Oregon Elk Encounters 2012

[eflanders]

Let me begin by explaining a couple of things...  As some of you folks know, I had to overcome and beat a serious health issue before I could make the trip from SE Wisconsin to NC Oregon.  A couple of great guys encouraged me to make this trip in the first place and I am forever thankful for their support and for the blessings I recieved.

On the 14th of September, 2 good friends and I loaded up my pickup and trailer and headed west to Oregon.  The drive out there took about 28 hours with gas and food stops as we each took 4 hour driving shifts.  When we arrived in camp, we quickly unpacked our hunting gear and immediately headed out to hunt the vast lands that were available to us.

The ranch we were hunting was approximately 60,000 acres of diverse elk and mule deer terrain. There were 5 others that were also hunting this same ranch with us but they hadn't arrived yet.  With 8 bowhunters it was predetermined that our best chances for success would be in splitting up into teams of 2.  I was the lone traditional hunter in camp and the others were all intrigued by my choice of weapon.

[Tim]

  Love the elk stories.....

[eflanders]

The others all had their high-tech compounds, laser rangefinders and all of the other "neccesities" that are commonly found on today's modern archer.  

By mid-week most of the other guys were tired of lugging all of their heavy gear but all knew that they needed these things in order to effectively shoot their high-tech bows accurately.  It was about at this same time that the others started questioning me about my bow, quiver and the lack of a range-finder, sights, etc.  My guess is the weight of all of their archery equipment was starting to get to them.

But this topic isn't meant to compare equipment choices, it is to share with you all of my Oregon Elk experience.

That first afternoon hunt was a great one as I was hunting with two great friends who are very experienced in hunting elk and in the region we were hunting.  The other two guys kindly offered to call for me so that I could setup a shot opportunity if we were lucky enough to encounter some elk.  It was about 80' out as we climbed slowly up the steep drainage to the top of our chosen hunting area for the afternoon.

[eflanders]

As we climbed, the other two guys made cow calls occasionally.  About 2/3rds of the way up, we all heard a faint bugle from above.  We couldn't believe our ears that within only a couple of hours of arriving into camp we were about to put all of our skills to test wth a bull!

We were very careful to watch the wind direction as we worked our way slowly up towards the bull. My buddies did a great job of calling and keeping the bull focused on their calls, raking and the Montana decoy.  Unfortunately there was a barbed wire fece that seperated me from getting closer to the bull without being detected.  Because I was not familar with the boundries of the property, I felt compelled to stay on my side of the fence.  Unfortunately, the bull felt compelled to stay on his side as well.  We were just 45 yards apart from one another.  After waiting nearly 45 minutes for the an ethical and legal shot opportunity, the bull finally decided that something just wasn't right and slowly sauntered off in the opposite direction as the sun settled over the horizon.

After the bull departed, I headed back to the other guys.  It was still pretty light out but the darkness was going to close in fast so we all decided to make the trip back down towards the truck.  As we were making our way down, we heard the sound of hooves in the distance.  Did the bull decide to come back?  We quickly scrambled to get setup for a possible shot opportunity.  I made a couple of lost calf calls and we immediately got a response back.  Unfortunately it was from a truly lone calf and she quickly found herself staring at us from a mere 5 yards away.  We all watched her as she struggled to figure out where the other calf was.  It was a great close encounter!

[rastaman]

Great story so far......waiting for the rest of the chapters to be filled in.

Bisch

[eflanders]

By the time we returned to camp that evening, the others had all arrived.  I knew most of these guys from years ago, but there were two guys I camp that I had never met before. We all took time from the evening camp chores to introduce ourselves and to get to know one another.  

It was predetermined tat I would be hunting with someone that I had never hunted with before.  Both us had always solo hunted before, but we were both interested in trying something different.  My partner was an experienced hunter on this ranch and he was an excellent bugler as well.  This was great for me because I cannot bugle very well and I had never hunted this ranch previously.

As Dave (my partner) and I headed out of camp the next morning, he questioned me about my hunting experience, my reasoning for using traditional gear and I felt like I was being interviewed for a job.  This was because Dave had elk hunted this ranch 13 times previously but had only scored twice.  He said it was primarily due to the fact that he was usually the only one that hunted alone. I found out later that this was his first time hunting elk with a partner.  No wonder why he was interviewing me!

[eflanders]

Within hours of our hiking, searching and calling for elk that morning, we got a response from a bull from about a half mile away.  As we closed the distance to the bull, I suggested that Dave be the shooter as I handled the calling duties.  Naturally he was happy to have the first opportunity to shoot.  However, I could tell that he had some doubt as to whether or not I could handle the calling duties appropriately and effectively.  Fortunately I was able to convince both the shooter and the bull that I was a proficient caller as the bull also made his way towards us.  

Because I stayed about 40 yards behind and to the side of Dave as I called, I never did get a good look at the bull.  Dave said it was a small 5 X 5 and chose not to shoot it accordingly.  He knew that bigger bulls were prevelent on this property and it was just his first day there!

He was excited and pleased with our first bull elk encounter and his confidence in me as his partner soared.  We decided to try another area about a mile away.  As we discussed all o the details of the first encounter, the walk seemed to get easier and more comfortable.  

As I mentioned before, Dave was a great bugler and by the time we reached our intended destination, Dave had 2 different bulls answering his calls.  Both of these bulls were on the other side of a deep valley from us and were about a half mile apart from each other.  We decided that we needed to get across the valley because the bulls were not making thier way to us.  We picked a spot centered between the two once we got across the valley and Dave gave out a bugle.  No answer.  Another bugle and still no response.  Did they scent us?  Did they see us as we crossed the valley?

[snag]

You can sometimes fool their eyes and ears...but their nose will bust you everytime! A swirling breeze or a change in the thermals, it can be hard to get close sometimes. But without being there it's hard to say.
If they had a few cows with them they may just have decided to take them away from that bull coming into them. Many different scenarios that are possible.
Glad you got to experience it!

[Shinken]

 

Bring it on!

Shoot straight, Shinken

   

[FerretWYO]

An will "Hear" you 3 times "See" you twice and "Smell" you once.  

Listen to the bugles dont just hear them.

Sounds like it was a great experiance. Lets hope next time they stick around.

[stocker56]

[elkken]

   

[Iowabowhunter]

[Sixby]

Sounds great. Can't wait for the rest of it!!!!

God bless you , Steve

[wapitirod]

Sounds like you had a blast so far, what part of NC Oregon were you hunting?  I was on 5 bulls here in the coastal range this year, all under 70yds and one at 20 but none gave me a shot.

[eflanders]

Well as best as we can tell, the bulls were in no mood for a fight.  Once we got over to thier side of the valley, they decided to just take off as quietly as possible.  After no response to the bugles and no response to the cow calls plus the fading light of the day, we decided to work our way back to camp.  While we didn't get a shot at a good bull, it was a great day none-the-less.  

Days 2 and 3 had us excited to get out and confront the bulls.  Unfortunately the wind and warmth of the day had them thinking otherwise.  Of the 8 hunters in our camp, only two bugles were heard these days by all. We were all confused by this as those with previous experience here all said that in the past the days and action had always got better rather than slower.

But then on day 4 it was like someone above decided to "flip the switch" and all of a sudden the bulls were bugling once again!

[eflanders]

On day 4 my two buddies scored on a smaller 6 X 6 bull from 45 yards.  One arrow, one downed bull!  Best of all, it was a mere 100 yards uphill from a logging road!  When the boys all got into camp for lunch, the news was shared and all eagerly offered to help with getting the bow into camp for processing.  

By 2 pm all of the teams were back in the field pursuing a bull of their own.  By 3 pm one of the teams had taken a shot on a 300 plus class bull at 57 yards but had missed cleanly.  At about 5 pm, another team had found "Raspy".  Raspy was a rather infamous bull that had a most unusual bugle and was judged to be in excess of 350".  Raspy was an old bull that had been sighted many times but obviously has eluded hunters for many years. The team that sighted Raspy was so excited that they made a big mistake.  They shared with all of us were he was sighted. Can you guess where everyone decided to go the next morning?

Believe me when I tell you the camp meal that night was as lively as I had ever seen one.  Stories were told, experiences were shared, plans were made and some big dreams were fostered.

[Sixby]

Oh Yea, Now this is getting good. I think just about every elk camp I have been in in Oregon has and Old Raspy. He always dies from old age.I followed one downthe road one afternoon when I was headed back to camp / Had no telling how many cows and three other bulls that I saw. He just plodded down the road about 50 yards in front of my truck/ His antlers looked like they took up two thirds of the road. Absolutely a monster. We hunted him all season . Heard him several times but no one ever got a shot.
   I look and listen for him every time I am in that country although I know he had to die years ago.
  Come on now this is getting good!!

God bless, Steve

[eflanders]

Day 5 came oh so soon and everyone's expectations were extremely high. Dave and I decided to go against what the others were doing and head to a totally different area than of the others.  Dave's experience of the area and of Raspy's previously known behaviors told him that we needed to go to the opposite side of the ranch. While I honestly didn't agree with him privately, I felt compelled to agree with him publicly to keep us "together" as a team.  Am I ever glad I did!

Within two hours of calling and hiking, we both heard a very weird sounding response to Dave's bugle.  At first we thought it was one of the many beef bulls that grazed throughout the ranch. But when I made a lost calf call, Dave and I were certain it was an older elk bull.  Could it be Raspy?  The call was so strange, but yet it certainly wasn't from one of the many beef bulls grazing the area near by.

It took us nearly 2 hours to close the gap to the strange sounding elk bugle.  Fortunately for us the elk bull eagerly responded to both our bugles and cow calls.  Once we got within an estimated 150 yards from the bull, we got ourselves setup.  Dave happened to be situated closest to the bull, so I made sure that I set myself up about 40 yards behind and to the side of him.  Dave stopped bugling and found appropriate cover that would allow him an open shot.  I found cover and began to make some soft and sexy cow calls.  The bull liked what he heard and began a very cautious but deliberate move toward us.  He came closer but not close enough for a good shot.  However we could now see what we were dealing with.  Was it the infamous Raspy?