Yep because we had John's generator this year we built a light setup for the kitchen. It has two floods and three single bulbs. Very nice the have light when cooking.
Day 3 we headed back to where we'd put the elk to bed the night before. We chose to work out the left side of the ridge in order to get the wind if the elk had continued up the right side draw.
We hit it right on the head. As we worked around the point, we set up and I started to rub a tree with a stick from the ground. I've found rubbing to be non threatening agression and it usually will get a bull going that might otherwise turn tail with his cows. Almost at once the area below us and too the right lit up with cows and calves calling and then a bull bugled. They were about 400 yds out and cross wind as the thermal hadn't switched yet. We dropped down the hill a couple hundred yards and set up along a brush pile of alder. Hoping that the bull would come up the up wind side.
What we didn't know was that there is a major trail just under the alder patch about 100yds further down. And the first bull came right up the trail bugling his head off. He kept coming until he hit our wind at about 40yds but out of sight. Then off he went.
The good thing is that he was the only alarmed elk in the bunch. We repositioned and tried again. And here comes another bull, not as aggressive but responsive and coming on a string.
Again he's on the unseen trail and circles across the wind until we are busted.
We sit down to wait for the thermal that should be blowing up by now but is not. As we sit, we hear cows and calves move from right to left below us and again we are in action. The wind is switching now and is mostly coming up the hill. So maybe we can pull it off. We talk back and forth with the cow and calves for 10 minutes but finally the stopped moving. They'd bedded down for the morning. I have one rule after finding elk "DON'T HUNT THEM IN THERE BEDS!!!" You can bump them while they move or feed and they will go a little ways, but if you bump them out of the bedding area they are gone.
We backed off and headed up the ridge to the truck. Dang I don't remember it being this far down. LOL
Mike
Topic: Idaho elk hunt 2011 (Read 1739 times)
