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AZ Jim
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2011 Elk Season - It was good !! - The story continues.... - Day 11 and 12, and the "mountain lion"
The story continues....... Day 11 and 12, and the "mountain lion"
Thanks all for the nice comments, - Sorry it took me so long to get back to the story all; - work and family stuff you know.
It was cold; snow clouds and one degree this morning, colder than a witches pointy black hat (betcha thought I was going to say something else, but hey this is a family rated website) Well we had a really good idea now where the elk were migrating to and feeding, so we approached Day 11 (the 4th day of the cow elk hunt) the same way, but there were none feeding in the valley this morning. We continued down the road to the "Twin Knolls" so I could get some elevation to glass and spot from. Wild Man headed down the road to the foothills of a high ridge that has a microwave tower on top. "Big Easy" would accompany him as an extra set of eyes. The ridge which is primarily covered with trees along the top has open clearings along the face and small valleys between the fingers that turn into multiple smaller ridgelines as they progress down towards the foothills. The elk were feeding out in the lower elevation large valleys at night then working their way up to the top of the ridge for cover during the day. These smaller ridges and valleys provided excellent cover from them as we would find out. From an elevated position I could see down through the tops, and the terrain looked fairly open, but on their level it was thicker and harder to see them. My other brother gained a different vanatge point and started glassing also. I fairly quickly spotted a few elk moving up the the smaller ridges, so we signaled Wild Man and Big Easy and they started a stalk up from the foothills to the smaller ridges. They ran into some mule deer, some a lion tracks and an older lion kill. "Wild Man" was glad he had a lion tag with him. The elk escaped unseen again, but we spotted another herd of about 30 elk feeding across the face of the ridge, working their way from clearing to clearing. "Wild Man" makes another stalk, but can't get to them in time. There were some other hunters in the area; we heard a few shots. Most of them would be leaving tonight though to get back to work. Over the years we have observed most hunters will take Friday and Monday off to give them a four day hunt. The rest of the hunt, the elk will relax a little more each day and that would be an advantage to us. I spotted 3 bulls in a small bachelor herd that evening, and that would be last elk we saw that day.
Mountain Lion Day- Day 12 (5th day of the Cow Ek hunt)
It was three degrees at camp, but hey it was six degrees and clear when we arrived out in the winter range (thinking positive, even though I could not feel my fingers after glassing for 10 minutes). We would employ the same strategy again this morning, two of us glassing and one making the stalk with "Wild Man". About a half hour after daylight, as the sun started coming around to the open face of the ridge the large rocks I had noticed at the edge of a treeline stood up and came to life. It was herd of about 40 elk. I guess that is why they call them "Rocky Mountain Elk", they sure looked like rocks I thought to myself. What I did not know is that Wild Man and Big Easy had already spotted them from their angle as they were heading up the ridge. They were in full stalk mode now. I called them on the radio to let them know the herd was on the move feeding with the sun. From their vantage point they could see a smaller herd join up with that one. They estimated about 70 now. I spotted about 5 bulls in the herd, a few spikes, a rag horn and couple of big ones that were nosing some of the cows out of curiosity I guess. The big ones even faced off a few times, never fighting, but just testing each other I guess. I found this behavior interesting in December. A few of the cows would lay down then get back up and feed some more. On the way up one of the smaller ridges "Wild Man" ran across another lion kill, this time a calf elk. The kill was pretty fresh. As they closed the gap on the herd he grabbed his elk tag out of his pack and unbeknown to me, dropped his pack to make the stalk easier; this would prove to be a mistake. "Big Easy" held back while "Wild Man" made the final approach. The trees had become very thick on their level as he got up on the herd. He could only see a top of a back, part of a head or double stacked elk where if he shot he would take two. The elk started getting edgy and moved off. My brother and I could see them from our vantage point but "Wild Man" could not, and he never caught up with them again.
I caught a glimpse of "Big Easy" and "Wild Man" coming back down the ridge. They seemed to be looking for something, you guessed it his pack. I got the call on the radio asking if I could spot the pack with the scope. I never saw him drop it and it was gray and green, the same color as the sage and cliff rose. I can spot pretty good, but that was like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Well the search began for what would be hours. While I was spotting for the pack now, I get an anxious call from "Big Easy" and "Wild Man" asking if I thought a mountain lion would steal a pack because they had jumped one. To hear him tell it; it went like this. He is back tracking his trail through the patchy snow looking for his pack, and as he moves around this tree, hears a screech and a big furry thing jumps out of it leaving a cloud of snowy ice crystals in the air. It was a young lion and it ran out about 80 yards into a small clearing in a valley between two small ridges where it stopped and turned around looking at my brother. Apparently it was looking for a deer or sunning itself up off of the snow, but it scared my brother as much as he scared the lion. "Wild Man" levels his .300 Win Mag on the lion to shoot, but then pulls the rifle back up as he realizes although he has his elk tag on him, the lion tag is in the lost backpack. Damn!, The tag has to be in your posession when you shoot and not knowing where it was, it was unethical to shoot and would have been hard to explain to the game officer why he had a lion without a tag. He let it go. We spent the majority of the rest of the day looking for the pack and looking over our shoulders for a hungry lion. He finally found it right where he left it. Towards evening we spotted a few more elk moving through the trees crossing over one of the smaller ridges but he could never find them again. My other brother; we never did give him a nick name this trip, had to leave to get back to work, so it was just "Wild Man", "Big Easy" and myself now.
Day 13 and 14, - the 6th and 7th (last) day of the cow elk hunt, coming next - hope you are enjoying the story. A few more pics "looking for the pack"
AZ Jim
The story continues....... Day 11 and 12, and the "mountain lion"
Thanks all for the nice comments, - Sorry it took me so long to get back to the story all; - work and family stuff you know.
It was cold; snow clouds and one degree this morning, colder than a witches pointy black hat (betcha thought I was going to say something else, but hey this is a family rated website) Well we had a really good idea now where the elk were migrating to and feeding, so we approached Day 11 (the 4th day of the cow elk hunt) the same way, but there were none feeding in the valley this morning. We continued down the road to the "Twin Knolls" so I could get some elevation to glass and spot from. Wild Man headed down the road to the foothills of a high ridge that has a microwave tower on top. "Big Easy" would accompany him as an extra set of eyes. The ridge which is primarily covered with trees along the top has open clearings along the face and small valleys between the fingers that turn into multiple smaller ridgelines as they progress down towards the foothills. The elk were feeding out in the lower elevation large valleys at night then working their way up to the top of the ridge for cover during the day. These smaller ridges and valleys provided excellent cover from them as we would find out. From an elevated position I could see down through the tops, and the terrain looked fairly open, but on their level it was thicker and harder to see them. My other brother gained a different vanatge point and started glassing also. I fairly quickly spotted a few elk moving up the the smaller ridges, so we signaled Wild Man and Big Easy and they started a stalk up from the foothills to the smaller ridges. They ran into some mule deer, some a lion tracks and an older lion kill. "Wild Man" was glad he had a lion tag with him. The elk escaped unseen again, but we spotted another herd of about 30 elk feeding across the face of the ridge, working their way from clearing to clearing. "Wild Man" makes another stalk, but can't get to them in time. There were some other hunters in the area; we heard a few shots. Most of them would be leaving tonight though to get back to work. Over the years we have observed most hunters will take Friday and Monday off to give them a four day hunt. The rest of the hunt, the elk will relax a little more each day and that would be an advantage to us. I spotted 3 bulls in a small bachelor herd that evening, and that would be last elk we saw that day.
Mountain Lion Day- Day 12 (5th day of the Cow Ek hunt)
It was three degrees at camp, but hey it was six degrees and clear when we arrived out in the winter range (thinking positive, even though I could not feel my fingers after glassing for 10 minutes). We would employ the same strategy again this morning, two of us glassing and one making the stalk with "Wild Man". About a half hour after daylight, as the sun started coming around to the open face of the ridge the large rocks I had noticed at the edge of a treeline stood up and came to life. It was herd of about 40 elk. I guess that is why they call them "Rocky Mountain Elk", they sure looked like rocks I thought to myself. What I did not know is that Wild Man and Big Easy had already spotted them from their angle as they were heading up the ridge. They were in full stalk mode now. I called them on the radio to let them know the herd was on the move feeding with the sun. From their vantage point they could see a smaller herd join up with that one. They estimated about 70 now. I spotted about 5 bulls in the herd, a few spikes, a rag horn and couple of big ones that were nosing some of the cows out of curiosity I guess. The big ones even faced off a few times, never fighting, but just testing each other I guess. I found this behavior interesting in December. A few of the cows would lay down then get back up and feed some more. On the way up one of the smaller ridges "Wild Man" ran across another lion kill, this time a calf elk. The kill was pretty fresh. As they closed the gap on the herd he grabbed his elk tag out of his pack and unbeknown to me, dropped his pack to make the stalk easier; this would prove to be a mistake. "Big Easy" held back while "Wild Man" made the final approach. The trees had become very thick on their level as he got up on the herd. He could only see a top of a back, part of a head or double stacked elk where if he shot he would take two. The elk started getting edgy and moved off. My brother and I could see them from our vantage point but "Wild Man" could not, and he never caught up with them again.
I caught a glimpse of "Big Easy" and "Wild Man" coming back down the ridge. They seemed to be looking for something, you guessed it his pack. I got the call on the radio asking if I could spot the pack with the scope. I never saw him drop it and it was gray and green, the same color as the sage and cliff rose. I can spot pretty good, but that was like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Well the search began for what would be hours. While I was spotting for the pack now, I get an anxious call from "Big Easy" and "Wild Man" asking if I thought a mountain lion would steal a pack because they had jumped one. To hear him tell it; it went like this. He is back tracking his trail through the patchy snow looking for his pack, and as he moves around this tree, hears a screech and a big furry thing jumps out of it leaving a cloud of snowy ice crystals in the air. It was a young lion and it ran out about 80 yards into a small clearing in a valley between two small ridges where it stopped and turned around looking at my brother. Apparently it was looking for a deer or sunning itself up off of the snow, but it scared my brother as much as he scared the lion. "Wild Man" levels his .300 Win Mag on the lion to shoot, but then pulls the rifle back up as he realizes although he has his elk tag on him, the lion tag is in the lost backpack. Damn!, The tag has to be in your posession when you shoot and not knowing where it was, it was unethical to shoot and would have been hard to explain to the game officer why he had a lion without a tag. He let it go. We spent the majority of the rest of the day looking for the pack and looking over our shoulders for a hungry lion. He finally found it right where he left it. Towards evening we spotted a few more elk moving through the trees crossing over one of the smaller ridges but he could never find them again. My other brother; we never did give him a nick name this trip, had to leave to get back to work, so it was just "Wild Man", "Big Easy" and myself now.
Day 13 and 14, - the 6th and 7th (last) day of the cow elk hunt, coming next - hope you are enjoying the story. A few more pics "looking for the pack"
AZ Jim
AZ Jim
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The Last Two Days and the Barnes Bullet issue.
The Last Two Days and the Barnes Bullet issue.
Day 13 and 14, - the 6th and 7th (last) day of the cow elk hunt.
It warmed up this morning to 8 degrees at camp, and was 12 degrees by the time we got out to the area we were hunting. I took the high ground again and started glassing. "Wild Man" and "Big Easy" headed up from the foot hills along the cuts between the low ridges working their way towards the high ridgeline where we had seen them the day before. Big brother advice was given to "Wild Man" as he headed out, like "you do have your elk tag anndddd...... your lion tag on you right" ?, and of course because I could not help rubbing it in; told him to keep his pack on on his back this time. Again we spotted elk right away, some moving up the cut, and some up on the face of the ridge feeding. The stalks this day proved to be unproductive, the elk were on the move and Wild Man could never get up on them. We spent the late morning and early afternoon scouting some different access points to the high ridge so he could a get up there before the elk the next morning if possible. That evening we went down the road towards the edge of the hunt unit boundary and Wild Man headed up another ridge trying to catch something coming over the fence back into his hunt unit. We spotted another 4 cows and a small bachelor herd of bulls elk but they were crossing over the ridgelines fast and way out of range; the hunt was over for the day.
The next morning, the last day of the cow elk was sweet and sour. It was about twelve degrees again. Wild Man started up one of the fingers that lead up to the saddle in the ridge again, but a little earlier than the other days, and approached from a slightly different direction. I was glassing from a high point on the twin knolls and spotted a small herd again feeding in the area we had seen them before. I called "Big Easy" and let him know and he said "Wild Man" had spotted them also and was making the stalk. The elk herd started growing as more joined them as the sun came around. Some that were apparently down in the cuts and bedded in the saddle, stood up. I called again and let Big Easy know they were getting edgy. He said they had got within 400 yards and then Wild Man headed up the cut on his own to minimize noise and movement. He moved slowly bush by bush, sometimes crawling, using the sage for cover. I heard a loud crack from a rifle and then another. I just knew it was the Ruger .300 Win Mag, letting the 180 grn. Barnes Triple X fly. I called to confirm and Wild Man had got within 250 yards and shot. He was confident he hit the elk, but it took off with the herd. I headed up to the top on the road that went up to the microwave towers. I would park and look for a way up to them and see if there was any possible way to get the trucks close. I got a call that he found the blood trail, and was tracking slowly to keep the pressure off. He caught a glimpse of the herd and found were they had come back to get her, where she bedded once. They were calling to her and she would call back. I told them to back way off and sit down for a while. I parked the truck and headed across the ridge face and cut the blood trail. There was snow up there, so it was easy to follow the tracks and blood. I called Wild Man and they were watching the herd from about 1000 yards crossing through a valley. They said one was moving slow and limping. I asked him about the shot, how the cow reacted at the shot, and what kind of blood he was seeing up there. He said lurched at the shot turned, turned and stumbled a little, then started running up hill with the heard. His second shot he thought he hit, but maybe a little far back.
I caught up with Wild Man and Big Easy and they showed me where they had seen them last. The blood appeared to be clotting a little though. We could hear her calling for the herd, but could not see her, then they would call back and keep her moving. We came to a fence thet intersected the unit boundary fence, the blood had all but stopped. "Big Easy" walked along the line to see if she had kept up with the herd and made it across the boundary fence. Wild Man and I backtracked along the intersecting fence finding a spot of blood here and there, but no elk. The herd had circled wide and headed for the boundary. The snow was thinner on top and was melting now as the sun hit it, making it harder to track. Big Easy called and said he jumped 3 of the the elk as the were trying to cross the boundary fence. One was limping, but ran like it had never been hit once the elk saw Big Easy. They turned and headed back into our hunt unit and only left a drop of clotted blood. We spent the next two miles and four hours later waitng and tracking slow, trying to catch a glimpse of her, but never could after that.
All in all it was a great hunt with 4 elk down for the family, just too bad Wild Man could not recover his elk. Although he has had sucess with the Barnes bullets before, he is questioning their terminal performance after this experience. Could have been shot placement, who knows, just did not work out for him this time. We gave it a good effort, and figured she stopped bleeding, circled back and made it across the boundary fence to join up with the herd. Maybe he will get lucky and draw again next year and get another chance.
Hope you all enjoyed the story. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Let me know what you thought. Last Picture.
AZ Jim
The Last Two Days and the Barnes Bullet issue.
Day 13 and 14, - the 6th and 7th (last) day of the cow elk hunt.
It warmed up this morning to 8 degrees at camp, and was 12 degrees by the time we got out to the area we were hunting. I took the high ground again and started glassing. "Wild Man" and "Big Easy" headed up from the foot hills along the cuts between the low ridges working their way towards the high ridgeline where we had seen them the day before. Big brother advice was given to "Wild Man" as he headed out, like "you do have your elk tag anndddd...... your lion tag on you right" ?, and of course because I could not help rubbing it in; told him to keep his pack on on his back this time. Again we spotted elk right away, some moving up the cut, and some up on the face of the ridge feeding. The stalks this day proved to be unproductive, the elk were on the move and Wild Man could never get up on them. We spent the late morning and early afternoon scouting some different access points to the high ridge so he could a get up there before the elk the next morning if possible. That evening we went down the road towards the edge of the hunt unit boundary and Wild Man headed up another ridge trying to catch something coming over the fence back into his hunt unit. We spotted another 4 cows and a small bachelor herd of bulls elk but they were crossing over the ridgelines fast and way out of range; the hunt was over for the day.
The next morning, the last day of the cow elk was sweet and sour. It was about twelve degrees again. Wild Man started up one of the fingers that lead up to the saddle in the ridge again, but a little earlier than the other days, and approached from a slightly different direction. I was glassing from a high point on the twin knolls and spotted a small herd again feeding in the area we had seen them before. I called "Big Easy" and let him know and he said "Wild Man" had spotted them also and was making the stalk. The elk herd started growing as more joined them as the sun came around. Some that were apparently down in the cuts and bedded in the saddle, stood up. I called again and let Big Easy know they were getting edgy. He said they had got within 400 yards and then Wild Man headed up the cut on his own to minimize noise and movement. He moved slowly bush by bush, sometimes crawling, using the sage for cover. I heard a loud crack from a rifle and then another. I just knew it was the Ruger .300 Win Mag, letting the 180 grn. Barnes Triple X fly. I called to confirm and Wild Man had got within 250 yards and shot. He was confident he hit the elk, but it took off with the herd. I headed up to the top on the road that went up to the microwave towers. I would park and look for a way up to them and see if there was any possible way to get the trucks close. I got a call that he found the blood trail, and was tracking slowly to keep the pressure off. He caught a glimpse of the herd and found were they had come back to get her, where she bedded once. They were calling to her and she would call back. I told them to back way off and sit down for a while. I parked the truck and headed across the ridge face and cut the blood trail. There was snow up there, so it was easy to follow the tracks and blood. I called Wild Man and they were watching the herd from about 1000 yards crossing through a valley. They said one was moving slow and limping. I asked him about the shot, how the cow reacted at the shot, and what kind of blood he was seeing up there. He said lurched at the shot turned, turned and stumbled a little, then started running up hill with the heard. His second shot he thought he hit, but maybe a little far back.
I caught up with Wild Man and Big Easy and they showed me where they had seen them last. The blood appeared to be clotting a little though. We could hear her calling for the herd, but could not see her, then they would call back and keep her moving. We came to a fence thet intersected the unit boundary fence, the blood had all but stopped. "Big Easy" walked along the line to see if she had kept up with the herd and made it across the boundary fence. Wild Man and I backtracked along the intersecting fence finding a spot of blood here and there, but no elk. The herd had circled wide and headed for the boundary. The snow was thinner on top and was melting now as the sun hit it, making it harder to track. Big Easy called and said he jumped 3 of the the elk as the were trying to cross the boundary fence. One was limping, but ran like it had never been hit once the elk saw Big Easy. They turned and headed back into our hunt unit and only left a drop of clotted blood. We spent the next two miles and four hours later waitng and tracking slow, trying to catch a glimpse of her, but never could after that.
All in all it was a great hunt with 4 elk down for the family, just too bad Wild Man could not recover his elk. Although he has had sucess with the Barnes bullets before, he is questioning their terminal performance after this experience. Could have been shot placement, who knows, just did not work out for him this time. We gave it a good effort, and figured she stopped bleeding, circled back and made it across the boundary fence to join up with the herd. Maybe he will get lucky and draw again next year and get another chance.
Hope you all enjoyed the story. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Let me know what you thought. Last Picture.
AZ Jim
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AZ Jim,
Me too. I have the Lapua 155's ready to go. I'd like to try them, but keep using the 30.06 with custom 200g Nosler Accubonds "just to make sure". Man, I got skunked in WY last year. FEW elk and the ones I did see were a mile away at 8500 ft. Lot's of wolf tracks. A friend of mine who lives up there didn't even get his elk last year.
I think I need a new destination, one without wolves. Maybe Colorado? What do you think?
Me too. I have the Lapua 155's ready to go. I'd like to try them, but keep using the 30.06 with custom 200g Nosler Accubonds "just to make sure". Man, I got skunked in WY last year. FEW elk and the ones I did see were a mile away at 8500 ft. Lot's of wolf tracks. A friend of mine who lives up there didn't even get his elk last year.
I think I need a new destination, one without wolves. Maybe Colorado? What do you think?
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AZ Jim
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Sigma,
I have heard good things about Colorado. I have never hunted there myself, but a few people I know have, and they say you can buy over the counter tags, - no draw. What I have read about Colorado sounds good also, while they don't the best quality bulls, they have decent bulls, with lots of opportunity. One website states the elk population is about 200,000 compared to about 30,000 in Arizona. Arizona has very good bulls, just hard to get drawn even for residents. Too bad about the wolves, I think there is a place for them also, just hope the Feds. allow hunters to keep their population in check someday. I have read a few articles where the wolves are getting a strong foothold in certain areas and negatively affecting those wildlife populations. Common sense, not politics needs to prevail when managing them. Wherever you decide to hunt, good luck.
AZ Jim
I have heard good things about Colorado. I have never hunted there myself, but a few people I know have, and they say you can buy over the counter tags, - no draw. What I have read about Colorado sounds good also, while they don't the best quality bulls, they have decent bulls, with lots of opportunity. One website states the elk population is about 200,000 compared to about 30,000 in Arizona. Arizona has very good bulls, just hard to get drawn even for residents. Too bad about the wolves, I think there is a place for them also, just hope the Feds. allow hunters to keep their population in check someday. I have read a few articles where the wolves are getting a strong foothold in certain areas and negatively affecting those wildlife populations. Common sense, not politics needs to prevail when managing them. Wherever you decide to hunt, good luck.
AZ Jim
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I've been there before and got nothing, but so did most of the hunters in the camp, so I didn't feel that bad. The downside IMO is ALOT of hunter competition and seasons that last only 1 week or so. $351.00 for a non-resident cow tag and then only 1 week to get it done. You better have done your homework. I don't have the time to drive over there to do any scouting, so it will have to be limited to online research. Sounds like you did your homework in AZ. Congrats! I think I'm going to try the Swede this year.
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