Another elk adventure... the journey continues with pics!

[mmgrode]

Cool stuff! Look forward to the rest. Cheers, Matt

[Glenn Carl]

Great pictures and story. Keep it coming.


Glenn

[elk ninja]

It began to drizzle and the wind really picked up.  On the drive back to camp we saw this....
 
A different shooter pronghorn buck!  We turned around for some better pictures and he took off like a shot!.... north America's fastest land animal for sure!
Rather than spooking the elk and hoping that the rain and wind were omens of cooler temperatures and a high- gear rut, I took a nap.  And I was tired.  
The wind died down and we began a silent stalk.  We separated at some point, I continued up the canyon.  With less than 45 minutes of good shooting light left, I thought I heard a bugle uphill, but I couldn't be sure.  The wind was in my favor, falling as the sun fell.... there it was again!  Or was it me ears playing tricks on me?  NOPE!  There he is, my binos were to my eyes without conscious thought.  HUGE BEAST!  I didn't know I could get bull fever from that far away.  His polished ivory tips looked big.  Too far for a photo though, lets creep a little closer.... He is in the trees now, I only saw him for maybe 10 seconds.  What a beauty.  All I could think about now was watching him and coming back in the morning.  My hamster wheel of a brain was spinning, wind coming uphill, I'd have to be above him..... he is somewhere between 8500-9000 feet.... lets see if I can call him in to me.  I found a great elk trail right near a wallow we had previously found.  I hid behind a huge boulder next to the trail and a poor little sappling he had demolished.  Cow calling and waiting, waiting waiting.  Nothing,  Time was short, I peaked and he...

wasn't there.  So I gained some more eleveation and came to a band of granite protruding into the canyon.... I snuck over and what to my eyes see but two fawns and a doe mulie, 20 feet away!  But I am after elk and bucks.  I let them go.  Now there is a cow in the same place the bull was, and I am much closer...though the photos are still poor due to the light (and photographer).
 
 
 
I actually forgot to adjust the camera and took the first picture with the flash on.... good way to get busted at 400 yards!

[steveB.]

hey man i'm trying to do something like you've done on your own. i dont have alot of money for the guide services. it'll take me a couple of years to do it but i will get there one day. any suggestions to help me along?

[elk ninja]

Steve, check your PMs.

So we made plans to wake up extra early and head WAY up the mountain.
Tim, carrying a flashlight (torch for some of you!), headlamp on and a moon in the upper left corner.  Looking particularly happy for having such a long hike!
 
I found a hiddey hole to glass from
 
Alturas lake across the valley.
 
My bow
 
You can see Alturas lake over there...
 
Tim was across the canyon, glassing and relaxing.
 
This is the Cabin Creek basin across the valley
 

[elk ninja]

We decided to do a little exploring after several hours of sore butts and watching the canyon.  Directly above my side of the canyon in "Nunya Mountain" and it has an old fire lookout as a crown.  Just a few feet short of 10000 feet.
 
And the views from the top.  N, E, S, W
 
 
 
 

[elk ninja]

No elk in the morning.  We met up again and glassed and hunted back down to Tim's truck.  Long day.  Skunked again!  Tim did find a beautiful watering/ wallowing hole about 100 feet from where he was glassing.... and there where a couple other water holes areound...
From up top of the peak, there's camp!
 
And the sunset.
 

At some point during the week, I found out I had been granted an interview for nursing school.  Unfortunately it cut my hunt short..... but there IS more to come, so stay tuned my frineds, for the conclusion to this little elk adventure.

[tradtusker]

keep it comming im loving these elk storys!

[mmgrode]

And......  Great     stuff so far. Keep it coming!

[paleFace]

Mike it sounds like you guys had a great time, sorry i wasn't able to work out the plans this time around. as i figured that's some beautiful country you guys were hunting.

[elk ninja]

So I had to leave Wednesday mid-day to get back to Boise and prepare for my nursing interview.  Tuesday afternoon hunting proved unfruitful except for some good pictures.
 
 
 


Tim's Griffin.... anybody tell me what weed this is?  I LOVED it and want to make a bow with these vineers.
 
 


Did I tell you the landscape is steep?  Tim following an elk trail, to no avail.
 

[elk ninja]

Tuesday afternnon and it rained.  We tried several setups, cow calling, sitting along trails,.... nothing.  It rained off and on and my wool began to smell like a wet dog...
The snow line was just above us at 8000-8500 feet
 

Tim, bundled up against the advancing cold front, glassing the basin from mulie meadows
 

The view across the valley of the sawtooths
 

No luck Tuesday afternoon... My time was dwindling, but I was anxious to get going.  My elk hunting needs had been met for the year without all the work of getting an elk down off the mountain.  But there was one more morning, one more prime time to put the sneak on the bull of the mountain or some wise old cow, some "still learning" spike...

[elk ninja]

Wednesday dawned with a heavy skiff of snow.  We beat feet up to mulie meadows with high hopes of seeing some elk.  Unfortunately they had different plans and we didn't see anything.  
 
All in all a GREAT week.  I learned a lot, which is always a goal.  I "filled my cup" in preparation for another long year until elk season opens in 2008... because hey, there's only 347 more days until opening day!

[BMOELLER]

Good luck with the interview.  I'm going into nursing also.  Doing some pre req's right now and after this semester applying for nursing school.  Got tired of supervising.  Great story!!!

[Killdeer]

I loved the part about the stars. I treasure the time spent alone in camp, just taking it slow and rediscovering my own rhythms, and those of the woods. The stars are always an awesome rediscovery. Without them, we would be way to big for our own good.

Killdeer

[steadman]

Great story Mike. Very well done and the pics were outstanding. Check your pm.

[robslifts]

beautiful stories  how bout the other guys in camp???

[Ausable]

I'm not quite the story teller that Mike is, but here is a summary of my week in Idaho:

Stumbled in to Mike's camp on Friday at lunch, after a 14 hour drive from central California (looked closer on the map, I think the western states are a smaller font size on the atlas than everywhere else!). As Mike mentioned, we wasted no time getting on the mountain and glassing/scouting. On average, I would say we spent 10 hours hunting/hiking per day - one day in particular we spent 15 hours on the mountain. Beautiful scenery and a lot of mulies and antelope, just very little elk sign in that particular area. After Mike split on Wednesday I packed up and headed north and west to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Set-up camp and hit the mountains to check out a few spots. An hour of hiking along the MF Salmon river I came up on the some mulies and took some pictures(I hope to post some later on). I could have popped a big doe but didn't have a tag. Five minutes later, moving on further down the river slow with the wind in my favor I look downsteam and across the river to see nothing but ivory, and lots of it - at maybe 70 yards in front of me stands my first bull. He didn't see me and I got a good look at him but no picture, I was in predator mode and wishing I was 40 yards closer. I dropped down and did a few cow calls and waited a half hour or so. I think the rapids from the river muted my calls and the big bull was just finishing up watering. In hindsight, I should have probably gone across after him, the river was only a couple feet deep. Anyway, I hunted that bull for the next two days and never saw another elk - lots of fresh sign though. That wilderness is an incredible area, I spent 8 days hunting and never saw another hunter in the field. All in all it was a great experience (thanks Mike for introducing me to Idaho elk hunting, I will send you my pictures once I get things caught up). I also learned a bunch and cannot wait to go back. I think I will meet up with my dad next September to show him this incredible part of the world.
Tim

[bohuntr]

Cool hunt and awesome pics, thanks for sharing!!!