moved slowly accessing the basin from a game trail I’d hunted frequently over the years. The wind was variable and switching directions all the time so we took our time. Once we reached my “listening spot,” we sat and were immediately treated to some bugles from the basin, this is a great spot and every single time I’d made the trip back there, I’ve been into elk. This trip would be no different.
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Once the wind gave us a constant direction, we began our stalk on a big deep sounding bugling bull. We hunted him until about 10, when we finally got busted from a quick wind switch, but the bugles kept coming, over the course of the day we probably heard more than 300 bugles.
[ Read Full Post ] September 20, 2010
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We’re set up in style right now with a great camp. Heavy heavy loads made for slow going today, but the reward is in the awesome food and plush camp. Les, Chris and I will be going after a bull we spotted last night first thing in the morning. We’re not far from his location and hopefully he’s not the only elk around.
We just finished dinner, I made a phone call to check in at home with Katie and now I’m nestled into my sleeping bag typing out this blog. It's pretty good living if you ask me!
[ Read Full Post ] September 14, 2010
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Sorry to leave everyone hanging ... it's been another tough few days on the mountain. After my last blog, I put away the computer and headed back up to the high country. I hiked in to the same area I'd spotted the 6x6 and Mr. Big a few days before and set up the spotting scope. It wasn't two minutes later, when I found the 6x6 and his herd of 34 cows bedded down low on the mountain.
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They must've followed my lead the evening before and retreated from the high saddle and down into the basin for some relief from the storm we experienced together. I held off for a bit before making a stalk to see if Mr. Big would reappear... no sign of the monster 7-point, so goes hunting on public land, you have to make your chances count and I wouldn't see Mr. Big again on the hunt.
[ Read Full Post ] September 10, 2010
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The last couple of days have been nothing short of amazing. I’ll do my best to fill you all in.
I made the return drive from a needed day at home/office in Bozeman around lunch on the 8th. I’ve been fortunate enough to gain permission to hunt a small piece of private property in the unit I’m hunting this year. The first three days of the season I hunted this private section, but as good a piece as it is, I didn’t see anything. It’s dense timber with small pockets… great if the bulls are bugling, but tough if they’re not! I needed some AIR. I needed to hunt the way I’m used to… in the mountains.
[ Read Full Post ] September 7, 2010
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It's finally here! My favorite time of the year ... it's September and archery hunting in Montana for elk. Neither the elk nor the weather decided to cooperate for my first adventure this season. We showed up to our area to scout a few days prior to the season and found a few great bulls. One bull is probably in the 370-inch to 380-inch range. He's a candidate for my 2010 MT Elk Tag for sure.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PHOTOS >>
I also found a 350-inch bull that I couldn't find come opening morning, but will no doubt have another chance to locate and hunt. The big bull was in an area full of hunters, lots of people running around the hills for opening weekend and Labor day, so I decided to bet on the fact that he's obviously eluded hunters for at least six years and I should give him some space in the high country for the first few days (I'm headed out tomorrow night to see if I can spot him again).
[ Read Full Post ] September 3, 2010
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After the success of scoring on another caribou, the team was feeling excited. Now if only the rams would cooperate. We spent most of day six just watching the big ram high on the mountain, two more rams made their way across the hillside to his location, so now we had two more sets of cunning sheep eyes to deal with ... but they still weren't in a stalkable location.
Tom, Adam and Jeremy decided to head across the river to glass some country and see if they could find Broomy again. I had to stay in camp and watch the big ram to make sure he didn't leave the country. Sure enough, after only 15 minutes of glassing they spotted Broomy in a location where they could make a stalk. Tom and Adam came running into camp to grab their gear and I packed up some clothes for Jeremy, fired up a hot Mountain house and headed over to watch the hunt through the spotter.
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