I was out Elk hunting with my brother in law this friday. It was his first ever bow hunt (we've rifle hunted together for several years). Last year he picked up a beauty Checkmate hunter and he's deadly with it .
We hiked into our "spot" and set up on a ridge and glassed for a long while. We had seen bulls in the area before but the leaves are still on the trees making the glass work a little painstaking. After about 40 minutes we were about to move to a new vantage when I spotted a cow in the shadow of a large spruce. We watched her for a while and we could tell by her body language she was not alone. She kept staring back into the trees on the adjacent ridge. Our patience paid off because 30 minutes later the rest of the herd started to show. As this is unfolding we had spotted 2 bull moose in the same valley raking trees and running all over the place making a nuisance. it was very neat to see the inter-species interaction between them.
Finally we spotted a legal bull in the herd and we thought we would make a play to try and stalk within range and let a little calling do the rest. it worked out perfect with the wind in our face and enough sound cover to allow us to move silently through the dry undergrowth. We go to the bottom of the valley, stripped off our packs and extra gear to start moving across a rather open section of bush. We came across all kinds of sign which gave some indication about how the elk were using the valley. Just then we heard several cows calling to each other and a scraggly bugle. My partner's face was all smiles as we watched a few cows easily trot through a clearing in the aspens, poplars and spruce.
Not to far off we could also hear grouse drumming. This place is crawling with animals! We had picked a small creek bed as our target area and as we slowly worked into the spot I saw a cow at about 70 yards and another further up the ridge. The bull would not be far off. We let the cows move up the ridge and slowly worked across the creek bed. I sent my partner ahead to some cover with a decent pair of shooting lanes, and gave him some final instructions. " If the bull shows stay in shadow and have your bow up and hand on the string... look at what you want to hit and not at the rack... Everything is ready so I let out a cow call. I had set up behind him just upwind of a trail in case the bull or a cow came in behind to investigate. This is when things get really interesting. We can hear something coming down the trail straight to me... but something is different. It sounds too noisy and very "up and down" in the way its moving.
The next thing I hear is the deep guteral "OU WUK" of a bull moose. No mistake. I look at my partner and signal moose with my hand palm up like thier antlers. He comes into view at about 50 yards at a deliberate pace. I realize that my cover is inadequate for this task and promptly locate a sturdy mature poplar to stand behind. I wait for him to stop but it's like he's a very slow moving, hairy cruise missile. at 10 yards I loose my nerve behind the flimsy willow and make for my poplar tree.
Two steps and I'm feeling a little better about what a father of 3 is doing standing in front of a rutting bull moose. He stops and stares at me. after about 10 seconds I undo all my good thinking and put my Herb Melland Pronghorn bow on top of my head and sway left and right a few times. Jim Shockey makes this look so cool on TV... and my primate brain thought "I can be cool too."
DUMB DUMB DUMB. Although the bull is probably only a few years old he's big enough that the bull moose equivalent to a deltoid muscle is the size of a whole me. Those delts are flexing in a set of very stiff strong legs and his big eyes are lolling about in his head. His nose is dripping and the whole package is now showing me his nerve and moving closer to me. "OU WUK" he says again. My bow is no longer on my head. he closes the gap to -5 yards and finally stops. I'm pretty sure he can hear my heart beating the tune of a cardiac arrest. THere we stand for a good minute. He starts to move broadside showing me all the muscles he has.
I raise my bow slowly and go through the motion of a draw and he just stares. (I don't have an arrow on the string as I have no moose tag.) Finally, the guy figures out that I'm not an elk or another moose and trots off not too far away.
My brother in law just stares at me with his moth open and not moving. A big grin spreads on my face. I realize we have experienced something amazing, rare and profound. Having never hunted moose with a bow I pretty much have to now... that has certainly been the most unexpected response to an elk call I have ever seen. At that moment we vowed to hunt moose next year. We never did catch up with the herd but we learned a few more lessons and the season is still young.
I wanted to share this on this forum because you folks are so appreciative of the amazing, rare an profound moments in the wild. Cheers all.
Knot.
I got ready
Topic: Surprise response to elk call. (Read 376 times)
