We made it to our easy hunting spot 13 Nov. Glassed the canyon evening of the 13th and all day 14th. Someone else must have gotten in there 2nd3rd rifle cause there wasn't a single elk to be seen. We did though see a herd up at 11,500 and my thought was "oh boy, this lack of snow has em scattered still in altitudes".......in a day and half of glassing we found em from 7800 up to 12000. This might make for an interesting hunt.
Opening morning I made the standard lucky biscuits and gravy, warmed up the trucks and drove the 15 minutes to the trailhead. Quads unloaded and day gear packed we started off on our 10 mile ride in. Arriving at our spot just before enough light to glass we killed the lights and parked in a low area then hiked up a couple hundred feet to glass. Nothing. We still had a warm south wind blowing so the plan was to sneak in directly north roughly 2.5 miles.....take a 1 mile hike east, then slow hunt/stalk through a known high ridge/bedding area directly south into wind. With minimal to zero snow on the ground we cut a few single cow tracks from over night but no bigger herds. We stopped to hydrate before the press to the south then headed in to an area I took a newbie to last year where he dropped his 1st bull. Its a hidey hole that no one wants to hike into cause its 2 miles from a quad trail.
s
We started the sneak in with my son in front and me in trail a few yards. Methodically 10 steps, look with eye balls, kneel down look with binos for legs, ears flickering or brown. Then up on our feet, wind check......then wash rinse repeat. My son takes the lead for 30 minutes then we swap. I get through 2 iterations when I see the oh so familiar correct brown of an elk butt. I stop, raise the rifle, lean right to get a look around a tree. Click....safety off. Left eye counts 4 points on one side. Left eye closes....and boom. I get one right in the boiler house and he goes down and flops. 38 yard shot. I turn to my son and say elk down. His response was I guess there was an elk there?
After a few hours of breaking him down we hike to the quads with the back straps then hike back in with frame packs to get the quarters out. By that time I was able to raise 2 others from our hunting group on the radio, sent them them the lat long with the Garmin Rhino and they met us at the kill site for the one time 4 person pack out.
Opening morning I made the standard lucky biscuits and gravy, warmed up the trucks and drove the 15 minutes to the trailhead. Quads unloaded and day gear packed we started off on our 10 mile ride in. Arriving at our spot just before enough light to glass we killed the lights and parked in a low area then hiked up a couple hundred feet to glass. Nothing. We still had a warm south wind blowing so the plan was to sneak in directly north roughly 2.5 miles.....take a 1 mile hike east, then slow hunt/stalk through a known high ridge/bedding area directly south into wind. With minimal to zero snow on the ground we cut a few single cow tracks from over night but no bigger herds. We stopped to hydrate before the press to the south then headed in to an area I took a newbie to last year where he dropped his 1st bull. Its a hidey hole that no one wants to hike into cause its 2 miles from a quad trail.
s
We started the sneak in with my son in front and me in trail a few yards. Methodically 10 steps, look with eye balls, kneel down look with binos for legs, ears flickering or brown. Then up on our feet, wind check......then wash rinse repeat. My son takes the lead for 30 minutes then we swap. I get through 2 iterations when I see the oh so familiar correct brown of an elk butt. I stop, raise the rifle, lean right to get a look around a tree. Click....safety off. Left eye counts 4 points on one side. Left eye closes....and boom. I get one right in the boiler house and he goes down and flops. 38 yard shot. I turn to my son and say elk down. His response was I guess there was an elk there?
After a few hours of breaking him down we hike to the quads with the back straps then hike back in with frame packs to get the quarters out. By that time I was able to raise 2 others from our hunting group on the radio, sent them them the lat long with the Garmin Rhino and they met us at the kill site for the one time 4 person pack out.
