Siskiyou Elk Hunt

[84toyota]

Hi guys and gals,
I did the impossible and the Siskiyou elk hunt for 2014 with one preference point. I drew the Marble Mts muzzleloader elk two years ago and killed a nice bull... I decided to change things up on a whim (being I only had 1 point) and put in for the Siskiyou hunt. I'm looking for any info available on where to start scouting. If anyone has drawn this hunt in the past, or knows someone that has - let me know. I plan to start scouting next weekend. This hunt is between mount shasta/McCloud to the south, Oregon to the north, east of I-5 and west of the Lava Beds National Monument. I'm looking for a public land hunt not a high dollar private land hunt. I know quite a bit about most of the northern California hunts, but this one I'm not as familiar with. I can trade info with you! I attached a pic of my 2012 bull to get the juices flowing!

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Zthorn85]

I just drew the lake Pillsbury bull tag with one point does that mean I can't put in for elk for awhile or can I go right back at it next year?

 

[nickman123]

Haven't been up there in at least 10 or 12 yrs but there used to be a decent herd that hung out between Yreka and the 97. Bumped into them a few times hunting deer. Talked to a few ranchers around Montague who complained about all the damage they did to their property.

 

[84toyota]

Hey Nick,
I know a bit about those elk, I just need to dial them in... There's a bunch of country in the zone, so I need to start ruling some areas out soon!
Zthorn85 - you can put in every year, but the likelihood of drawing again is slim... but hey, I just did it! You never know...
Ken

 

[CaliCoyoteCaller]

Focus a little time scouting to the Grass Lake/Goosenest area..there are some elk in there..

 

[84toyota]

I definitely plan on combing the Goosenest/Grass Lake area, from Montague to the west and Butte Valley to the east. The area I'm really interested in is down towards Pondosa (which is in the Northeast zone)... my zone is a few miles away, but I'm wondering if the elk come up from Pondosa... I know there are some big ones in that herd, but Roseburg shut down access to much of that land...

Ken

 

[velvet55]

2 bull elk tags in 3 years. thats simply amazing, as many wait over 25 years for one........congrats, please share the details this fall.....

 

[JustGuy]

There are planty of them around Copco Lake and Oregon border close to it. We had it 2 years ago, and last year my friend got one last year.

 

[neckshot]

Hey ken congrats on the tag man you hit the jackpot like I did for my marbles tag a few years ago !!!

 

[neckshot]

Hey ken congrats on the tag man you hit the jackpot like I did for my marbles tag a few years ago !!!

 

[CaliCoyoteCaller]

You won't find elk very far north of pondosa..they don't have any reason to leave.

 

[bobostew88]

Any more info on this hunt? I have a friend who drew this tag. I think he is going to focus on the Butte Valley side. A little research done and it turns out good success by hunters in this area last yr with good access to public ground.

 

[shovelerslayer]

Ken,

Does your tag go down close to Bartle at all? I worked the area north of Mcintosh Well and up to twin springs a few years ago and saw a number of elk.

 

[upcedarcreek]

You should be buying lottery tickets......

 

[84toyota]

Hey Shovelerslayer,
Thanks for the info, but that is just outside of my zone. That is part of the northeast zone... I do plan on scouting some of that area though, because it is so close to the Pondosa herd, there may be some animals tucked away in that corner of the zone. My zone boundary runs from 89 to Pilgrim Creek Rd., and then from Pilgrim to Harris Springs Rd. From there it heads north to the Lava Beds on up to the border.
I've been scouting twice, and located about 50 elk the first trip, and 15 the second. So things are coming together... I won't get really serious until a bit closer to the hunt, because I think the elk will probably move from where I'm seeing them... Looking forward to the hunt, and yes, I did buy some lottery tickets... I didn't win big, but I did break even!

Ken

 

[84toyota]

Well - I've made four scouting trips this summer. I've located elk each time. The first trip I found about 50 elk, with about 10 being a mix of spikes, a few rags, and a few small 5x5's. The second trip, I located about 20 elk in a different area, and then the same 5 rags and 5's. The third trip a week ago, I only located 1 elk, but he was a decent 5x5 or 6x6. This weekend (Labor Day weekend) was a good weekend. I found one herd with at least 115 if not 120 elk in the one herd! A few were spikes, but only one decent bull, which was a 5 or 6 point. They were a long ways off on private ground, and I just couldn't make out his head gear... On Sunday, I located a good herd in a different area. There were four good bulls (two were mediocre 5x5's). One was a BIG 6x5, and one appeared to be just as big, but I didn't get a good look at him. I'm hoping things pan out for my when the hunt starts. One more (next) weekend of scouting, with Monday and Tuesday in to the scouting mix, and then the hunt starts Wednesday! I hope I can find an elk after all of the shooting starts!

Ken

 

[chap_dog48]

good luck and post up after your success looks like you are in for a great hunt.

 

[84toyota]

I'll be sure to post some results!
Ken

 

[dsp]

I got drawn prob 10 years ago and got a spike on public and supposedly was only elk taken on public that year in total we saw 5 elk in 2 weeks. After that season they did increase the size of the siskyou unit.

 

[84toyota]

Well folks, I had a very successful hunt on the Siskiyou Bull Hunt this year. After numerous scouting trips throughout the summer, I felt I had a pretty good handle on where the elk were, where they would be, and how best to approach them once the season started. Some of recon worked out perfectly, but in some cases the elk completely pulled one over on me. Some of the groups of elk that I had scouted earlier in the summer completely disappeared on me. On the other hand, some of the small herds from early in the summer grew into big herds leading up to the hunt... I decided to hunt an area that I knew was going to get pounded by the other tag holders, but it seemed to have the most elk sign concentrated into the relatively small area. I had located two good herds in the area, one being about 70 animals (a dozen or so bulls) and the other being about 80 animals (19 bulls). Of those bulls, many were spikes, some were mediocre 5x5's, and there were about 6 good 6x6's. The elk feed all night long out in the adjacent alfalfa fields, and then leave early in the morning for the juniper/pine/mahogany/sage brush habitat that surrounds the fields. The alfalfa fields happen to be the only good water source around for miles, therefore, the elk hang close by - even when pressured. In a normal year, with some rainfall, I imagine these elk would scatter far and wide with pressure - but this year there is just little to no water.

So my hunt started on a Wednesday. I was up there there Friday - Wednesday before the opener to get some last minute game plans in order. The elk were entering and leaving the fields just like clockwork. I built a blind out of dead junipers about 200 yards back from a break in the fence where the elk were leaving the fields. I figured with any luck, I might be able to put one of the herd bulls down on the first morning. I knew after that, that things would be more difficult. As opening morning approached, I started noticing more and more hunters showing up in the area. Where before you would only find my bootprints, now there were many. Folks were driving every little spur road around the area, often right at prime time. I tried to "encourage" these hunters to park a few miles away and walk in quietly, as opposed to driving right through the prime country in prime time. The concept was lost on 90% of them.

Opening morning rolled around, and my dad and I were up at 3:30. We were walking in the dark from about 2 miles away so as not to alert the elk to our presence. We made it over near the blind in short time, only to hear the elk about 1/2 further north than where I expected the would be. A last minute decision to move up to the north of them was my first mistake. Once we repositioned to the north, the elk started heading out to the southwest (just like always). I ended up having to reposition back down to my blind. Now, there is still an hour to go before shooting light at this point. But I think the elk knew that humans were around because they left the field an hour early. I could see the elk passing right in front of me by moonlight, but by the time shooting time came around, they would have been long gone. That's when the elk starting "barking." For those of you that may not know, cows bark when they know something is wrong but can't quite pinpoint the problem. Basically it means you're screwed! So the elk start barking and moving out at a brisk walk. My dad and I agreed that we needed to back out of there and loop way around to try to get in front of them in time for shooting light. And we were able to do just that. I ended up having 9 spikes out at 150 yards right at prime time, but I didn't want to tag out on a spike so I let them walk.

The rest of the herd continued moving southwest, out of our sight - but we could hear them. One of the herd bulls was bugling on occasion. The herd ended up getting around us and we were forced to play catch up. The wind swirls really bad in this area, but it was holding steady for awhile that morning. We could hear the lead bull raking his horns on a tree, and used the noise as a beacon to close the distance. At one point, just 80 yards away, we could see his 6x6 rack raking the tree, but could not see any of his body. I decided to move in closer, trying to find a shooting lane. At about 60 yards, the bull decided to wander off. I got a good look at his hind end, but I'm not going to try a Texas Heart shot on an elk. You'd have to drive that bullet 5 feet or more! He ended up walking up over a little hill. My dad and I crept along behind him, following his tracks and when we crested the little hill, I told my dad to squeak once on his Hoochie Mama call. The bull let loose with a bugle that nearly caused me to let loose! He was CLOSE! So close in fact, that I raised my gun to my shoulder anticipating him stepping out at any moment. And that's when it happened. The slight breeze in my face, moved to the side of my face, and then the back of my head. The bull and a bunch of other elk blew out of there - and the morning hunt was over...

We were in and around elk the rest of the day. Day 2 was different. Up again at 3:30, but this time, the elk left the fields WAY early. We decided to check out the other herd to see what they'd been up to. I never saw an elk on day 2! Day 3 rolled around, and I told my dad that we needed to approach these elk differently than everyone else. I had learned from some of the other hunters that we all had been hoping to whack one close to the fields, and the elk were slipping around all of us, and we ALL were playing catch-up. The 2nd evening, we drove over to a different road about 3 miles away and camped for the night in the back of the truck. Up early on the 3rd morning, and we heard bugling about 2 miles east of us. We started hoofing it in the dark, stopping periodically to listen for bugles. He kept talking enough to keep guiding us in. At one point, we decided to slow way down and start picking our way through the sage and juniper. I've blown plenty of turkey hunts by aggressively pursuing gobbles - I didn't want to do the same on this elk hunt. We were stopped, listening for bugles, when all of a sudden I could see the light tan of an elk body coming through the trees at 150 yards. The junipers and sage were pretty thick in there. I dropped down to the base of a juniper to get a rest on a limb. Of course, there were so many limbs I was afraid my bullet would hit one, so I repositioned at the last minute. Meanwhile, my dad squeaked on his call a couple times and they kept coming at a slow pace. My dad was behind me and off to the side, and he started pleading with me to shoot. I was getting pissed, because I couldn't see any of the elk - they had placed a couple thick junipers between us... but finally at 50 yards, my bull stepped out in the open.

Backing up the story a bit, I decided to take my relatively new to me 7mm WSM on this hunt. I went back and forth on what kind of a load to use, and finally decided to try out some 168 grain Berger Classic Hunter bullets. I have never used Berger bullets before. I read a lot of reviews on them, and it seemed like people either love them or hate them. They are actually made to not hold together (goes against all that we think we want in a good bullet). They are made to penetrate 3-6" and then come apart pretty violently, dumping all ft/lbs of energy in the animal (which "shocks" the system and anchors the animal). They aren't really made to pass through the animal. This had me worried leading up to the hunt, and I really debated whether it was smart to take a new to me bullet along on an elk hunt, when I wasn't sure that I was confident in the bullet to perform its job. I will say that the accuracy was insane with the bullets, resulting in cloverleaf (touching) bullet holes at a hundred yards (with the first load that I tried).

So the elk stepped out broadside at 50 yards. I settled in where his heart should be and squeezed the trigger. I had it in my head all week that if I shot an animal, I would keep shooting until he was anchored. My first shot hit him hard, and I saw his legs buckle, but he didn't go down. I racked in another shell as the bull took about 4 steps. I shot him again in the heart/lung area, which instantly put him down. The hunt was over! Of course, it was at this point, that a bigger bull stepped out and stood over the fallen bull for a few seconds! He simply wandered over about 100 yards and bugled for the rest of the morning. The main part of the herd was just through the trees, and they stayed there for the next two hours. We got to work cutting up the elk using the gutless method - it's the only way in my opinion, if you must pack the animal very far. We were able to take an old road to within a half mile of the elk, so it wasn't bad getting him out. What I will say about the Berger bullets is that they definitely anchored the animal within a few steps. I found parts of the bullets on the far shoulder, just under the skin. Despite the fragmenting of the bullet, there was no loss of meat and no bloodshot meat. It may have been different if I had hit a shoulder bone. There was NO BLOOD on the outside of the animal, which is my biggest concern. If the bull hadn't gone down right away, the tracking job might have been bad... I'll reserve final judgement on the bullet until I shoot a few more animals with it. As of this last Monday morning, I'm aware of 6 bulls being killed in the area I hunted, and one bull being killed about 15 miles away. I'm sure this week has been productive, and the hunt continues until this Sunday.

At this point, I'm transitioning to B zone mode, prepping for a backcountry Yolla Bolly trip. I need to further prove these bullets are worth it!

Ken